Walking Tours Ordinance Tabled Till Next Month

DAHLONEGA, Ga.- The City Council decided to table the walking tours ordinance until the next regular meeting to give time for a change that has been made to be properly reviewed by the community.

The Council did vote to accept two bids for the two Choice Street Projects. In addition, they grant the budget amendment for additional tourism funds to go towards the restroom restoration project.

Councilmember Ross Shirley and City Attorney Doug Parks worked together after the work session where the ordinance for the walking tours was first presented to make a change to section 10-129 violations. Shirley thought the original wording of the ordinance was too restrictive, see below for that original wording.

“Any individual or organization that violates the Rules and Regulations of Municipal Cemeteries will be prohibited from holding future tours or events in the cemetery. Independent violations of the law will also be prosecuted.”

Heard in the clip above is Parks explaining the new wording of the ordinance to the council. He is also explaining to the council the reasoning for the word choice.

Council member Roman Gaddis requested the table due to the fact that many council members only received the change just prior to the meeting and the community had not had time to review the change either. With his request, the motion to approve was withdrawn and it was tabled until the Nov. 7 meeting.

The ordinance with the change has not yet been posted. To keep an eye out for the ordinance with the change visit https://dahlonega.gov/.

The two Choice street projects that the council approved bids on were for the parking lot resurfacing and the sidewalk improvement. The parking lot resurfacing project came in at $87,264.50 and the original budget for the project was $34,418.60.

Due to rollover funds from the 2022 budget of $70,000 and the money already in the budget for 2023, there are enough funds to cover the low bid. The bidder was Colditz Trucking, Inc.

The sidewalk improvement project bid came in at $ 74,375.00 however due to uncertainty about a wall near the Head House project the request made to the council was actually $85,531.00. Capital Project Manager Vince Hunsinger has been working with Finance Director Allison Martin to come up with a plan on how to fund this project.

The budgeted price for the project was $41,715.50. The plan is to use $43,815.50 from the remaining TSPLOST fund. The council approved this course of action.

At the work session, Martin brought the council the request for an additional $25,000 in funds for the restroom renovation project. To review that meeting visit https://lumpkin.fetchyournews.com/2022/09/20/city-approves-iga-with-county/. The council voted to use tourism funds for the additional money needed to complete the project.