Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2A
BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 2018
Wide-ranging comments about
Statham services voiced at meeting
By Ron Bridg'eman
News-Journal Reporter
About 25 people attended a rejuvenated com
mittee of Statham City Council Tuesday night
and heard a variety of comments about the water
and sewer systems, streets and capital improve
ments.
The committee met at the urging of Dwight
McCormic, who was elected to the council
in November. Eddie Jackson, also elected in
November, chaired the meeting.
Statham public works director Sam Powell and
Jordan McDaniel of the water department also sat
on the committee.
Council members Hattie Thrasher and Betty
Lyle were in the audience. Foimer council mem
ber Gayle Steed also attended.
McCormic said at a council meeting the com
mittee had “been around for years” and seldom
met. He preached that residents should bring
comments and information to the committee and
repeated that admonition Tuesday.
Eight people spoke to the committee, and most
made multiple comments. Several had com
plaints about the water and sewer systems.
Jackson said he intends to hold similar meet
ings about every six months and residents can
comment on progress, or the lack of progress. He
also cautioned the audience that capital improve
ments are expensive.
Multiple times, Jackson said older systems
must be repaired before news ones can be con
structed. He mentioned the water and sewer
systems and sidewalk construction specifically.
Joyce Jacks, who lives in Winder but owns
property in Statham, said she had heard “lots of
complaints” about the water.
Two of the speakers, including Jacks, said the
people who have complained to them did not
show up for the meeting.
The smell of water, discolored water, “residue”
when it is boiled and “the look” of water were the
subjects of complaints.
Jacks also said some residents “don’t really
tmsf ’ the City of Statham and would rather deal
with people at the state Environmental Protection
Division. She said state officials have said they
would test water at Statham houses for residents
and analyze it at state laboratories. Statham has
two sources of water - a spring in the main part
of town and a reservoir across Highway 316
from the main part of town. Daniel said both
kinds of water are treated at their source.
Jim Versctbraegen, Providence Circle, said
water pressure is unpredictable at his house.
“Sometimes it’s low and sometimes it’s high,”
he said.
Steed said she had heard from a lot of people
who complained about the color of the water. She
said she had never had a problem with it at her
house. She suggested problems may come from
older pipes in house and in the city’s system.
Verscthraegen complained the city should
“move money around” to pay for water and
sewer improvements. He suggested cutting every
city department budget by 20 percent to get
money.
Rudy Krause told the committee the city needs
to make its sewer hookup payments more flexi
ble, suggesting paying perhaps half upfront and
the other half over some period of months.
That is already done, but it is not publicized, it
was announced.
Krause said Statham is a town of lower- to
middle-income people who cannot afford large
payments, in the $3,000 range, at one time.
He said the city should concentrate on adding
customers to its sewer system to “bring the peo
ple that are available into the system”
Mike Gentry asked about fire protection and
how many hydrants have the proper water pres
sure. He volunteered to help with checking those
because he works in the field.
McDaniel said the hydrants are checked. He
said the tops are painted red, orange, green and
blue, according to the water pressure tests.
Roger Tripp asked about striping for city
streets and Jackson assured him that is being
worked on.
McCormic said he would like to see a side
walk built from Eighth Street and Broad to “at
least Hammond Road and turn left.” He said that
is a “long-term goal.”
Correction: In a May 2 story, Jordan McDan
iel was incorrectly identified as Jordan Bennett.
The News-Journal regrets the error.
Auburn approves pair of rezone requests
By Si. aron Hog'an
News-Journal Reporter
The Auburn City Coun
cil approved two rezoning
requests on May 3, that will
allow nine new homes and a
bucking company to locate
in the city.
The council unanimous
ly approved a rezoning for
seven parcels in the Auburn
Business Park from C-3
(Cenbal Business and Heavy
Commercial District) to M-l
(Light Manufacturing Dis
trict). The total acreage is
approximately 5.57 acres.
The applicant, DVK Enter
prises Inc., plans to construct
a 12,000 square foot facility
for commercial buck repair
and a gravel lot for storage.
