TCCA Minutes 1/8/25
TOWNS COUNTY CIVIC ASSOCIATION
BOARD MEETING AGENDA
Wednesday, January 8, 2025, 1:00 pm
Towns Co. Courthouse, 2nd Floor Conference Room
Present: John Clemens, Andy Williams, Leslie Howard, Joan Crothers, Anna Denton, Micheal Courey.
Absent: David Best, Jim Olson
1. President’s Remarks\Report – John
a. Welcome
b. February Meeting
i. Theme for Feb. Mtg.: “Affordable Housing: Do we need it? Do we want it?” Long discussion on this. In order to determine the need, each BOD member will visit or call several businesses, restaurants, etc. Need to check on why the housing on lower Shake Rag is not being used.
ii. Speakers: Cliff Bradshaw, both Mayors, Denise McCay (?), Jon Peels, Mgr. of BVR. (?), others (?).
c. New Housing Project, Whiskey Mtn. : See City of Hiawassee below
d. Contributions:
i. T.C. Food Pantry (discontinued Student Backpack Weekend Program-no money)
ii. Caleb Taylor – Guardians of Freedom: BrownHaven will give money, Anna has a check. Leslie will check w/UCB on BOD’s liability/how to keep their money.
iii. Ms. Garrett’s Shop Class at school/other scholarships: Andy will check with her.
2. Board Officers Reports
d. Secretary’s Report: Minutes of the 12/24 meeting were emailed to all; motion to approve was seconded and passed.
e. Treasurer’s Report: Leslie passed out copies of 12/24 report which shows a checkbook balance of $4,348.61, $120.00 dues income; $50.76 expenses.
f. Membership Report – Anna: Households-73, Ind.-124, HOA’s/Bus.-4. Anna cautioned that $510 of treasury balance is prepaid dues ‘26-’28.
g. Web site Update/Maintenance – David: No report.
2. Committee Reports (significant issues)
a. Chamber of Commerce-John: 1/8: Burger Week Plus will be at YHC on 1/20, an ad will be in the Herald; Burgers, Brew & Basketball, YHC, only 200 registrants–sign up early. New member is Dairy Queen-Grill & Chill Hiawassee.
b. City of Young Harris -Anna: Matt Miller was reappointed as Mayor Pro Tem, as well as all members of committees; new Building & Development Committee created to work with ED Dir. Denise McKay. HB581 – Floating Homestead Exemption, 1st Public Hearing on Tues., 2/4/25 to discuss opting out. Bobby Brumley, Brasstown Valley Resort, seeking relief from excessive water bill from provider, City of Hiawassee. Dean Stanley reported parts are in for Timberline. Dr. Kelley’s project should start construction in 2 wks.
c. City of Hiawassee – Joan: 12/19: Council voted to rollback rate of 1.557 for 2024 property tax bills. Building & Planning Committee voted to increase permit fees from $10-50 to match surrounding cities. This Committee also heard from developer Scott Benton–Whiskey Mtn. Project–14.4 acres on BelAire Dr.–that the grants will not work for his project so “affordable housing” is off the table. The project will go forward, Chair Nancy Noblet said, since it meets all of the requirements, City Ordinances and EPD. Benton plans to start in early spring.
d. Commissioner’s Meeting-Joan: Commis. Bradshaw received 2024 Elected Official of the Year Award from GMRC (GA Mtn. Regional Commission) on 12/6, for demonstrated leadership, support & vision for GMRC. Bradshaw signed a contract for 30 new body cameras & TASERS, including training and equipment service, for Sheriff’s Office and Jail personnel. Total price of $329,484.62 will come out of SPLOST. Also paid for by SPLOST is a Fire Truck, 2K gal. w/1K lb. GPM pump–$399,065. He said this will ensure safety for our growing population of 12-14K, doubled in the summer. 12/17 mtg. Bradshaw signed a Budget amendment to give a $1 hourly pay raise to county employees before the end of year and another $1 raise in 1/2025 because of inflation. 12/30: A 2% bump in benefits for county employees plus 4 new positions hired upped the budget. Also, there will be 3 full-time firemen/paid duty 24/7, in addition to current Chief & 2 full-time firefighters and dedicated volunteers. 2 new staff members at the Tax Assessor’s Office will up that number to 5.
e. CVB–Jim: 1/22 Mtg. Revenue is down, but no threat. Discussed advertising budget; most positive is social media vs email, newspaper, radio.
f. T. C. Water & Sewer Authority-Jim: In November, a big leak was repaired on Scataway; in December, over 1M gallons were lost at Hightower due to freezing issues. Mandated EPD report continues in progress. Bookkeeping costs increased up to as much as $720/month; Board approved.
g. Michael: 2025-26 SPLOST projects–new floors in Elementary Sch. and AC in gym, cost $2.5 million. Total students is 924: Elem. 443; middle 203; High 278.
h. BRMEMC – Michael: EMC now has 56,700 meters in 5 counties, 44 meters were put in the past month in 5 counties; 15 miles of fiber optic put in (10 underground, 5 EMC poles). Falling trees cause 25% of outages, weather-21%, and animals-18%.
i. County Planning Commission -David: No report.
j. County Health Department: No report.
3. New Business: Leslie volunteered to attend and report on the next Co. Health Dept. meeting.
4. Adjourn: Duly motioned at 4:15 p.m.
Joan Crothers, Secretary
Next Meeting: Wednesday, February 12, 2025 at 1 p.m. at the upstairs Courthouse Conference Room