Newspaper Page Text
36 Pages 3 Sections, Plus Preprints A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. Winder, Barrow County Georgia 50« Copy Wednesday, April 19, 2017
Barrow proposes 3-percent pay raise
for deputies, detention center officers
Smith wants higher increases for all sheriff's office employees
Barrow
Briefs
Masonic
Lodge to
host pancake
breakfast
The Auburn Masonic Lodge
will be having a Pancake Break
fast from 8-11 a.m. on Saturday,
April 22. The cost is $5 per plate
to benefit the Relay For Life. The
Auburn Masonic Lodge is locat
ed behind Ingles in Auburn.
By Scott Thompson
News-Journal Editor
Barrow County manager Mike
Renshaw and Sheriff Jud Smith
agree in order to reduce turn
over in the Sheriff’s Office and
Detention Center and cut back
on overtime expenses, the pay
rate of those employees needs to
be more competitive with other
surrounding markets.
But the two differed last week
on how much those increases
should be.
At a Barrow Board of Com
missioners work session on the
Fiscal Year 2018 budget April
11, Renshaw proposed a 3-per
cent pay increase for all sheriff's
deputies and detention center
officers to help chip into the 12
vacancies between the two offic
es that currently exist.
The recommendation was
made after county human
resources director Charlie Felts
completed an analysis of Barrow
County’s pay rates compared to
surrounding counties — includ
ing Athens-Clarke, Hall, Gwin
nett, Forsyth, Jackson and Wal
ton.
The 3-percent increase
would bring the starting salary
for sheriff’s deputies in Bar-
row from $34,987 to $36,037,
which would put it ahead of all
those counties except Gwinnett
($38,777) and Hall ($37,648).
The starting salary for detention
center officers would increase
from $33,405 to $34,407, which
would outpace each of the afore
mentioned counties except Hall
($35,859).
If implemented, the 3-percent
See Budget on Page 2A
‘Celebrate
Life’ banquet
set for
April 29
Come Alive Ministries, a
non-profit pregnancy care cen
ter, will be holding its 26th
annual “Celebrate Life’’ Ban
quet on Saturday, April 29
at 6:30 p.m., at the Winder
Community Center. 113 East
Athens St., Winder. Dinner
will be catered by The Mas
ter’s Table and the organiza
tion will have special music by
Threads of Hope. The keynote
speaker is former Congress
man Paul Broun.Call 770-867-
3000 or email: comealive@
windstream.net to reserve your
complimentary tickets. Reser
vations are required.
Pollinator
garden class
set for
April 25
The Barrow County Exten
sion Office will be hosting a
pollinator garden class April
25 from 2-3 p.m. at 90 Lanthier
St., Winder. Learn to create a
space for bees, butterflies and
other pollinators. Registration
is free. To register, call 770-
307-3029 by April 24.
Index:
Church News 10A
Classifieds 4-5C
Legals 6-11C
Obituaries 11A
Opinion 4-6A
Public Safety 7-8A
Sports 1-8, 10, 12B
Mailing
Label Below
Making a mark
CUTTING THE RIBBON
Winder Housing Authority executive director Michelle Yawn cuts the ribbon during an
open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday for the Wimberly Center for Community
Development in Winder. Named after former Barrow County educator Robert Wimberly,
the center is a repurposing of the former Winder-Barrow Middle School. Photos by Scott
Thompson
Open house held for Wimberly Center
for Community Development in Winder
By Scott
Thompson
News-Journal Editor
As he stood in the building named after his late
father, Christopher Wimberly described the open
house for the Wimberly Center for Community
Development in Winder on Monday as a “breath
taking moment.”
“I never would have thought this building,
where my father was a teacher, coach, assistant
principal and a principal, would be named after
him,” Wimberly said. “If anybody deserves it, my
father does. My father was successful because he
gave everything he had to this community.
“Thank you for putting his name on this build
ing to help aid, educate and build up those in this
community.”
Wimberly was one of about 100 people in atten
dance at the former Winder-Barrow High School
on Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive in the Glenwood
neighborhood, which is now a 20,000-square-foot
community center that is home to several local
service organizations and nonprofits, as well as
Lanier Technical College offices.
The Barrow County Chamber of Commerce
held a joint ribbon-cutting ceremony for the
Lanier Tech portion of the building and the Wim
berly Center, which is named after former Barrow
County educator Robert Wimberly, who died in
January 2016.
The Winder Housing Authority purchased the
building for $1 million from the Barrow County
School System in February 2016 and began ren
ovations.
Doors opened to the facility in December and it
is now home to the WHA, Boys and Girls Club
of Winder-Barrow, Action, Inc. and Piedmont
CASA. A Kid’s Dream and Habitat for Humanity
are slated to move in within the next couple of
months and Barrow County Family Connection
also has a presence there.
The Lanier Tech portion of the building includes
offices for the Adult Education Center and Adult
Literacy Barrow.
“What an incredible vision and what phe
nomenal use of a building to transform it into
the housing of so many different organizations
See Center on Page 12A
SPEAKING ABOUT HIS FATHER
Christopher Wimberly, the youngest son of
Robert Wimberly, was the guest speaker
during Monday’s program.
BUILDING’S NAMESAKE
A picture of the late Robert Wimberly, who
died in January 2016, hangs in the main lobby
of the center.
Statham
council
starts
work on
budget
By Ron Bridg'eman
News-Journal Reporter
Statham City Council
began its formal work on
the Fiscal Year 2018 budget
Tuesday, spending about 90
minutes going through its
proposed $2,831 million
budget.
The city’s draft budget
proposes spending about
$116,000 less than the cur
rent $2.95 million. Statham
likely will adopt next year’s
budget in June. The city’s
fiscal year is July 1 to
June 30. No tax increase is
expected in the city’s mill-
age rate.
The city anticipates
receiving about $99,000
more in revenue the next
year than the current one.
The draft budget anticipates
nearly $3.05 million in rev
enue, up from the current
$2.95 million budget.
The proposed budget
includes 3-percent raises
for city employees. City
Council heard from depart
ment heads Tuesday on the
general operations, water,
police, street and planning
and zoning departments.
Council debated whether
it should fill a “financial
person” listed in the budget
with a salary of $60,000.
The position has been in
the budget for the past few
years and has not been
filled. Council member
Gayle Steed asked that a
job description and respon
sibilities be developed.
Council member Perry
Barton said the position
“has been long overdue”
and the person in it should
have a “strong” financial
background but also handle
administrative duties.
The position sometimes
is characterized as “admin
istrator.” City Clerk Mai
Chang said the person
should understand “munic
ipal accounting.”
Council member David
Huth agreed, saying,
“There’s a big difference
in somebody that just takes
care of the books.”
The city has had consis
tent problems with book
keeping, recordkeeping and
accounting. Its 2015 audit
is not done, in part, because
city staff members do not
See Statham on Page_2A
