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Barrow Journal
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Wednesday, March 25,2009
Vol. 1 No. 22 22 PAGES 3 SECTIONS A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. WINDER, BARROW COUNTY GEORGIA 30680 250COPY
— Inside —
Area news:
•'A Place Where Art
Thrives'
page 1C
•Another Cook of
Barrow County
page 1C
•Auburn approves new
city charter
page 2A
•Water authority suit
hangs in balance
page 3A
Opinions:
•Something has to
change and soon
page 4A
•We gave you tax
cuts...where are the
jobs
page 4A
•Session reaches
Crossover Day
page 5A
Sports:
•Diamond Doggs sport
perfect region mark
page 1B
•AHS baseball battles
defending state champ
page 2B
•WBHS wins Battle of
Barrow in tennis
page 4B
Also Inside:
•Classifieds
page 6C
•Church News
page 7B
•Letter to the Editor
page 5A
•Public Safety
pages 6-7A
•Obituaries
pages 4-SC
To subscribe,
call today:
770-867-NEWS
(6397).
The Barrow
Journal is
delivered
every
Thursday.
Guard leaves Monday
Public invited to line route for local sendoff
BY SUSAN NORMAN
Next week, 250 soldiers based at
the Georgia National Guard Armory
in Winder will leave their families,
homes and jobs for what is expected
to be a “challenging” deployment to
Afghanistan.
Headquarters Company and Echo
Forward Support Company - two of
the six companies in the 1st Battalion,
121st Infantry Regiment of the 48th
Infantry Brigade Combat Team - will
be “federalized” Thursday and leave
Monday from the armory for training,
then deployment.
Just before 9 a.m. Monday, the
Winder-based soldiers will board
chartered buses at the Georgia
National Guard Armory on Maynard
Street. They will have a sheriff’s
department escort as they drive south
on Hwy. 82 to Ga. Hwy. 316 en route
to Camp Shelby in Mississippi.
The public may join friends and
family members along the route for
the sendoff.
PART-TIME WARRIORS
Two Winder police officers - Andy
Smith and Mike Russo - are among
those who are being deployed. Smith
is the brother of Barrow County
Sheriff Jud Smith.
The 238 men and 12 women being
deployed from the Winder companies
are mostly part-time warriors who
have put on hold their educations or
jobs for the next year.
The soldiers range in age from 18
to early 50s.
Some are students at area colleges.
Others work in a variety of fields,
from the trades to teaching or law
enforcement or the health care field.
About 40 percent of the Winder-
based guardsmen heading to
Afghanistan are combat veterans
from previous deployments to Iraq
and Afghanistan. Last summer, a
third of the 48th battalion went to the
Republic of Georgia for a training
exercise and were embedded with
those soldiers for three weeks.
TRAINING
After leaving Winder, the unit will
undergo two months of training at
Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training
Center in Hattiesburg, Miss., then
leave in late May for a 10-month tour
of duty.
continued on page 3A
LT. COL. SMITH
COUNTY
NEW FACILITY
The new Barrow County Courthouse, which costs $52 million, will be open to the public
Monday, April 6.
Historic Courthouse closes April 2
BY SUSAN NORMAN
A new chapter in Barrow
County's history begins April
2, when the historic 1914 court
house in downtown Winder
closes and its furnishings, files
and staff are moved to the new
Barrow County Criminal Justice
Center off Hwy. 211. The coun
ty’s new $52 million showpiece
on Barrow Park Drive north of
the city will open to the public
Monday, April 6.
All that will be left behind
at the old courthouse will be
the Sheriff’s staff, who for the
next year will operate out of
temporary offices in the original
part of the building while their
offices in the 1990 courthouse
annex undergo renovation.
The impressive structure has
four large courtrooms, addi-
The Barrow County Courthouse
in downtown Winder will be closed
April 2-3, but staff will be availble
to stamp time-sensitive documents.
They will be set up near the security
screening area on the main floor.
tional hearing rooms, records
and storage rooms, and office
suites for the staffs of the district
attorney, the clerk of superior
court, the public defender, and
for the judges and staffs of the
magistrate, probate, juvenile and
superior courts.
