Feb. 2 Council Meeting: Council Inquiry, Water Bills and Street Repairs

Feb. 2^nd’s three and one-half hours long Blue Ridge City Council meeting covered initial findings of Jarrard & Davis’ inquiry into the Blue Ridge City Council, upcoming changes in city water regulations regarding customers’ water bills, street and sidewalk repairs on East Main Street and the distribution of the Hotel/Motel Fund among Blue Ridge community events and advertising endeavors.

Speaking for Jarrard & Davis, the legal firm investigating the City Council, was Ken Jarrard, one of the founding partners.  A quick synopsis of his recommendations are:

• Mayor and Council must resolve its breakdown in communication stemming from not sufficient communication and non-professionalism.
• Questionable ethics surround zoning decisions.
• Blue Ridge should hire a full-time city manager. This is an unelected position.
• City Charter should be substantially modified.
• Procurement procedures have been competently followed by Finance Director Alicia Stewart.
• Chain-of-commanded needs to be clarified for city employees.
• The question of the Mayor’s residency must be resolved.
• Council members should be responsible for specific departments as has been done in the past.
• There has been some questionable finances regarding an employee’s action in one city department which warrants investigation.

 

The Council voted to continue from Phase One, the inquiry, or as Jarrard puts it “issue spotting” phase into phase two which is an in-depth investigation phase.  Jarrard and Davis will be looking into:

• A City Department which is reported to have irregular liquidation of City assets and its balance sheet for cash transactions does not equal out.
• Documents that settle for once and for all where the mayor’s legal place of residence is.
• If present or recent past city officials have used city resources to help out themselves, families or friends. Specifically, have present or past members provided gravel or other city resources to make improvements that benefit friends and family, especially increasing the value of property or other items

 

Water bills and bill disputes have been on the Council agenda lately.  Blue Ridge resident Patti Keene’s months-long request to the City to relieve her of a $695 water bill due, the excessive amount caused by the Water Department breaking her water line connection. Currently, the city has a policy that it will not review bills in dispute that are less than $1000.  The Council wants to reduce that money to an amount that more realistically mirrors the amount that usually shows up in disputes.  They are considering a threshold sum for residential customers between $300 and $500.  Also, the Council appointed a committee that would meet quarterly to review water bill disputes.  Another point being reviewed is whether a resident can call a private plumber to repair minor connection and pipe breaks.  Mayor Whitener is in favor of this because it will remove the city’s liability for single house line repairs.  Finally in water, the city is looking to contract with Serveline to provide insurance to water customers against high water bills due to leaks. An example of how the policy works is such.  A customer purchases a $500 liability policy.  One month the customer ends up with a $2000 bill.  Serveline will pay $500 of that bill to the city and develop a payment plan for the remaining $1500.  Each customer will have the option to purchase the insurance.  Depending on the plan purchased, costs would average between approximately $16 to $25 per year.  Purchase of Serveline insurance is up to the individual customer and will not be a mandatory purchase.  The Serveline representative said that in the case of houses which are vacant throughout the year, like vacation homes and rental properties, the owners must show how they provide for reasonable care of the plumbing system when the property is vacant.

Everyone wants to know when and how East Main Street will get its major renovation.  The targeted start date is August, late enough to avoid summer high-season and early enough to avoid fall leaf and apple season.  Mayor Whitener said that the Council must be cautious about the dates of the project because it would affect 200 downtown businesses thus cutting into the livelihood of 400 plus employees.  The Council is seriously considering contracting crews to work at least two shifts per day, possibly more, to quickly complete the project.  Hiring odd-hour shifts will add to the project’s cost.  The Council wishes to hear from the Downtown Business Association about which weeks and times would be best for the repairs.

The current design and installation come in below budget.  However, Matt Smith of Carter & Sloope, the engineering firm hired for the project, says that the current design, which basically just repairs the road, doesn’t have safety enhancements or create visual unity along the street.  He recommends that a curb be put along the entire street, at a similar height to what is in front of the depot.  Currently, parts of the curb are almost at the street level.  Angie Arp suggested widening parts of the sidewalk.  Council members agreed that this would be a good idea since the crowds along the street are thick on the weekend. This flowed into a discussion about if East Main Street should only have parallel parking on one side.  Another point for doing away with one side of parallel parking is parallel parking on both sides hinders emergency vehicles trying to get down the street.  The Council is not sure yet if it would like brick pavers, similar to those in front of Chesters to be in the design as it will up the project’s cost significantly.

Willingham Circle, the road that really isn’t, will be getting a new owner.  The Council agreed to abandon the property.  Lynn Kemp, owner of Canoe, wants to buy the “road” for $1000.  Willingham Road is a strip of asphalt that divides her property at 1425 East First Street.

Dale Dyer and Imogene Stewart of the Fannin County Heritage Foundation requested $20,000 from the Hotel/Motel Fund.  The Foundation wants to use the money to hire a person for regular hours at the Baugh House History Museum.  Since the staff is all volunteer, they are not able to provide regular coverage at the house.  It makes it difficult for Saturday tourists and Fannin County residents to plan a visit there.  The Foundation also wants to build a store room and do restoration work on several items.  The Foundation believes that it is a good candidate for the Hotel/Motel Fund because it provides tourism opportunities.  The Hotel/Motel Fund recipients are restricted to those organizations which host events or provide opportunities to increase Blue Ridge’s reputation as a vacation destination.

In relation to this, the Council also spoke about retaining power over Hotel/Motel Fund distribution.  Currently the Council sends the money to Fannin County Chamber of Commerce which then passes out the money and amount to organizations that the Council identified.  The Chamber suggested the Council send over a lump sum which the Chamber will then decide how to pass out.  The Council agreed that they wanted to retain control over who fund recipients are and how much money each will get.

Blue Ridge residents wishing to speak during the Public Comments section of the City Council meetings must sign up with Kelsey Ledford, City Clerk, at least five days before a scheduled Council meeting.  The next meeting is Tuesday, Feb. 9^th at 6 pm.

See related posts:

Official Copy of Jarrard and Davis Phase 1 Findings

Agenda for Blue Ridge City Council Feb. 9 Meeting