Towns County Sole Commissioner Cliff Bradshaw provided an update on several county projects when he met with Towns County Democrats on Thursday, Feb. 10.
Prominent among them was upcoming renovations to the county courthouse in Hiawassee. The renovations are being funded with proceeds from a 1% Special-Purpose Local-Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) approved by voters in 2020. While the coronavirus pandemic and resulting supply-chain problems have delayed the project’s start, the interest accumulating on the $2.3 million now in the SPLOST account have been a silver lining in face of inflation, which has raised the courthouse project cost from $8 million to $9.5 million, Bradshaw said.
“We’re gaining interest, not paying interest” on a bond that Bradshaw said he purposefully did not secure due to the pandemic’s uncertainty. “The county is doing very well financially. We have been very frugal since COVID hit,” he said.
The courthouse renovations are expected to take 12 to 14 months to complete. County offices will vacate the building and move into the old county recreation center, where improvements to the HVAC system will begin within the next two weeks, resulting in a bonus of better air conditioning for local pickleball players when they resume rainy-day matches there. Bradshaw also reported that a new covered pavilion with restrooms and picnic tables will be built at the Towns County Pickleball Complex. He did not give a timeline for that project.
As the SPLOST is a six-year tax, Bradshaw said funds generated by it will be available to replenish the county’s “rainy-day” fund from which money may also be drawn to pay for the courthouse and other projects. “We hope to have [the courthouse project] paid for in full, with no loans and no interest due, by opening day,” he said.
In the meantime, Bradshaw said he will continue to improve county wages, which he noted have increased 50 cents per hour each year since he took office in 2017, and to upgrade all of the county’s equipment.
As the county grows, Bradshaw said “We are trying to stay ahead of the growth that we know is coming.” As a result, he said the county will be updating its ordinances and will take steps for stricter enforcement of its permitting process, particularly building permits, and enforcement of such measures as the Mountain Protection Act which limits the amount of soil, trees, and vegetation that can be removed from land above 2,200 feet in elevation.
“We’re not going to let people move up here and scalp our mountains and decrease our property values,” he said, adding that doing so would damage the very things that attract newcomers and visitors to Towns County.
Another update Bradshaw mentioned was a change at the county transfer station, i.e., the county dump, where residential and commercial garbage are now disposed of in separate and distinct areas. Anything bagged is considered residential, he said. The new system should result in a cleaner and faster experience, he said.
In response to a question about the potential for crypto-mining facilities coming to Towns County, Bradshaw said the county is looking into a 120-day moratorium which could be considered at the next commissioner’s meeting. The moratorium would be followed by an ordinance “that would make it so strict they would not want to come here,” he said.
“I still love coming to work every day,” Bradshaw concluded with obvious enthusiasm.
Towns County Democrats meet the second Thursday of each month at 6 p.m. at the county civic center in Hiawassee.
County Chair Charlotte Sleczkowski reminds voters that applications for absentee ballots for the May 24 primary will be available starting March 7 and the application period will close May 13. She emphasized that the application period is shorter this election cycle than in previous years because of Georgia’s new voting law.
