CORNELIA – More than a dozen Cornelia property owners gathered at the Cornelia Community House Thursday night to meet with city leaders over what they call “threatening letters” sent by city officials about their properties.
Some of those in attendance said they received letters from city officials saying their properties are blighted, while others argued the city is asserting their property is abandoned when it is not.
The meeting started off with an initial stalemate after property owner Joe Goss objected to Adam Hazell of the Georgia Mountains Regional Commission facilitating.
“I object to him speaking,” Goss told Cornelia officials. “We’ve come up here to hear what commissioners have to say. We don’t want somebody from Gainesville coming up here to tell us how to live or something that ought to be done. You guys need to tell it. You were elected by the people of the city.”
Hazell attempted to allay Goss’s concerns saying, “I was invited to come and help with the meeting. That way they could hear you guys as an audience and organize notes as far as what you want because there’s obviously been friction between what they’ve been trying to put in place as the council of the town.”
Hazell stressed he was not attending to put forth any suggestions to city leaders, but rather to organize the meeting so city leaders could focus on listening to and interacting with the audience.
“The whole focus of tonight will really be them hearing what is or is not working from the ordinances,” Hazell said. “These ordinances were put in place as part of what they thought would be a tool to help bring about some of the change that folks have wanted to see downtown.”
Property owners agreed to let the meeting proceed.
Thursday’s meeting was planned after property owners Jeff Cantrell, Herbert Head and Don Higgins attended a Cornelia City Commission work session on Feb. 5 after receiving letters about blighted properties. At the conclusion of that discussion, Cantrell proposed setting up work sessions to discuss the issue further.
Thursday night, Head, Cantrell, Goss, Mark White, Carol Lovell and others asked questions and shared their concerns with city leaders.
Questions arose about the city’s stormwater utility fees assessed on every property in the city, how those fees are determined, what they’re used for and how much money is in that separate account.
Goss said he was only aware of one meeting where the fees were discussed, saying that one happened after the city commission approved implementing them.
City Manager Donald Anderson said the local newspaper ran some 15 articles about the stormwater utility fees prior to their implementation.
Others questioned if the fee is permanent, or if there is a cap on how much revenue can be collected.
Hazell encouraged city leaders to consider increasing education about that program to answer questions and foster a better understanding of them.
On the issue of vacant buildings and blighted properties, Cantrell pointed out, as did Head, that bringing old buildings up to the level the city wants them doesn’t make financial sense for the property owners.
Anderson said an older city ordinance creates a vacant property registry, and that an annual inspection is required, at a cost of $100, to ensure the property isn’t becoming unsafe.
Cantrell called that required inspection “a fee generator” for the city, pointing out property owners, not the city, ultimately determine what an owner does with his or her property.
By the end of the meeting, several property owners had left, but others proposed ideas for improved communication between the city and property owners; advocated that the city post banners on construction dumpsters putting a positive spin when buildings are undergoing renovation; encouraged the city to list available properties to help market what is available in town; and encouraged the city to take a more positive approach to communication rather than a threatening tone in initial correspondence.
At least two more such meetings will be held, with the next one likely in April.
