BROADCAST VIA FACEBOOK LIVE       SITE: CITY OF HIAWASSEE
OPEN TO PUBLIC – April 28th, 2025 6pm
Hiawassee City Hall 50 River Street Upstairs Training Room
SPECIAL CALLED MEETING AND WORK SESSION AGENDA       

1. Call to Order 

1.1.   Invocation – Amy Barrett

1.2.   Pledge of Allegiance

1.3.   Approval agenda as distributed

2. Swearing in

2.1.   Mayor Jay Chastain

2.2.   Council member Scott Benton (Post 3)

2.3.   Deputy City Clerk Sheryl Branson

3. Adjourn Special Called Meeting

4. Consent Agenda

4.1.   Minutes of April 1^st Council Meeting

4.2.   Minutes of April 28^th Work Session Meeting

4.3.   January Financials

5. Mayor’s Report

6. Fletcher Holliday – Capital Improvement Plan

7. GIRMA – Property and Casualty Insurance ($78,203.00)

8. Budget update

9. Building and Planning Committee – building permit

10. LRA Grant

11. Hikeawassee Bus

12. Police department pay

13. Council pay increase

14. Police Department Report – Jeremy Parker

15. Economic Development Report – Denise McKay

16. Public Comment

17. Executive session

18. Adjournment

HIAWASSEE SPECIAL CALLED MEETING AND WORK SESSION MINUTES April 28th, 2025 6pm

The Hiawassee City Council held a Special Called meeting on Monday April 28, 2025, at 6 pm in the Upstairs Training Room at City Hall.  The meeting was called to order by Mayor Jay Chastain.  Present, in addition to the Mayor, were Council members Amy Barrett, Scott Benton, Nancy Noblet, Patsy Owens and Jonathan Wilson.  Staff present were Court Clerk Sheryl Branson, Economic Development Director Denise McKay, Water Treatment Superintendent Andrew Sims, Police Chief Jeremy Parker, Officer Chris Shelnut, Officer Matthew Phillips and City Clerk Bonnie Kendrick.  City Attorney Thomas Mitchell was also in attendance.

The Invocation was given by Council member Amy Barrett and was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

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

City Clerk Bonnie Kendrick swore in Mayor Jay Chastain, Council member Scott Benton (Post 3) and Deputy City Clerk Sheryl Branson.

The Special Called meeting was then adjourned.

The Consent agenda for the May City Council meeting will consist of the minutes of April 1^st Council Meeting, the minutes of April 28^th Work Session Meeting, and the January Financials.

In the Mayor’s Report, Mayor Chastain thanked the staff for work done on the election and subsequent cancellation, 40-hour class he attended on wastewater treatment (and passed the test), his plan to do the same in the June time frame on water treatment to better understand the issues with our infrastructure.  He was pleased to learn we have a state-of-the-art wastewater treatment plant and the best operators/supervisors.  He has come to realize the need for back up equipment – a section of the city was without water for 12 hours because we did not have a spare pump.  Most people are aware of the plans for TVA to lower the lake to effect repairs on the spillway.  Although they had spoken to the city over the last few years, TVA was given to understand it was no issue for the city, however Water Treatment Superintendent Andrew Sims had a conversation approximately two years ago, but no mention of how far down they planned to draw the lake was mentioned.  Mayor Chastain has sent a letter to TVA outlining the issues this would likely cause the city’s infrastructure, and he is trying to mitigate the impact.  During the meeting with TVA on 4/17/25, no indication was made of which of the 4 scenarios they were likely to choose.  He and City Clerk Kendrick have been working on the budget and trying to get it to balance.  Working document was emailed to Council today, copies were available at the meeting, or you can pick one up at City Hall.   The First reading of the ordinance for the proposed budget will be on the agenda for next week and a public meeting will need to be held sometime in May to meet the deadline of passing a balance budget before July 1.  Mayor Chastain also stated we need a plan, 1 lift station needs to be rehabbed and he is committed to keeping the water running.  He is also seeking the LMIG DOT grant for approximately $25,000.  In the Water distribution news, Carl Grizzle came through his surgery with flying colors, talked his way out of the hospital to recuperate at home and the tumor was benign.  He came back to work on light-duty status today.  We are so thankful to have him back.

City Engineer Fletcher Holliday presented the Council with the draft Capital Improvement Plan which should be updated at least every 5 years.  He gave an overview of the major components of the plan and the firm’s recommendations around assets needing upkeep/replacement, the rate study and some suggestions for more advantageous rate structures, the water loss rate, and the inflow of storm water and its effects wastewater treatment.  The document contains many recommendations on how to proceed and what are the highest priorities.  Fletcher is suggesting a retreat with Council to further discuss the tiered water rate structure.  When asked, Mr. Holliday stated that Engineering Management had not been involved in inspection or engineering analysis of any sort although that is part of the ordinances.

