The City of Demorest met Tuesday night for their monthly work session to discuss the status of the city’s departments and new entertainment district, among other items.
Stormwater in Demorest
As Public Works Director Brian Popham and Fletcher Holliday with Engineering Management shared their monthly reports, it became obvious to the council that the damages from stormwater the city continues to receive needed to be addressed.
Popham brought the council’s attention to failing drainage pipes, while Holliday discussed the more than one million gallons of water that came through Demorest’s water treatment plant during this month’s storm.
At the encouragement of Popham and Holliday, the council discussed creating new minimum development standards to help offset the drainage of stormwater into inappropriate places. These standards, which the council and city attorney will work through before their next meeting, are hopeful to lift some of the burdens as storms roll through the city from the public works department.
Cyber security
The city is discussing new cyber security measures to better protect it from viruses, malware and ransomware with ACG Solutions, who would take over the city’s IT if the city accepts their proposal.
Ransomware attacks have cost cities and towns across the state millions of dollars to recover their information, all while compromising the security of sensitive data.
RELATED: Cornelia hit by ransomware attack
“It’s not just the money,” said Councilman Shawn Allen. “We need to protect our employees’ information and our customers’ information.”
Changes to the entertainment district
The city’s entertainment district may see some changes at the council’s upcoming Sep. 7 meeting, as Councilman Nathan Davis asks for the building he currently owns to be included in the entertainment district.
While the building is for sale, which holds two short-term vacation rentals (most commonly known as some of Demorest’s AirBnBs) and Davis’s former salon, he says the next owner could invest in new opportunities for the building, such as a restaurant.
Davis also brought up including the currently empty property of 205 Sosebee Lane in the entertainment district, though Mayor Rick Austin was opposed to including the property in question in the entertainment district due to its residential nature. The property is currently zoned for historic commercial use, according to Davis.
“I know that there are residents on Sosebee Lane that are probably not going to be happy with that particular [districting] issue,” Austin says. “I’d like for them to have an opportunity to chime in.”
Vacation rental tax
The council also discussed an excise tax for short-term tourism rentals, and all seemed to agree that a tax should be in place for tourist accommodations in the city. This is usually a small tax placed on a guest at a hotel or other short-term rental, which is commonplace in many cities in order to collect revenue from tourism.
“We’re losing revenue,” Davis said at the work session. “Not just on my units, but all the other ones [in Demorest].”
The council is likely to vote on the tax and other aforementioned items at their upcoming meeting. Those wishing to speak on any of these items should plan to attend the September 7 meeting, which will take place at 6 p.m. in the Demorest Municipal Court.
During Tuesday night’s meeting, the council and members of the audience made no public mention of a controversial self-published book written by Councilman John Hendrix’s wife, Vivian Fong. The book presents Fong’s version of events that have embroiled the city in multiple lawsuits since her husband became a councilman in 2019.
A livestream of the August 31 Demorest City Council work session may be viewed on the city’s Facebook page
