Newspaper Page Text
32 Pages 3 Sections, Plus Preprints A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. Winder, Barrow County Georgia 50« Copy Wednesday, February 8, 2017
Barrow
Briefs
Cupid Bash
The Winder Square Dance Club
“Jug Tavern Squares” will hold its
“Cupid Bash” Valentine Dance on
Friday, Feb. 10, at the YMCA in
Winder from 7:30-10 p.m. No
YMCA membership is required.
See the group’s website, www.
jugtavemsquares.org. for more
information, or contact club pres
idents Buddy or Sharon Davis at
770-513-1189.
Peace Place
ball set
Peace Place Inc. presents its
17th Annual Ball - Mardi Gras
Gala - on Saturday, Feb. 25.
Music begins at 6:30 p.m. and
dinner will be served at 7 p.m. at
the Commerce Civic Center.
Tickets are $60 each, $110 per
couple and $500 per table.
The Gala will include music,
entertainment, professional pho
tography, live and silent auctions.
Payments can be made to Peace
Place Inc., PO. Box 948, Winder,
GA 30680.
If you have questions or would
like to donate a raffle item(s),
please contact Helene at heavi
ness @peaceplaceinc.org or 770-
307-3633.
Peace Place Inc. is a domes
tic violence program that serves
survivors of family violence in
Banks, Barrow and Jackson coun
ties in Georgia, offering emergen
cy shelter, transitional and scat
tered site housing, outreach and
legal advocacy, safety planning,
educational presentations and chil
dren’s services. Peace Place also
operates a thrift store to help fund
the operations of the agency.
Peace Place Inc. is a registered
501(c)3 non-profit organization,
and donations are tax deductible.
Lunch and
Learn
The Barrow County Extension
Office will be hosting an “Intro
to Gardening” lunch-and-leam ses
sion from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday,
Feb. 23. Registration is $10. To reg
ister, call 770-307-3029. The office
is located at 90 Lanthier St., Winder.
Index:
Church News
11A
Classifieds
3-4C
Legals
5-12C
Obituaries
10A
Pets of the Week
1C
Public Safety
8-9A
Sports
1-6, 8B
ESPLOST revenue growth continues
By Ron Bridg'eman
News-Journal Reporter
It’s not a trend yet, but the
Barrow County Board of Educa
tion hopes it goes the way 2017
started.
“It” is the ESPLOST revenue,
which in January was almost $1
million, up 15.7 percent over the
same month in 2016.
The BOE received $993,277
for the month.
That is slightly more than
$135,000 more in sales tax rev
enue than the board received in
2016. The money is for sales in
December because it comes in
one month after the sales are
made.
“I don’t know if we want
to get real excited about this,”
Houston said, introducing the
topic. “We’ll just see if this
becomes a trend and that would
be wonderful.”
The county schools ’ ESPLOST
revenue has increased each year
for the past four years.
The schools received $9.7
million for 2016 and $9,542
million for 2015.
The 2016 money was almost
$1.1 million more than in 2013.
The county started collecting
on a new ESPLOST in Sep
tember. It will be for five years,
through September 2021.
The county has collected $3.4
million on the new ESPLOST
from October to January. For the
past three years, revenue drops
in February and March.
Houston also reported the
schools’ reserve fund as of Jan.
31 was $23,275 million.
The district had received
about 58.2 percent of its esti
mated revenue and spending
was at about 47 percent for the
fiscal year.
OTHER BUSINESS
The school board met for
about 25 minutes in its regular
session.
It also approved buying:
•50 Epson interactive pro
jectors for classrooms and a
Hitachie projector for the caf
eteria at Winder Elementa
ry School from TechOptics of
Winder for $93,134.
•Commvault licensing for
district-wide data backup from
Insight of Tempe, Ariz., for
$46,862. Insight was the sec
ond-low bidder, but it matched
the low bid when that company
refused to honor its bid.
The board also approved hold
ing three policy changes until
the March meeting to provide
time for public comment.
The changes deal with over
time pay for classified employ
ees, rescinding a policy on local
school councils and establishing
a policy for school governance
teams.
ALL ON THE LINE
Apalachee’s Rashad Eberhart and Winder-Barrow’s Lamonta Mack battle for the tip-off
during Tuesday night’s GHSA Region 8-AAAAAA tournament first-round game at Lanier
High School in Sugar Hill. The Bulldoggs and Wildcats played the game with a state play
off berth on the line and went to overtime in a wild back-and-forth contest. In the end, the
Bulldoggs emerged victorious, 71-60. See Page 1B for more. Photo by Scott Thompson
Winder
council
approves
new oath
procedure
By Sk aron Hog'an
News-Journal Reporter
Winder City Council
approved, at the monthly
meeting on Tuesday, the
first reading of an amend
ment to the city’s charter
to allow persons elect
ed as mayor and council
members to attend the first
council meeting in January
following a regular elec
tion for the purpose of tak
ing the oath of office prior
to the start of the council
meeting.
The amendment also
allows for the mayor and
council, at the first council
meeting in January follow
ing each regular election, to
elect from its membership
a mayor pro-tem for a term
of two years.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business at Tues
day’s meeting, the council
approved:
•authorizing the mayor to
sign a resolution adopting
the five ethics principles to
participate in the Certified
City of Ethics Program.
This certification is valid
for four years, expiring in
April 2021. The five prin
ciples are: 1) Serve oth
ers, not ourselves; 2) Use
resources with efficiency
and economy; 3) Treat all
people fairly; 4) Use the
See Winder on Page 2A
Mailing
Label Below
o
NGMC Braselton becomes first hospital in
state to receive eco-friendly design award
Northeast Georgia
Medical Center’s Bra
selton campus is the
first hospital in the
state and among the
first 10 in the nation
to receive Gold Cer
tification under the
U.S. Green Building
Council’s Leadership
in Energy and Environ
mental Design (LEED)
for Healthcare Rating
System.
LEED certification
measures NGMC Bra-
selton’s innovation,
water and energy use,
sustainability, indoor
environment quality,
material and resource
use and more, accord
ing to a news release.
“For all of us at
NGMC Braselton,
being green means cre
ating a quality experi
ence for patients and
visitors, while also
operating as efficient
ly as possible” said
Anthony Williamson,
president of NGMC
Braselton. “We hope
other businesses will
be inspired by the
sustainable initia
tives implemented at
NGMC Braselton and
See NGMC on Page 2A
ECO-FRIENDLY
Northeast Georgia Medical Center Braselton recently became the first hos
pital in Georgia to receive Gold Certification under the U.S. Green Building
Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Healthcare
Rating System.
