Barrow journal. (Winder, Ga.) 2008-2016, December 03, 2008, Image 1

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Barrow journal., December 03, 2008, Image 1

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Newspaper Page TextBarrow ... Journal www.BarrowJournal.com Or Read all over... Wednesday, December 3,2008 Vol. 1 No. 6 20 PAGES 2 SECTIONS A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. WINDER, BARROW COUNTY GEORGIA 30680 25c COPY — Inside — Barrow foreclosures continue to climb Area news: •Winder Police offi cers receives recogni tion page 7A •Auburn to hold pub lic hearing on city char ter page 2A •BOE approves Mariachi class. page 6A Opinions: •Part of our past gone in minutes page 4A •Readers have their say: Letters to the Editor page 5A Sports: •WBHS Lady Doggs begin season with wins page 2B •A look at Apalachee 2008 football playoff season page 3B •Apalachee basket ball teams continue to work page4B Other News: •School News pages 5B •Public Safety pages 7-8A •Church News page 10A •Obituaries page 9A Foreclosures in Barrow County have jumped the last five months of 2008 by 80 percent over the same period last year. Barrow foreclosures topped 654 for the period Aug.-Dec., a huge climb from 363 in 2007 for the same five-month period. The largest single month for foreclo sures in Barrow County was October this year when there were 157. Every month in 2008 except January, June and July have seen 100+ foreclosures in Barrow. For the year 2008, Barrow has logged 1,395 total foreclosures as the economic situation has worsened across the coun try. Barrow County Foreclosures 2008 January 76 February 117 March 121 April 115 May 128 June 91 July 93 August 128 September 115 October. 157 November 131 December 123 Total 1,395 BIDDING ON PROPERTIES L. Gordon Blackwell (L) of Blackwell Realty in Winder was the only bidder among the handful of attorneys Tuesday morning at the monthly sale of foreclosed properties. Photo by Susan Norman Judge weighs motion to \stay 9 zoning case ‘Tis the season HOLIDAY SEASON ARRIVES The Winery at Chateau Elan was all alive with lights last Friday evening as the holiday season officially arrived at the Barrow resort. Photo by Jessica Brown 60th annual... Winder Christmas parade Sat. BY SUSAN NORMAN Come one! Come all! On Saturday, Winder’s century-old downtown will offer a glimpse of vintage small-town America, as the community comes together to celebrate Christmas. The festivities begin at 11 a.m. with caroling by youth groups from local churches, street sales of cotton candy and other treats, a holiday contest at downtown busi nesses, and free activities for kids, including a 70-foot maze and other inflatables. The sounds of Christmas will fill the air beginning at noon, when Christmas music is played over a professional sound system being brought to the city by Jerry Golden of Golden Productions Inc. Golden and Sherrie Miller, the parade producer, will emcee the event from a mobile stage at the gazebo park across from the Barrow County Courthouse. And Laughing Pizza, a family band that writes and per forms pop music for fam ily audiences, will perform from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. All of that fun is just a prelude to Winder’s 60th annual Christmas parade, which will have more than 70 units and 700 participants this December. The parade begins at 2 p.m. Its theme is “A Beadland to Barrow Christmas,” a refer ence to a historical book about Barrow County, said Miller, who also is the direc tor of Main Street Winder. “All of the judged floats will have a historic theme. They have to represent a period of history since the Indians settled the area,” she said. The parade’s grand mar shals are two centenarians - Mr. Roy Rice and Mrs. Evelyn Randolph. continued on page 6A Lawyers for the Town of Braselton argued Tuesday that a controversial zoning suit against the town should be stayed pending the outcome of a related court matter. Saying the town’s motion in the on-going Century Center zoning dispute “presents some very interesting ques tions,” Superior Court Judge David Motes said he would issue a ruling within 30 days on whether or not to allow the case to move forward. The lawsuit involves a high- profile development in Barrow County on Hwy. 211, just south of the 1-85 interchange. The area is a major gateway into Barrow County from the interstate, but it’s also inside the Town of Braselton. The Century Center project is owned and managed by Dick and Chris Gray. The underlying issue between Century Center and Braselton revolves around some of the town’s zoning rules that Century believes are unreasonable. Several requests for changes and vari ances were turned down by the town and Century Center sued in early 2007. COURT FRAUD