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Published Thursday, February 09, 2012 in Local

Moreland council gets a verbal lashing

By Winston Skinner

The Newnan Times-Herald

Moreland's February town council meeting ended with fireworks as four community leaders lambasted the council for inaction and a lack of collegiality.

"You sit and you sit and you sit, and you don't ever come together on a single thing," Joyce Evans said at the meeting Tuesday night. "It's a crying shame."

Howard Wilson, Kathy Brown, Carol Chancey and Evans all took the council to task. Wilson, a retired banker, is chairman of the Moreland Cemetery Trust.

Chancey is the owner of Reel Southern Adventure, and she and her company have been working with the town and area tourism entities for several months in an effort to increase tourism in Moreland. Brown is secretary of the Moreland Cultural Arts Alliance, a new non-profit formed to coordinate tourism efforts in the town.

Evans, a former town clerk and council member, is the mother of the current mayor, Josh Evans.

Chancey used the strongest rhetoric -- recommending the town give its charter back to the state and "let (County Administrator) Theron Gay take over everything and do it" professionally. The way the council currently operates "is a disservice to everybody," she stated.

"This council does not have esprit de corps and does not act in the spirit of the agenda items," Chancey said. Joyce Evans said council members seem to be operating with "your own hidden agenda" instead of working together for the good of the town.

Chancey addressed the accumulation of Special Purpose Local Options Sales Tax dollars by the city.

She said that in three different votes, Moreland had asked the county's voters to approve some $1 million -- with about $700,000 remaining unspent. She said Tuesday's meeting had "no discussion, no agenda item" addressing spending any of that money.

Chancey also noted the town has come up with a list of items for next month's SPLOST vote. She said the council members "have no idea" how they will spend that money -- not having spent years of accumulated SPLOST dollars.

"You have not acted in good faith with the taxpayers of this city, much less in the best interests of the citizens of this county," Chancey said.

Brown touched on SPLOST as well. "I don't see you using the money to restore the mill, which is worth restoring," she said. Brown said she was troubled by the council's "unwillingness to spend any money."

Brown said Moreland's handling of SPLOST money to date "makes me very reluctant" to place more sales tax proceeds in the city's hands.

Wilson spoke of "the frustrations of the past several months." He said it is particularly disappointing that no one on the council has enough fortitude "to second a motion so you can discuss something."

"I do appreciate the time you spend, but you are not working together for the good of this community," Brown said. "I love this little town."

Wilson also said he loves "the little town of Moreland." He added, "This is my town."

Councilman Dick Ford expressed his own frustration during the meeting when he could not get a second on a motion to install an ice machine. The town has been working to get more rentals at the mill. It identified an ice maker as a plus in that process and advertised the space for weddings and meetings.

The ice machine was given to the town by First Baptist Church of Moreland.

Following brief discussion, Ford made a motion to install the ice machine that died for lack of a second. "If we're not going to do anything, let's just close this thing down and go home," Ford said.

The council delayed action on proposals by Terry Pylant of Historical Concepts and Mac Willett Engineering for architectural and engineering work, respectively, to turn the second floor of the mill into a media center to complement the local museums. Both proposals have been topics of discussion for several months.

Bell objected to any discussion of Pylant's proposal because it was addressed to MCAA rather than the town, and Burgess halted discussion of Willett's proposal by again suggesting the town use Chris Wigginton of Arco Engineering as the engineer on the mill project.

Arco had been considered for the project before Willett was chosen last year.

"I'd like to see Chris Wigginton do the drawings of the mill," Burgess said. Ford, who has been a firm proponent of using Willett because of that firm's experience with historic buildings, disagreed, recalling a meeting with Wigginton when Wigginton said the mill project was beyond his scope.

"I don't know why we're revisiting the Chris Wigginton thing again," Brown said. "We've discussed it over and over. We are beating a dead horse."

"Isn't the purpose here to try to get this building repaired?" Chancey asked. She said she felt the actions were simply delaying spending the SPLOST money collected for work at the mill.

"You've had the money for 14 years, and you haven't done anything," she concluded.

Willett and Pylant "have spent extensive time" putting the Moreland proposals together, Chancey said. She also said both are eminently qualified to do the work.

Chancey also talked about the closing of the Old South Junction Coffee Shop, which John Suttles operated for more than a year in the mill. "It's too bad Mr. Suttles didn't want to continue the coffee shop," she said. She urged the council to think about food service as an integral part of the effort to bring tourists and their dollars to Moreland.

Food service is "a cog in the economic development wheel," she said.

The council voted to pay Suttles $700 for improvements and furniture in the mill. The council took no action on a bill for $750 in antique lumber that belonged to Suttles and was removed from the mill without his knowledge.

"The wood was salvaged from an old building," Joyce Evans said. "It isn't something you can go down to Home Depot and buy," Chancey added.

Suttles "is not trying to be aggressive," Chancey said. "It's just a matter of fair play." Town Attorney Mark Mitchell said he did not believe the town had a legal obligation to reimburse Suttles for the lumber.

Chancey told the council the Friday night music gathering at the mill will cease at the end of February. Joyce Evans predicted the end of the popular event will have repercussions for council members.

"You're going to hear from the town, and you're going to hear from people in the county," she said.

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