Newspaper Page Text
16 Pages, 2 Sections, Plus Preprints A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. Winder, Barrow County, Georgia $1.00 Copy Wednesday, August 4, 2021
Winder council approves doubling of city millage rate
Decision comes despite
strong public backlash at
three separate hearings
By Scott Thompson
sthompson@barrownewsjournal.com
Despite getting hammered by residents
during three public hearings over the past
week, the Winder City Council on Tuesday,
Aug. 3, approved setting doubling the city's
millage rate on properties within the city
limits from 3 to 6 mills for fiscal year 2022.
The vote was 4-1 in favor of councilman
Chris Akins' motion to approve — with
councilman Jimmy Terrell opposed — and
came two weeks after the council approved
an FY22 budget that city officials projected
would necessitate the increase to 6 mills.
While it’s a mathematical doubling of
the rate, half a mill of the increase stems
from the city’s decision to remove the
$50-per-parcel streetlight assessment from
tax bills and absorb that service into the
General Fund, or the regular millage rate.
According to figures presented by May
or David Maynard from the Barrow Coun
ty Tax Assessor's Office, the new adopt
ed millage rate will mean a $210 city tax
increase for the year on a home with a
fair-market value of $175,000 and a $300
increase on a home with a fair-market value
of $250,000.
The council’s adoption of a higher mill-
age rate Tuesday marked the latest devel
opment in a contentious last several weeks
that saw the council approve the FY22
budget amid public criticism of proposed
spending levels and concerns over city offi
cials' transparency in preparing the budget
and answering questions and councilwom-
an Holly Sheats' subsequent resignation
last week over her frustrations with the bud
get process and city administration. Sheats
joined Terrell in voting against the budget
at the council's July 20 meeting.
Over the course of the council’s three
required public hearings on the rate in
crease, which began Thursday, July 29, and
wrapped up Tuesday night prior to the final
vote, more than 30 residents spoke unani
mously in opposition to the increase with
many of them scolding the city over its
spending levels approved in the budget and
contending that a doubling right away will
pose an unnecessary hardship on low- and
fixed-income residents.
“My wife and I are on a fixed income.
We’re going to be severely impacted.’’ resi
dent Carl Fisher said. “.. .We just can’t deal
with this, and it’s not a logical move.”
The frustrations in the hearings reached
a peak Tuesday when one resident. Jessica
Burton, vowed to circulate a petition to re
call the mayor and council members who
voted for the increase and are not up for
re-election this year (Travis Singley and
Kobi Kilgore), and another resident, Chris
tine McGee, made a tearful plea for the
council to reconsider.
“I am on disability, have been for a long
time,” McGee said, adding that the mon
ey she receives each month won’t allow
See Millage, page 3A
Winder
council
extends
Cody’s
contract
By Scott Thompson
sthompson@barrownewsjoumal.com
The Winder City Council
on Tuesday, Aug. 3, gave
its endorsement of city ad
ministrator Mandi Cody’s
performance in her first 13
months in the position, vot
ing unanimously to extend
her contract for another
three years.
Following a closed ses
sion at the end of Tuesday’s
meeting, the council voted
5-0 to extend Cody, who
was a little more than half
way through her initial two-
year agreement, through
June 2025. The extension
includes a 4.5% pay raise
with the 1.5% cost-of-living
adjustment being given to
all city employees this fis
cal year and a 3% merit-pay
increase that employees
will be eligible for. Those
changes, which Mayor Da
vid Maynard said will take
effect Nov. 1, will push
Cody's salary a little over
$143,000.
See Cody, page 3A
Index:
Public safety
5-6A
Social
8A, 8B
Classifieds
4B
Legals
5-7B
Obituaries
7A
Opinion
4A
Sports
1-3B
MAILING LABEL
Back to school in Barrow
Photos by Wesleigh Sagon
Ryan Butcher, principal of Kennedy Elementary School, gives Hugo a fist
bump on his first day of school on Tuesday, Aug. 3. Hugo is shown in Shea Pow
er’s pre-K class. Tuesday was the first day of the 2021-22 academic year for all
schools across the Barrow County School System.
Caridee hangs up her book bag and pre
pares for her first day of second grade at
Kennedy Elementary School on Tuesday,
Aug. 3. She is shown here in Megan Mori-
arty’s class.
Westside Middle School students
step off the bus for the first day
of school Tuesday, Aug. 3.
