The City Council has approved a new four-year term on the Planning Commission for Ethan Collier after the local developer answered a number of council questions.

The appointment was from Mayor Tim Kelly. That nomination came after Mr. Collier was told he was not being reappointed as chairman by Mayors Kelly and Weston Wamp after 12 years of service. Joe Smith, former school board chairman, was named instead.

Councilman Ron Elliott called Mr. Collier to the podium, saying this board appointment had drawn more interest and questions than any during his tenure on the council.

He said he wanted to question Mr. Collier concerning a Collier Construction project "that left a real bad taste" with Missionary Ridge residents as well as at Ridgedale using "methods to go about land acquisition by suing property owners."

Mr. Collier said he and partners had acquired 24 apartments that were in "terrible, terrible" condition on Shallowford Road. He said a landslide occurred at the rear of the apartments after they were purchased. He said it was realized that the project was not zoned correctly and that was accomplished with a number of conditions added. He said his group wound up not building the project.

On the Ridgedale issue, he called the charge "an absolute lie." He said after he bought the old SCT property for a Mill Town project that he noticed there were 25 nearby properties that were boarded up and had been for over a decade.

He said the code states that the city "shall" demolish such properties, but he said, "The city did nothing." He said City Attorney Phil Noblett was aware of the issue, but the houses remained in place. He said the chief of staff of a former mayor called him and said the city "did not have the political will" to order the demolitions and he would have to take care of the problem himself. Mr. Collier said he then spent over $170,000 suing the owners of the properties and all settled out of court and had the derelict properties cleared. He added, "I didn't buy any of those properties - not one."

Mr. Collier contended that there need to be some developers on the Planning Commission, where he said "there are 13 members and three do all the talking." He said it is important to have people "who know the rules and work with them every day."

He said when he was chairman only three times did he cast a vote and it was against development each time. He said other developers seeking projects are in many cases "competitors" of developers on the commission.

Also, he said when he would recuse himself in the matter of a Collier Construction case he would leave the room and leave his phone on the dais "so I could not be texting any members of the commission."

Councilman Chip Henderson praised the work of Mr. Collier on the commission and said when there was a project that he saw was not going to get council support he would drop it.

Councilwoman Jenny Hill said, "I was shocked that you would be willing to do it again" - noting the long hours of preparations and meetings.

Mr. Collier said, "I enjoy doing it. It's a ton of fun." He added, "And I love our city."

He also said, "Someone needs to be asking the hard questions at Planning Commission. You don't have that right now."

Concerning the fact that he was not re-appointed chairman, Mr. Collier said, "Did you see how close the county mayor race was? Weston Wamp said he would not have won except for one district. That district did not want me to be Planning Commission chairman."