Quarrels between City of Blue Ridge Council members resulted in the cancellation of the November 4 special called meeting the day of the meeting.
The meeting was called to address the work being performed and the overall closure of the city’s downtown playground, which has all taken place without being brought before the council.
“(Councilman Mike) Panter threatened, he said, ‘I will,’ you know, basically, ‘if you vote for mulch instead of rubber paddin’, then I will hold you personally liable, and I’m bringing two attorneys with me to the meeting,’” Councilwoman Rhonda Haight said in an interview with The News Observer.
As a result, Haight reached out to City Attorney James Balli who advised that he be present for the meeting but was not able to attend that day, resulting in the meeting’s cancellation.
On the other hand, the cancellation notice claimed there was “no business to discuss” as the reason for canceling the meeting.
Panter also confirmed that the meeting was canceled as a result of Balli not being able to attend.
When asked about the accusation, Panter said, “The only thing I told the other council members (is) they need to be, to understand the liability that we have as a council when we have a park that is not in compliance. ... I’m smarter than that.”
On the other hand, Haight said, “He said this in City Hall in front of witnesses.”
Panter made the public aware that the park is not up to code during an October 6 workshop where he explained that the mulch is not sufficient on its own given the height of the slide.
It was later discovered that mulch is acceptable as long as it is 12 inches deep and is replaced every six months.
The playground's mulch was only 3 inches deep.
It was advised, that night, by Blue Ridge Business Association President Cesar Martinez to make any necessary improvements before Thanksgiving as he suggested the city will see an influx of visitors that weekend.
After the discovery, Panter began looking into incorporating artificial grass to replace the mulch altogether.
During a special called meeting October 20, Panter explained that he was not ready to move forward with the installation of grass and said he would have a decision ready to present to the council by their next scheduled meeting October 29.
However, by the next day, Panter had the park locked and closed to the public, which ultimately resulted in a called meeting for Wednesday, November 4.
The October 29 meeting was canceled due to damages resulting from Tropical Storm Zeta.
The abrupt closure of the park brought criticism across the city and from council members with Haight accusing Panter of acting out of his bounds.
The park was just re-opened in early August after being closed due to COVID-19.
In an email chain between council members, dated October 30, Haight said, “I’ve spoken to three council members who are like me and want to get mulch ordered so that we can get the playground in compliance ASAP.”
She continued by explaining she’s talked with a company, and the council could go ahead and approve the invoice to ratify at the next meeting.
She added that she was “not ready to spend over $80,000 on padding.”
In response, Panter said, “It is hard for me to deal with stupid. We are not going to make a bad decision because of a terrible decision made by the previous council. Beginning Monday, we will be removing the current mulch to the city pool park, which is being cleaned out and prepped for this mulch.”
As promised, Panter had 4-V Ranch workers out at the park Monday performing the work.
In the interview with The News Observer, Haight explained that Panter did not have the authority to have the workers out there as the council agreed previously that any work to be performed by the company, outside the scope of their contract, must be brought before the council.
While Financial Director Alicia Stewart and Haight were having a private conversation at City Hall about Panter’s work and the agreement, Panter arrived.
“He must have heard me telling her that (that Panter did not have the authority to give 4-V Ranch the task of cleaning out the park), and he said, ‘I can do it. It’s under my spending limit,’ and I said, ‘Mike, we voted last week at the meeting specifically that anything outside that scope that we would vote on it,’ and he got mad and said, ‘I’ll just pay for it myself,’” Haight said.
In the email, Panter added that he’s negotiated the price down to $60,000, and the mulch would cost the city $6,000 to $10,000 every six months.
“Do the math,” he said in the email. “I too, as well as all of the citizens, want the children to be able to play on the playground, but my number one concern is the safety of the children and the liability for the city.”
“He doesn’t understand that we’re a council of five,” Haight said. “I think he’s following on the Donna Whitener path. Just do what you wanna do basically.”
She added that she doesn’t believe he has had his required Georgia Municipal Association training.
Panter later confirmed that he has not yet had the training but plans to in February or March.
The state mandates that the training be completed within 12 months from taking office.
Panter took office in April 2020.