HELEN, Ga.- The Helen Commission voted to move forward on testing for a new well site on the Chattahoochee during the Jun. 21 meeting.

The commission also voted to grant two alcohol licenses. They also held a public hearing for the 2022/23 budget.

The Chattahoochee well site will cost a total of $306,000. For this initial step, they will drill an 8-in test well. This well will be for testing the water quality, and determining the flow rate for the well.

To do the test will cost between $20 to $25,000. Once the testing is completed if the well is found viable then the building and planning portion of the project will begin. That is where the bulk of the cost comes from. It will be $280,000.

This is one of two sites that are currently being looked at for possible wells. This is the cheap of the two options since the other involves purchasing land and grading to even begin the test. With that in mind, the commission tabled the second well option until another survey could be completed to determine another possible well location.

The first of the two alcohol licenses that were approved was for Vince Visuti the owner of Spice 55. The license is for the sale of beer, wine, liquor, and Sunday sales.

The second license was for Bruce William owner of Christoff’s Village. This license is just for beer and Sunday sales. Both applications were approved.

The commission also held a public hearing for the new budget. There were no public comments at the time of the meeting.

For an overview of the budget, the general fund is at 5.7 million. The commission did ask that two more full-time officers and all the equipment they would need be put in the budget. They also wanted to be sure there was an additional $50,000 for a park project.

The officers are already figured into the police department budget and the new vehicles will be added to the SPLOST fund. The revenue for the city comes primarily from hotel/motel tax and sales tax. There will be another public hearing before the commission votes on the budget.

The commission also is interested in pursuing ways to improve the cell phone signal in the city during the high volume times. It is dangerous for individuals in need of assistance to not be able to call out. At this time they are interested in anyone that has any ideas that can help with the problem. To find out how to contact the commissioners visit https://cityofhelen.org/index.php/government/city-officials/commissioners.