The Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA) announced Tuesday that the city of Baldwin was awarded a $1,036,000 loan to upgrade its water infrastructure with a water transmission line.
The loan will allow Baldwin to install a transmission line from its water treatment plant to its own distribution system. This will improve the city’s water distribution and reduce the flow from Demorest.
Baldwin currently uses Demorest’s pipes to move water from Baldwin’s water treatment facility to its booster pump station.
“It’s incredibly important for us to have our own lines,” said Baldwin Mayor Joe Elam Tuesday. “Demorest has two different lines supplying that transmission line, and one on its own is just not adequate enough. Having this transmission line would assure that we’d be getting water to our system and to the entire southern portion of Habersham County.”
The 20-year loan will carry a 1.94% interest rate, and the city is eligible for up to $310,800 of loan forgiveness. Now that the city has been approved for the money, the council will decide whether to proceed with the project at an upcoming meeting.
VARIANCE DENIED
Baldwin’s city council denied a setback variance request for two lots in the Highland Pointe subdivision. The request would have moved one side setback facing the street on each lot from 35 feet to 23 feet.
In July, the council approved six front setback variance requests in the subdivision, but Councilman Jeff Parrish cautioned against continuing to allow building variances.
“We have a habit on the council of almost automatically approving variances,” Parrish said, “and that is something we probably need to get out of the habit of doing.”
Jamie Wetherton of Eagle Home Builders said the request would give more space between the new construction and existing homes, as corner lots face a 35-foot minimum setback from the street on two sides instead of one side like other lots.
Todd Murphy, a Highland Pointe resident whose home is behind one of the lots, spoke against the request.
“There are 95 houses in this subdivision right now. They have stacked these houses in there like flapjacks,” Murphy said. “I’m not accustomed to saying that a person can’t make money, but when they come up here another time requesting another variance to push back another 12 feet on another lot … it’s just not right.”
Wetherton rebutted, saying he hoped to gain ground on the other side to move closer to the road and away from Murphy.
When the hearing was closed, Mayor Joe Elam entertained a motion to approve the request’s first reading, but it received no second. City Attorney Bubba Samuels then advised the council to deny the request if all opposed. Parrish made a motion to deny it, which passed unanimously.
FREE FIRE TRUCK
The Baldwin Fire Department is set to regain a full fleet of trucks after the council accepted a truck from the Lumpkin County Fire Department.
“I don’t have an x-ray machine, and I can’t predict the future, but everything that we can check has checked out fine mechanically,” said Baldwin Fire Chief Joe Roy.
The city will only pay around $550 for an oil change and to replace the truck’s lettering with Baldwin’s name and city symbol. “As far as equipping it, I won’t need anything because I’d be taking everything off the old truck and putting it on this one,” Roy said.
In May, the city was down to a single truck after two of its engines experienced mechanical issues. Since then, the council approved the purchase of a used truck.
In other business, the council:
• Voted 4-0 to authorize an expenditure not to exceed $178,716 for a new patrol car and police computers. The city would be reimbursed by CARES Act funds. Parrish abstained from the vote.
• Approved an amendment to its 2020 fiscal year budget. The amendment moves $29,000 from the police department, which was under budget, to the fire department to cover a truck that was approved for purchase by the council at the end of the 2019 fiscal year and did not arrive until 2020.
• Voted 4-1 an amendment to its 2021 fiscal year budget. The amendment authorizes the using of CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) Act funds, additional tax revenue and a reduction in council pay to finance two public safety positions. Parrish was the dissenting vote.
• Approved the first reading of the ad valorem tax rate for the 2020 tax year. Habersham County residents’ rollback rate remains the same at 7.504 mills. For Baldwin residents in Banks County, the rate is set at 1.675 mills. This is a decrease from 2019’s rate of 1.689 mills.