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16 Pages, 2 Sections, Plus Preprints A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. Winder, Barrow County, Georgia $1.00 Copy Wednesday, July 28, 2021
Winder City Council member Sheats resigns
By Scott Thompson
sthompson@barrownewsjournal.
com
Winder city
woman Holly
Sheats is resign
ing. effectively
immediately, in
a move she said
is due to her
frustration with
the city's admin
istration and the
process in which
the city's fiscal
year 2022 bud
get was adopted last week.
Sheats, who was in the
middle of her first term on
the council in one of the
two citywide at-large seats,
informed the council and
Mayor David Maynard of
her resignation
late Sunday night,
July 25, in a let
ter in which she
said has “grave
concerns” about
the direction of
the city under its
current leadership
and directly crit
icized Maynard
and city adminis
trator Mandi Cody.
“I understand and accept
that I am not in the major
ity consensus, but I can no
longer be part of a body
council-
SHEATS
whose missions, goals, and
priorities I do not share,”
Sheats wrote. “I most cer
tainly don't believe in the
means to the desired end
and cannot stand by and
watch what happens next
as a council member. I am
deeply discouraged about
the way our citizens have
been recently treated and
in my heart feel it is just
wrong.”
Sheats' resignation came
on the heels of the coun
cil’s 4-2 vote July 20 —
with councilman Jimmy
Terrell and her opposed —
to approve an FY22 budget
that projects a doubling of
the city’s millage rate. And
it also comes as the coun
cil prepares to hold its first
of three required public
hearings on the proposed
millage-rate increase at
6 p.m. Thursday. July 29.
The other two hearings are
scheduled for 6 p.m. Aug.
2 and Aug. 3, with a vote
likely following the Aug. 3
hearing.
Sheats, who, in her resig
nation letter, described the
budget process as a “disas
ter,” has been the most vo
cally critical member on the
council about the budget in
a handful of council meet
ings since mid-June, saying
that the city was placing
too much of a burden on
its residents too quickly in
order to help fund a list of
priorities that the council
has identified over the last
several months.
She and Terrell have said
the city should cut its pro
posed spending in several
areas for the fiscal year,
and Sheats has directed her
strongest remarks against
planned spending levels
in the city's planning de
partment through the use
of outside services in the
absence of a planning di
rector. Sheats has repeated
ly noted that the city's use
of private firm at CPL for
services without a coun
cil-approved contract is an
“unethical” violation of the
city’s purchasing policy.
The vote on the budget
last week followed two
lengthy council work ses
sions in June that resulted
in little consensus about
how high members were
willing to go with a mill-
age-rate increase, a July 1
work session a day after the
mayor's proposed budget
with the doubled rate was
publicly released, and a
July 6 public hearing, with
See Sheats, page 2A
School zone
traffic cameras
begin operation
next week
When classes begin next
week for the 2021-22 ac
ademic year across the
Barrow County School
System, implementation of
traffic camera technology
aimed at cracking down on
speeding in school zones
will go into effect at multi
ple district campuses.
Starting Tuesday, Aug.
3, the Barrow County
Sheriff’s Office will ac
tivate the “Photo Speed
Enforcement System” with
laser-powered cameras and
“extensive signage” at se
lect locations.
The sheriff’s office and
school district are im
plementing the program
after a comprehensive
study completed last year
showed high volumes of
vehicles speeding past
schools during hours oper
ation.
“Ultimately, we want
safer roadways for every
one,” school officials said
in a recent news release.
“Careless driving and dis
tracted kids are on the rise
in our community. We face
a dangerous problem, and
we're working to solve it.”
The Photo Speed En
forcement System
will combine a public
See Cameras, page 2A
Index:
Public safety
5A
Classifieds
4B
Legals
5B-7B
Obituaries
7A
Opinion
4A
Sports
1-2B
MAILING LABEL
Strike up the bands
Photos by Wesleigh Sagon
Apalachee High School recently held its annual two-week band camp training. Shown is Mya Buhite
playing the baritone.
Brooklynn
Leveritt will
play trom
bone with
the Winder
Barrow
High School
marching
band during
the upcom
ing fall foot
ball game
faceoff
between
WBHS and
Apalachee
High
School.
Here she is
shown at
band camp
practice.
