Newspaper Page Text
32 Pages 3 Sections, Plus Preprints A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. Winder, Barrow County Georgia 50« Copy Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Kroger planned for Gateway
Apartments, restaurants, other tenants on way to development
By Scott Thompson
News-Journal Editor
Barrow
Briefs
Museum
VIP Night
set for
Thursday
VIP Night at the Barrow
County Museum is Thursday,
March 23 from 5:30-7:30 p.m.
VIP Night will be a chance
for attendees to visit the
museum and see the Doctors’
Day exhibit in advance of the
March 30 observance of the
national recognition of the
tribute to doctors, which was
first held in Winder in 1933.
The evening will also
include a special recognition
ceremony at 6:30 p.m. to
honor several whose efforts
on behalf of the historical
society and the museum have
left a lasting legacy on the
community. Also on display
are three New South exhibits
by Haymon-Morris Middle
School students. The histor
ical society’s spring dinner
meeting is set for Thursday,
April 13, at the Statham Com
munity Center. After a dinner
catered by the Master’s Table,
the program will be presented
by representatives of the Fort
Yargo Living History Society.
To RSVP for the dinner
meeting, contact Drucilla
Gregg at drugregg@wind-
stream.net or call 770-867-
3421.
Square
dance set
for Friday
The Winder Square Dance
Club, “Jug Tavern Squares,”
will have a regular dance Fri
day March 24 from 7:30-10
p.m. at the YMCA in Winder.
No YMCA membership is
required. See the group’s web
site for more information at
www.jugtavemsquares.org or
contact club presidents Buddy
or Sharon Davis at 770-513-
1189.
Index:
Church News
10A
Classifieds
4-5C
Legals
6-11C
Obituaries
11A
Opinion
4-6 A
Public Safety
7-9A
Sports
1-6, 8B
Mailing
Label Below
o
A Kroger is planned for the
Gateway at University Parkway
in Barrow County, according to
an official associated with the
development along Ga. 316 near
its intersection with Ga. 81.
Wayne Bartlett, operations
manager for Gateway Venture
Partners and a broker for Pro
gressive Realty in Winder, told
Winder City Council earlier this
month that Kroger was under
contract to build a store on the
site, which could open by early
2019. A spokesman for Kroger
declined to comment or confirm
the planned store Monday.
Bartlett was giving council
A train derailment in Barrow
County caused road closures for
several hours Monday.
The train was traveling from
Atlanta to Greenwood. S.C.
when it derailed at the inter
section of Atlanta Highway and
Bowman Mill Road just after
midnight Monday morning.
Three cars came off the tracks
and one spilt limestone as a
result.
The next step in a transfer
station fight in Statham may be
in federal court.
Statham City Council denied
an “administrative appeal”
Tuesday night after a 3.5-hour
hearing.
The fight over the proposed
transfer station has been ongo
ing for more than a year with
the Garretts, who also own Roll-
Off Systems, a company that
rents and sells waste collection
containers. The family also
has transfer stations in Jackson
County and Monroe.
Just more than an hour into the
a presentation on plans for the
Gateway as council members
approved a pair of re-zonings
on segments of the development
to allow for more commercial
space as well as residential units.
Indiana-based KCG Devel
opment is planning to build a
130-unit apartment complex at
the site.
The complex will feature sev
eral amenities, including a pool,
fitness center, business room
and clubhouse. Construction is
expected to start soon, Bartlett
said Monday.
Those are just two of the new
additions planned for Gate
way. Construction is under
way on Five Guys and Twisted
Taco restaurants near Taco Bell
No injuries or hazmat spills
were reported.
The derailment caused the
crossings at Bowman Mill and
Cash roads to be blocked and
Atlanta Highway from Har-
digree Road to Jackson Trail
was closed for six hours by the
Georgia Department of Trans
portation until CSX Transporta
tion could get the cars back on
the track.
hearing, attorney Doug Dillard,
with Pursley Friese Tormgrim-
son of Atlanta, objected to the
process and procedure.
He said then, and continued
to say periodically during the
remainder of the hearing, that
his clients, the Garrett family,
were being denied Constitution
al rights under the Fourth and
Fourteenth amendments.
“It’s hard for us to get a fair
hearing in front of the folks who
told their employees to deny the
permits,” Dillard said.
