Toccoa City Commission to Meet for Annual Planning Session and Regular Meeting Today

Toccoa City Commissioners will be looking ahead to the coming year as they meet today for the Commission’s annual planning meeting.

The meeting will begin at noon at City Hall, and the meeting is expected to last throughout the day. The annual planning session gives the City Commission and City department heads from the utilities, public works, police, human resources, fire, finance and community development departments a chance to meet and discuss the status of each department and to set goals for the coming year.

Also included in the agenda for the planning meeting is a tour of City Hall. 

The City Commission will also meet at 5 p.m. for a regularly scheduled meeting. On the agenda under new business is the reading of a proclamation recognizing February as Black History Month, consideration of FY2024 budget amendments, consideration of the FY2025 budget calendar, a public hearing for a rezoning request, discussion of a utilities department project in Rabun County, and consideration of an intergovernmental agreement with the county regarding paving projects. 

Regarding the amendment to the FY2024 budget, a memo to commissioners from City Manager Fredda Wheeler states that the amendments are those that were agreed to by commissioners during the January 8 meeting regarding the Tugalo Street Greenspace. She states, “There is no change to the bottom line of the general fund, but line items were amended between departments. In total, $23,504 was added to a new line item for the Tugalo Greenspace.”

Regarding the FY2025 Budget Calendar, the proposed calendar schedules budget meetings between department heads and the city manager beginning March 12, with a proposed budget presented to the city commission on April 8. Department heads are scheduled to meet with the city manager and city commissioners on April 22, with public hearings on the proposed budget scheduled for Monday, May 29 and Monday, June 10 at the regularly scheduled commission meeting, with adoption of the budget schedule for the June 10 meeting, following the public hearing. 

Regarding the rezoning request, a property owner is requesting rezoning of a parcel of property located between Big A Road and Colonial Drive from Commercial zoning to Wholesale Business zoning in order to build climate-controlled self-storage units. The Toccoa Planning Commission’s recommendation is for the commission to approve the request. 

Regarding the utilities project in Rabun County, the Georgia Department of Transportation is conducting a road work project that DOT has informed the city will require the relocation of Toccoa Natural Gas distribution lines – a project the city estimates will cost in excess of $3M. The city requested assistance in funding for the relocation from DOT, and has been informed by DOT officials that the state will fund 85% of the construction costs, or an estimated $2,559,468.46, leaving the city responsible for 15%, or $451,670.90. The City will also be responsible for 100 % of the preliminary engineering costs for the project, according to the DOT funding assistance offer. Also, according to the DOT documentation, the relocation work will be conducted as part of the DOT Project, by the party or parties contracted to complete the DOT road project.

Regarding the proposed intergovernmental agreement with the County, portions of the following city streets are proposed for repaving in 2024: Stephens Circle, Braswell Street, Brady Street, Lewis Street, Pawnee Street, Pressley Way, Willowdell Drive, Pebble Court, Orr Street, Sycamore Circle, Greenwood Circle, Collier Road, Henderson Falls Road, Toccoa Place, Taylor Alley and Mitchell Street. 

The next meeting of the Toccoa City Commission will be February 12 at 5 p.m.