Helen Commission Discuss Dog Park
Community March 16, 2022
WHITE COUNTY, Ga.- The Rotary Club has approached Commissioner Steve Fowler about the possibility of opening a dog park on state land between the Hardman Trail access and the Helen Water Park.
John Albey the interim police chief brought the commission the report for Feb. and his plans for the police department. The commission also approved the first reading of two ordinances. The commission also tabled a discussion for a land swap with Lee Landress.
The Rotary Club would like to sponsor a dog park on the state land in between the Hardman Trail access and the Helen Water Park. The club approached the commission with the request because the state won’t approve the request from the Rotary Club. If the commission does approve the request the club will be responsible for paying and maintaining the park even though on paper the city will be responsible.
Interim Police Cheif John Albey while delivering his report to the commission.
Albey is the interim police chief after the termination of Police Cheif Brian Stephens. Albey is working closely with the White County Sheriff’s office during this time of transition. The commission voted to give City Manager Jerry Elkins the authority to help Albey get whatever he needs to get the police department to where it needs to be to protect the citizens and tourists of Helen.
“At this moment this is a work in progress, we are trying to get a chain of command in our police department reorganized, and have a fully functioning police department hopefully very soon,” explained Albey.
In the report, Albey delivered he stated there were 162 hours of foot patrols in the city of Helen to encourage visibility. There were also six drug arrests and three accidents. This was the report that was handed down to him. To find out more about the Helen Police Department visit https://www.cityofhelen.org/index.php/government/city-departments/police-department.
The two ordinances that had the first reading were ordinance 22-03-01 and 22-03-02. The first ordinance was an ordinance to authorize White County to handle Helen’s elections. The second ordinance was to update the brewpubs ordinance in accordance with the updates the State has made.
This was just a first reading so the new ordinances have not gone into effect yet. There will have to be another reading of both the ordinances before they are formally voted on.
The commissioners also voted to table a discussion for a land swap. Lee Landress is wanting to trade two parcels of land for one parcel the city owns. This will be addressed at the next scheduled meeting on Apr. 19 at 10:00 a.m.
There will also be a special call meeting on Friday, Mar. 18. The meeting will be held at 10:00 a.m at City Hall.
Council Discusses Short Term Rental Ordinance
Community February 15, 2022
CLEVELAND, Ga.- The City council discussed the current draft of the short-term rental ordinance and gave City Administrator Tom O’Bryant new directions for the next draft.
Ed Ward proposed to the board a referendum to have a distilled spirits package store where the J.W. Reeds restaurant used to stand. The council also discussed the pawnshop ordinance amendments and made the decision to review the ordinance more before moving forward at their next meeting.
The short-term rental ordinance is being considered due to the growing tourism industry in the county. O’Bryant brought the council the current draft of the short-term rental ordinance for their review. The ordinance was put before the council last year but due to a new council set to come in at the beginning of Jan. and some other concerns the council postponed any decision.
City Administrator Tom O’Byrant while addressing the council about the short-term rental ordinance.
The new draft that O’Bryant proposed took the prior concerns into consideration. However, the council still had other concerns with the new draft and gave O’Bryant new directions to revise the document with.
Some of the concerns were that the document is too strict on issues that regular citizens don’t have to deal with such as trash pick up and parking. The council wants the ordinance to be fair to everyone involved including the future business owners and their guests.
Ward brought to the council the possibility of opening up a package store in place of his former restaurant J.W. Reeds. Ward had an alcohol license for the restaurant before the fire happened so he is far enough away from Churches and Schools to have a package store.
White County Commissioner District 1 Terry Goodger was at the meeting and offered his opposition to having a package store in city limits.
“I would speak against the package liquor store, I don’t think we need that type of business in Cleveland. Cleveland has come a long way to change the ordinances in alcohol in town to accommodate the restaurants that we have here,” explained Goodger.
The next item that was discussed was the pawnshop ordinance that former Police Chief Foster had put on the books in 2008. The ordinance is keeping a potential pawn store from being able to operate in the city.
The owner of the potential business has almost met the requirements for ATF to issue their Federal-Firearm License or FFL. To understand more about the FFL visit https://www.atf.gov/resource-center/types-federal-firearms-licenses-ffls#:~:text=Types%20of%20Federal%20Firearms%20Licensees%20(FFLs)%3A&text=An%20individual%20who%20is%20licensed,in%20the%20business%20of%20firearms. The owner previously owned a pawn store in White County next to Yonah Burger.
At this time the council felt they needed more time to review the ordinance and the possible changes they would need to make to it so they postpone the first reading of it until the Mar. 7 meeting. The owner decided that since this seems to be a lengthy process for the time being he would only sell firearms out of his business.