City staff provided several
conditions on the approval
based on recommendations
from the Auburn Planning
Commission, to include: to
allow intact vehicles only;
no vehicle shall remain on
the site for longer than two
months: all vehicles shall be
parked on approved surfaces;
hours of operation be lim
ited to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.: the
development shall abide by
all applicable standards of
the City’s Development Reg
ulations; all runoff of fluids
or any pollutants that may
originate from stored vehi
cles and shall be mitigated
on-site; provide a six-foot
tall opaque fence along all
adjoining properties; natural
vegetation shall remain on
the property until the issu
ance of a development per
mit; no overnight idling of
bucks or refrigeration equip
ment is allowed; and exterior
lighting and outdoor loud
speakers shall be prohibited.
A public hearing was held
prior to the council vote. No
one spoke in opposition to
the re-zoning.
A second re-zoning was
unanimously approved to
allow nine homes to be built
on a 12.5 acres tract along
6th Street. The rezoning from
AG (Agricultural) to R-100
(Single-Family Residential)
was approved and the prop
erty will be subdivided in
order to create nine separate
lots with six driveways pro
posed off of 6th Street. Three
of the lots will have shared
driveways.
The applicant, attorney
John Stell of Winder, spoke
on behalf of the property
owners, Zavue and Zoov-
la Yang, Snellville, during
the public hearing on this
request. No one spoke in
opposition. Several questions
were asked about the drive
ways off of 6th Street, but no
one voiced opposition to this.
This rezoning also was
approved with several con
ditions recommended by the
Planning Commission, to
deal with construction mate
rials; 2,000 square foot min
imum heated floor space per
home; all units have at least
a two-car garage accessed
by side entry; a mandatory
Homeowners Association;
all front yards be sodded; and
all utilities be placed under
ground.
COMMISSIONER DIST.6
I Am Working To:
^ Keep Your Taxes From Being Raised
^ Support Public Safety
^ Upgrade Existing Roads, Water and Sewer
^ Manage Residential and Commercial Growth
You Can Contact Me at:
benhendrix@windstream.net
PLESE VOTE ON
TUESDAY, May 22, 2018
Winder council approves rezone
for senior housing development
By Scott Thompson
News-Journal Editor
A Roswell-based developer plans to build
a multi-family senior housing complex along
West Candler Street, near Winder-Barrow
High School and Rose Hill Cemetery.
The Winder City Council on Tuesday
approved a request by Piedmont Housing
Group, LLC, to rezone roughly 14 acres
between Marion. James and Myrtle streets to
allow for the building of a 64-unit complex
that will be age-restricted to people 55 and
older with the only exceptions being spouses
of residents.
The project, known as Candler Senior Vil
lage, will be targeted toward people 55 and
older who are looking to downsize or move
into better living arrangements. There will
be eight one-bedroom units and 56 two-bed-
room units, according to Jon McKnight with
Piedmont Housing Group. All units will have
ground-floor entry, but some will be two sto
ries tall.
The approximate rent would be between
$500-$700. McKnight said.
McKnight said the company has developed
16 similar properties in Georgia and South
Carolina and 13 are age-restricted. All of those
complexes are fully-occupied, have waiting
lists and have “a very high level of tenant satis
faction,” he said.
McKnight added Piedmont Housing is
applying for Georgia Department of Commu
nity Affairs housing tax credits to help finance
the project. The company plans to submit an
application to the DCA later this month.
He gave a tentative project timeline, saying
the company hopes to close on the property
by the end of this year, start construction early
next year and open during the first quarter of
2020.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business Tuesday, council:
•approved forms for 16 service-delivery
areas presented by the Barrow County Board
of Commissioners and authorized the mayor
to coordinate with the BOC to enter voluntary
mediation to settle the remaining 28 areas. City
attorney John Stell said the bulk of those would
likely be minor changes to the wording of the
forms, while other areas would require further
mediation. One of those areas — emergency
medical services — is currently the subject
of litigation between the city and county. The
county has objected to the city’s application to
the state for a license to operate its own EMS
department. The current Service Delivery
Strategy agreement between the county and
municipalities expires Oct. 31 and is required
by the state to be updated.
•approved a four-year contract with Rushton
& Company to perform audit services for the
city, beginning with Fiscal Year 2018.