MNMtt*
Westside Middle School students head to class on their first day back to school
Tuesday, Aug. 3.
NGHS officials urge
people to vaccinate
amid Covid surge
Northeast Georgia Health System doctors point
ed to a sharp rise in area Covid-19 cases brought on
by the Delta variant and urged vaccination to help
guard against the latest wave of the pandemic during
a Monday. Aug. 2 press conference.
Dr. Deepak Aggarwal, chief of medical staff of
Northeast Georgia Medical Center, said the number
of COVID-positive patients across NGHS facilities
jumped from 20 to 110 over the last two weeks, re
sulting in the highest number of cases since February.
Meanwhile, the number of tests coming back pos
itive “has essentially doubled,” Aggarwal said, and
the test positivity rate in Hall County stands at 11.7
percent, the highest rate since February when it rose
to approximately 35 percent. The average age of
COVID-positive patients within the system is 60 with
some patients as young as 18.
In Barrow County, the seven-day rolling average
was 28.9 new daily cases on Tuesday, Aug. 3, a sharp
increase from the rolling average of 4.1 new daily
cases on July 20, according to data from the Geor
gia Department of Public Health. And, only 32% of
Barrow County residents are considered fully vacci
nated, below the statewide rate of 40%, according to
DPH data.
Eighty-five percent of COVID-positive patients in
NGHS facilities are unvaccinated, according to Ag
garwal, who expects the latest surge of cases not to
peak until September based on the data.
See Covid, page 3A
Qualijyingfor vacant
Winder council seat
set for next week
By Scott Thompson
sthompson@barrownewsjoumal.com
The City of Winder
will hold a special qual
ifying period next week
for city residents inter
ested in applying for the
vacant at-large city coun
cil seat, with the council
set to appoint a replace
ment for Holly Sheats.
who resigned last week,
at its Sept. 2 meeting.
Any city residents in
terested in filling the
seat are asked to contact
Monica Franklin, Bar-
row County’s director
of elections and voter
registration, by phone at
770-307-3110, by email
at mfranklin@barrowga.
org or by fax at 770-307-
1054. Franklin will be
accepting applications
Monday through Thurs
day, Aug. 9-12, from
9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.. and
Friday, Aug. 13, from
9 a.m. to noon.
Sheats, who was in
the middle of her first-
term in the at-large seat,
announced July 25 in a
letter to the council and
mayor that she was step
ping down due to frus
trations with the city's
process of approving the
budget for fiscal year
2022 and differences
See Council, page 3A
'0 4879 14541
o
Auburn officer suspected to be DUI in crash that killed him, other man
The off-duty Auburn police officer involved in
head-on crash just outside the city limits July 17
that killed him and another man was believed to
be driving under the influence of alcohol.
According to a Georgia State Patrol crash
report, Officer Jacob Peek. 25. information
gathered revealed that Peek had purchased and
consumed alcohol at a nearby restaurant before
driving off in his Ford Mustang with three oth
er passengers. Just after 12:15 a.m.. Peek, who.
according to the report, was driving northbound
at an excessive speed on Carl-Midway Church
Road half a mile south of State Route 8 (Atlanta
Highway) lost control of the vehicle while nego
tiating a right-hand curve and left his lane, strik
ing a Toyota Corolla being driven by Zachary
Smith, 28. of Auburn.
After impact, Smith’s vehicle was pushed back
and off the roadway onto the western shoulder,
while Peek's vehicle overturned and struck a
mailbox before coming to an upside-down rest
on the east shoulder. Both Peek and Smith were
pronounced dead at the scene.
Barrow County coroner Kenneth Cooper said
he believed he detected an odor of alcohol on
Peek while investigating the crash scene. A
blood draw was requested but was not complet
ed because Peek's body was not transported to
the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab
for an autopsy, according to the report. There
were no contributing factors for Smith listed in
the crash report.
One of the passengers in Peek's vehicle, a
21-year-old woman with an Auburn address,
was ejected from the car and seriously injured.
A 28-year-old Winder man who was a passenger
in Smith's vehicle was also seriously injured,
according to the report. Another man and wom
an in Peek’s vehicle, of the same Auburn address
as the 21-year-old woman, were also hurt. All
four passengers were transported to area hospi
tals with injuries.
No updates on their conditions or further in
formation on the crash had been provided as of
Monday afternoon, Aug. 2.
