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Hiawassee City Hall 50 River Street

City of Hiawassee Special Called meeting

THURSDAY DECEMBER 19^TH, 2024 at 6:00PM

City Hall Council Chambers

4. Call to order

   • Invocation – Nancy Noblet

   • Pledge of Allegiance

   • Approve the Agenda as distributed

5. Approval of the rollback Millage rate (1.557)

6. Approval of the end of year 2023-2024 budget amendment (auditor journal entries) 

7. Approval of the DDA Lease Agreement (tabled at SCM 12102024)

8. Brian Forrester – Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds update

9. Finalize the scope of work for the lawn contract and Water Treatment Plant mowing contract

10.  Executive session

11. Adjournment

City of Hiawassee Special Called meeting Minutes

THURSDAY DECEMBER 19^TH, 2024 at 6:00 PM

The Hiawassee City Council Special-Called meeting was called to order at 6:00pm on December 19^th, 2024, in Council Chambers by Mayor Pro Tem Jay Chastain, Jr. The meeting was open to the public and broadcast over FaceBook Live.

Present in addition to the Mayor Pro Tem, were Council members Patsy Owens, Amy Barrett, Nancy Noblet and Jonathan Wilson. Staff present were Police Chief Jeremy Parker, and City Clerk Bonnie Kendrick.

The Invocation was given by Council member Nancy Noblet and was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

Motion to approve the agenda as distributed was made by Council member Amy Barrett, seconded by Council member Jonathan Wilson with all in favor.

Motion to approve of the rollback Millage rate (1.557) was made by Council member Nancy Noblet, seconded by Council member Jonathan Wilson with all in favor.

Motion to approve the end of year 2023-2024 budget amendment (auditor journal entries) was made by Council member Amy Barrett, seconded by Council member Amy Barrett with all in favor.

Motion to table the DDA Lease Agreement (tabled at SCM 12102024) was made by Council member Amy Barrett, seconded by Council member Patsy Owens with all in favor.

Mayor Pro Tem Jay Chastain recessed the meeting to move to the upstairs training room at 6:03pm for the Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds update as the overhead projector was needed.

Mayor Pro Tem Jay Chastain reconvened the meeting in the upstairs training room at 6:05pm.

Mayor Pro Tem Chastain introduced Brian Forrester of Forrester and Associates, a utility billing consultant, who was referred to the city by Curry Ahouse, our representative with Badger Meter.  Mr. Forrester presented his opinion on the issue with the meter at the Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds.  After an assessment of the utility billing system and the historical records from the Fairgrounds usage back to 2022, it appeared that there was an upgrade which affected the multiplier in January of 2024.  Instead of reading in 10s of thousands of gallons, the software was reading in millions of gallons which caused the billing of many times what it should have.  The total billing form January – August 2024 was $248,332.64, but based on his assessment, it should have been $52,074.64.  The Fairground account was overbilled by $196,258.00.  Fortunately, the Fairground had only paid $78,646.55 which means we owe them $26,571.91.

Mr. Forrester then demonstrated the capability of the device that reads the meters and the level of detail that is available to the customer (to within .1 of a gallon and 15-minute intervals).  He is recommending this technology particularly for the larger meters – 2” and up - (from where the bulk of our revenue comes).  He is also recommending placing one on the meter at the Water Treatment Plant that measure how much water is going out into the distribution system.  One of the SCADA meters has been installed (Fodder Creek) and the second is waiting to be install (Rt 288-Sunnyside).  Mayor Pro Tem Chastain stated that the other meters may have to be phased in, but he is waiting to see what information the Capital Improvement Plan from EMI will provide.  The City will work with Badger Meter (Curry Ahouse), Forrester and Associates (Brian Forrester) and EMI (Fletcher Holiday) to find the best solution going forward.  Council member Patsy Owens asked how we will know if this has any effect on our water loss numbers.  Mr. Forrester stated it will take a few months of readings to see if there is an effect.  Mr. Forrester was asked how the these were different from the cellular endpoints that are on most of our meters.  Mr. Forrester stated that most of our meters are radio read meaning you must drive by them to get a reading.  These endpoints can be read from anywhere.  Mayor Pro Tem Chastain was asked the cost of the new meter at the Fairgrounds, and he stated he did not remember exactly but thought it was between $2,300 and $2,500.  Mr. Forrester was asked why the multiplier had changes and he stated that there was no indication that it was changed internally, and he felt that it was a result of an upgrade.

Mayor Pro Tem Chastain presented documents to finalize the scope of work for the lawn contract (basically the last contract with the addition of the lawn edging) and Water Treatment Plant mowing contract – separate contract – from the crepe myrtles at Lloyds Landing to the Water Treatment Plant – inclusive much of that being weed eating on the bank. Council member Barrett asked about mowing at the Berrong House (Carl is bush hogging that as needed), the Paris Business Center (there is not likely to be any grass), and the Shook House (this is taken care of by the tenant).  Former Mayor Liz Ordiales stated that there was still a contract on the lawn.  The Council had previously voted to select HLG Services to fill a 1-year contract with 1-year automatic renewal.  Mayor Pro Tem Chastain stated that Attorney Mitchell advised that there was not a signed contract.    Council member Amy Barrett made the motion to get a contract with HLG Services for the remaining year.  She felt that the Council had voted to approve the contract even if it had not been signed and felt it was the right thing to do.  Council member Owens seconded the motion with all members in favor. 

There being no need for executive session, motion to adjourn was made by Council member Amy Barrett seconded by Council member Patsy Owens with all in favor.  Meeting was adjourned at 6:29pm