BROADCAST VIA FACEBOOK LIVE       SITE: CITY OF HIAWASSEE
OPEN TO PUBLIC – May 6th, 2025 6pm
Hiawassee City Hall 50 River Street Council Chambers
COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA       

1. Call to Order 

1.1.  Invocation – Amy Barrett

1.2.  Pledge of Allegiance

1.3.  Approval agenda as distributed

2. Consent Agenda

2.1.   Minutes of April 1^st Council Meeting

2.2.   Minutes of April 28^th Work Session Meeting

2.3.   January Financials

3. Motion to schedule a retreat with Fletcher Holliday of Engineering Management Inc. to further evaluate the Capital Improvement Plan.

4. Motion to approve payment to GIRMA for Property and Casualty Ins. ($78,203.00)

5. Motion to approve the first reading of the FY25-26 Appropriations Ordinance (Budget)

6. Motion to accept Council member Owens’ resignation from the Building and Planning Committee

7. Motion to reinstate Council member Noblet to the Building and Planning Committee

8. Motion to approve revising building permit 

9. Motion to approve applying for LRA grant (GDOT)

10. Motion to surplus the Hikewassee Bus by auction

11. Motion to approve Police Department pay increase

12. Motion to approve first reading of the Council pay increase ordinance - (increased stipend to $250.00, additional $50.00 for special called meetings)

13. Executive session

14. Adjournment

COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES-May 6th, 2025 6 pm

The City of Hiawassee May Council meeting was called to order at 6:00pm on May 6, 2025, in Council Chambers by Mayor Jay Chastain, Jr. The meeting was open to the public and broadcast over FaceBook Live. 

Present, in addition to the Mayor, were Council members Amy Barrett, Scott Benton, Nancy Noblet and Jonathan Wilson. Council member Patsy Owens was absent.  Staff present were Economic Development Director Denise McKay, Police Chief Jeremy Parker Police officer Jose Carvajal and City Clerk Bonnie Kendrick. 

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

Mayor Chastain advised the Council that Water Superintendent Carl Grizzle had surgery today, but 10 minutes prior to the meeting, he had received a call, and that Mr. Grizzle was awake and eating a Whopper.

Motion to approve agenda as distributed was made by Council member Nancy Noblet, seconded by Council member Scott Benton with all present in favor.

Motion to approve the Consent Agenda, which consists of the minutes of April 1^st Council Meeting, the minutes of April 28^th Work Session Meeting, and the January Financials was made by Council member Amy Barrett, seconded by Council member Jonathan Wilson with all present in favor.

Motion to schedule a retreat with Fletcher Holliday of Engineering Management Inc. to further evaluate the Capital Improvement Plan was made by Council member Nancy Noblet, seconded by Council member Scott Benton with all present in favor.

Motion to approve payment to GIRMA for Property and Casualty Ins. ($78,203.00) was made by Council member Amy Barrett, seconded by Council member Jonathan Wilson with all present in favor.

Motion to approve discussion of the FY25-26 Appropriations Ordinance (Budget) was made by Council member Amy Barrett, seconded by Council member Jonathan Wilson with all present in favor.  There were many questions regarding specific line items and how items are spread across General – particularly the training budget and salary line items – each of which has a line in the General, Council, and Police sections of the General budget.  Additionally, there was discussion around the surplus in Hotel/Motel.  Mayor Chastain stated that the Hotel/Motel surplus would be used to fund the Paris Business Center or to assist with loan payments. Council member Scott Benton suggested that the Appalachian Regional Commission could assist with the budget as well as the scope of positions and the compensation plan.  Time constraints may require that it gets implemented later in the fiscal year and the budget may be amended based on their recommendations.  The budget public hearing will be set ahead of the May Work Session on May 27^th at 6:00pm.  City Clerk Bonnie Kendrick will get the notice in the paper for next week.

Motion to approve the first reading of the FY25-26 Appropriations Ordinance (Budget) was made by Council member Nancy Noblet, seconded by Council member Amy Barrett with all present in favor.

Motion to accept Council member Owens’ resignation from the Building and Planning Committee was made by Council member Amy Barrett, seconded by Council member Jonathan Wilson with all present in favor.

Motion to reinstate Council member Noblet to the Building and Planning Committee was made by Council member Scott Benton and seconded by Council member Amy Barrett.  Council member Jonathan Wilson also voted in favor.  Council member Nancy Noblet recused herself from the vote.

Motion to approve revising building permit was made by Council member Scott Benton, seconded by Council member Nancy Noblet with all present in favor.

Motion to approve applying for LRA grant (GDOT) was made by Council member Scott Benton, seconded by Council member Jonathan Wilson with all present in favor.  Mayor Chastain stated he would like to retain the LRA grant money and combine it with next year’s LMIG grant to be able to pave a larger portion of roadway.

Motion to surplus the Hikewassee Bus by auction was made by Council member Amy Barrett, seconded by Council member Scott Benton with all present in favor.  Council member Barrett asked if the auction details would need to be on the city website, but it is not required.

Motion to approve the discussion of Police Department pay increase was made by Council member Nancy Noblet, seconded by Council member Amy Barrett with all present in favor.  There was much discussion around the police salaries and how they would impact the budget.  Chief Jeremy Parker had presented the Council with his analysis of the options going forward to provide a compensation plan in line with surrounding agencies to allow the department to be competitive.  Asked his suggestion on the scenario he recommended, he stated that option 3 which included a 5-person department, compensation based on years of experience, compensation for the Chief for holiday pay and reducing the percentage of the Court Clerk salary from 40% to 20% as he didn’t feel the department utilized 40% of her time.  Additionally, there was discussion around a 1 time pay increase for police, since the budget was set for a 5-person department, and the department has only had 4 employees during the current fiscal year.  Specifically, it was mentioned to compensate the chief for the lost hours on holidays.  Mayor Chastain stated he would like to implement the salary adjustments on Thursday.

Motion to approve Police Department pay increase was made by Council member Amy Barrett, seconded by Council member Jonathan Wilson with all present in favor.

Motion to discuss the first reading of the Council pay increase ordinance - (increased stipend to $300.00, additional $50.00 for special-called meetings) was made by Council member Jonathan Wilson, seconded by Council member Amy Barrett with all present in favor.  There was discussion about Council member Scott Benton stated he thought this would be an area where the Georgia Mountains Regional Commission could assist in determining whether the increase would be in line with other cities our size.  After discussion, motion to table the ordinance was made by Council member Amy Barrett, seconded by council member Nancy Noblet with all present in favor.

Chief Jeremy Parker thanked the Council and Mayor for their support over the last year and expressed his appreciation of every one of them.  Mayor Chastain thanked Chief Parker for his service to the City of Hiawassee.

There being no need for executive session, motion to adjourn was made by Council member Nancy Noblet seconded by Council member Jonathan Wilson with all present in favor

Meeting adjourned at 7:15pm.