The Cornelia City Commission will have a busy meeting Tuesday evening. The commission will have an administrative hearing related to a business’ alcohol license. It will hear a request for an art festival to be held in the city park. There will be a public hearing for a new four way stop.
Art festival request
Cornelia resident Carly McCurry has applied to host an art festival on October 26. She wants to utilize the city park for the event that will be named the North Georgia Art Festival. It will have food and craft vendors, dance performances, and offer art classes to the community. According to the application, McCurry anticipates the event drawing approximately 500 people to the festival. The commission will consider approving the festival due to the anticipated size of the event and what the city will charge for the use of the city park.
Administrative hearing
The commission will hold an administrative hearing related to a business’ alcohol license. Tacorriendo Express, LLC located at Habersham Village Circle is in violation of the city’s mixed drink tax ordinance. The restaurant applied for a permit to serve mixed drinks in December 2022. It began serving mixed drinks in January 2023. According to the city’s ordinance, the restaurant is required to collect a 3% tax on all mixed drinks and the tax is to be remitted monthly to the city.
The restaurant renewed its alcohol license in March when the city’s finance department noticed that it had not been remitting the 3% tax. At which time, the owner of the restaurant was notified to provide accounting records and the monthly payment for the tax dating back to January 2023.
The city has requested the information and payment numerous times by telephone and in writing.
As part of the investigation, staff purchased mixed drinks to ensure that the restaurant was in fact charging the 3% tax as required by city ordinance. Upon receiving the receipt for the mixed drinks, it was discovered that the restaurant was charging 7% on mixed drink sales.
Due to non-compliance with the city’s alcohol ordinance, staff is recommending the revocation of the restaurant’s alcohol license but must hold an administrative hearing first.
The commission will consider revoking the restaurant’s alcohol license after the hearing.
Public hearing
The commission will hold a public hearing for citizens to provide input on a four way stop at the intersection of Maple Street and Grand Avenue. The city has conducted a traffic study in numerous areas around the city. The traffic engineer that has conducted the study has recommended installing a four way stop at that intersection due to some sight distance issues at the intersection.
City Hall retaining wall repair
The city discovered that the brick veneer had started separating from a retaining wall at City Hall. After further investigation, it was determined that there was a lack of brick tie backs to attach the veneer to the concrete retaining wall, allowing the mortar joints to separate along the top row of bricks. The separation has allowed water to get between the brick veneer and the retaining wall. During the winter months, the water has frozen and caused the veneer to separate from the wall.
Staff has recommended that the brick veneer be reattached before winter to avoid the problem getting worse. The cost of the project is $46,500. Six masonry companies were contacted to submit a proposal on the project. Only Engineered Restorations, Inc responded with a proposal.
Proposed raised crosswalk
The downtown area has seen an increase in pedestrian traffic, specifically from the parking lot at the depot and along Clarkesville Street. The city has received numerous complaints about the need for a crosswalk from the depot parking lot across Clarkesville Street. The street has seen an increase in vehicular traffic as a means to avoid the downtown area, especially on the weekends.
The city has awarded Higgins Construction the paving contract for the year and requested them to submit a proposal to install a raised crosswalk on Clarkesville Street from the depot. The cost for the project will be $19,400. Staff recommends the city install the crosswalk to improve pedestrian safety.
Amphitheater project
The city is moving forward with the amphitheater project that has been in the works for over a year. Carter and Sloop has issued the city an agreement to consider for the project design, bid, and manage. Their fee will be $170,300 for this part of the project. This will include the new parking lot on Front Street.
New playground equipment
The city’s playground equipment is in bad shape and has become antiquated over the years. To the point, it can no longer find replacement parts to make repairs. The city has received three proposals for the project. Staff recommends the company Playground Boss in the amount of $85,720 for the city commission to consider.
The majority of the funding would come from the remaining ARPA funds that the city must spend before the end of the year. The remaining funds would come from the Hotel/Motel Tax Capital Improvement fund.
The Cornelia City Commission will meet for their work session at 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, August 5, in the Municipal Conference Room. The regular commission meeting will begin at 6:00 p.m. in the Municipal Courtroom. Both meeting locations are at 181 Larkin Street in Cornelia.
