BROADCAST VIA FACEBOOK LIVE       SITE: CITY OF HIAWASSEE
OPEN TO PUBLIC – May 27th, 2025 6pm
Hiawassee City Hall 50 River Street Upstairs Training Room
BUDGET PUBLIC HEARING AND WORK SESSION AGENDA       

1. Call to Order 

1.1.   Invocation – Nancy Noblet

1.2.   Pledge of Allegiance

1.3.   Approval agenda as distributed

2. Budget Public Hearing

2.1.   Public comment regarding the FY25-26 Budget

3. Adjourn Public Hearing

4. May 2025 Work Session Meeting

5. Waterworth presentation – Adam Bracken

6. Consent Agenda

6.1.   Minutes of May 6, 2025 Council Meeting

6.2.   Minutes of the May 15, 2025 Special Called Meeting

6.3.   Minutes of May 27, 2025 Work Session Meeting

6.4.   February and March Financials

7. Mayor’s Report

8. Ratify the LMIG Paving project – Presley Road

9. FY25-26 Budget

10. Council Pay increase

11. Increase Mayor’s authorized spending limit

12. Water Treatment Plant need – Andrew Sims

13. Police Department Report - Chief Paul Smith

14. Economic Development Report – Denise McKay

15. Public Comment

16. Executive session

17. Adjournment

BUDGET PUBLIC HEARING AND WORK SESSION MINUTES -May 27th, 2025 6 pm REVISED

The Hiawassee City Council held a Budget Public Hearing on Tuesday May 27, 2025, at 6pm in the Upstairs Training Room at City Hall.  The meeting was broadcast over FaceBook Live and was open to the public.  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 Economic Development Director Denise McKay, Downtown Development/Paris Business Center Coordinator Christine Osborn, Police Chief Paul Smith, Police Officer Jose Carvajal, Water Treatment Plant Superintendent Andrew Sims, and City Clerk Bonnie Kendrick.   City Attorney Thomas Mitchell was also in attendance

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 Patsy Owens, seconded by Council member Nancy Noblet with all in favor.

Mayor Chastain opened the budget public hearing on the Fiscal Year 2025 – 2026 and asked if anyone had any questions on the budget.  No questions were asked and the motion to adjourn the budget public hearing was made by Council member Patsy Owens, seconded by Council member Amy Barrett with all in favor.

Mayor Chastain opened the May 2025 Work Session meeting with a presentation by Adam Bracken of Waterworth. Waterworth is a continuous utility rate management solution.  It provides visual representation of the financial health of the Water and Sewer enterprise funds, factoring in such variables as inflation rates, community growth, water usage trends, etc.  It can project costs over time and how they can affect cash flow.  Building multiple scenarios based on current and potential future projects are easily layered on historical and current data to create an easy-to-understand visual picture.  Mayor Chastain feels that Waterworth will bring greater understanding to the capital improvement plan that Fletcher Holiday of EMI is presenting to the city.  While the software costs $10,500 per year, a 3- or 5-year subscription lowers the price to $44,625 for 5 years ($8,925/yr).

Josh Alexander asked if the TVA understood the impact of the proposal for the dam repair.  Mayor Chastain stated yes, he believes that the TVA does understand and is gathering information to make the best decision possible.  Last Friday the TVA engineers met with personnel from the City, Water Treatment Plant and the City Engineer – Russ Brink from Engineering Management, Inc.  The meeting was for fact finding and information sharing.  The TVA engineers toured the water treatment plant to understand how it operates, what likely issues would arise if the lake level dropped and remained at the level of 10’ below winter pool, what measures could be taken to lessen the impact, etc.  It was a productive and informative meeting for all parties.  A follow-up meeting has been scheduled for July 10th.

Council member Barrett asked about the possibility of a burning ordinance with input from the Towns County Fire Department and Frank Riley (FireWise).  Council member Wilson stated it will be difficult to enforce a burn ban.

The consent agenda will on the June 3, 2025, Council meeting for vote and will consist of the minutes of May 6, 2025, Council Meeting, the minutes of May 15, 2025, Special Called Meeting, the minutes of May 27, 2025, Budget Public Hearing, the minutes of May 27, 2025, Work Session Meeting, and the February and March Financials. 

In the Mayor’s Report, Mayor Chastain updated the council on the Bell Street repair issue and has received quotes for repairing only the section of road affected.  It can be applied to the safety grant. He also updated the Council on the Square updates (removed some shrubbery, planted flowers and applied mulch to the flower beds).  17 leaks have been fixed this month, Carl is out of the hospital again but has not been cleared for work.  TVA meeting was already discussed, Chief Paul Smith was sworn in this month, there are issues with the Dan Knob pumps, but he will let Water Treatment Plant Superintendent Andrew Sims speak to that issue, and he spoke at Movers and Shakers regarding Stroke Awareness.

The vote to ratify the LMIG Paving project, for paving Presley Road, will be on the agenda next week.

The FY25-26 Budget has already been discussed and will be voted on next week.

The council pay increase – from $200/month to $300/month plus the $50/special called meeting – will be voted on next week.

Mayor Chastain has asked the Council to consider raising the Mayor’s spending limit from $5,000 to $10,000.  All things are becoming more expensive, and $5,000.  no longer even covers the cost of hauling stone for the City.  Although funds are budget, if the amount exceeds the Mayors’ spending limit, it must be voted on by Council.

Andrew Sims, Water Treatment Plant Superintendent, came to the Council to request an emergency repair of $80,000.  The mechanism that feeds the water level in the several tanks (Dan Knob 1 and 2, State Line, Rainbow Ridge) and the main one at the water treatment plant are beyond end of life.  If the main one at the WTP should fail, the operators will not be able to see the levels of ANY tank and will be “flying blind”.  The need is critical.  The School and the Million gallon tanks have already been upgraded.  He is asking for $80,000 to upgrade the 4 tanks (Dan Knob 1 and 2, the State Line and Rainbow Ridge tanks) and the main one at the WTP.  Victoria Woods, Clark Hill also will need to be done eventually.

Chief Smith stated that this was his first day on his own.  He was in the office last week as was Chief Parker.  He stated that the new laptops and software are set up and in the patrol cards.  He is looking to hire another officer and has had 3 people reach out to express interest.  If he is able to hire another office, he would like to purchase another patrol car and there is money in the SPLOST account for that purpose.  The 2015 patrol car (the oldest in the fleet) is being set aside for the Mayor (the 2-wheel drive truck the mayor has been driving will go back to the water department).  The Chief has priced a 2025 Durango Pursuit vehicle and the price is coming in less than the two purchased last year with more outfitting already done (prisoner cages are in place., etc.)

In the Economic Development Report, Director Denise McKay introduced Christine Osborn, the Downtown Development/Paris Business Center Coordinator.  She has been working with Denise for the past two weeks and will move over to the Paris Business Center permanently on Thursday. May 29^th.  Ms McKay gave the Council an update on the opening of the Paris Business Center, the Hikeawassee stats (1799 individuals transported and $88K of income to the city), NightMarket update with Caitlyn Ayers, the Music on the Square update and needs as well as the Jimmy Buffet Tribute band playing for the July 19th FUNdraising event.

Director McKay thanked the citizens and the Council for the privilege of working for the City and stated she would retire on June 8th.  She received a standing ovation for her work for the City and Mayor Chastain thanked her for all the work she has done.

There being no public comments and no need for executive session the motion to adjourn was made by Council member Jonathan Wilson, seconded by Council member Nancy Noblet with all in favor.  Meeting adjourned at 7:28pm.