BROADCAST VIA FACEBOOK LIVE SITE: CITY OF HIAWASSEE
OPEN TO PUBLIC
Hiawassee City Hall 50 River Street
City of Hiawassee Special Called meeting
MONDAY July 29th, 2024 at 6 PM
Upstairs Training Room
1. Call to order
1.1 Invocation – Amy Barrett
1.2 Pledge of Allegiance
1.3 Approve the Agenda as distributed
2. Second reading and possible approval of Rules of Decorum for COH meetings
3. Executive Session
4. Adjournment
City of Hiawassee Special Called Meeting Minutes-July 29th, 2024
The Hiawassee City Council held a Special Called meeting on Monday July 29th, 2024 at 6pm in the upstairs training room at City Hall. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Pro Tem Jay Chastain. The meeting was open to the public and broadcast over FaceBook Live. Present in addition to the Mayor Pro Tem, were Council members Amy Barrett, Nancy Noblet, Patsy Owens, and Jonathan Wilson. Staff present were Water Treatment Plant supervisor Andrew Sims, Water Department supervisor Carl Grizzle, Wastewater Treatment Plant director Clint Royce, Economic Development Director Denise McKay, Police Chief Jeremy Parker, and City Clerk Bonnie Kendrick. Attorney Thomas Mitchell was also in attendance.
The invocation was given by Council member Amy Barrett and was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
The motion to approve the agenda as distributed was made by Council member Amy Barrett, seconded by Council member Patsy Owens with all present in favor.
Attorney Thomas Mitchell read the proposed Rules of Decorum for City of Hiawassee meetings ordinance. Motion to approve the second reading of the ordinance was made by Council member Nancy Noblet and seconded by Council member Amy Barrett. There was a great deal of discussion around the purpose of the ordinance with some citizens feeling it was too strict, unneeded, and might cause some to be hesitant to speak. Council members defended the intent of the ordinance to provide greater order and to assist the online listening community by having speakers state their name and address. Several stated that the primary purpose is to facilitate orderly and respectful meetings so that everyone can hear all comments. The side conversations make it difficult to keep track of all the comments. Most citizens were not opposed to stating their names, but not their exact address, but preferred to state what street they lived on or that they were residents of the city or county or not residents. It was suggested that comments related to agenda items should be made when the item is being discussed for continuity. Changes to the ordinance were recommended and Attorney Mitchell kept track of the changes. Several changes were made to item 4 related to comments during the agenda items up to and including removing the item altogether. The council determined they would like to table the ordinance until the August work session and discuss again.
There being no need for executive session, motion to adjourn was made by Council member Nancy Noblet, seconded by Council member Patsy Ownes with all in favor. Meeting adjourned at 6:41pm.
