Newspaper Page Text
o
o
16 Pages, 2 Sections, Plus Preprints A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. Winder, Barrow County, Georgia $1.00 Copy Wednesday, January 20, 2021
CORONAVIRUS UPDATE
Several more C OVID-19 deaths reported in
Barrow Co.; overall case trends improve slightly
Seven more deaths from COVID-19 in
Barrow County were confirmed over the
last week, even as the overall coronavirus
trends throughout the county and the state
improved slightly during the same time-
frame.
As of 3 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 19, the Geor
gia Department of Public Health had con
firmed 82 COVID-19 deaths and another
“probable” one among county residents, up
from 75 confirmed deaths and one probable
death in the agency's daily report on Jan.
12. The most recent Barrow County death
listed by the DPH occurred on Monday,
Jan. 18, according to preliminary data.
The DPH confirmed 170 more deaths
across Georgia on Tuesday, raising the
statewide tally to 11,265, and the official
nationwide death toll surpassed 400,000
over the weekend.
The northeast Georgia region as a whole
experienced another dismal week with
Northeast Georgia Health System report
ing 68 deaths across its hospitals from Jan.
12-19, bringing the systemwide total to
713. A total of 4,902 COVID patients had
been discharged from NGHS hospitals as of
Tuesday morning.
TRENDS DOWN?
While the number of deaths continues to
climb, there is some indication that the vi
rus is slowing in the county and across the
state from its recent record peak.
Trend lines for new cases and the percent
of those testing positive were down this
week from the week before in the coun
ty. DPH confirmed 69 cases in the county
Tuesday, bringing the cumulative total to
6,428, though the seven-day rolling average
had dropped to 70.4 new cases per day from
a high mark of 97.7 on Jan. 14. The aver
age percent-positive seven-day rate on tests
also has dropped from a high of 32.9 per
cent on Jan. 6 to 24.1 percent as of Tuesday.
The positivity rate at NGHS facilities had
also dipped back below 30 percent as of
Tuesday, and the number of COVID-posi-
tive patients across the system was at 305,
including 18 at Northeast Georgia Medical
Center Barrow and 82 at NGMC Braselton,
See Virus, page 2A
McMichael’s
contract
extended
through June
2023
Barrow County School
System superintendent
Chris McMichael is now set
to remain with the district
through at least June 2023.
The county board of ed
ucation unanimously ap
proved a one-year extension
of McMichael’s contract
following a closed session
at its Tuesday, Jan. 12 vot
ing session. The board met
in closed session last month
to evaluate McMichael’s
performance.
McMichael’s salary of
$197,670 remained un
changed. He had previous
ly received an $8,670 raise
in September 2019, which
included a $3,000 pay in
crease that teachers received
earlier that year, plus an ex
tra bump equal to 3 percent
of his salary.
McMichael has been Bar-
row County’s superinten
dent since April 2014 and
was with the district for five
years prior to that — first
as principal at County Line
Elementary, then executive
director for teaching and
learning. Prior to his time in
Barrow County, he was an
art teacher, assistant princi
pal and principal in various
Hall County schools.
Index:
Public Safety
2-3 B
Ronda Rich
6B
Classifieds
7B
Legals
4-5B
Obituaries
6-8A
Opinion
4-5A
Sports
1B
MAILING LABEL
Statham council rejects rezoning
AStUUJ,
LosCuatitt
Google Maps image/
The Statham City Council, on Tuesday, Jan. 19, denied a request to rezone 75.5 acres of open space south of
Atlanta Highway and east of Highway 211. Developers had sought the rezoning to build a 167-home subdivi
sion, but the council rejected the request primarily over traffic concerns.
Developer had sought to build nearly 167-
home subdivision off Adanta Highway
By Scott Thompson
sthompson@barrownewsjournal.com
A developer’s plan to build nearly 170 single-fam
ily homes south of Atlanta Highway near downtown
Statham was dealt a major blow Tuesday, Jan. 19,
when the Statham City Council denied a rezoning re
quest for the property — primarily over traffic con
cerns.
The council, which had tabled a vote on the rezon
ing at its Dec. 15 meeting at the applicant’s request,
voted 3-0 to reject the push by Macas Development
and the Mrs. Kurtz Moore and Jack Rivers Stapleton
estates (the property owners) to rezone 75.5 acres at
541 and 546 Moore Dr. to build 167 homes on smaller
lots than what is allowed under the current zoning.
