Toccoa City Commission to meet twice Monday

The Toccoa City Commission will meet twice this coming Monday. 

First, at 3 p.m., Commissioners are scheduled to meet for a work session in the city commission meeting room at City Hall, 92 North Alexander Street in Toccoa. 

There are five topics for discussion listed on the agenda.

FIrst on the agenda is discussion of Police Camera Proposals. In a September 14 letter to then-city manager Billy Morse, city Finance Director Becky Bohannon noted that the current Toccoa Police policy is for all “on-road officers to have cameras,” and currently, all officers are issued body cameras, and all patrol cars are supplied with car cameras. According to the letter, due to the age of the Police Department’s current cameras, they can no longer get parts for repairs and cannot obtain new batteries. There are also no additional cameras in stock with the city to issue to new officers when they graduate from the Academy. 

The proposal under discussion is for a contract with Axon Enterprise, Inc, of Arizona, for 30 body cameras on a 5-year contract at $36,708 per year, with a five-year total of $183,540. An additional contract for 20 car cameras on a 5-year contract at $53,642 per year, for a 5-year total of $268,212 is proposed. The body cameras would be available by November of this year, while the car cameras would not be available until July of next year. 

In the letter to Morse, Bohannon said “my suggestion would be to sign the agreement and move forward with the body cameras. I think we should wait on the car cameras, since that would be a new budget year. It (the contracts) would be paid for from the existing budget for the police department.”  

Next up is discussion of East Foreacre Street improvements and a Norfolk Southern lease agreement.

The matter was addressed in a recent letter from Assistant Planning Director Jeremy Ward to the commission in which he requested that a current lease of six tracts of land from Norfolk Southern be extended to include an additional section of property. The current parcels under lease are adjoining the railroad downtown and by the Doyle Street Park. The property proposed for inclusion in the lease is between Pond Street and Hill Street. According to Ward, the total cost for the lease of the additional parcel of property will be approximately $10,000 and the yearly maintenance on the property will range between $300-$500.

Discussion of an intergovernmental agreement with Stephens County for Fire Marshal services is up next. In the proposed agreement between Toccoa and Stephens County, the city would “provide the use of the city fire marshal for review of any building and facility construction drawings for the purpose of determining compliance with fire protection codes and standards as adopted by the county, as well as provide on-site inspections that would require the use of a Fire Marshal.”

Fourth on the agenda is a discussion of how to address the topic of “happy hour” in the Alcohol Beverage Control Ordinance. Under the current city ordinances, “no holder of any license for consumption on the premises shall engage in the sale of alcoholic beverages during any special period of the day at prices lower than cusotmearily charged at the premises for alcoholic beverages during the remainder of the day.” Additional restrictions are included in the ordinance on “two for one” type sales of alcoholic beverages.

The final item on the agenda is a discussion of a Lake Yonah Withdrawal Permit with Georgia Power. The current withdrawal permit expires at the end of this year. According to notes on the agenda item, Georgia Power is asking for $166,943.70 to maintain the city’s current 6MGD withdrawal. Options include lowering the withdrawal permit to a number more in line with actual usage. Reducing to 5MGD would cost $139,119.75, while 4MGD would be a cost of $111,295.80.

The regular meeting of the Toccoa City Commission will take place at 5 p.m. on Monday. Agenda items for that meeting include consideration of a Proclamation for Georgia Military Veterans Hall of Fame Day, consideration of ABC Board Ordinance recommendations, public hearing on a rezoning request for property on Prather Bridge Road and a public hearing on an annexation request by the city for eight properties on Black Mountain Road, Falls Road, Highway 123, Fern Valley Drive, Ayers Drive, Swift Street and Old LIberty Hill Road. Also on the agenda is consideration of appointments to fill unexpired terms on the Downtown Development Authority.