Thursday night’s Board of Education work session opened a conversation with the BOE surrounding Project Stay, a hotel development plan in Cornelia that was recently approved by the Habersham County Development Authority and the Habersham County Commission. The Project is expected to bring in new business and revenue to the county.
Partnership Habersham executive director Charlie Fiveash appeared before the Habersham Board of Education to further explain the details of the project. While it was not essential to consider the BOE’s input on Project Stay, Fiveash said he saw the BOE as a “vital stakeholder” in the project.
Fiveash expects the hotel to bring in more revenue for the school system due to the property taxes and sales tax generated by the hotel and restaurants that are expected to open in Habersham with the new hotel. “We’re working as a community together to ensure that this is a project that everybody’s behind,” Fiveash said. “with your blessings and approval, we would certainly welcome and covet your support of this project.”
The school system has estimated that they would receive an extra $29,200 in sales tax with this new development. “This is a good thing,” Chairman Russ Nelson said. “I mean, this is money that we do not currently have, and an opportunity to make a substantial amount of money.”
The Board will meet Monday, Jan. 11 for their regular meeting at 6 pm, a livestreaming link will be provided on their website at the time of the meeting. The Jan. 8 work session can be viewed in full here.