The Georgia Interlocal Risk Management Agency - GIRMA – Property and Casualty Insurance will be on the agenda for the Council meeting.  This year the total is $78,203.00.

As stated in the Mayor’s report, the budget ordinance will be on the agenda for next week.   There will need to be a public hearing on the budget in May. There is still a deficit in the General/Police budgets that will need to be corrected for the budget to be passed.  Council member Amy Barrett asked where the money for the police vehicle went that was auction off and why did the outfitting of police cars not come out of either drug seizure or SPLOST.  This way we would not have a $19,924.00 deficit in the capital line item.

Council member Nancy Noblet would like to model the building and planning permit process after Blairsville and is asking the Council to review their website and how they present the material.  We could use it as a guideline to change ours.  The committee has been trying to adhere closely to the ordinances.  Asked if the Mountain Protection Act permit was on our website, City Clerk Kendrick indicated she did not believe we had a permit specific to the MPA.  Attorney Mitchell indicated that penalties for code enforcement infractions could – if properly cited – be up to $1000/day.

Mayor Chastain stated the LRA Grant ($25,000) would not require a matching portion.  The LMIG grant submission requires a detail plan for repairs with quotes.  While LMIG grants can be combined over 2 years to repair or pave a larger area, it is not clear if LMIG can be combined with LRA as DOT sees them as completely different.  Bell Street – because of the damage from ground hogs undermining the roadway – and Presley Road are the two that are in the greatest need of repaving.  He is also looking into a $500,000 grant, but it comes with a 30% match requirement.  We will need to determine how much we can afford to ask for.

The Hikeawassee Bus will cost more to repair than the bus is worth.  The DDA has finished out the season with a rented bus which has saved a significant amount in gasoline costs.  The old bus will need to be voted on to surplus it to the auction.  It will be on the agenda for the May Council meeting.

Mayor Chastain stated that the police pay rate is very far behind our neighboring cities.  He will send a comparison of our neighboring cities, and the Council will need to decide if they will continue to budget for a 5-man department or move to a 4-man department.  Council member Barrett stated there is a grant for a police officer for 3 years – fully funded, but that at the end of the 3 years, the officer’s salary must be paid by the department/City.

Council member Wilson has emailed the Council to see if they felt an increase in Council pay was something they wanted to pursue. Attorney Mitchell stated an ad would need to be placed in the newspaper for 3 weeks before they vote to approve the increase.  It would also not be effective until January 1, 2026.  There was also a great deal of discussion around the limited training budget for the Council.  Reverend Steven Taylor of McConnell Baptist Church stated that he felt people who were representing the city should have training and felt that the city should pay for it.

In the Police Department Report Chief Jeremy Parker reported that the Tasers have been ordered, they will arrive in 60 – 90 days.  The new software, VC3 will go live on May 7^th, training will take place on the 12 and 13^th of May, the officers will have to record on paper in the interim.  Detective JR Murray’s last day was April 20^th, Officer Chris Shelnut has been hired full-time to place Det. Murray.  Chief Parker has resigned effective May 25^th.  Uniforms are in and Officer Shelnut went for his fitting today.

In the Economic Development Report Director Denise McKay gave the Council updates on the NightMarket (Caitlyn Ayers has done a phenomenal job with it) first one is this week, Fundraising event is July 19^th, ribbon cutting for Cabin Cross Stitch will be May 16.  Scott Benton has resigned from the DDA since his election to the Council, so there is an opening on the DDA and 3 more will resign in August.  Babette Dunn has created and Iso manual for the PBC and the PBC is wrapping up, furniture and finishing touches are all that is left.  Tours of the facility will be scheduled for the first week in June.  One incubator space has been rented, and an Italian restaurant will go into the anchor space.  Christine Osborn has been hired as the DDA coordinator and will start work on Thursday.  Hikeawassee runs through next Monday and today was the last Mayor’s Monday on the Square. So far 1672 people have been transported and self-reported spending approximately $88,000.00 during a time when the businesses traditionally are slow.  In the financial report there is approximately $40,000.00 in outstanding invoices on the loan from the architect and the contractor.  There is a reception scheduled for June 7^th at the PBC.  Music on the Square will start up on May 28th, Tim Massey has been organizing the Music on the Square for 25 years.  UCBI is sponsoring the NightMakets and the fireflies should be here in June.

Mayor Chastain reminded everyone that the open comment period for the TVA Chatuge Dam project will end on May 28^th and he hopes that everyone will comment.

Council member Amy Barrett wished to thank Mayor Pro Tem Nancy Noblet for stepping up when Mayor Chastain had to step down from office to run for Mayor.  She also thanked the staff for their support during that time.

There being no public comment requests or need for executive session, motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Council member Jonathan Wilson, seconded by Council member Patsy Owens will all in favor.  The meeting was adjourned at 8:04pm.