But the underlying routine zoning dispute was over shadowed last summer when Judge Motes issued a scathing ruling against two Century Center lawyers, saying attor neys Barry Armstrong and Jeremy Moeser had “perpe trated a fraud upon the court” at an earlier hearing. Motes ruled that the two lawyers had “knowingly and willfully present(ed) an inac curate and false survey to the court in an effort to defraud the court” and issued sanc tions of $17,980 to be paid to Braselton. This week, Century Center had a new lawyer making their case in court, former Georgia Attorney General Mike Bowers, who attempted to deflect Braselton’s motion to stop Century’s legal pro ceedings against the town. COMPLEX LITIGATION The litigation between Braselton and Century Center revolves around two lawsuits, one filed in January 2007 under a combination of three Century corporate names. That suit claimed the property had been improperly annexed into Braselton. A second suit was filed under just one Century cor porate name in June of this year. That suit challenged Braselton’s having turned down Century’s requests for zoning variances. It was in the first lawsuit that Judge Motes ruled fraud had been committed by the two lawyers. After the law yers failed to pay the sanc tions, Motes dismissed the suit in October. In November, Century filed an appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court in the case. TUESDAY Tuesday’s hearing in Jackson County revolved mostly around the status of the second lawsuit. Braselton attorney Kelly Hundley argued that the second suit should not be heard by the court until the first lawsuit is completely resolved. He said that allowing the second lawsuit to proceed, in light of what happened ear lier, would “undermine and tarnish” the judicial system. continued on page 6A Firm says tax break will lure tenants Managers of the Braselton Logistics Center warehouse on Hwy. 124 said this week that the large tax abatement granted the company by Barrow County will be sav ings passed on to potential lease clients. Jeb Brees, spokesman for Commonwealth Properties, which developed the center, said the firm is using the tax abatement to help market the property. “Commonwealth fully intends to pass on this tax incentive to our eventual tenants,” he said. “In fact, we have already integrated the tax abatement benefit into our advertising.” Last week, Braselton Mayor Pat Graham criticized Barrow County’s granting of a seven-year tax abatement program for the firm, in part because it did not require the owners to pass along the savings. Graham was also critical of the county giving such a tax break on a speculation building without immediate jobs being created. But Brees said the abatements are impor tant for luring tenants. “Given current market conditions, every landlord will need to provide every incentive possible to attract potential tenants,” he said. Brees said the area northeast of Atlanta is at a rate disadvantage compared to other coun ties in the metro Atlanta area. Barrow County has a standard seven-year tax abatement that it gives to a variety of new businesses, but unlike many other area counties, it does not impose strict perfor mance requirements on the firms. The tax abatement is a phased-in amount where firms only pay five percent of the taxes in the first year and a gradual increase each year reaching a 100 percent payment in year eight. According to marketing material on the Baselton facility, a tenant who leased the entire 439,350 sq. ft. facility would save $136,200 in property taxes the first year. “With rising unemployment in Atlanta and across the country, it is smart for Barrow County to proactively offer this incen tive to help ensure jobs are not attracted elsewhere,” Brees said. Graham said last week that she believes the Braselton area is an attractive location and doesn’t require tax abatements to lure firms to the area. Hagemeyer center closing equates to 100 lost jobs Hagemeyer Distribution Center in Auburn near Hwy. 316 is closing and laying off 100 employees. The firm filed its notice of closure with the Georgia Department of Labor in October. In recent weeks, staff with the Northeast Georgia Regional Development Center and Lanier Tech have been working with the firm to offer retraining and to explain the process of unem ployment benefits to employees. Hagemeyer North America, Inc. is a distributor of products and services focusing on business-to-business markets in elec trical materials, safety products, and industrial products and services throughout North America, according to the firm’s website. It has several locations in the Metro Atlanta area and is headquartered in Charleston, S.C. It is a wholly-owned subsid iary of Sonepar, headquartered in Paris, France.