City Hall moves forward with airport improvements

Blairsville Mayor Buddy Moore and the City Council held a called meeting on Thursday, May 29, to conduct business related to the Runway Improvement Project at the Blairsville Municipal Airport.

Specifically, the council greenlit Croy Engineering, which does other projects at the airport, to begin the process of determining the value of easements needed for obstruction clearing – namely, trees – on private property adjacent to the airport.

There will also be one property acquisition attached to the valuation process for a parcel that contains a building that needs to be removed.

Once this process is completed, and the easements and parcel have been acquired, the obstructions will be cleared to regain about 1,000 feet of displaced runway for pilots landing at the airport.

For the agreement, the city will be paying Croy Engineering $7,872.22, which is 5% of the total project cost. The remainder of the $157,444.31 project is being paid with federal and state monies.

Mayor Moore is hoping to get the obstructions cleared this year, but there is no official timeline on the project.

Additionally, council members approved the purchase of a $7,000 Kubota Cutter from Nelson Tractor Company to do some necessary bush-hogging at the airport.

Also at City Hall last month, the council held a public hearing on a sign ordinance amendment, during which there were no comments from the public.

In the follow-up regular meeting that Tuesday, May 13, the council voted unanimously to revise the sign ordinance to allow for a second free-standing sign and wall sign for businesses with double street frontages.

At the suggestion of Councilwoman Mary Ruth Cook, the council amended the proposed ordinance revision to change the height limit of the second free-standing sign to 10 feet rather than 20 feet.

Justin Burruss of Rushton & Company presented findings from the 2024 financial audit, deemed clean. Revenues increased by 5.3%, or $131,287, while expenditures increased 9.8%, or $214,799. Such a pattern, Burruss said, was consistent with inflation seen across the board.

Water Treatment Superintendent Danny Dillard noted that “things are still going good” at the plant but noted that the beginning of May saw a significant water leak on an 8-inch line in the Town Creek area that took three days to find.

About 1.5 million gallons were lost during that time, but the leak was fixed. There’s still a “high amount” of water loss, but Dillard assured the council the issue was being investigated.

Police Chief Michael “Bear” Baxter said car accidents have decreased with the use of new left-hand turn signals in town, and he added that the Georgia Department of Transportation had shared long-awaited plans to lower the speed limit of Georgia 515 through city limits to 40 mph.

There are also efforts to enhance the work of the Blairsville Police Department, with the arrival of new vests that have received positive feedback from officers.

Chief Baxter proposed replacements for all eight police vehicles, though with a specific plan to save funds. The council agreed to trade in six; two new vehicles will be bought, but it remains to be decided whether the two old vehicles will be traded or sold as surplus.

Downtown Development Authority Director Kristen Bentley shared plans to look into local housing issues via attending a retreat for the Georgia Initiative for Community Housing and learning about what steps might be taken to move toward affordable housing in Blairsville.

One possible first step is to send out surveys to business owners asking what they need to see in terms of supporting employee housing.

Army Rangers will be returning to the Blairsville Airport June 1-6 for training, said Airport Manager Dan Firebaugh, who admitted that the event would be great for business because of the gas-guzzling capabilities of the Chinook helicopters – and the public’s fascination with them.

City Attorney Marvin Harkins explained some bills signed during and immediately following the Georgia General Assembly’s latest session, including a new law that increases the minimum bid threshold of public works contracts from $100,000 to $250,000.

The council can adopt the measure if they choose but made no decision at the May regular meeting.

“Our current retirees are now on a fixed rate of retirement income for (Georgia Municipal Association) and the city,” said Mayor Moore, introducing the possibility of offering a raise for retired city workers.

Moore said that some former employees had approached City Hall and voiced difficulty with the cost of living: “Everybody knows about inflation … I think it’s something to look into.”

Before any final decision can be made, however, the Georgia Municipal Association must conduct a study worth $1,300 into the validity of increasing retirement benefits. The council was open to the idea of the increase and unanimously agreed to the investigation.

Council members also approved the use of $21,600 in SPLOST monies to pay for civil engineering services regarding a paving project on Blue Ridge Street, with Carter Engineering to provide the work.

To take advantage of a better interest rate, the council voted to ratify a General Fund investment of two $1 million certificates of deposit with Pinnacle Bank, one for six months and the other for 12 months. This was a change from an April vote to invest with a different bank.

The City Council meets the second Tuesday of each month starting at 6 p.m. inside City Hall at 62 Blue Ridge Street.