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40 Pages 3 Sections, Plus Preprints A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. Winder, Barrow County Georgia 50c Copy Wednesday, August 17, 2016 County manager recommends 1.5% pay increase Barrow BOC still discussing FY17 budget; final vote set for next month By Scott Thompson News-Journal Reporter All Barrow County employees could see at least a 1.5-percent pay increase next fiscal year. County manager Mike Renshaw pitched a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to the Board of Commissioners last week during a work session on the county’s proposed budget for FY2017, which begins Oct. 1. Renshaw said he plans to present the final proposed budget to commissioners at their meeting on Tuesday. Starting Aug. 24, that document will be displayed in the clerk of commission’s office, county libraries and on the county’s website for public review. A budget public hearing is scheduled for Sept. 6. and the board is scheduled to adopt the final plan Sept. 20. Renshaw said the raise would be aimed at keeping up with inflation, which most recently was measured at 1.2 percent by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. “What that CPI represents is an erosion of buying power for the whole communi ty,” Renshaw said. If the COLA is approved by the board, it would alter the findings and recommen dations of a recent pay classification and salary study completed by the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government. The study, which examined all positions except those with the Sheriff’s Office and Detention Center, was aimed at making the county’s pay levels more competitive with the market rate for each position. Out of three plan options, the one rec ommended by Renshaw would put fire, EMS and 911 center employees above market rate in an effort to address reten tion issues those departments have faced in recent years. However, the plan, as presented, would leave 60 of the county’s more than 420 employees without any pay raise, Renshaw said. See BOC Budget on Page 3A Barrow Briefs WBHS Class of ’64 holds mini-reunions The Winder-Barrow High School graduating class of 1964 will continue to have its mini-reunion lunches. The next mini-reunion lun cheon will be held at 1 p.m. on Monday. Aug. 22, at Golden Corral in Winder. All members of the class are invited to attend. Email Dianne Fleeman at dfleeman@windstream.net or call her at 678-425-2531 to submit number of registrations. Wellness Expo set for Thursday The Barrow Health and Wellness Expo will be Thursday, Aug. 18, at the Winder YMCA from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Exhibitors will set up from 9-11 a.m. and the Expo will be open to the public from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. There will be ticket draw ings for prizes and a “Taste of Barrow” will be available with the purchase of a $5 wristband. Local restaurants will be offer ing samples from their menus. Inside Today Church News 12A Classifieds 13-14A Legals 4-8B Obituaries 15A Pets of the Week 9A Public Safety 7-8A Sports 1-3B, 9B.11B Contact Us Phone: 770-867-6397 Mail: 77 E. May Street, Winder, Ga. 30680 Fax: 706-621-4115 Mailing Label Below Return of Friday Night Lights mm • ■■■■ A NEW SEASON Football was back in Barrow County last Friday as the Winder-Barrow Bulldoggs hosted Flowery Branch for a preseason scrimmage and Bethlehem Christian Academy played its first regular season game. Both the Bulldoggs and Knights won as did Apalachee High School in a road scrimmage. A special high school foot ball preview section is inside today. Photos by Jessica Brown Rabies case reported in City of Winder Raccoon tests positive A raccoon has tested positive for rabies in the City of Winder. On Aug. 5, Barrow County Animal Control received a report of a raccoon that had attacked a dog near the area of West Midland Avenue and Belleview Street. The officer was able to locate the raccoon and impound it. The raccoon appeared to be highly agitated and disoriented. The raccoon was euthanized and prepared for testing at the Georgia State Laboratory in Decatur. On Aug. 9, Barrow County Animal Control received word from the lab that the specimen had tested positive for rabies. All residents are advised to call Barrow County Animal Control if they see any wildlife behaving strangely or aggressively. Residents are advised to not try to handle any wildlife. Residents are also strongly encouraged not to leave pets out side unattended and to keep a current rabies vaccination at all times. Two charged in insurance fraud case One is former BCSO deputy Two Winder men were recent ly arrested for their alleged involvement in insurance fraud. On Aug. 11, at approximate ly 1:45 p.m., officers with the Winder Police Department arrested Donald Avery Reynolds, 56. 320 Harrison Lane, Winder, and Gerald Edgar Moon, 66, of the same address. Both arrests are in connection with an insurance fraud investi gation conducted by the Winder Police Department over the past several months. See Fraud on Page 11A Public defender’s office seeks county funding Seagraves: New social worker position would help provide services to clients By Scott Thompson News-Journal Reporter A public defender’s job today is much more than repre senting clients in a courtroom. As Piedmont Judicial Circuit public defender Donna Seagraves points out, her agen cy is responsible for sever al other tasks, which include helping clients get into pro grams that serve as an alterna tive to jail time in an effort to save taxpayers money. But that process can be dif ficult and the public defend er’s office is in desperate need of help, Seagraves said last week as she appeared before the Barrow County Board of Commissioners to request funding for a new social work er position. If approved, Barrow County would cover 45 percent ($23,531) of the position’s $52,290 salary with Jackson (41 percent) and Banks (14 percent) counties covering the remainder. The person chosen for the job would be a state employee and their mileage and other benefits would be covered at no additional cost to the coun ties, Seagraves said. Seagraves spent about 15 minutes advocating for the new position on Aug. 9 during a commission workshop on the county’s proposed budget for next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. Though county manager Mike Renshaw initially rec ommended during a budget work session last month that the county not fund the new position, he invited Seagraves to last week’s meeting to fur ther clarify her office’s need. "Our workload goes up when the district attorney’s office’s and law enforcement’s workloads go up,” Seagraves told commissioners. See Funding on Page 11A