February 2024 Board Meeting Minutes

TOWNS COUNTY CIVIC ASSOCIATION

Board Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, 2/21/24, 2 p.m.

Hiawassee Garden Club Clubhouse

Present: John Clemens, Anna Denton, Joan Crothers, Michael Courey, Jim Olson, Joe Liguori.

Absent: Larry Dietsch and David Best.

1. President’s Remarks/Report

  1. Welcome: John welcomed all at 2:07 p.m.
  2. Newsletter comments: John said that in addition to TCCA members he sent this newsletter to Hayesville Mayor and Y.H. City Council because of all the Parrot Feather information. It was agreed to do a newsletter every 3 months instead of quarterly, so it is more up-to-date.
  3. Prepare for Membership meeting in June: Date set for Tuesday, 6/25/24 at the Civic Center in Hiawassee; menu: chicken tenders, mashed potatoes, green beans, and members bring desserts. John suggested a door prize, he will check on that. Also suggested that we have a 50/50. Mixed feelings on that.
  4. New Board member: Request from Steve Harper to be a member of our Board; all agreed that would be good.
  5. Review assignments for meetings: Joe agreed to attend & report on Y.H. City.

2. Board Officers reports:

  1. Secretary-Joan: Motion to approve the January minutes that had been emailed was duly made; seconded and passed.
  2. Treasurer-Larry:

i. He emailed his report. As of 31st of Jan. the Checkbook Balance is $3,453.21. A motion to approve was duly made; seconded and passed.

ii. John’s Revenue Draft: Shows Revenues by month & year for FY ‘21-’23 with ‘23 being lowest income for any month except July ‘23. Total Revenues FY 2021-just barely under $1,400; FY 2022-$1,500; & FY 2023- a little over $900.

  1. Website Update-David: He emailed his report: 1. Basic WordPress Website, 3 yrs. ‘20-’23-’24–$431.64, ; 2. Standard SSL Certificate (23-24) $100, (‘25-’26) $100; 3.

LLAR Plug-in (Spam Filter) (‘23-’24) $70, (‘25-’26) $70; 4. TCCA.com (‘23-’24) $38, (‘25-’26) $38. TOTAL (‘23-’24) $639.64, (‘25-’26) $208.

  1. Membership-Anna: Totals are up from38 to 42 Households, 1 HOA (Ridgeview), 1 Business (GMF), Total Membership up from 40 to 44. She also gave us memberships of dues paid to 2025–15 @$325; paid to 2026–4 @$85. Also a list of non-renewed members. If you know any, call and encourage them to renew.

3. Committee Reports:

  1. Chamber of Commerce-John: Burger Wk Plus–1/16-25/24 brought in 200 passports w/winner Gary Caines; YHC Burgers, Brew & Bball event was well attended. Wearing of the Green-Friday, March 16–retailers offer savings to anyone wearing green & a drawing for a gift basket. May NEGMTA meeting will be at Hamilton Gardens. First quarter Business After Hours–2/27, 5:30 @ BRMEMC.
  2. City of Young Harris-Jim: 2/6/24 Meeting–Approved a 5% increase in sewer rates on March bills. Title of Business License Ordinance was changed to Occupation Tax Ordinance and a First Reading was held on Y.H. charging a flat fee for this tax. A new Ford -250 SD XL was bought @ $61K for maintenance work. No resolution for Timberline. DOT has started on Y.H. Bypass & Hwy. 76 road work. New water meters have arrived with installation in March or April.
  3. City of Hiawassee-Joan: 2/26 Work Session–Rushton & Assoc. gave the city a good audit report. City Hall getting bids for roof leaks; 1st Hikawassee on square for this year with 10 hikers bused in. City contributed $20K to Parrot Feather eradication out of Parks & Recreation Account. Chief Parker said City is down to 2 officers (health reasons). City only pays $19.50/hr. which is less than surrounding areas. He will be buying several Patrol rifles @$129 each, taken out of drug money; also 2 Tazers, and a 3rd camera (for license plates). Tamala Cooper was sworn in at the 2/6 meeting to be on DDA Board; others will be voted on at the March 6th mtg.
  4. T.C. Commissioner.-Joan: 2/20 mtg.-Courthouse is on schedule and on budget, completely paid for with SPLOST, and tours will be in April. Parrot feather: More than $300K has been raised and TVA will hold a meeting at Foster Park at 5 p.m. 2/27. County entrance signs are being worked on, first at Hwy. 76-75 and then at Union County line in Y.H., also a sign for Foster Park at Mining Gap Rd.-Hwy. 76. County has a non-matching grant of $3,259.50 to hire a summer intern for road-mapping. Also signed a contract to pay GMRC a $500 fee for FireFighters Grant Service toward finding a new fire truck.
  5. T.C. Water & Sewer Authority-Jim: Chairman N. Noblet requests correction/clarification in the TCCA newsletter regarding Frog Pond water project details. Here is Jim’s correction: 1) 2 water breaks, 2) $500K is the contract for the Frog Pond branch construction,

3) the $14K is a customer agreement to connect to the new line. Considering area developments, the growth in water services potential is high. A position remains open for skilled, experienced, CDL-licensed talent. Applications have been solicited. Frog Pond bond and work contracts are being finalized and expected to be complete in mid-March, ’24.

  1. Convention Visitors Board (CVB)-Jim: Guest present, Jon Peels, General Manager of Brasstown Resort. Minutes approved without change. Finance reports a bank account balance of $177K as of mid-February. Results from Mnemonic (internet) marketing campaign analysis look good. Board approves hiring a part-time student worker at $5000/year to work on CVB social media platforms. CVB approves Georgia Magazine ad for $4030. Discussion held regarding full-page ad in October ’24 South Carolina Living and tabled. Storage space for media and promotional materials passed inspection by the Towns County fire department. Intentions expressed to better manage space and properly dispose of expired materials. CVB approved a contract with Alexander, Almand & Banks of Gainesville for tax preparation.
  2. Board of Education: Feb. meeting-10 staff resignations need to be filled, most are retiring. 8th graders Tucker Wheeler and Maddie Walls awarded REACH Scholarships if they keep a 2.5 GPA through High School. Finances are good with the Elementary playground having had a big upgrade and E-SPLOST will pay for replacing the Elementary School’s floors, a new Ag Facility, and facility, tech & campus-wide security upgrades. One of the 3 buses to be replaced will be a Bookmobile that can be taken to daycare and libraries for kids to come aboard to learn.
  3. BRMEMC-Michael: No report.
  4. County Planning Commission-David: No report.
  5. County Health Dept.- Larry: Only quarterly reports.

4. New Business: None

5. Adjourn: Duly approved at 4:40 p.m.

Joan Crothers, Secretary

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