Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2011
BARROW JOURNAL
PAGE 3A
Paid for by the candidate.
Statham Election 2011
Three in running for Statham council
By Susan Norman
snorman@barrowjournal.com
Statham voters on Tuesday
will fill two seats on the
Statham City Council.
Fourteen-year incumbent
Hattie Thrasher, who received
financial support from the
local Democratic Party, is
hoping to be re-elected, and
residents Rudy Krause and
Perry Barton also are in the
running.
Voters will make their selec
tions by voting for two of the
three people on the ballot.
All three candidates par
ticipated in the Oct. 25
forum sponsored by the
Barrow County Chamber of
Commerce in Winder.
The candidates discussed
their biggest concerns for the
city as well as their visions for
Statham's future.
Thrasher said her chief con
cern is “safe employment”
inside the city.
“We’re making Statham as
safe as possible by keeping
our streets clean, working
with the police department,
the water department, making
sure the water is OK, and we
have the street department,”
she said. “Yes, we have a few
bumpy sidewalks, but we are
going to fix that in the very
near future.”
“We are going to keep check
on our citizens to make sure
they are OK, especially the
elderly, and we will certainly
keep an eye on our young
people. They need a safe place
to play... The young people
asked us about a skate park.
We've pitched it around; I’m
not sure if it's landed yet.”
Perry Barton, who has been
a program director in business
management for 25 years at
Gwinnett Technical College,
said his chief concern is about
the effect that the continuing
economic downturn is having
on Statham's progress.
He said as councilman he
would support city employees
who are being called on to do
more with fewer resources.
He said he would favor offer
ing them incentives to inno
vate. He also said he would
meet with volunteers to try to
get more help with city func
tions.
Rudy Krause, who works
in maintenance at Johns
Mansville, said he is con
cerned about the impact of
PERRY BARTON
the down economy on crime,
which makes it important for
the council to remain in good
communication with its police
force and its citizens.
Krause said the city almost
must invest tax dollars wisely.
“We need to make sure
that we invest in the things
that will give us the quick
est growth once a turnaround
occurs,” he said.
“I think the major thing for
me is we develop businesses
and bring businesses in that
provide a diverse community
and opportunities to work at
home. There is nothing I love
more than to be able to go
to work and to come home
every single day to what I
consider to be the best city in
the United States.”
As to their visions for the
city, Thrasher said the mayor
and council plan to add equip
ment to the city’s two parks
and are in the process of
developing a dog park.
“We are hoping one day for
there to be a day care for the
elderly,” she said. “We are all
getting older, and we do not
want to sit around the house
all the time.”
She said the city also is
planning to develop a small
park honoring Statham mili
tary veterans.
Barton said his vision is
for the city to be a planned
city and a learning community
with appropriate industry.
“I envision much of Statham
having industry out on (Hwy.)
316 at the intersection with
(Hwy.) 211,” Barton said.
“The infrastructure is already
in place. It allows rapid trans
portation connections, and
there are projects ready to
start.”
He said Statham had just
received $300,000 in funding
to improve the cityscape in the
downtown area.
RUDY KRAUSE
Krause said the city needs
both a short-term and a long
term vision.
“One of the important things
we need to do is continue the
process that (Mayor Robert)
Bridges has set forth for the
city and done a great job in
the 24 years that I’ve lived in
Statham,” he said.
He said city officials need
to continue to focus on infra
structure improvements so
that the city can maintain that
forward movement and in the
future employ a greater vari
ety and number of people.
He said the challenge for the
city council is to work with
existing and future businesses
and to establish educational
liaisons to provide opportuni
ties to increase the standard of
living for Statham citizens.
The candidates also spoke
positively about the new U.S.
Army Reserves Training
Center being built off Hwy.
316 in the city limits.
They said it is important
to have the right infrastruc
ture, including a prepared
workforce, and services and
amenities to accommodate
the influx of people who will
work at and receive training at
the facility.
Mayor Bridges is running
unopposed in his re-election
bid.
Auburn council takes no action at meeting
By Katie Cofer
katie @ barrow journal, com
The Auburn City Council met in closed ses
sion at Auburn City Hall on Oct. 27 to discuss
personnel. It took no action.
The council met sans Mayor Linda
Blechinger. Council member Donna Scouten
served as Mayor Pro Tempore at the meet
ing.
The council will meet again on Thursday at
7 p.m. for its regular business meeting. The
board is slated to vote on the following Nov.
28 agenda items:
•a recommendation to approve a grading
schedule related to building codes.
•a recommendation to adopt an ordinance
that will charge a 75 cents fee per retail
transaction on prepaid wireless service when
someone calls 911.
•a recommendation to award Fortis
Engineering Solutions with a $29,729 contract
for drainage improvements on Sue Lane.
•a recommendation to award Gary’s
Grading and Pipeline Co. with a $143,950
contract for grading and construction at the
Parks Mill ball fields.
•a recommendation to approve a fee struc
ture for facility use at the Parks Mill ball
fields.
•a recommendation to approve the purchase
of a mower and utility vehicle for the Parks
and Leisure Department from Jerry Pate Turf
and Irrigation for $6,142.90 and from Green
South Equipment for $5,000.
•a recommendation to approve a proposed
medical plan for citywide health and dental
insurance.
•a recommendation to approve a proposed
scope of work from Carter Watkins and
Associates for the construction and design of
the R&R building.
•a recommendation to adopt a proposed
employee benefit retirement plan.
