Newspaper Page Text
36 Pages 3 Sections, Plus Preprints A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. Winder, Barrow County Georgia 50« Copy Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Barrow
Briefs
Food distribution day
The Barrow County Food
Pantry in partnership with The
Food Bank of Northeast Geor
gia will have a food distribu
tion day at 8 a.m. on Thursday,
Nov. 17.
The event will be held, rain
or shine, at Holly Hill Mall,
across from Hill's Ace Hard
ware, 186 West Athens Street,
Winder. This month’s event
is sponsored by Bank of the
Ozarks.
The food distribution is open
to all Barrow County residents
who meet USDA income eli
gibility requirements. Proof of
Barrow County residency is
required.
The food is distributed on a
first come, first served basis.
The event is held the fourth
Thursday of every month Jan
uary through October, and on
the third Thursday in Novem
ber and December.
Barrow GOP meeting
The Barrow County GOP
will hold its monthly meeting
7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 21 at
the Winder Women's Club.
Jim Jess of the Georgia TEA
Party will be the guest speaker.
He will be giving a presenta
tion against the national Popu
lar Vote Proposal.
The public is invited to
attend.
Thanksgiving dinner
Apalachee High School
will host a community dinner
Wednesday, Nov. 23 from 5-8
p.m. in the school cafeteria.
All are welcome to join and
should RSVP by calling the
school at 770-586-5111 or by
emailing colene.cannarella@
barrow.kl2.ga.us.
The dinner will be hosted by
the students and will include a
traditional Thanksgiving din
ner and entertainment.
Holiday wreath-making
class scheduled Dec. 1
The FFA chapters at
Apalachee High School and
West Jackson Middle School
will be hosting a holiday
wreat-making class at 6 p.m.
Dec. 1 in the AHS cafeeria.
Cost is $30 and includes
all materials needed, detailed
instruction and refreshments.
RSVP by emailing skyler.
davis@barrow.kl2.ga.us by
Friday. Nov. 25.
Offices closed
The offices of Mainstreet
Newspapers, including the
Barrow News-Journal, will be
closed Nov. 24-25 in obser
vance of Thanksgiving.
The deadline for advertising
is noon Friday. Nov. 18.
Mailing
Label Below
8
7
Council accused of ignoring
complaints on police officer
Change in alcohol ordinance rejected after church members protest
By Ron Bridg'eman
News-Journal Reporter
Statham City Council heard
10 people roundly criticize a
city police officer and threaten
lawsuits, and it rejected a pro
posed amendment to its alcohol
ordinance in the face of strong
opposition from a church in the
downtown area.
The council’s meeting attract
ed more than 60 people who
wanted to protest either the offi
cer or the alcohol ordinance,
and more than 15 of them spoke
on one of the issues.
City hall was not opened until
6:48 p.m. for the 7 p.m. meet
ing. Members of city council,
the city clerk and city attorney
were allowed in a side door
that also was locked before the
meeting. All council members
were at their seats when the city
hall doors were opened.
Protesters lined the walls,
along with about a dozen police
officers. Officers attended from
the Statham police, the Barrow
County Sheriff’s Office and the
Georgia State Patrol.
The crowd was relatively quiet
- despite a couple of outbursts,
several rounds of applause and
one woman urging the police
to leave so others could get in
the room.
Mayor Robert Bridges
announced the fire marshal had
said the room’s capacity was 59
people. A number of the speak
ers had to be called in from
outside.
City Attorney Thomas Mitch
ell outlined legal opinions and
Robert’s Rules of Order that can
See Statham on Page 24
BARROW COUNTY CELEBRATES VETERANS
Military Veterans of Georgia hosted the annual Barrow County Veterans Day ceremony
Friday morning at Jug Tavern Park in Winder. Community leaders and citizens turned out
to honor those who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces and the sacrifices they have
made. Guest speakers included three veterans: Ray Mattison, Air Force (1963-67); Scott
Jones, Navy (1984-88) and Sean Adams, Marine Corps retired. State Rep. Terry England
and Winder Mayor David Maynard also gave remarks. The Barrow Brigade JROTC present
ed the colors while the Winder-Barrow and Apalachee high school bands provided music.
