Sky Valley Approves IGA

The city of Sky Valley approves the Intergovernmental Agreement, or IGA, for SPLOST.

The Sky Valley City Council held a special called meeting Friday afternoon to discuss the matter after tabling it at a special called meeting the day before.

Representatives from both the Rabun County Commission and the City of Clayton were there, explaining their viewpoints to and fielding questions from the Sky Valley City Council.

When County Attorney Allyn Stockton was asked by Sky Valley Mayor Jim Martindale to explain the feud between the County and the city of Clayton, Stockton said this.

“Respectfully, I hope it’s not a feud. I think it’s a situation where there’s been somewhat of an impasse and there’s a lot more to go negotiation wise between us, and we have got to get the SPLOST moving along, and there’s a substantial amount of money built into this to take care of Clayton.”

City Attorney Mitch Baker spoke on behalf of Clayton, and explaied how he sees the IGA working regarding the consolidation of water and sewer throughout the county.

“We’re kind of being hit with the idea of, ‘the only way you get any money is the county’s going to take the city of Clayton’s share, and if you decide to sell us your infrastructure at a price we think is fair, we’ll give you that money back.’ That’s the only way the city of Clayton gets any money from SPLOST.”

When Rabun County Commission Chairman Butch Darnell was asked if the only way Clayton could receive SPLOST money was to agree to sell their infrastructure, he said not necessarily, but that could be the case.

Although Baker felt the city of Clayton should be included in the IGA, he said the city of Clayton is not against SPLOST and recognizes its importance to the county as a whole.

Sky Valley’s approval of the IGA gives the agreement the needed fifty percent plus one of the population of the qualified municipalities within the county for it to take effect without including the city of Clayton.