Editor's Note:
The attending council members and the statement of a quorum at the meeting were erroneous in the print and e-edition.
Attending the meeting were Baldwin Mayor Stephanie Almagno, Councilwoman Alice Venter and Councilman Erik Keith – a majority of the city council – as well as Chief Administrative Officer Emily Woodmaster.
The City of Baldwin declares a quorum as the mayor, along with three city council members. Only two city council members attended the meeting alongside the mayor.
A correction to the story will be published on page two of the Weekend Edition of The Northeast Georgian.
Members of Baldwin’s city council showed up without public notice to Thursday’s Habersham County Development Authority meeting to air a grievance with Development Authority Board Member Mike Franklin.
Attending the meeting were Baldwin Mayor Stephanie Almagno, Councilwoman Alice Venter and Councilman Maarten Venter – as well as Chief Administrative Officer Emily Woodmaster.
In an email to Development Authority Chairman Jim Butterworth which The Northeast Georgian obtained through a public records request, Woodmaster requested an in-person meeting prior to the development authority meeting adding “However, we do intend to come to that meeting as well.”
In two separate responses to the email, Franklin apologized, while Woodmaster pushed for a meeting on one of two dates. Franklin replied he was unavailable to meet at those dates and times.
In her comments at Thursday’s meeting, Woodmaster claimed that Franklin accused the city of charging arbitrary costs for permits to demolish a building within the city limits and refused to meet with city officials privately.
The demolition of the building has been a year-long process between the city and Franklin.
“On Jan. 17, just before closing, Mr. Franklin came to city hall with a request for a demolition permit update for his client and began accusing our city of charging arbitrary costs for permitting, further saying it could be $25 or $25,000,” Woodmaster said. “Our clerk asked Mr. Franklin if he would like to speak with city leaders, and he refused all offers.”
Butterworth defended Franklin and the board itself, stating he personally attempted to facilitate a meeting between the parties after the initial offers to meet made by Baldwin were declined due to scheduling.
Woodmaster went on to explain that Franklin was looking to develop a property that would cost between $2.5 and $3 million in water and sewer installation alone.
“He talked about a project that he proposed to bring into Baldwin that would cost $3 million for water and sewer,” Woodmaster said. “He stated that he was trying to bring in housing to Baldwin so we didn’t have to catch all of the ‘poor’ people of Habersham and become nothing but Title 8 housing.”
Franklin defended his statements, implying that his language was misinterpreted.
“There’s several key elements in that statement that aren’t there,” Franklin said. “What I said was I don’t want to see anything where we would limit housing to things such as Title 8. The comments were in the context of ‘Is there anything I can do with this property that would benefit Baldwin?’”
Franklin apologized for the misinterpretation that was had in a frustrated state over demolition permits.
“That’s why I apologize. Because you’re responsible for not just what you say but how it’s heard, and I’m not going to tell you that they heard it because I didn’t say any of that in a different context,” Franklin said. “The context was: how do we use stuff like that and yes we did try to put a 40-apartment complex on which I was asking and Fletcher Holliday did compute the fees.”
Franklin understands the importance of a good relationship between the county and the City of Baldwin, as much of the county’s industrial and commercial businesses are located in Baldwin.
“I have no desire to see Baldwin hurt,” Franklin said. “My Lord, it has our only industrial park in it right now.”
Woodmaster seemed to agree with Franklin’s sentiments about a good relationship between the two governing bodies.
“Our job as public servants is to serve the people in this community, not judge them for who they are, what they have, where they live or why they’re here. We should be advancing our communities through intentional growth, strategic development and meeting the needs of our community through services provided by a plethora of agencies and ensuring our community is safe from harm,” Woodmaster said. “We are a team, not just in Baldwin but all public servants in Habersham County, serving in many different capacities. We should not be infighting amongst our fellow public servants. We should all build one another up, advancing goals and supporting our respective agencies because, after all, we represent Habersham County, not just ourselves.”