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PAGE 2A
BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2016
BETHLEHEM HOUSE FIRE
Barrow County Emergency Services received a 911 call Monday afternoon
reporting a structure fire in the 300 block of Centennial Drive in Bethlehem.
“The 911 caller informed communication officers that the house was full of
smoke,” said Captain Scott Dakin. “The communication officers informed
them to make sure everyone evacuated the house and dispatched firefight
ers the scene.” Upon arrival, firefighters found heavy fire and smoke in the
front of the house and through the roof of the home. Due to the amount of
fire upon arrival, firefighters went into a defensive mode of fire attack, fight
ing the fire from outside the structure. Once the fire was knocked down,
crews made entry into the home to finish extinguishing the fire. The home
was heavily damaged as a result of the fire. The Fire Investigation Team
responded and the cause of the fire is under investigation by the team.
The American Red Cross was called to assist the two adults that were dis
placed by this fire.
No tax increase in final
proposed county budget
By Scott Thompson
News-Journal Reporter
Barrow County property
owners likely won't be fac
ing a property-tax increase
next fiscal year.
County manager Mike
Renshaw on Tuesday
presented the Board of
Commissioners with
the final proposed bud
get for FY2017, which,
if approved, would see a
0.01-percent property-tax
decrease in the incorporat
ed portions of the county
and a 0.79-percent drop
in the unincorporated por
tions.
Beginning today, the
proposed budget is avail
able for public inspection
in the commission clerk’s
office, at the Winder Public
Library and online at bar-
rowga.org.
The commission will
hold a required public
hearing on the budget at
its Sept. 6 meeting and is
expected to take a final vote
on the plan Sept. 20.
The proposed balanced
budget for FY2017 calls
for just over $33 million
in general fund expendi
tures and revenues. The fis
cal year will only be nine
months, running from Oct.
1 through June 30.
KEY FIGURES
Renshaw said staff used
“moderately conservative”
revenue projections. One
area of concern, he said,
was a potential lag in reve
nue from licensing and per
mits for the upcoming year.
“We’ve seen a marked
decrease in building per
mits,” Renshaw said.
“We’re hopeful that trend
will reverse, but we will
continue to monitor it.”
Significant increases in
the general fund include
$399,000 to implement the
recommendations of a pay
classification and compen
sation study that was com
pleted by the University
of Georgia’s Carl Vinson
Institute of Government.
That figure would include
a 1.5-percent pay increase
Renshaw recommended
for all county employees
as well as bringing all
employees to competitive
salary levels according to
market conditions. The
option recommended by
Renshaw would put fire,
EMS and 9-1-1 employ
ees above market rate in an
effort to address retention
issues within those depart
ments.
Significant increases in
departmental expenses
include a $10,000 spike in
printing, binding and mail
ing costs in the tax com
missioner's office and extra
money for the tax asses
sor’s office to add a new
position.
Renshaw has also rec
ommended adding a $2.7
million special reserve fund
to assist the county with
its transition to a different
fiscal year.
“We want to make sure
we’ll have adequate money
to pay our bills,” he said.
“(The fund) will be needed
to get us through that four-
month period from July
through October before
property-tax bills get sent
out.”
One department that
won’t get the full funding
it requested from the coun
ty, at least for now, would
be the Piedmont Judicial
Circuit public defender’s
office.
At the commission’s
Aug. 9 meeting, public
defender Donna Seagraves
had requested funding for
a full-time social worker
position to help with the
department’s growing
workload. Barrow would
cover 45 percent ($23,531)
of the $52,290 salary, while
the other two counties in
the circuit, Jackson and
Banks, would pitch in the
remainder.
Barrow was the first
county Seagraves came to
with her proposal, and Ren
shaw said the county will
wait and see what Jackson
and Banks decide to do.
He added that if those two
counties supported provid
ing the extra money. Bar-
row likely would as well,
and the funding would
come from the county’s
contingency fund.
IMPROVEMENT
PROJECTS
The budget also calls
for $6 million in capital
improvement projects,
including:
•$2 million in various
road improvements, which
will be paid for through
a combination of SPLOST
proceeds and state funding.
•more than $1 million in
water, sewer and fire infra
structure projects.
•$800,000 to replace 20
sheriff's office vehicles.
•$300,000 in upgrades
to the county’s E-911 tele
phone systems.
•$105,000 to replace the
kitchen floor in the sheriff's
office, which Renshaw said
is deteriorating.
SOLAR FARM
VOTE POSTPONED
In other business Tues
day, the commission:
•postponed a vote on a
request to rezone 25 acres
of vacant land near the
corner of Cedar Creek and
Rockwell Church Road for
a solar farm. County attor
ney Angela Davis said the
proposed site plan lacks
adequate frontage road
space to allow for a rezon
ing, and commissioners
voted to postpone a vote
until the applicant could
re-work it. Because the
site plan will be amended,
the matter will have to go
back to the county planning
commission first.
The commission also
failed to take action on the
proposal at its Aug. 9 meet
ing. Though it voted 3-2 at
that meeting in favor of the
proposal, four affirmative
votes are required for prop
erty to be rezoned.
The property owner,
Cedar Creek Corners, LLC,
is seeking the rezoning to
allow for the solar farm,
which would be used to
transmit power to Jackson
EMC. Board chairman Pat
Graham said Aug. 9 she
was concerned that a solar
farm on the site, which was
initially intended for a res
idential development that
never materialized, would
not be consistent with the
county's future land use
map.
