Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 2014
BARROW JOURNAL
PAGE 3A
FALLING APART AT THE SEAMS — LITERALLY
The vintage Peskin Building in downtown Winder continues to be in a
state of disrepair. Following the two winter snow storms this year, the
front portion of the building fell off. Several weeks later, the building’s
front still displays the rotting wood which was underneath the awning.
The building, which until recently still showed a “for rent” sign in the
front window, has not been used in decades and has not been main
tained. Photo by Jessica Brown
Move continued from 1A
The Barrow County Sheriff’s Office and
the Barrow County Board of Elections and
Registration Office both will remain at
233 E. Broad St.
The Barrow County Health Department
also is remaining behind — but only tem
porarily. That agency will be relocated
April 17-18 to another renovated building
in the same historic complex downtown.
Once the county offices relocate, the
public will have to go to the new location
in downtown Winder to get car tags, to
speak with a tax assessor, to apply for a
county job, and to attend meetings of the
Barrow County Board of Commissioners
and other panels.
The last BOC meeting in the East Broad
location was Tuesday night. The first BOC
meeting in the restored courthouse will be
April 8. The new meeting room is on the
second floor of the historic courthouse.
The full list of county offices to be relo
cated is:
•The office of the BOC chairman and
the district commissioners.
•The commissioners" meeting room.
•The county clerk’s office.
•The county manager’s office.
•The human resources department.
•The department of economic & com
munity development for planning, build
ing inspections, licensing and permits, and
Keep Barrow Beautiful.
•The Tax Commissioner’s Office, which
can be accessed from Porter Street.
•The Tax Assessor’s Office, also
accessed from Porter Street.
•Purchasing.
•Finance.
•Information technology.
•Geographic Information System.
•Road engineering.
•And Storm water.
After the Barrow County Health
Department relocates, it also should be
accessed from Porter Street, Dowling said.
He said phone numbers for each office
will remain the same.
In addition to the BOC meetings, all
public meetings of the Barrow County
Planning & Zoning Commission, the
Barrow County Board of Appeals, the
Board of Tax Assessors, and Keep Barrow
Beautiful will be moved to the historic
courthouse after April 7. he added.
NORTH BROAD IMPROVEMENTS
The contractor for the Georgia
Department of Transportation this week
is planning to finish pouring the new
sidewalks and installing hand rails along
North Broad Street. The company also
will install brick pavers along both sides of
North Broad from Porter Street to Candler
Street.
As far as the replacement of North
Broad itself, the contractor on Monday
night removed four damaged cement pan
els that were to be part of the newly con
structed roadway. The company expected
to install the replacement panels by the
end of this week.
The other remaining steps toward com
pletion are:
•Overnight paving of parking areas and
side streets off North Broad.
•Overnight grinding of the concrete
panels on North Broad Street in order to
smooth the driving surface for motorists.
•Striping the roadway.
•Completing the streetscape improve
ments.
•And re-timing the traffic signals down
town.
“Signals will be retimed again at the end
of the project as part of the contract,” said
Teri Pope, a GDOT spokesperson.
Said Bayne Smith, the agency’s district
engineer, in a press release: “Thank you
for your patience through construction.
We look forward to finishing so we can
all enjoy the improvements made through
this project.”
Superintendent continued from 1A
The board received 29 applicants for the
position with 22 of the applicants having
a doctorate. All have met the requirement
of having at least a six-year leadership
certificate.
Seven of the applicants are superinten
dents or have superintendent experience.
Also in the search are 13 assistant super
intendents or system directors, seven prin
cipals and two who are in other education
related positions.
The search returned 21 candidates from
Georgia.
Eight are from other states, including
two from North Carolina and New York,
and one each from Florida, Alabama,
Tennessee and Kentucky.
“We are very pleased with the quality
of applicants,” stated Mark Still, board
chairman. “This is a critical decision and
the board is committed to selecting an
excellent leader for our school system.”
Indictment continued from 1A
The federal law under which
Kimbrell was indicted defines that as
“having been produced using minors
engaging in sexually explicit con
duct... involving at least one prepu-
bescent minor and at least one minor
who had not attained 12 years of
age... and having been shipped and
transported in and affecting interstate
and foreign commerce by any means
including by computer...”
The indictment does not indicate
that Kimbrell has been charged in
connection with the 2012 activi
ty from the computer while it was
located in Statesboro.
“This now-former middle school
teacher has been indicted on child pornog
raphy charges,” said U.S. attorney Sally
Quillian Yates in the press release.