Councilman Dwight McCormic was joined in support
of his motion to deny by council members Gary Ven
able and Tammy Crawley.
Council members Betty Lyle and Hattie Thrasher
were absent.
“I love the idea of having 167 new homes in such a
small community but, the more I think about it, I have
a hard time envisioning what the traffic is going to
be like with this development being within one-tenth
of a mile from the busiest intersection of Statham,”
McCormic said, referring to the intersection of Atlan
ta Highway and Highway 211. “If we add possibly
300-400 vehicles in an already extremely-congested
area...I cannot get past having that many homes at
this location. There’s just no way to plug it in and for
it to work.”
The developers had initially sought to build 197
homes but reduced the number twice on various itera
tions of their site plan — a move that Stanton Porter,
the Winder attorney representing the applicants, said
was aimed at trying to ease some of the traffic con
cerns.
Also in an effort to address traffic, the applicants
proposed three entrance/exit points — the main one
off of Atlanta Highway; a second off of Jefferson
Street, which would have required that the developer
extend the street across city-owned property; and a
third off Park Street, which was initially intended for
emergency vehicles only. The city's planning staff,
as part of more than 20 recommended conditions for
approval of the request, had recommended that the
developer make a connection across multiple proper
ties to Highway 211, but Porter said that plan was not
workable “engineering-wise.”
Porter noted that the applicants were seeking the
rezone for smaller lot sizes because of the topogra
phy of the land. About 40 percent of the property was
intended to be left as open space because it would not
be buildable along the water streams there, he said.
Porter said that the developers had made a good-
faith effort to work with the city staff and the council
on their concerns in order to build a development that
the city could be proud of and gain a steady stream of
property-tax revenues from. He said the developers
would be agreeable to a full traffic study, which would
“take some time” and be costly, as a condition — but
that they were presenting the city with a site plan in
conjunction with what they believed a study would
likely suggest or recommend.
“We think this would be (a proper development) for
the city,” Porter said.
But McCormic was unpersuaded.
“My loyalty is to the citizens and their livelihood,
and I think (the proposed development) would signifi
cantly degrade the traffic (conditions),” McCormic
said. “It just doesn’t fit in this location for me.”
But Porter contended that the city is putting the
property owners in an economically detrimental sit
uation by not approving residential development on
the property.
“I agree (that the traffic is congested),” he said.
“But at the same time, if we can’t ever develop it, they
can't really sell it, and it doesn’t provide any benefit
to the city.”
See Statham, page 2A
Local
woman
among 4
charged in
drug bust
Four people were recent
ly arrested on drug-related
charges after authorities ex
ecuted a search warrant at a
Banks Crossing hotel.
Appalachian Regional
Drug Enforcement Office
agents and Banks County
Sheriff's Office deputies ex
ecuted a search warrant on
Jan. 13 at the Howard John
son hotel room 237 located
in Commerce. Information
from the Franklin County
Sheriff's Office led to the
search warrant.
Agents and deputies
seized 483.5 prescription
pills, three kilograms of
methamphetamine, four
ounces of heroin, nine ounc
es of marijuana and $12,700
of currency.
The illegal drugs seized
during the investigation had
a street value of $50,000.
The following were ar
rested:
•William Turney, 39, of
Homer, was charged with
trafficking heroin, traf
ficking methamphetamine,
possession of heroin, pos
session of a Schedule II
Controlled Substance with
intent to distribute and
possession of Schedule IV
Controlled Substance with
intent to distribute.
• Kristina Hubbard, 29,
of Bethlehem, was charged
with trafficking heroin, traf
ficking methamphetamine,
possession of heroin, pos
session of a Schedule II
Controlled Substance with
intent to distribute and
possession of Schedule IV
Controlled Substance with
intent to distribute.
•Gary Henson, 38, of
Toccoa, was charged with
trafficking heroin, traf
ficking methamphetamine,
possession of heroin, pos
session of a Schedule II
Controlled Substance with
intent to distribute and
possession of Schedule IV
Controlled Substance with
intent to distribute, along
with felony obstruction of a
police officer.
•Ashley Loudermilk, 34,
of Hull, was charged with
trafficking heroin, traf
ficking methamphetamine,
possession of heroin, pos
session of a Schedule II
Controlled Substance with
intent to distribute and
possession of Schedule IV
Controlled Substance with
intent to distribute.
This investigation is still
currently active and ongo
ing.
1 4 5 4 1
