About Barrow journal. (Winder, Ga.) 2008-2016 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 10, 2016)
PAGE 8A BARROW JOURNAL WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2016 Baker wins spelling bee, Back runner-up SECOND PLACE Skyeler Back placed second in the Barrow County School System spelling bee held last week. Photo by Alex Pace By Alex Pace Journal Reporter After 11 rounds of com petition, Rachel Baker was named the Barrow Coun ty School System spelling bee champion. Baker, a sixth grader at Westside Middle School, won the competition with the win ning word, “incorruptible.” Baker said she heavily prepped for the compe tition, studying practice words. “I studied for hours on end,” she said. Baker squared off with runner-up Skyeler Back for three rounds. The two were quizzed on the spell ing of panzer, apricot, iguana, quesadilla, spheri cal and magnolia. Back, a fifth grader at Bramlett Elementary School, was named run ner-up of the contest. Both students competed against winners from each elementary and middle school in the district. Par ticipants included: Chris topher Bagwell, Auburn Elementary School; Jer emiah Byrd, Bethlehem Elementary School; Joy Shaba, County Line Ele mentary School; Dinah Guyven, Holsenbeck Ele mentary School; Tyler Partee, Kennedy Elemen tary School; Dylan Morris, Yargo Elementary School; Daniel Kim, Bear Creek Middle School; Spencer Diehl, Haymon-Morris Middle School; and Sky- ler Cook, Russell Middle School. These students compet ed in a vocabulary round, followed by seven spelling rounds before the compe tition was narrowed down to Baker and Back. Baker will move forward to the District 3 competition, to be held later this month. County’s general fund reserves suffers big loss By Al ex Pace Journal Reporter Barrow County’s general fund had a loss last year. The Barrow County Board of Commissioners received an update on its preliminary FY2015 budget report at its Feb. 9 meeting. The county started the year with Si 1.3 million in the general fund reserves but ended with $9.6 million. The county received $36.86 million in revenues, almost one percent higher than was budgeted. Property taxes came in higher than expected, along with licenses/permits, inter est and other miscellaneous revenues. The county’s general fund expenses totaled at $38.61 million. Several departments were over budget. The BOC approved budget amendments to transfer money in the gen eral fund to cover the departments' deficits. The juvenile court was $71,000 over budget because of more cases, interpreters and emergency judicial assistance and required pay increases for court reporters. The county manager department was $58,800 over budget because of the transition in administration. The building and grounds department was $61,000 over budget, because of aging buildings. The county attorney, human resources and Northeast Georgia Regional Commission departments were also over budget. Chief financial officer Rose Kisaalita stressed that the report is preliminary and the numbers could change. The BOC also received an update on its water and sewer budget. The department received $1.2 million more in sales than was originally budgeted. All water expenses were under budget, except the Barber wastewater system. The BOC also received an update on its 2015 capital proj ects, which came in over budget by $4 million due to the purchase of a radio communications system for emergency services. Other funds were spent on technology improve ments and tractors for the roads and bridges department. BOC seeks private temp for vacant public works Next food distribution scheduled Thursday, Feb. 25 By Alex Pace Journal Reporter The Barrow County Food Pantry in partnership with The Food Bank of Northeast Georgia will hold a Food Distribution Day on Thursday, Feb. 25, beginning at 8 a.m. The event is held rain or shine at Holly Hill Mall on Athens Street in Winder (across from Hill’s Ace Hard ware). This is open to all Barrow County residents who meet USDA income eligibility requirements. Proof of Barrow County residency is required and the food is dis tributed on a “first come, first served” basis. Tom Garrett has resigned as the Barrow County public works director. The Barrow County Board of Commission ers discussed having a private company temporarily fill the vacancy after an hour-and-a-half closed session Feb. 9. The BOC approved in a 4-3 vote creating a special committee to negotiate and authorize a contract with an engineering company to fill the position until a full-time director is hired. The contract could be terminated with five days notice and the company would be paid no more than the director’s salary. The BOC plans to continue advertising the public works director position. Interim county manager Jimmy Terrell will take over the director’s responsibilities until the vacancy is filled. Chairman Pat Graham said filling the vacancy will cut down on the added workload for Terrell or a new county manager, when hired. “It is a lot to ask of one person to manage Barrow County and directly supervise six departments, especially with the workload of the departments in public works,” she said. Graham said the department is working on several proj ects and could soon move forward with phase III engineer ing for the West Winder Bypass. She said a professional services agreement could allow the county to quickly fill the position. But several board members were concerned about the process. Some questioned whether the BOC should go through the normal hiring process, or to require