The night was long for the Demorest City Council who held a work session and then a regular meeting on Tuesday, September 3. Both meetings were held at the Demorest Municipal Conference Center at 250 Alabama Street in Demorest.
Public Hearing
The council has been working on the land use ordinance for several months. During that period, the city issued a limited moratorium on new construction. The moratorium only applies to unplatted parcels in the city. The moratorium did not affect citizens and property owners with existing plats, which still allowed them to build on those parcels. The public hearing was to discuss the purpose of land use and possible amendments to the City’s Land Use code and regulations.
City of Demorest Attorney Thomas Mitchell talked about the requirements that must be accommodated before a decision can be made on the ordinance. Mitchell recommended that a Historical Preservation Board be in place to establish guidelines about agriculture, the size of lots, and other such decisions. It was suggested that the term “agriculture” needs to be defined. When property owners come forward wanting to make changes, the answers to the questions have to be incorporated into the ordinance. Designations of high intensity, low intensity – residential classifications – and commercial classifications – are complicated because of Piedmont University, the hospital, and differing uses of property. Conditions have to be determined. The ordinance must specify what can and cannot be done with the property. No vote was taken. Another meeting will be held before voting on this ordinance.
Water Meter dilemma
There was a second reading of the ordinance regarding utilities being laid on large parcels of land many years ago. The parcels were divided and water meters for one property might cover two or three other parcels because of the property split. The city wants to relieve itself of the responsibility and have landowners determine what should be done. Essentially, there could be two people who do not know each other sharing a water meter. It is not the city’s responsibility to move the meter. The Council voted to have property owners work it out amongst themselves as a civil matter. The vote was unanimous.
Water rate increase
Due to the hot, dry summer, the city has increased its water usage, especially the water it receives from Toccoa. During July, water shortages were apparent with some residences having low pressure and at times no water at all. Toccoa’s water rate to the city is significantly higher than what the city pays to Baldwin. Due to the increase in water consumption, Demorest was forced to increase its water purchases from Toccoa since Baldwin was reaching its permitted water withdrawal limit. The Council voted to increase the water rate and decrease the budget.
Water zones and SCADA
The engineering firm, Engineering Management Inc. discussed with the council a financial analysis of the city’s water distribution system. The purpose of the analysis was to separate the water distribution system into zones and determine the costs incurred by the city for each zone. The Toccoa zone is one such zone that the council has discussed at previous meetings. No vote was taken.
The council considered upgrading its supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system. Demorest’s SCADA system has not been upgraded in several years. Updated software and new technology are available to improve system performance. Three options were given: to do nothing, to elect the $139,000, or the $149,000.00 option. A motion was made to take the second option for the $149,000.00 system.
The system requires software and hardware to communicate water and wastewater data to operators to ensure those systems are functioning properly. It also alerts operators to issues that may need to be addressed such as leaks, low water levels in water tanks, high water levels in the wastewater system, or failing pumps.
Other business
Brad Day, the grant writer for the city, gave a tactical analysis of available grants and connected them to the needs of the city. He discussed which grants were available to the city and which required the city to match funding. Part of his analysis will be to inform the council what grants are available to the city and which grants require the city to match funding or not. No vote was taken.
The Tomochichi Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution needs space for its operation. The non-profit organization has contacted the city of Demorest to inquire about the availability of a room to lease in the municipal complex for its purposes. The city council approved leasing space to the organization.