American Legion Post 163 passed out American flags while the Veterans of Foreign Wars
Post 1187 Auxiliary presented memorial wreaths and hosted the “Missing Man Table.” More
than 100 people attended the ceremony to pay thanks to veterans. Photos by Jessica Brown
REMEMBRANCE
Members of the VFW Post 1187 carry a
memorial wreath during the ceremony.
SALUTING VETERANS
Members of the Barrow Brigade JROTC
stand at attention during the National
Anthem during Friday’s ceremony.
MOVING FORWARD WITH LIFE
Sean Adams, who lost his legs in an IED
explosion in Afghanistan in February 2012,
talked about his service and assistance of
other veterans who have lost limbs.
BOC approves purchase of mowing equipment
By Scott Thompson
Editor
Barrow County will go
through with the purchase of
two new John Deere mowers to
replace obsolete and worn out
equipment, but the money won’t
come from SPLOST 2012 funds
as county officials originally
proposed.
The Board of Commissioners
last week approved the purchase
of the mowers for $212,912
using state contract pricing, and
that money will be taken from
the roughly $7 million the coun
ty currently has in unassigned
fund balance.
Chairman Pat Graham made
the motion at the board’s Nov.
8 meeting after county chief
financial officer Rose Kisaalita
told commissioners that pulling
money from unassigned fund
balance would not disrupt the
county’s policy of having two to
three months of funds on hand
in the event of a natural disaster
or other major emergency.
The mowers will replace the
more-than-decade-old existing
ones, which would have cost
roughly $60,000 to repair, coun
ty public works director Charles
McGiboney said.
The county had identified
replacement of the equipment
as a need in its Fiscal Year 2017
budgeting process, and county
manager Mike Renshaw pro
posed during the board’s Oct. 25
meeting that the funding come
from SPLOST 2012 proceeds.
Renshaw said last week the
replacement could be paid for
through excess revenue funds
once the books for FY2016 are
closed out, but the county like
ly won’t know for sure how
much it will have available from
FY2016 until late January.
“The existing mowers have
some significant issues,” Ren
shaw said. “They’re not operable
at this point and there are some
safety concerns. I’m concerned
about delaying in the hopes that
perhaps we might have some
See BOC on Page 2A
Grocery
store to be
allowed to
operate
The Los Primos grocery
store in Winder will be
allowed to continue oper
ating following its citation
for selling alcohol without
proper licensing.
City Council held a
suspended license public
hearing during its meeting
Tuesday night and voted
to allow the store, located
at 232 North Broad St., to
continue operating.
The store was cited by
the Winder Police Depart
ment on Oct. 19 for being
in violation of the city ordi
nance by selling and/or fur
nishing alcohol without the
required licensing.
In its letter to the grocery
store, the city deemed the
store’s conduct “detrimen
tal to the moral and general
welfare of the citizens of
the city.’
In other business Tues
day, council:
•awarded roughly $9 mil
lion worth of two contracts
to Haren Construction Co..
Inc. and John D. Stephens.
Inc. for construction of a
raw water system at Fort
Yargo State Park. Council
also approved $200,000 in
contingencies recommend
ed by staff.
The project will be
financed through the Geor
gia Environmental Finance
Authority’s Drinking Water
State Revolving Fund at an
interest rate of 0.89 per
cent.
•awarded a $3.44 million
contract to Lanier Contract
ing Company for the con
struction of the Rockwell
Church Road water tank
and pump station project.
The contract also includes
a roughly $200,000 con
tingency.
•approved an event per
mit for the annual Mar
tin Luther King Jr. Parade,
which will be held Jan. 17.
The parade will begin at
10 a.m. at Quality Foods
on North Broad Street and
end at White Oak Springs
Missionary Baptist Church
on the corner of East New
Street and Martin Luther
King Jr. Drive.
Index:
Church News
10A
Classifieds
4-5C
Legals
6-11C
Obituaries
11A
Pets of the Week 2C
Public Safety
7-9 A
Sports
1 -10B
O