•approved the re-establishment of the Geor
gia Initiative for Community Housing (GICH)
Committee to study housing in Winder in
terms of revitalization opportunities and oppor
tunities to apply for grants. Committee mem
bers will include Winder Housing Authority
executive director Michelle Yawn, Barbara
Wells, Joe Pemo with the Barrow County
School District, Mayor David Maynard and
city clerk Maddison Dean.
•approved an agreement with the City of
Monroe and The Williams Company (Trans-
co) to allow Monroe to use Winder’s 4-inch tap
to the natural gas pipeline temporarily during
the construction of Monroe’s new high-pres
sure main to serve Highway 78.
Forum continued from 1A
though he is an opponent of
tax increases, “the simple
answer is no.”
“We have to realize the
choices we made yester
day affect us tomorrow.
The choices we make today
affect us tomorrow,” Cox
said. “We really don’t have
a choice but to either raise
the millage rate or cut some
type of service.”
Cox’s opponent. Berry,
and Parks said they gener
ally favored a rollback but
that it should be balanced
with making sure the coun
ty’s residents are getting the
services they need.
“This year we’re in a
difficult situation with the
bond debt,” Parks said.
“There’s other things we’re
trying to implement. We’re
doing salary increases and
we have equipment to buy.
When it all comes down
to the final budget, we’ll
have to balance the budget
someway.”
Parks and his opponent,
Reid, both pointed to the
millage rate’s decrease over
the last few years.
Lynn said the millage
rate should be rolled back.
“Properties that go up in
value will still be assessed
at a higher rate,” Lynn said.
“I’m tired of the property
taxes we are paying as a
family (going up and being
more than) the people of
county are able to afford.”
Hendrix agreed.
“I don’t want to try to
put any more tax burden on
our citizens that we don’t
have to,” he said. “If there’s
an opportunity along the
way to roll it back, I think
we need be prudent and do
that.”
The candidates aired
few differences on several
other topics discussed at the
forum.
Virtually all of them
cited traffic congestion and
road maintenance concerns
among the top issues the
county is facing and agreed
the county should be doing
more to attract both high
er-quality job growth as
well as more high-priced
and mid-level housing to
help grow its tax base.
On the housing issue,
Cox said he would favor
changes to the county’s
Unified Development Code
to increase the minimum
square footage of homes
and lots to address hous
ing density issues, which
he said could in turn help
with some of the traffic
concerns. Lynn said the
county should continue to
take advantage of condi
tional zoning powers when
vetting proposed housing
developments.
Berry agreed with the
need to have higher-end
homes, “but by the same
token, we don’t want to put
anybody out either.”
On economic develop
ment. Reid said she favored
much lower business taxes
to promote a more busi
ness-friendly climate.
“At the end of the day.
businesses don’t pay taxes;
they pass them on to the
(consumers),” Reid said.
The primary is May 22.
The winners will not face
any Democratic opposition
in November.
The forum can be viewed
in its entirety on the Wind
er Television on-demand
video website at vimeo.
comAvindertv.
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M R buying or
selling?
770-867-9026
www.maynardrealty.com
REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL
City of Winder Fire Station 2
The City of Winder will be accepting sealed proposals for the construction of the
Winder Fire Station 2 in Winder, Georgia. Proposals will be received by the City
of Winder Finance Department at 25 E. Midland Avenue. Winder Georgia 30680
until 11 a.m. June 05, 2018 at the same address.
Any questions or comments concerning this Request for Proposal should be ad
dressed to the Project Architect firm of Manley Spangler Smith Architects, 525
East Taylor Street, Griffin, GA 30223 Attention: Bobbye Moye (770) 227-5473.
Any contractor submitting a Proposal must procure a complete set of the Contract
Documents from the Project Architect listed above. A non-refundable deposit in
the amount of $250.00 (not including shipping or delivery fees) is required for
each set of the Contract Documents. The Architect firm will also make available
the Proposal Form as well as the Contractor’s Qualification Statement and Ques
tionnaire and the Subcontractor’s Qualification Statement and Questionnaire, all
of which must be fully completed and submitted with any Proposal.
Additional information is available on the City of Winder website at
www.cityofwinder.com.
Submit Proposals to:
Deborah Mahoney
Project Manager
City of Winder
25 E. Midland Avenue
PO Box 566
Winder, GA 30680
Proposals Due:
June 05, 2018
11:00 AM EST