“I should not have taken the word of the mayor who I’ve found out has lied about a lot of stuff,” Blue Ridge City Councilman Nathan Fitts said during a special called meeting Tuesday, May 19, which led to tabling the annexation amendment instead of rescinding it.
“I will never ever ever vote again without checking out the facts for myself, so I will take that one and that responsibility, which is why I want to rescind it tonight because I was given false information,” he said.
Fitts’ statement came after Councilwoman Robbie Cornelius asked why he didn’t table the item initially and learn the history.
“We were lied to and mislead about it honestly,” Fitts said.
The proposed annexation would include Highway 515 from the bridge over the Toccoa River near Tammen Park to Forge Mill Road and Highway 5 from Trails End Road to Gravely Gap.
The amendment was approved during a February 5 council meeting without much discussion; however, it was introduced in 2017 allegedly.
“I’ll be quite frank,” recently elected Councilman Mike Panter said. “I was at the meeting when it was voted in, and I was in shock with the way that it was done because, being a city resident, I had no knowledge whatsoever of it until it was voted on.”
Five guests, Rick Skelton, Anthony Holloway, Joe Foster, Mike Galinski and Danny Mellman spoke in favor of the proposed annexation, but ultimately, council members felt other action was needed before allowing the amendment to go through legislation.
Skelton explained that he first talked with the city about annexation back in the summer of 2017.
At that time, engineers came out and made projections, which was not paid for by the city, however, the city did pay Carter & Sloope for consultation on the matter.
Panter and Fitts explained that they are both in favor of the annexation but want things done “the right way.”
Fitts asked Skelton what exactly he wanted annexed in, to which Skelton replied by saying he had “assumed” all 38.6 acres of his property off of Highway 5 would be annexed into city limits.
Skelton added that he has already completed and submitted an application to the city.
“That would have been helpful to know because right now is the first time I’ve ever heard that as a council member,” Fitts said.
“I think we’ve got to give ample time ... to meet with, number one, the county because, again, they did not agree to it, and we have, I think, a letter from even Stan (Fannin County Commission Chairman Helton) in regards to it,” Fitts said. “I spoke with them (Board of Commissioners), and they said they did not know about it.”
On the contrary, Mayor Donna Whitener said there was a meeting in 2018 in which annexation was discussed between Helton, Whitener, Skelton and Christy Gribble, Fannin County Developmental Authority’s executive director.
Skelton agreed the meeting did occur.
“We’ve gotta have time to have a town hall meeting because we did not give our citizens any time to consider what could or couldn’t go on,” Fitts said. “So we just wanna go through the process right, and I understand time is of the essence. I get it ... we have to represent the citizens best and do what’s right.”
Cornelius added that a meeting with council members and Skelton was held also.
“I know we were there, and he was talking to all of us at that time, you know, letting us know what was going on,” she said.
Councilwoman Rhonda Haight said she has no knowledge of the meeting.
Fitts brought up that the city, without council approval, has paid City Attorney James Balli for various bills regarding annexation and charter amendments prior to its adoption.
“I can clear up that,” Balli said. “In 2019, a person made an application to be annexed in the city, about 62 acres. We sent the required notice under Title VI to the county, we had the required public hearings, and that’s what those charges are related to.”
Fitts retaliated by explaining that Balli should have clarified the charge before the meeting, knowing that there was a controversy over the matter and that the specific charges are not the only ones related to annexation and charter amendments.
“That’s not the only charge. I’ve got more on here, but you should, as our city attorney representative, you should have said, give clarification to what these charges were prior to being at the meeting,” Fitts said.
Balli replied by saying he did not recall being asked, but would have been happy to explain if asked prior.
The other charges were for “AV properties,” which constitutes a charter change, according to Whitener.
Haight pointed out that the charges for engineers are directly related to this annexation
Whitener reassured the council that the process they followed to pass the annexation was done legally, and she has had no citizen complaints.
“I think what we’re trying to establish is the council didn’t know about the annexation,” Haight said. “Two members in particular, until two days before the vote, which was called a charter change, so we were kinda left out on all of this, and that’s the problem.”
She went on to say that it is important to get the county commission’s input and come to an agreement with them.
“I have an email where I sent an email to him (Helton) asking for a meeting,” Whitener said. “He’s never responded.”
Haight said she also has an email from him, agreeing to have a meeting.
A motion was made to table the annexation amendment until further discussion is made, that matters be communicated to the General Assembly by Balli, and future discussion include the entire council, which passed unanimously.