Elected officials who have
been contending with cramped
office space, inadequate court
room facilities and miseries that
include a leaking roof and mold
are plainly thrilled to be mov
ing. Many said in interviews this
week that the new center would
provide enough space to accom
modate their needs for years to
come and should create a more
seamless criminal justice system
for the county.
OUT WITH THE MOLD
District Attorney Brad Smith
said his staff actually had to
vacate their offices ahead of the
planned move because of the
growth of mold following the
recent snowstorm.
“Eve got five employees shar
ing one office in the old part
of the courthouse, three using
offices in the county adminis
trative building, two working
in Jackson County offices and
some working from their home,”
Smith said.
continued on page 8A
BOC to study cutting retirement plan
BY SUSAN NORMAN
The Barrow County government plans to study
cutting back on its employee retirement plans. The
Barrow County Board of Commissioners appoint
ed a three-member committee Tuesday night to
consider making cuts in the program.
Commissioners Larry Joe Wilburn, Isaiah Berry
and Ben Hendrix were appointed by BOC chair
man Danny Yearwood to study the county’s retire
ment plan and report back at the April 14 meet
ing.
Wilburn raised the possibility of paring down
the county’s retirement benefits. He noted that
the required payment for 2008 was nearly $1.3
million, that the plan currently is under-funded by
$3 million, and that 100 employees soon would
be eligible to participate in it, further driving up
annual costs based on future liability.
“If we plan to make any changes, this is some
thing we need to start discussing,” Wilburn said,
adding that the discussion also should include
whether offering early retirement incentives would
save the county money or not.
“I want to make sure we have enough input to
make the right decision,” Yearwood said. “We’re
affecting the future of peoples’ lives and we need
to put as much consideration into this as pos
sible.”
The BOC also voted Tuesday night to approve
the $1.3 million retirement and disability payment
for 2008. The program is administered by the
Association County Commissioners of Georgia.
The payment was $70,722 more than in 2007,
but was less than had been budgeted in the current
fiscal year, according to chief financial officer
Beth Horacek.
continued on page 3A
Fire chief
back at work
BY SUSAN NORMAN
After weighing his options during his unpaid
suspension last week, Barrow County Fire Chief
Robert Post decided to come back to work
Tuesday morning.
“I think anytime something like that happens,
you have to weigh all your options,” Post said
in an interview. “In the end, I felt I needed to
continue on with the program and do everything
I can to improve emergency services delivery to
the citizens of Barrow County.”
County Chairman Danny Yearwood suspended
Post on March 16 for not following directives on
overtime work for his employees.
Post said he came back to work Tuesday morn
ing at 7:30 a.m. and, in addition to catching up
on e-mail and correspondence, spent time with
firefighters.
“I told the guys that I came to work here to try
to improve the department for the citizens and
for the employees of the department,” he said.
“I’m not trying to build a kingdom or anything.
All I am trying to do is make things better for the
people that live here and keep my people safe.”
Commissioners to
become ‘liasions’
Members of the Barrow County Board ol
Commissioners will soon have another duty on
their agenda — serving as a liaison between county
departments and BOC chairman Danny Yearwood.
Commissioner Ben Hendrix made the proposal al
the board’s Tuesday night meeting. In the absence
of top administrators and several managers whc
have either resigned or been fired, Hendrix said he
believes the departments would benefit from the
experience of the commissioners.
“I don’t want to give staff or department heads
the impression that any of us want to micromanage
what is going on in the departments,” Hendrix said
to the sound of audible chuckles in the audience.
“That is not what this is about. We just hope to ease
the workload and be someone the staff can come tc
as a buffer... We’re all on the same team.”
continued on page 8A
School officials begin
new budget process
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
And so it begins.
The Barrow County Board of Education held
a 90-minute work session Tuesday to begin
sorting through its 2010 fiscal year budget,
which begins July 1. Assistant superintendent
for business services Ken Cato, who conducted
the meeting, presented a preliminary budget of
approximately $99.5 million.
School board members were given a 50-page
booklet to sort through before the next financial
planning session, which has been scheduled for
April 9.
“This is just our first look at it,” Cato said.
“Just about the time we think something is
settled, it changes. We still have a lot of hard
work to do.”
continued on page 3A