A controversy arose on what constitutes a meeting as Rhonda Thomas suggested the council either stops voting at workshops or changes the policy at the Blue Ridge City Council Meeting on August 11.

The Council approved 2 ordinance amendments. The first, an alcohol ordinance, will allow for the sale of craft beer. The council also approved beginning the process of striking a surcharge on meters based on square footage of the building. The surcharge will instead be based on meter size.

Lifeforce Helicopter changed their contract with the city of Blue Ridge.

Mayor Donna Whitener commented, “These changes….will give us some problems in the event of a breach by Lifeforce….The city is not a person that will use the Lifeforce service, instead the contract benefits the residents of the city. We would therefore be stuck in the event of breach of suing for damages.”

Council Member Rodney Kendall asked if Lifeforce would object to the city reverting the changes, to which Mayor Whitener responded , “They would not put it back in.”

Whitener further explained, “It would only be if Lifeforce didn’t come in and take care of something that we would have a problem.”

Whitener also noted that Lifeforce is based in Fannin County. The Council agreed to accept the changes.

Smoke testing in storm drains and sewers has begun, and has already revealed some issues that will need to be repaired quickly according to Mayor Whitener.

Whitener said, “We may have to have a couple of special called meetings to approve things. Don’t know how bad it is until we tear it up, but two have to be addressed immediately.”

The council also discussed putting stair rails in several places including Depot Street and East 2^nd Street. They decided to table voting on railings until council members could further investigate the stairs in question.

Mayor Whitener asked the council for comments on the master plan in order to apply for grants.

Cindy Trimble of the Blue Ridge Business Association said, “If we had a Downtown Development Authority, this process would be much easier…so, we are looking at other options for funding.”

She further explained, “when the grant is awarded, they can’t award the grant to you unless the project is what they call “shovel-ready”, so the minute the money comes, you got to put shovel in the ground, so there is a lot of critical timing that has to fall in place.”

Among the grants they are applying for are Community Development and Block Grant from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs and an Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) Grant, which is a Federal-State Partnership grant to be used for economic development. Both grants require matching funds. These matching funds include money spent on repairs.

Councilwoman Angie Arp asked the time frame on the grants.

Mayor Whitener stated, “they award those pretty quickly. What’s going to take time is the engineering, to find out what is underground, what’s not underground. That is where your time will be spent.”

The Council approved the mayor signing the ARC Grant Application.

Mayor Whitener also mentioned that the $120,000 Vaughn-Jordan Foundation Grant application was approved. Councilman Bruce Pack asked if that money could be used anywhere in the city or just the park.

Whitener responded, “Just the park. The concept report was for the park.”

According to Whitener the park would be the entire block from Mountain Arts to Church Street to Dr. Codelli’s building. She also touted the Foundation’s past projects like Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta.

Trimble noted, “This would be the first handicap accessible playground…There would still be a lot of open space.”

Arp asked, “Is [the grant] contingent on the equipment being used?” The mayor responded, “I think you’re going to have to do something very similar to what you sent in to ask for money for and that’s why we said before we sent it, does anyone have any questions and everyone said let’s move forward.”

The Mayor also assuaged fears that the Good Samaritans are getting moved out.

The Mayor proposed the city enter into a $1,875 per month contract with Viridis Landscaping to maintain beds as well as mowing and weed once a week. The mayor said it would be cheaper than hiring more full time employees for the city and would allow city employees to focus on infrastructure issues like storm drains. Currently, the city also utilized detainees, but the use of the landscaping company would ensure mowing and weeding were completed if the detainees were unable to work on a rainy week. Whiteside also noted that Viridis would supply their own equipment; however, the city would allow them to use the bucket truck. The Council approved the contract with Viridis until the end of the year; the contract can be terminated at any time.

As the $18 million Water Plant Project is being completed, the city looked for ways to recoup sales tax they spent on materials. The council voted on pursuing the cheaper option of a flat fee of $5000 and getting back about a $75,000 refund. The council also voted to use Grant money to repair the roof of the water plant because of possible corrosion problems.

The Council also approved putting USDA money in a supervised account so they could continue using it until December.

Land issues discussed by the council in public comments included denying the request for a three story building at 544 East Main Street because the top floor included residential areas, which are not allowed by the current ordinance. The mayor suggested the council look into zoning so the city could be more “Live, Play, Work” friendly. Jim Sisson also requested to buy, sell, or lease land which the city owns adjoining 715 Summit Street. He wants to build a shed and needs about 1/10^th of an acre. The board decided to move forward with getting an appraisal for the land, pending approval from the city attorney.

Community leaders also spoke during the meeting, including Lydia Long who is organizing a prayer meeting on September 12 at 11:45 am at Fannin County Middle School. Cindy Trimble also gave an update from the Blue Ridge Business Association (BRBA). She was concerned over a report from business owners regarding a rise in shoplifting. She asked for more of a police presence downtown, especially at night. She also gave a report on Light-up Blue Ridge, which has had several fundraisers. The BRBA hopes that Light-up Blue Ridge will this year include carriage rides, live reindeer, and a live Nativity. She asked the city to make a contribution to the festivities.

Although the definition of meeting was never resolved in this meeting, the Council conducted business and voted as they have in the past. Hopefully, at some future point, a decision will be made regarding voting at workshops to avoid further controversy.