Two public hearings today will give Washington citizens a chance to voice their opinions on the city’s plan to build a hotel at the Pope Center.

The hearings are set for today, Thursday, July 15, at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. at the Pope Center so that the City of Washington’s Urban Redevelopment Authority can give the public the complete plan for a hotel adjacent to the Pope Center, with a best estimate of operating costs and possible liabilities.

Authority members want to hear public opinions on the controversial proposed hotel project, approval of which would have the city guaranteeing the project’s $8.5 million bond offering.

The authority will be meeting earlier in the day to finalize the proposal in preparation for presenting it to the Washington City Council at its regular meeting on Monday night, July 19, at 6 p.m.

The Washington City Council is meeting on the third Monday, July 19, rather than the usual second Monday due to a scheduling conflict.

Urban Redevelopment Authority chairman Charles Jackson, vice chairman Henry Harris, and treasurer Toombs McLendon IV, along with City Attorney Barry Fleming and Main Street Manager David Jenkins met two weeks ago in Atlanta with Don French and Andrew Ackerman of Somata Group LLC, David Wilmar of LaQuinta Inns, Hotel Equities’ Mary Beth Cutsall, and Ed Wall of Stern Agee.

The operating numbers given at the Atlanta meeting should allow the city to structure the deal, Jenkins said, so that the hotel will at least break even, if not make money, in the first years. The proposed deal will be explained at the hearing Thursday.

Once the city council hears the authority’s recommendation, council members will vote whether or not to build the hotel, with the City of Washington guaranteeing up to $8.5 million in revenue bonds to fund the construction.