Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2A
BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2020
Doug Koestel
Bethlehem council
approves budget, new
member sworn in
The Bethlehem Town
Council approved the
town's $390,326 budget for
Fiscal Year 2020 during its
Monday, Jan. 6 meeting.
That's roughly $57,000
more than the budget that
was approved for 2019,
with road maintenance and
repairs being the main in
creases.
Overall, the town has
$93,000 budgeted for road
maintenance and repairs
in 2020 and an additional
$70,000 in SPLOST road
work. Other budgeted ex
penditures include $54,000
with Allied Waste. $38,000
for salaries, $22,000 for le
gal expenses and $18,000
for utilities.
Monday’s meeting was
the first for new Post 2
councilman Doug Koestel,
who was sworn in by town
attorney Ron Bennett. Koes
tel replaces former council
man Wayne Ridgeway, who
chose not to seek another
term.
Koestel was the only per
son who qualified for the
seat in August.
In other business at Mon
day’s meeting, the council:
•approved an agreement
with the Georgia Depart
ment of Transportation for
the town to pay power costs
for the red lights at the fu
ture Highway 316/11 in
terchange exit ramps. The
town won't be responsible
for any payments on the
materials, construction, in
stallation or maintenance of
the traffic signals.
•opted not to pursue an
agreement for glass recy
cling due to projected costs.
•elected councilman Tom
my Parten mayor pro tem.
Ridgeway had held the po
sition.
•approved a business li
cense for the Aleisha En
gland Agency.
Winder continued from 1A
“If we’re going to run an effi
cient business, a good business, it’s
something we need to offer, but I
think it needs to be priced out and
quoted.”
Councilman Travis Singley said
council members should deter
mine what building materials they
wanted for the restrooms to help
with getting a more accurate price
quote.
Monday’s meeting was the first
for new council members Kobi
Kilgore and Holly Sheats, who
were sworn in by city attorney
John Stell prior to the meeting.
Kilgore defeated incumbent A1
Brown for the Ward 2 seat in No
vember, while Sheats was elected
to the at-large seat previously held
by Michael Healan, who chose not
to seek re-election.
Mayor David Maynard and Sin
gley were also sworn in Monday
for their third terms.
Maynard ran unopposed while
Singley fended off a challenge
from Holt Persinger for the Ward
4 seat.
The council also voted Monday
for Morris to remain the mayor pro
tem.
OTHER BUSINESS
In business at Tuesday's voting
session, the council:
•approved an agreement with
Peachtree Recovery Services to
assist the city with recovering
funds owed to the city in the event
of third-party property damages.
The program is offered through
the Georgia Municipal Associa
tion. The agreement gives PRS
the ability to retain 16.5 percent
of all amounts recovered for each
claim after the deduction of any
paid administrative fee. At a De
cember work session, the council
also discussed proposals offered
through GMA for hotel/motel tax
revenue management and alcohol
excise tax management, but those
ultimately were not recommended
to the council.
•approved an event permit for the
Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom
March on Monday, Jan. 20, from
10 a.m. to noon. The march will
begin at Quality Foods. 280 North
Broad St., proceed through the
downtown area and end at White
Oak Spring Missionary Baptist
Church, 123 East New St.
•approved an agreement with
First Christian Church to devel
op additional access points to the
Chalice Walkway in an effort to
improve sidewalk connectivity.
Also Tuesday, the city's board of
zoning appeals, which consists of
the mayor, council and a represen
tative from the city planning board,
approved a request by Simplex Ad
vantage of Lawrenceville, for an
increase in the number of units al
lowed in an assisted living facility
in a B-2 General Commercial zone
from 30 to 40.
The board voted in July to grant
Simplex a variance to go from 22
to 30 units.
The company plans to build a
more than 40,000-square-foot fa
cility on Resource Parkway off Lo-
ganville Highway.
Tyler Lo, a representative for
Simplex, said the company was
requesting another increase so the
project could be feasible.
Under the variance granted in
July, the units must be at least 350
square feet.
City planning director Barry Ed
gar said the company has room to
expand by 10 units and will have to
add some parking to the site.
Statham continued from 1A
Holcomb said during the closed
session that he would bid on the
project, but he said it should include
exactly what the council needs to be
done.
Holcomb and another man said the
area for the police department would
need to be sealed off from the re
mainder of the building, including to
the roof of the building, for security
purposes.
City hall now has a drop-ceiling
in the building and space is above
the ceiling. Piper agreed that only
the police should have access to its
offices. A rough drawing - that was
Piper’s characterization - accompa
nied the bid.
Piper said he recommended
the single bid because of the time
crunch.
“We're going to have to make a
change on where we're going to have
our police department.” Piper said.
Council members Betty Lyle and
Hattie Thrasher complained about
the process. Lyle said she was “not
given anything about it (the move).”
Thrasher asked about a “Plan B” if
the one bid were deemed inadequate.
Piper characterized the move as
a “temporary” one until the council
can decided on a permanent solution.
McCormic suggested the council
hold a “public forum” to get com
ments from Statham residents.
New council member Gary Ven
able first made comments favorable
to Piper’s recommendation, but he
later made the motion to take bids
and asked any builder with an inter
est for a price.
According to the one bid, Piper
said, the renovation of the current
city hall would use the side door as
the entrance to the police department
and it would include a foyer for peo
ple to enter.
Codes would be required to go
further in the police offices, he said.
Piper also said a steel door is in the
rear of city hall which would provide
another entrance and exit for the po
lice.
Under that plan, the city council
meetings would be moved to the
community center.
Briefs
continued from 1A
The theme of this year's
celebration is, “Your life
begins to end, the day you
become silent about things
that matter.”
