DELTA VILLAGE COUNCIL: Tensions Run High Over Staffing & Zoning

By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse@thevillagereporter.com

Testy exchanges over staffing and zoning peppered the meeting of a divided council Monday evening. A “new” public works employee was the first point of contention.

Although Village Administrator Andy Glenn said the man was an existing parks and streets employee who was now working instead under the public works and water departments, spending some time working at the water plant, some council members were displeased.

Council Member Anthony Dawson said his understanding was that there was only to be one employee for the recently created public works department, with assistance coming from the other departments as needed.

Dawson was concerned whether the job had an official description and wondered why the council hadn’t been notified of the development. When questioned by Glenn whether it was in the budget, Glenn said that it was.

Council member Lynn Frank said she had taken some additional training and would be reviewing the village budget more closely, and that she would check on that.

“There was a lot of work not being done,” Glenn said in defense of moving the employee. According to Glenn, one employee was not able to keep up with new work, much less catch up on things that were already falling through the cracks prior to the department’s creation.

Things heated up further when the Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) tax abatements came up.

Prior to the beginning of regular business, former mayor Dan Miller (2008 to 2019, preceded by more than eight years as a council member) addressed the council to voice his disagreement with statements made by Glenn at a prior meeting regarding a lack of foresight by officials who passed the original CRA.

Miller said the pre-1994 CRA – which allows a 100 percent, 10-year property tax abatement on new development within the zone guaranteed to all qualified applicants – is a tool, and like any tool was meant for a specific application. He was concerned about removing a tool available to the village in order to gain negotiating power.

CRAs under the new rules implemented in 1994 (hence the “pre-1994” and “post-1994” status of active zones) have no such guarantee for applicants.

While the village would be able to authorize anything up to the prior baseline of 100 percent for 10 years, it could also negotiate to whatever the situation calls for, or even to outright deny an application if that is deemed prudent.

In addition, any deal including an abatement of greater than 75 percent for more than 10 years would also require the approval of the Pike-Delta-York Local School District Board of Education.

Miller minced no words regarding the school district, mentioning a mediator hired by the Fulton County Economic Development Commission as a go-between for the village and the school district, then slamming the district for “crying poverty.”

PDY Superintendent Jon Burke was present at the meeting and spoke at Glenn’s invitation. Like Miller, Burke recognized the troubled nature of the relationship between the school district and the village, saying there was a “fracture” between them. Despite that, he focused on their shared goals.

While they all might have different interests, everyone involved wants what’s best for kids and for the community, he said.

During the school board meeting (the Wednesday following the council meeting), Burke said the total annual amount the district loses due to tax abatements is estimated at $550,000. “What a post-’94 does is allows us a seat at the table,” Burke said.

In addition to any losses due to tax abatements, the school district is also staring down the barrel of a second failed levy vote in March after the first attempt failed last November.

Both funding issues were major topics of conversation during the school board meeting the Wednesday after the council meeting.

Glenn’s recommendation includes a drastic reduction of the footprint of the CRAs, which would not count as an amendment and leave what was left of them under the pre-1994 rules but would pave the way for the use of new economic development mechanisms, specifically tax increment financing (TIF) districts.

In TIF districts, the village would take on the responsibility for and funding of infrastructure for a new development in order to save costs for and entice interest from developers, then claw back those costs by collecting a portion of the property taxes collected from properties in the district for a certain amount of time.

Miller criticized TIF districts, saying the village remained liable for debts incurred funding the construction of infrastructure if the developer were to back out or the project were to fall through for some other reason. “It’s not too long ago that the village was almost bankrupt,” he said.

Miller also took a shot at the village administrator’s office, saying he worked with four different administrators and that “two of them did not bring all the facts to the table for the elected officials to discuss what is the right direction for the Village of Delta, and two that had to clean up the mess from the previous ones.”

“Please remember that administrators come and go, but we have roots here in Delta and Fulton County,” he later added also pleading “please take your hand away from the end of your nose and look at the big picture.”

Despite some disagreement, Council member Robert Shirer got enough support to push forward his idea to set aside the vast majority of Glenn’s request regarding the CRA and focus on the area that needs to move forward on a proposed residential development.

Glenn agreed to return to the next meeting with an item to remove just that area from the CRA, which would not trigger any effects for the remainder of the zone.

While it seemed at the prior meeting that the council was moving in a unified direction on the issue, several council members seemed at odds with one another’s positions during Monday’s meeting, leaving the future of the CRA – and the vision for development in Delta – in question.

The tumultuous interactions followed a tumultuous end to the prior council meeting. After exiting an executive session at that meeting, held on March 18, Ashley Todd submitted her resignation as vice mayor. After a brief vote unanimous but for Chad Johnson abstaining, Johnson was chosen as new vice mayor.

The council ended the public portion of the meeting by going into executive session “to consider the investigation of charges or complaints against a public employee or public official.”

The next regular meeting of the council will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, April 15, at 401 Main Street in Delta.