•denied a request to con
sider renaming Rat Kinney
Road in Statham to Prov
idence Road. Rat Kinney
Road is a 2.5-mile stretch
in the middle of Provi
dence Road, which begins
at Broad Street in Statham
and stretches into Jackson
County.
Seven of the 79 property
owners along Rat Kinney
Road made the request for
the name change. In a letter
to the commission, those
owners said the discrepan
cy has caused confusion
with people trying to find
their homes.
County staff recommend
ed denial of the request
because the majority of the
property owners did not
make the request, and such
a change would necessi
tate all property owners to
change the address on all of
their personal accounts.
Commissioners said they
would like to hear more
input from a majority of
the residents before consid
ering another request for a
name change in the future.
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State public health official
attends local BOH meeting
FITZGERALD ATTENDS LOCAL
BOARD OF HEALTH MEETING
Georgia Departmentof Public Health Commissioner
Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald attended the Barrow County
Board of Health meeting on Aug. 19.
Photo by Sharon Hogan
By Sh aron Hogan
News-Journal Reporter
The Zika virus continues
to be a topic of conversa
tion for the Barrow County
Health Board.
At the meeting on Aug. 19,
Lou Kudon, Northeast Geor
gia Health District, told the
board the state is prepared to
handle Zika.
"But we don’t expect a
problem with Zika in Geor
gia," Kudon said.
He said there is a very
small chance that Zika will
affect this area.
Georgia Department of
Public Health Commissioner
Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald said
there are currently 55 trav
el-related cases in the state.
"They are all travel-related
cases and they are all over
the state,” Fitzgerald said.
Kudon said spraying in
this area would not be effec
tive.
Educating the public about
the Zika virus is the best
method of prevention, Kudon
added.
The “Tip ‘n Toss” is one
way to combat mosquitoes.
Ways to do this are: clean up
around homes and yards; get
rid of anything not needed
that can hold water; use lar-
vicides (Mosquito Dunks©
or Mosquito Torpedos©) in
places where the water can’t
be dumped out; ‘Tip ‘n Toss’
containers after every rain
and at least once a week;
dump out standing water in
flowerpots and planters, chil
dren’s toys and pet dishes;
don’t let water accumulate
in old tires, rain gutters, piles
of leaves or natural holes in
vegetation; and cover water
storage containers (buckets,
cisterns and rain barrels).
Mosquitoes need standing
water to breed.
Fitzgerald announced that
Medicaid will now pay for
Deet, mosquito repellant, for
pregnant women.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business at the
health board meeting:
•Keli Hinson presented
the Fiscal Year 2016 activ
ity report for environmen
tal health, that included the
following: 1,096 total septic
tank management activities;
365 total restaurant inspec
tions activities; 43 total
swimming pool inspection
activities; and 20 total motel
inspection activities.
•nurse manager Susan
Kristal talked about commu
nity partnerships and their
importance to the health
department. One of the part
nerships highlighted at the
meeting was the “Talk to
Your Baby" program that is
presented to WIC clients.
This program is in partner
ship with the Barrow Book
Champions Partnership pro
gram with the Barrow Coun
ty School System. WIC fam
ilies receive free books quar
terly and they are eligible to
sign up for library cards and
free library programs.
Ellen Petree, with the
school system, told the group
that Lauren Dodge had writ
ten a grant application and
the Book Champions Part
nership had just received a
$10,000 grant, thanks to that
application.
LUMPKIN HONORED AT HEALTH DEPARTMENT
Barrow County Health Department RN, NP Carol Lumpkin (C) was recent
ly honored for inserting the most long-acting reversible contraceptives in
2016 and also the most since 2011 in the Northeast Health District. Shown
with Lumpkin are: Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald (L), commissioner of the Georgia
Department of Public Health, and Dr. Claude Burnett (R), public health medi
cal director of Northeast Georgia Health District. Photo by Sharon Hogan
Politics continued from 1A
In addition to the presidential election this fall, there are three local contested races on the
ballot including campaigns for seats on the Barrow County Board of Commissioners and
Barrow County Board of Education. The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 8.
SPLOST continued from 1A
The remainder of the
money, about $49.2 mil
lion. would have been split
between the county, Wind
er, Auburn, Statham, Beth
lehem. Carl and Braselton,
according to population
figures from the 2010 U.S.
Census.
County officials earlier
this summer attempted to
negotiate an intergovern
mental agreement (IGA)
with Winder officials that
would have allowed the
SPLOST to be in effect
for six years and raise a
projected $66 million.
Of the $66 million,
just over $27 million - or
$4.5 million per year -
would have gone toward
the county retiring debt on
SPLOST 2005 “Level 1”
projects approved by vot
ers. including the building
of a new detention center
and courthouse facility and
renovations to the historic
courthouse in downtown
Winder, which is now used
as a county administration
annex building.
However, Winder lead
ers said they would be
opposed to any IGA that
would have allowed that
large of a share to be used
for retiring SPLOST 2005
debt.
In a letter to commis
sion chairman Pat Gra
ham, Winder Mayor David
Maynard said the county
should use part of its allot
ted collections from the tax
to make its debt payments.
Graham rebutted,
though, saying that would
undercut funding for
“essential capital items”
that would instead have to
be paid for through higher
property taxes.
Considering
buying or
selling?
770-867-9026
www.maynardrealty.com
-A
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