CLASS OF 1962
MINI-REUNION
The Winder-Barrow High
School graduating class of
1962 will have a mini-re
union luncheon at Golden
Corral in Winder on Mon
day, Jan. 13, at 1 p.m.
Those planning to attend
are asked to contact Dianne
Fleeman at 678-425-2531
or dfleeman@windstream.
com.
BLOOD DRIVES
PLANNED
The American Red Cross
has the following upcoming
blood drives planned in Bar-
row County:
•3-7 p.m. Monday, Jan.
13, at Winder Wesleyan
Church, 64 East Midland
Ave.
•1-6 p.m. Monday, Jan.
29, at Saint Matthew Cath
olic Church. 25 Wilkins Rd.
SW, Winder.
•11a.m. to 4 p.m.
Wednesday, Jan. 22, at the
Winder Housing Authority,
163 Martin Luther King Jr.
Dr.
To donate blood, down
load the American Red
Cross Blood Donor App,
visit RedCrossBlood.org,
call 1-800-RED CROSS
Considering
((TM*R) )) buying or
selling?
770-867-9026
www.maynardrealty.com
(1-800-733-2767) or enable
the Blood Donor Skill on
any Alexa Echo device to
make an appointment or for
more information.
All blood types are need
ed to ensure a reliable sup
ply for patients, leaders
state.
A blood donor card or
driver’s license or two other
forms of identification are
required at check-in. Indi
viduals who are 17 years of
age in most states (16 with
parental consent where al
lowed by state law), weigh
at least 110 pounds and are
in generally good health
may be eligible to donate
blood. High school students
and other donors 18 years of
age and younger also have
to meet certain height and
weight requirements.
CHURCH TO HOST
STOREHOUSE
MINISTRY
FreeLife Church, 476 Jef
ferson Hwy., Winder, will
be reaching out to the com
munity with a storehouse
ministry from 9-11:30 a.m.
Saturday. Jan. 18.
Free food boxes, diapers,
clothes and socks will be
given to those in need.
For more information,
call 770-867-4123 or email
freelifechurchhomemis-
sions @ gmail.com.
DIABETES SUPPORT
GROUP TO MEET
The Diabetes Support
Group of Barrow County
meets at 6 p.m. on the third
Monday of every month in
the third floor conference
room at Northeast Georgia
Medical Center-Barrow,
316 North Broad St., Wind
er.
The next meeting is Mon
day, Jan. 20.
FOOD DISTRIBUTION
DAY SET
The Barrow County Food
Pantry, in partnership with
the Food Bank of North
east Georgia, will hold its
monthly food distribution
day at 8 a.m. (rain or shine)
Thursday, Jan. 23, at Holly
Hill Mall, across from Hill's
Ace Hardware, 186 West
Athens St., Winder.
This month’s event is
sponsored by Nikki Vanluan
and friends and the Rotary
Club of Winder.
It is open to all Barrow
County residents who meet
USDA income-eligibil
Town of Carl
The Town of Carl regular
town meeting is January
16, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. in
City Hall.
LESLIE SPORNBERGER JONES, LLC
ATTORNEY-AT-LAW
Northeast Georgia's
Strong, Strategic, and Skilled Defense.
Criminal, DUI, Traffic, Commercial Drivers, and
Professional Licensing. Trials and Appeals.
Phone: (706) 224-0321
www.lesliejoneslaw.com
ity requirements. Proof
of county residency is re
quired.
Food will be served on a
first-come, first-served ba
sis.
The event is held the
fourth Thursday of every
month January through Oc
tober and the third Thursday
in November and Decem
ber.
ANNUAL LITERACY
BALL SET
Adult Literacy Barrow
will host the 27th annual
Literacy Ball on Saturday,
Jan. 25. at The Georgia
Club, 1050 Chancellors Dr.,
Statham.
Hors d'oeuvres will be
at 6:30 p.m., followed by
a dinner at 7 p.m. and live
music and a raffle from
8-11 p.m.
Justin and the Marquess
Band will be performing.
Funds raised will support
the following efforts and
more:
•GED teachers and text
books.
•GED test scholarships.
•English as a Second Lan
guage classes and scholar
ships.
•Free transportation for
students.
•Little Lakers Daycare
Center for the children of
students.
•Citizenship classes.
•GED classes at the Bar-
row County Detention Cen
ter.
•adult reading classes.
•children's book give
away program.
Individual tickets are
available for purchase at
the Adult Literacy Bar-
row office in the Wimber
ly Center for Community
Development. 163 Martin
Luther King Jr. Dr.. Winder.
They can also be purchased
online at www.adultlit-
eracybarrow.org. Various
sponsorship levels are also
available.
For more information,
contact Sally Brown, Adult
Literacy Barrow executive
director, at 770-531-3369.
or Lynn Hammond, gala
chairperson, at 770-307-
8450.
PUBLIC
INFORMATION OPEN
HOUSE ON NEW
BYPASS
INTERCHANGE
A public information
open house on a propos
al for a new interchange
in Barrow County, part of
phase 3 of the West Winder
Bypass, will be held from
4-7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6,
at the Barrow County Se
nior Citizens Center. 80 Lee
St.. Winder.
The county board of com
missioners is hosting the
open house to allow the
public the opportunity to
learn more and ask ques
tions about the proposed
project just east of Patrick
Mill Road at State Route
316 and provide comments
on the proposal.
The open house will be
informal, and the public is
invited to attend any time
during those hours. No for
mal presentation is planned.
GEORGIA SKIN CANCER
& Aesthetic Dermatology
Offering skin cancer screenings,
Acne treatment and many other dermatology services.
Now conveniently located in Winder, Georgia.
Call 706-543-5858 to schedule an appointment
New Winder office is located at
314 North Broad Street, Suite 210.
www.georgiaderm.com