See page 3A
for a story
and more
photos.
Barrow
BOC inks
EMS deal
By Mike Buffington
A move to outsource Barrow
County ambulance services to
Northeast Georgia Health Systems
got the final green light July 27 by
the Barrow County Board of Com
missioners.
In a special called meeting, the
BOC gave final approve to a con
tract with NGHS for the ambulance
services.
The move comes as a result of
several years of discussion about
the county being unable to fully
staff all its ambulance needs. That
is an issue reported nationwide as
local governments struggle to find
enough paramedics to run a full
staff.
The board earlier approved a bud
get to help pay for a transition to the
new system.
NGHS will staff four 24-hour
ambulances and two 12-hour ambu
lances under the agreement.
Action on the deal had been post
poned earlier in July pending final
details on the agreement language.
OTHER ACTION
In other action at the July 27
called meeting, the board approved:
• a renewal of a county fleet main
tenance contract with Akins Ford.
• an agreement for engineering
services for the Northeast Water
Tank.
• an engineering services con
tract with EMI for the Barber Creek
Wastewater Treatment Facility
plant expansion for $551,000.
• an intergovernmental agreement
change with the City of Statham to
terminate a water supply agreement
and to provide additional sewer
capacity at the Barber Creek Treat
ment Facility.
Veto of backyard chickens
ordinance stands in Statham
City of Auburn
continues budget
workshops for FY2022
By Morgan Ervin
With just over a month
left in its fiscal year,
Auburn’s city council is
holding weekly budget
workshops to discuss
and finalize its FY2022
proposed budget, which
is set to receive final ap
proval Sept. 2.
During its pre-budget
workshop on July 20,
revenue projections for
the general fund, water
and stormwater depart
ments were provided by
city administrator Alex
Mitchem.
The general fund bud
get for FY2022 is es
timated at $4 million ,
which is an increase of
$222,750 from the gen
eral fund budget last
year.
The millage rate will
remain the same.
The water fund budget
is in the same range as it
was last year, plus or mi
nus about $20,000. said
Mitchem. However, in
comparison to last year,
water revenues are down
by $17,258 YTD and
stormwater revenues are
down by $1,506. These
revenue drops, accord
ing to Mitchem. “are not
because the city is los
ing revenue, we're just
matching expenditures.”
Also notable in com
parison to last year, the
Local Option Sales and
Use Tax (LOST) has
increased from $1.3
million to $1.4 million,
property tax revenues
are slightly up, both
See Auburn, page 2A
By Morgan Ervin
Statham Mayor Joe
Piper's veto of a recently
passed city council ordi
nance that would have al
lowed backyard chickens
in higher density residen
tial areas was upheld by the
council during its meeting
July 20.
The vote was split 3-2 in
favor of the override, but a
veto motion has to receive a
4-1 vote from council.
The council approved
the proposed chicken ordi
nance June 15 in a 3-2 vote.
On June 21, Piper received
the official copy of the or
dinance and vetoed it on
June 23.
“The proposed ordinance
was pushed through with
out proper research and
only considered a few res
idents who were cited for
violations of existing Land
Use Management Code
rules,” Piper wrote in his
veto. “Passing an ordinance
to appease a small number
of residents that a large
number of residents have to
live with is not the proper
way to deal with an issue.”
In addition to his con
cerns over the minimum lot
size being too small, Pip
er's veto also mentioned
concerns over an increase
in noise and nuisance com
plaints. Even before the
ordinance, the city already
received several citizen re
ports each month of coy
otes and foxes killing do
mestic pets.
Although the council
voted to uphold the veto,
some residents spoke out
against it.
Residents opposed to the
veto are those who have
kept backyard chickens for
many years
“Chickens in general are
less impactful than even
one dog.” one resident ar
gued. ”1 think that can be
easily proven.”
Piper said those who
keep chickens should get a
provisional use to continue.
“(The veto) is not de
nying anybody any rights,
it's simply keeping a little
bit of control on a situation
that could get out of hand,”
he said.
Piper and the council
encourage residents who
want to keep their backyard
chickens or other livestock
to file a variance request to
subdivide their property,
come before the council
and allow it to decide on a
case-by-case basis.
“This would allow
See Statham, page 2A
