Over the last few months, the Hartwell City Council has been tinkering with the idea of drafting a special events ordinance which streamline requests for events that require city services.
“We do have a lot of requests for special events and many of them are last second requests,” Hartwell mayor Brandon Johnson said. “We wanted to review a few existing ordinances and see where we can beef up some things, and get some things in writing.”
The council tasked city manager Jon Herschell and city attorney Rob Leverett to come up with a draft ordinance, which was presented during the council’s recent meeting Aug. 5.
“It would change how we do things,” Herschell said.
The draft would require a potential applicant to apply 60 days prior to the proposed event. More importantly, the proposed ordinance would require all relevant city departments including police, fire, sanitation, and public works to provide input in an effort to itemize the cost to the city.
“It’s a comprehensive plan put in place to make sure traffic is addressed, and that businesses and neighbors are notified,” Herschell said. “This is something that’s a good starting point.”
Johnson stated that Councilman Mike McNabb has been the city’s biggest proponent for putting a special ordinance in place, and has been beating the drum for a while.
“It’s great for downtown, but it’s not always great for downtown,” Johnson said. “If you own a business, and have that street closed blocking your business.”
As a former downtown business owner, McNabb has stressed the need for balancing this stuff out.
“Someone has to be the bad guy,” McNabb said.
Herschell said the plan is still being worked out regarding the application, but the fee the event organizer would be required to pay would be based on the itemized breakdown by city services.
“It depends on what you want to do an how big the event is,” Herschell said. “We’re not trying to get rich off this, but I just want to make sure our tax payers aren’t footing the bill for every special event that wants to come in. It may sound harsh, but it starts adding up.”
Mayor Johnson said these special events are outside of what’s considered a sanctioned event by the city, such as the Pre-4th Festival, Memorial Day, and the Monster Mash.
“These are already absorbed into the city,” Johnson said. “We’re already taking the cost of those on.”
Herschell stated the ordinance has provisions in place for non-profit organizations to be eligible for a 50% discount of what the normal fee would incur.
Councilman Tray Hicks said based off the businesses he’s talked to this ordinance is vital.
“The biggest thing I’ve heard is we don’t want to close the square anymore,” Hicks said. “Lets stop with what we’ve got.”
Johnson wholeheartedly agreed.
“When is enough, enough? Johnson asked. “When do we strongly recommend taking these events to private property such as church or commercial space where they don’t disrupt businesses or require street closures?”
Herschell recalled a recent event back in June of this year that made the case for an ordinance to be drafted.
“The point needs to be made that we had someone request to like come in on Father’s Day, and I asked how many people were participating and it was like 20 people,” Herschell said. “I felt like that was asking our employees to work overtime on Father’s Day for 20 people. I think we need to have some things in place.”
But, as councilman Dan Leard pointed out, this isn’t a hard no to every proposed event.
“We’re not saying no to all unsanctioned events, we’re just saying be thoughtful and be planning and appropriate to what we are doing,” Leard said.
The proposed ordinance was distributed to the council and recommended changes could be brought forth during its next meeting.
Speaking of events, the council approved the closure of Railroad St. on Oct. 31 for the annual Mayor’s Monster Mash and costume contest. The event will be held from 4-6 p.m and Railroad St. will be closed off from 2:00-7:00 p.m.
The monster mash is a part of the city’s annual list of sanctioned events.
Downtown Development Authority Director Jason Ford also stated that the annual fall scarecrows will be in place the second or third week in September.
The council also approved the re-zoning of two parcels of land on Vickery St. from R-1A residential to B-1. The property is the former Hartwell Alliance Church which closed down several years ago and is located near the county administrative building.
Ford said that the B-1 zoning is a mixture of residential and business parcels, and was recommended by the city’s planning and zoning board.
The property is up for sale and there are no plans by the current owner to develop it.
The city also approved an alcohol license for local business owner Omar Vega. Vega currently owns 329 Bar & Grill on W. Franklin St, but requested the license for his new location around the corner on N. Forest Ave. where his Rolling Chef’s restaurant is currently located.
Vega plans to turn that facility into a sports bar with seating for 110 people including a small patio. He said construction on the sports bar is underway, and hopes to have the new restaurant open in the next two months.
Finally, the council discussed the recent joint meetings between the city and county regarding a proposed T-SPLOST referendum.
Councilman McNabb, the chair of the council’s traffic committee, has been working with both the county and the Georgia Department of Transportation, on what improvements are needed, and said he hoped to have a finalized plan early next year.
“We hope to have what is exactly on the ballot, how much exactly what it’s going to cost, and what the time frame will be, McNabb said. “Hopefully we can get some matching money from the state.”
Johnson said he hopes the city and county can come together to build a tangible list of projects so voters will know exactly what there going to get an hold all governments accountable.
Councilman Leard wanted to assure citizens that both entities are working on what’s best for the city and the county.
“We try our best to come up with mutually agreed projects to show that we are working together, and that it benefits not only the citizens of Hartwell but the Hart County area,” Leard said.