AYP continued from 1A
Rob Johnson, principal of Russell Middle
School, said: “We are excited about the new
results of our AYP status. The results help to
reinforce our school wide efforts to provide the
best possible instruction for all students. As a
staff, Russell Middle School is committed to
continuous improvement in an effort to be the
best school we can be.”
The school system still does not meet AYP,
however, with three schools’ scores still not
up to par.
Winder-Barrow and Apalachee high schools
still did not make AYP, despite the amend
ments, based on second indicators. School
system testing specialist Matt Thompson said
this is due to the graduation rate.
However, when the two high schools are
combined, they meet all the benchmarks for
testing, according to Thompson. Winder-
Barrow Middle School met second indicator
requirements, but did not meet standards in
academic performance.
The state DOE is expecting to have a deci
sion on a new performance inventory to replace
the AYP model by January. Each school’s AYP
report is available on the Georgia Department
of Education website located at http://public.
doe.kl2.ga.us/ayp2010/search.asp.
www.barrowjournal.com
CLOSE LOOK
(From left) John Chaney, Mike Gerke of St. Matthew Catholic Church, Peggy
Chaney and Frank Nocera get a closer look at an aerial map of the planned route
of the West Winder Bypass. Representatives of Moreland Altobelli Associates
Inc. brought the display to the Oct. 25 meeting of the Barrow County Board of
Commissioners and referred to it while requesting $55,000 in additional funding to
complete a mandatory environmental document for the new road. It was minutes
later that John Chaney noticed the couple’s 10-acre tract had been mistakenly cut
out of the Carlyle-Blakey Farm. Photo by Susan Norman
Historical land status still questioned
By Susan Norman
snorman@barrowjournal.com
Negotiating with Barrow County offi
cials for an additional $55,000 to complete
an environmental document on the West
Winder Bypass might not be the biggest
challenge that Tom Moreland and his engi
neering firm face here this week.
They plan to meet Thursday with a com
mittee of county commissioners and staff to
justify their request.
But questions also are being raised now
about the accuracy of an aerial display that
Moreland Altobelli Associates Inc. repre
sentatives presented Oct. 25 to the Barrow
County Board of Commissioners.
While Moreland and the firm’s other top
executives told the BOC that they were
more than halfway finished with the fed
eral environmental document, only minutes
after their presentation a local landowner
discovered that the engineers had mistak
enly carved out his property from a historic
site that since 2008 has been on the National
Register of Historic Places.
And it just so happens that the affected
tract not only is targeted for a direct impact
— a portion of the road is to cross a portion
of the property — but one of its owners is
likely the most politically active resident of
the county: Peggy Chaney.
Her husband, John, noticed the green
broken lines around their 10 acres off Hwy.
211 while he and other local residents were
poring over the display during a closed ses
sion of the BOC.
John Chaney immediately asked a
Moreland-Altobelli official why his prop
erty had been carved out of the historic
Carlyle-Blakey Farm that is on the National
Register of Historic Places.
The Moreland official told Chaney his
property was “historical but not of historical
significance.”
That was news to the Chaneys, who
quickly went to work to prove the engineers
wrong.
On Oct. 27 they forwarded to the
Barrow Journal copies of state documents
showing that their property was indeed
included in the application that resulted in
the Carlyle-Blakey Farm being placed on
the national register.
The maps in the application included the
Chaney tract, and the couple is listed in
the application as owners, along with the
owners of the larger remaining portion fo
the farm.
The farm’s historical significance dates
to a massive event on May 12, 1948, when
about 60,000 people from across America
and from 40 other nations converged nearby
to watch a contingent of 700 soil conser
vationists and farmers salvage the badly
eroded farm in a single day through soil
conservation techniques.
It was the largest gathering in the coun
ty’s history and may still hold the record,
according to Kathy White, president of the
Barrow County Historical Society.
It was White’s late father, J.D. White,
who as a soil conservationist drew up the
conservation plan that was implemented
that day and has saved the farm that is still
a working farm to this day.
Peggy Chaney told the Barrow Journal
Wednesday that she and her husband plan
to attend the Thursday meeting where
Moreland Altobelli officials will negotiate
for more county funding for the environ
mental study.
Town of Braselton approves business licenses
The Town of Braselton recently approved
the following business licenses:
•Star Entertainment (event management/
planning), 2460 Fisk Falls Drive
•Cache’ Salon, Inc. (hair salon), 6323 Grand
Hickory Drive
•Infinity Sponsoring (marketing), 1711
Jesse Cronic Court.
•Pediatric Associates, LLP (medical prac
tice), 2695 Old Winder Highway
•A&F Mailing, LLC (packing and ship
ping), 7380 Spout Springs Road
•Blockbuster, LLC (retail sales), 2093 Ga.
Hwy. 211
•Telecom-Advocates (telecommunications),
7433 Spout Springs Road.
Vote For & Elect
LARRY EVANS
Council-At-Large
City of Winder
• Active member of Winder First Baptist Church
• Downtown Business Owner/Operator for 50 years
• Experienced past public servant
Winder City Council
• Past Chairman of Downtown Development Authority
• Member of Barrow County Chamber of Commerce
• Married to Frankie Gilmore Evans for 33 years
• Two daughters, Tammy and Tracy;
three grandchildren, Weston, Karri and Karly
“Working For A Better Winder”
Phone: 706-540-0890
Email: evansjewelboxl@yahoo.com