Requests for Qualifications (RFQ). But Graham said, "This seemed like a quicker way to meet the need we have now because the position is vacant.” The vote passed with Roger Wehunt, Billy Parks and Ben Hendrix opposed. BOC continued from 1A Thomas Pennington said he was also worried about the impact of near by property values. Shawn McDougall said the com pany’s operation exceeds the M-l zoning and said the property violates UDC requirements because it is too close to a nearby res idence. Commission mem ber Isaiah Berry also had some concerns. Berry was concerned about a buffer variance that was approved for the group, reducing the required buffer size from 175 feet to 25 feet. John Stell spoke in favor of the rezoning, saying the expansion would provide economic growth in the area. He said the he’s never received a noise complaint and said that company’s operations qualify as M-l. Stell said that the com pany does not handle hazardous waste and said stormwater issues would be addressed in construc tion. The company plans to expand its current facility and later add three new buildings on the property. The BOC approved the M-l rezoning, with Berry opposed, on six conditions. These include: all buffer variance requirements must be met; new build ings must look architectur ally similar to the current facility; a landscape berm is required along Patrick Mill Road; and no metal buildings are allowed. Light industrial uses are restricted to the M-l por tion of the property and tractor-trailer traffic is restricted to travel to and from Barrow Industrial Parkway. OTHER BUSINESS Also at its meeting, the BOC: •learned Danielle Austin was selected as president of the statewide County Clerks Association. •approved a rezoning request from Go Wall Con struction, LLC, for 3.67 acres on Harvey Lokey Road, Bethlehem, from agricultural (AR) to resi dential (R-l). The owner wants to divide the plot into three tracts. •approved a rezoning request from JW Perkins Investments, Inc., for 39.9 acres on Arnold Road SE, Statham, from R-l to AG. •approved a rezoning request from Southpoint Construction, LLC, for 6.5 acres on Hwy. 211, Wind er, from R-3 for apartments to R-3 for single-family homes. •approved a bid from Fireline, Inc., for a res cue pumper, totaling at $456,000. The purchase was approved in the FY2016 budget. •authorized Barrow County Animal Control to pursue a $5,000 grant from the Petco Foundation. The funding could go towards spay/neuter cost assistance, shelter improvements and sup plies. February 10, 2016 ~ Crossword Puzzle Steve COURTROOM DRAMA! ■ The Athens Christian Mock Trial Team had a great day competing at the State Bar of Georgia’s Mock Trial Competition last weekend. Stu dent lawyers learn how to try a case by eliciting testimony from witnesses, presenting documenta ry evidence, and arguing the case to a panel of judges. Student wit nesses play the roles of the charac ters involved in the case. Junior Christina Mark and Sophomore John Loveall won Best Witness Awards and Senior Chase Hockema and Sophomore Daniel MacDonald received Out standing Lawyer Awards in the Competition. Thanks to Supervisor Scott Crawford who did a fantastic job with this year’s team, and Con gratulations to all those students who participated! ATHENS CHRISTIAN SCHOOL “Affordable Quality Education Since 1970” K3-12TH CALL (706) 549-7586 www.athenschristian.com Across 1. Jam into 5. Egypt’s capital 10. Disfigure 13. Biblical Hamath 14. Vipera berus 15. The three wise men 16. “The foaming cleanser” 17. Earthquake 18. Breezed through 19. South Pacific island 21. Legal possessors 23. List of dishes served 25. Jai __ 26. Superhigh frequency 29. Farm fanbatic 34. Double agents 36. No (Scottish) 37. Peninsula off Manchuria 38. As fast as can be done (abbr.) 39. Apulian city 70121 40. Talk show hostPhilbin 42. USA’s favorite uncle 45. More coherent 46. PBS drama series 49. Retirement plan 50. Be obedient to 51. French river 53. __ fatale, seductive woman 56. Made a surprise attack 60. Winglike structures 61. Belittle oneself 65. Department of Troyes France 66. Mains 67. Shoe ties 68. A carefree adventure 69. Mariner or sailor 70. Modern chair designer 71. Gin Fizz cocktail Down 1. Chew the fat 2. A prince in India 3. A Far East wet nurse 4. Axiom 5. The frame around a door 6. Fruit drink 7. Ugandan Pres. Amin 8. Real Estate Services 9. Brass that looks like gold 10. Nutmeg seed covering spice 11. River in Austria 12. Eliminates 15. Canadian province 20. Green, Earl Grey and iced 22. Four ball advancement 24. Vaselike receptacle 25. Highest card 26. Unction 27.1st of the books of the Minor Prophets 28. Symbols of allegiance 30. Farm state 31. A citizen of Iran 32. More dried-up 33. Alt. spelling for tayra 35. Perfect examples 41. One point E of SE 42. Secretly watch 43. Three toed sloth 44. _ student, learns healing 45. Liquid body substances 47. Act of selling again 48. Stroke 52. Selector switches 53. Speed, not slow 54. City founded by Xenophanes 55. Picasso’s mistress Dora 57. Having two units or parts 58.2nd largest Spanish river 59. Delta Kappa Epsilon nickname 62. The cry made by sheep 63. Air Cheif Marshall 64. Perceive with the eyes CUSTOM PRINTING Custom Sheet-Fed & Web Press Printing • Stationery • Envelopes • Flyers •Bus. Cards • Bus. Forms • Circulars • NCR Jobs "Newspapers • Invoices "Statements MainStreet Newspapers PRINTING DEPT. Located at 33 Lee Street in Jefferson, Ga. (706) 367-5233 printing@mainstreetne ws. com 1 2 3 4 13 16 19 23 26 27 28 34 35 38 40 46 5 6 7 8 9 ;; 53 54 55 60 66 69
