Newspaper Page Text
44 Pages 3 Sections, Plus Preprints A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. Winder, Barrow County Georgia 50$ Copy Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Barrow
Briefs
Candler Street to be
closed for movie filming
East Candler Street in Winder
will be closed from Broad to
Johnson Street from 4 to 6 p.m.
on Thursday. The road will be
used to film a scene for a small
movie.
Road closure planned
Cooks Road from Stoney
Creek Drive to Walnut Drive
is scheduled to be closed to
through-traffic for culvert
repairs scheduled to begin Mon
day through Oct. 28. The detour
route will be Ga. 211 Northeast
to Pleasant Hill Church Road
Northeast.
Food distribution
scheduled Oct. 27
The Barrow County Food
Pantry in partnership with The
Food Bank of Northeast Geor
gia will have a Food Distribu
tion Day, beginning at 8 a.m..
on Thursday, Oct. 27, at Holly
Hill Mall. The event will be held
rain or shine.
The October distribution day
is sponsored by Pam Sharp-
ton and Tommye Stewart and is
open to all Barrow County res
idents who meet USDA income
eligibility requirements. Proof
of Barrow County residency is
required. The distribution will
be on a frrst-come, first-served
basis. The mall is located across
from Hill's Hardware, at 186
West Athens Street. Winder.
The food distribution day is
the fourth Thursday of every
month, January through October
and the third Thursday during
the months of November and
December.
Annual Christmas
parade set Dec. 10
While the weather has felt
like anything but Christmas of
late, the annual City of Wind
er Christmas parade has been
scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 10,
beginning at 4 p.m.
The parade will begin at Ingles
on North Broad Street and con
clude at Jug Tavern Park.
Various streets will be closed
during the parade, including
North Broad Street, East Athens
Street and East Candler Street
between North Broad Street and
North Jackson Street.
Early voting underway
Early voting for the Nov. 8
general election is now under
way in Barrow County.
Registered voters may cast
their ballots 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Mondays through Fridays
through Nov. 4 at the board of
elections office, 233 East Broad
St.. Winder.
Saturday voting will be 9 a.m.
to 4 p.m. on Oct. 29.
Mailing
Label Below
Auburn public works director retires
BY SHARON HOGAN
News-Journal Reporter
David Hawthorne, Auburn
public works director, tendered
his retirement, effective imme
diately, to the Auburn City
Council during a called meeting
on Monday, Oct. 17.
Following an almost two-
hour closed session, the council
unanimously approved Haw
thorne’s retirement effective
immediately.
In the next order of busi
ness when the meeting was
re-opened to the public, the
council approved the appoint
ment of city administrator Ron
Griffith as acting public works
director.
In the final vote of the
night, the council unanimously
approved eliminating the posi
tion of public works adminis
trative assistant, currently held
by Charlotte Ewing, effective
immediately.
McNeal Road work
rolls along in town
ROAD WORK CONTINUES
Work continues on McNeal Road in Winder. The road work has been ongoing for several
months. Businesses located in the area have had to deal with limited access to their loca
tions during the construction. (Photos by Jessica Brown)
Construction work
is still ongoing on
McNeal Road in
Winder after several
months.
The work was ini
tially scheduled to be
completed last month.
The construction of
the new Russell Mid
dle School, which
opened in August,
brought about the need
for left turn lanes and
a water main replace
ment.
Businesses located
in the area have had
to deal with limited
access to their loca
tions during the con
struction.
BEHIND SCHEDULE
Construction continues on McNeal Road.
The work was initially scheduled to be
completed last month.
Auburn receives GMA grant
The Georgia Municipal
Association (GMA) recently
announced the City of Auburn
received a safety grant check in
the amount of $3,700, and a lia
bility grant check for $1,947 for
the purchase of ballistic vests,
traffic safety vests, safety har
ness and safety vests, back-up
alarm, emergency first-aid kit.
global SAT USB GPS receiver
and various other items.
“This program allows each
city to stretch their budget dol
lars and provide a safer work
environment for their employ
ees,” said Eileen Thomas, mar
keting field services representa
tive, GMA.
The GMA Safety and Lia
bility Management Grant pro
gram was introduced in 2000
to provide a financial incentive
to assist members in improving
their employee safety and gen
eral public liability loss control
efforts through training and the
purchase of equipment and ser
vices.
Since the inception of the
program, over 130 cities have
received grant money through
the program.
Over 500 grants were
approved totaling nearly $1.5
million to fund items such
as bulletproof vests, training
videos, confined space entry
equipment, reflective safety
vests, fire department turnout
gear and police department
in-vehicle video systems.
These grant funds have
helped leverage the purchase of
over $2.6 million in this type of
equipment and training.
The Safety and Liability
Management Grant program is
made available to members of
GMA’s property and liability
insurance program (the Georgia
Interlocal Risk Management
Agency) and GMA's workers’
compensation insurance pro
gram (GMA Workers' Compen
sation Self-Insurance Fund).
Based in Atlanta, GMA is a
voluntary, non-profit organiza
tion that provides legislative
advocacy, educational, employ
ee benefit and consulting ser
vices to its over 500 member
cities.
Statham
approves
millage
BY SHARON HOGAN
News-Journal Reporte
The Statham City Coun
cil approved the 2016 mill-
age rate at the meeting on
Tuesday.
The net millage rate was
approved at 5.133 mills for
2016. This is down slightly
from a net millage of 5.777
for 2015.
In other business at
the meeting, the council
approved an amendment to
the city's yard sale ordi
nance to designate the code
enforcement officer to issue
permits, instead of the city
clerk.
Approval was also given
for a change in the location
of the city’s gravity sewer
line project.
Council approved run
ning the line along High
way 316 and Bethlehem
Road.
There were some com
plications with a property
owner along the route orig
inally approved.
Planning director Randy
Gordon said the new route
would save the city around
$100,000 in total costs.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business at the
monthly meeting:
•the council waived the
first reading of an amend
ment to the city’s alcohol
ordinance dealing with dis
tance requirements from
schools and church build
ings, based on changes in
state law.
•the council agreed to
collect toiletry items for
the 57th annual Georgia
Municipal Association
Mayor's Motorcade that
takes place in early Decem
ber.
Items can be dropped off
at Statham City Hall.
•the council welcomed
Jeremy Bernius, a junior
at Bethlehem Christian
Academy, to observe the
council proceedings. Ber
nius is interested in local
government. Mayor Robert
Bridges told the council.
Correction
A story last week in this
newspaper said that Bar-
row County was ordered
to pay $1 million to an
anonymous complainant as
part of a legal settlement
over the placing of a Ten
Commandments poster in
a public area of the coun
ty courthouse. The amount
was actually $1.
Index:
Church News
14A
Classifieds
6-7C
Legals
8-15C
Obituaries
15A
Pets of the Week 3C
Public Safety
7-10A
Sports
1-12B
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