“Through the vigilance of our law
enforcement partners, this defen
dant is no longer teaching and
will face the consequences of his
actions.”
Yates said people who view child
pornography “create a demand for
the sexual exploitation of children
that has resulted in an explosion
of abuse across the United States.”
She added: "No matter how clev
erly a suspect may think he has
covered his tracks by deleting or
encrypting illegal photos and vid
eos, our special agents and com
puter forensic analysts are highly
trained and skilled at finding the evidence of
their crimes.”
Kimbrell 2013
at a May 2013
school event
about being
“on fire” for
improving
education.
Motorcyle ride to honor fallen veterans
By Chris Bridges
cbridges @ barrowjournal. com
The City of Statham is making final
plans to host a motorcycle ride honoring
fallen Georgia veterans.
During the March 18 council meeting,
the May 10 event was discussed with those
helping organize the tribute. The upcoming
event, which will be held at 11 a.m. in
downtown Statham, will feature a convoy
of motorcycle riders who will arrive in the
town from Athens.
The event will include the reading of all
names of Georgians who fell in the line of
duty in 2013.
Taps and a 21-gun salute will be part of
the ceremony. An American flag will also
be retired as part of the ceremony.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other items at the March 18 meeting,
the council:
•voted to accept a bid from Athens Micro
Computers for three new computers for
City Hall at a cost of $3,881. The city will
also use the company for two new comput
er hard drives.
•scheduled a Clean-Up Week for April
12-19. The city will use Roll Off Systems
to provide a large dumpster for citizens to
use. The council tabled an item to hire a
shredding company.
•heard from police chief Steve Martin
concerning the need for a security system at
the police department. Since the station is
not in operation 24 hours a day, Martin said
it will be important to have a security sys
tem as well as a fire alarm system in place.
The chief said the department has evidence
from several cases stored at the station
and it is vital that information from cases
involving sexual assault be maintained.
•approved the purchase of a copy
machine for the Building and Code
Enforcement department at a cost of $600
from Duplicating Products, Inc.
•heard from citizen Rudy Krause con
cerning issues he is having with a neighbor.
Krause said a neighbor has moved family
members into a camper on their proper
ty and installed an above ground septic
system which goes against city codes.
Mayor Robert Bridges and the council told
Krause he has a "legitimate complaint” and
informed him that the code enforcement
officer would handle the situation.
•postponed a grievance hearing for police
officer Ashley Whirrell until April.
•heard an update from city attorney
Thomas Mitchell concerning an ordinance
which would prohibit firearms in public
buildings in the city. Mitchell said depend
ing on what the state legislature does
concerning open carry laws, he wanted to
present the council information on adopt
ing a policy prohibiting firearms in various
buildings, including city hall.
Auburn continued from 1A
•The city has applied for and received
Georgia Department of Transportation
LMIG (Local Maintenance and
Improvements Grant) in the of amount
$40,000 to assist with making necessary
improvements at the Auburn Elementary
School rear entrance. The city is proposing
to construct an approximately 500 ft. decel
eration lane to help improve traffic flow
during student drop off and pick up times.
"We have issues with parents picking up
students on Sixth Street — traffic backs
up and folks that are not familiar with the
area try to go around the traffic, causing
safety concerns,” said chief Carl Moulder.
The city will need to provide an addition
al $16,800 in city funds to complete the
project.
•The city’s current contract for building
inspections expires in June. In the mean
time, city staff will review quotes and
contact other cities to see how inspections
and fees associated with the service are
handled before bringing the issue back to
the council.
•Quotes were presented for replacement
of the heating and air conditioning unit at
the JD Withers Building. Council will vote
on a contract at the next regular meeting.
•Rafael Avalos, Parks and Leisure direc
tor presented quotes for treatment of fire
ants at all city park facilities.
•Avalos presented a request for use of
Whistlestop Park and closure of Waterworks
Rd. and Williams Street during the 5th
annual Defenders of Freedom Motorcycle
Ride on June 21. Mayor Linda Blechinger
noted proceeds from the event will assist
service members suffering from Post-
traumatic Stress Disorder ( PTSD) and
wounded warriors.
•Georgia Cities Week will be held April
12-19, 2014. “This is a great opportunity to
display what cities are doing,” said Pollard.
•The council reviewed a recommendation
to approve an agreement for distribution of
Title Ad Valorem Tax Intergovernmental
Agreement with Barrow County.
•The council reviewed quotes for an
Information Technology Solutions
Consultant.
•The council reviewed a recommenda
tion to approve a 2.5% cost of living raise
for all city employees.
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