He said after the meeting he
expects to appeal the process of
the hearing to federal court.
An administrative appeal
hearing had to be held before
the company could sue in court.
and the upcoming Holiday Inn
Express also remains under con
struction.
The Varsity has also purchased
a lot to build a Varsity Jr. on, but
the company has not announced
a construction date as of yet,
Bartlett said.
Elsewhere at the development,
new medical offices have recent
ly opened and a grand opening
and ribbon-cutting ceremony
was held Tuesday for Gateway
Gardens Assisted Living.
Bartlett also told council at
its March 7 meeting that more
nationally-known tenants were
looking to locate at the Gate
way, though he wasn’t ready to
announce who specifically.
“We’re very excited about
Portions of the main track
were damaged by the limestone,
according to a CSX spokesper
son. By Tuesday, trains were
moving on the tracks but the
company was still working to
remove two damaged cars from
a staging area near the track.
It’s unclear at this time when
those repairs will be completed.
The cause of the derailment
remains under investigation.
Thomas Mitchell, Statham city
attorney, said.
He called Mayor Robert
Bridges as his second witness,
and Bridges was one of the peo
ple hearing the case.
Mitchell recommended none
of the elected officials be wit
nesses. He said state law is
“pretty clear” and “has been
for about a century” that elect
ed officials can’t be compelled
to testify about legislative acts.
They accepted that.
Council heard the adminis
trative appeal, and voted unani
mously to reject the appeal after
it concluded.
Dillard continued his objec
tions.
“I think it’s (the hearing pro-
what all is going on out there,”
Bartlett said.
While all of the planned devel
opment will take at least a couple
of years to build out, the corri
dor by the Gateway is already
bustling and council members
pointed out that there will likely
be a need for much more traffic
signalization. Bartlett said the
Georgia Department of Trans
portation is already working to
secure various rights-of-way to
begin planning for additional
traffic lights, but there are still
other details to work out.
“We think (more traffic signal
ization) is a must,” Bartlett said.
“It’s not known yet who all is
going to pay for it. but we fully
believe it’s going to happen.”
Man in
custody
for killing
wife at
Ingles
A Statham man is in cus
tody after he allegedly shot
and killed his wife in the
parking lot of an Auburn
grocery store Friday after
noon.
Darrin Russell. 50. is sus
pected of shooting his wife
Dorothy Russell. 51. at the
Ingles on Atlanta Highway.
Officers were called the
scene around 5 p.m. on
reports of a domestic dis
pute.
An Auburn police offi
cer discovered Dorothy had
been shot in her vehicle.
She died at the scene.
Darrin was seen leaving
the scene but was arrest
ed by the Barrow County
Sheriff’s Office about an
hour later without incident.
He is charged with mur
der and was booked into the
Barrow County Jail.
In addition to the Auburn
Police Department and
BCSO. the Winder and
Statham police departments
assisted with the incident.
The Georgia Bureau of
Investigation was requested
to investigate.
Dorothy Russell was
employed at Auburn Ele
mentary School as a para-
professional.
An autopsy on her body
was scheduled to be per
formed at the GBI crime
lab in Decatur.
cess) prejudicial to the whole
process,” he said.
Dillard was plain that he was
making a record for an appeal.
“The mayor and council were
involved pretty much all the way
down the line,” he said.
He already has filed a civil suit
in Barrow County over the city’s
denial of a permit to Statham
Industrial LLC, the company
that has bought property for a
transfer station in the industrial
park.
He objected to the testimony
of John Stell, a Winder attor
ney who represents some of the
property owners in the industrial
park.
Nearly all of Stell’s testimony
See Station on Page 2A
No one injured in
train derailment
TRAIN DERAILMENT
A train derailment in Barrow County at the intersection of Atlanta Highway and Bowman
Mill Road just after midnight Monday did not result in any injuries or hazmat spills, but one
of the three cars that came off the track did spill limestone, causing some damage to the
main track. The crossings at Bowman Mill and Cash roads were blocked and the highway
from Hardigree Road to Jackson Trail was closed for six hours.
Road, crossing closures caused by incident
Statham council rejects transfer station; issue heading to court
By Ron Bridg'eman
News-Journal Reporter