Council Approves Hospital Contract Amendment

The Canton City Council voted 4-1 Thursday night to amend its contract with Northside Hospital after a vote to deny the amendment failed by a vote of 4-1.

While the original agreement with the hospital stated that the city would repay the hospital from impact fee credits, City Attorney Robert Dyer said the amendment clarifies that reimbursement be calculated every year. Approving that amendment would mean a variance to the city’s ordinance, said Councilman Glen Cummins, who made the initial motion to deny the request.

“We are currently faced with financial challenges,” Cummins said. “Because we’re so financially challenged at this particular time, I don’t see why we would vary an ordinance that would be additional stress on our (finances).”

Don Housfeld, who represented Northside Hospital, said that the city has a Capital Improvements Element account where impact fee credits are collected to be dispersed among designated projects, such as construction of the hospital’s new building. Northside spent $2.9 million out of pocket to complete a road near Northside Hospital-Cherokee’s undeveloped property near Canton Marketplace. The project has been in the works for 10 years, Housfeld said, and the new hospital is slated to open in March 2015.

“It was a mandated road to be built,” Housfeld said. “It came out of pocket, or you wouldn’t have the road where it is right now. Northside is just looking for a fair interpretation of that ordinance. Northside isn’t trying to do anything more than the money that is set aside in the CIE that has been collected for that road to get their fair apportionment.”

Councilman John Beresford said that he wants the project up and running as soon as possible.

“If we have some funds that we can pass on to Northside to get this project up and going, then I would like to see that,” Beresford said. “I don’t know what funds we have. Northside will receive reimbursement from such cost of impact fees set by city. The service area is the city. We should not have gotten ourselves into it. We did, so let’s move on. We’re in it. We did it. Let’s pony up, and let’s get this beautiful project underway.”

The council also voted to table a vote on a public/private partnership with Forum Municipal Development Services that will help the Cherokee County Department of Family and Children Services lease a bigger building. Several council members cited the need to get answers to additional questions, such as what would happen if the lease was terminated.

“We’ve had some input that it would negatively affect your credit rating,” Mayor Gene Hobgood said.

However, Dyer said there is no debt obligation on the city’s part.

“If it’s not a debt, I don’t see how it can affect your credit,” he said. “It’s a lease-purchase with annual option to get out.”

In other business, the council:

• Approved the rebate and water conservation programs;
• Approved the water billing ordinance;
• Approved a resolution to adopt the annual update of the Capital Improvements Element and 5-year Short Term Work Plan;
• Approved a resolution to submit a pre-application for a Land and Water Conservation Fund Grant;
• Approved a resolution to subscribe to ethics principles;
• Approved the December financials;
• Postponed a vote on the Leak Adjustment Policy;
• Approved the Etowah Park/Killian Hill Plan;
• Voted to authorize the mayor to sign contracts with for the Georgia Development Partners, LLC, for the Waleska Street streetscape construction and JHC Corporation for the Hickory Flat streetscape construction;
• Voted to authorize the mayor to sign an ISO consultant contract;
• And voted to give $5,000 to the newly-created radKIDS program.

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