Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

16 Pages, 2 Sections, Plus Preprints A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. Winder, Barrow County, Georgia $1.00 Copy Wednesday, September IS, 2021 Winder mayor pushes back on petitions aimed at changing charter Proposed amendments would provide for citizens’ veto, cap millage rate, establish term limits for mayor, council By Scott Thompson sthompson@barrownewsj ournal. com Three proposed amendments to the City of Winder’s charter that could substantial ly alter the city government drew a rebuke last week from Mayor David Maynard in an open letter before the author of the pe titions shot back, accusing the mayor of “fear-mongering.” The petitions and proposed charter amendments, which would require voter approval in a special-called referendum if they advance to that point, seek to: cap the city’s millage rate at a maximum of 3 mills; impose term limits of two four-year terms for the mayor and three four-year terms for city council; and, in the most expansive proposed change, allow for citizens to pe tition to “veto” or override any acts, ordi nances or resolutions passed by the council. The petition effort, being led by city res ident Jessica Burton, stems from the coun cil’s vote last month to essentially double the city’s millage rate to fund the fiscal year 2022 budget, a move city leaders have said is necessary to reduce the General Fund’s continued reliance on utility fund transfers. The tax hike drew strong backlash from residents, including Burton, at a series of public hearings, but the council ultimately voted 4-1 in favor of the increase. Burton had initially vowed to recall sit ting council members who weren’t already up for re-election (Travis Singley and Kobi Kilgore) as well as Maynard, but later said she had been informed by city attorney John Stell that residents could only petition to amend the city charter. Burton said this week that she and the rest of the group organizing the petition drive have until Oct. 26 to submit petitions to the city clerk. Signees must be a city res ident and registered to vote within the city. At least 20% of the number of registered voters who were able to vote in the 2019 city election would have to sign the peti tions in order to trigger a special election for the referendum, meaning they would need roughly 2,170 signatures. “It is unfortunate and disappointing that we were unable to resolve this through the public hearings and had to make it to this point of needing to amend the charter in order to get our voices heard and respect ed,” Burton wrote in an email last month to city officials. “When the council and mayor refuse to bend to the will of the people, it is necessary to take such actions to remind elected officials that they are public ser vants, not rulers over their constituents.” In his letter last week, Maynard took aim at the petitions and cautioned that city res idents should take time to understand the See Petitions, page 2A Sunflower Festival set for Saturday The Statham Sunflower Festival will be held Satur day, Sept. 18, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the downtown area with a “Street Dance” following until 10 p.m. A car show will be held from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and there will be more than 140 vendor booths, food tents and food trucks, as well as pony rides, inflat- ables, face painting and more activities. 2021 Sunflower Festi val T-shirts are available for purchase ($20 each) as well as raffle tickets for the handmade sunflower quilt ($1 each or six tickets for $5). Purchases can be made at city hall during business hours, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. or at the festival in formation booth near the train depot building. The quilt raffle will take place 4 p.m. Saturday, and you do not need to be present to win. “It’ll be a great day is our Sunflower City,” festival leaders said. “While we un derstand certain COVID-19 restrictions, we encourage you to remain comfortable and safe. Masks are not mandatory, but maintaining a safe distance is encour aged.” Index: Public safety 5-6A Social, school 3,8A, 8B Classifieds 7A Legals 5-7B Obituaries 3-4B Opinion 4A Sports 1-2B MAILING LABEL Never forget 9/11 Photos by Scott Thompson The Winder Fire Department held its annual 9/11 memorial ceremony Satur day, Sept. 11, on the 20th anniversary of the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans. Members of the fire department and Winder Police Department read the names of all 343 firefighters and 62 law enforcement officers who died on 9/11. Winder fire chief Matt Whiting gave remarks and laid a wreath with Mayor David Maynard. Fire department chaplain Mike Williams gave an invo cation; Joel Goddard sang the national anthem; Barrow County Probate Judge Tammy Brown sang “Amazing Grace” and Winder-Barrow High School band member Blaine Tuttle played “Taps.” Pictured above: Whiting, left, and May nard carry out the wreath at the start of the ceremony. See more photos online at barrownewsjournal.com. Joel Goddard sings the national anthem Blaine Tuttle plays “Taps” near the during Saturday’s ceremony. end of Saturday’s ceremony. Several dozeen residents turned out Saturday morning for the 9/11 memorial ceremony at the Winder Fire Department’s downtown headquarters. BOG rejects request for large subdivision in Statham, approves rezoning of property at lower density By Scott Thompson sthompson@barrownewsjournal.com Following along with the county planning commis sion’s recommendation from last month, the Barrow County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday. Sept. 14, approved rezoning 117.5 acres of land on Glenn Jackson Road in Statham for a new subdivision, but at a much lesser density than the prospective developer and property owners were seeking. The board voted unanimously to deny a request by LGI Homes Georgia and the land owners to change the future land-use map (FLUM) designation for the land near Glenn Jackson Road’s intersection with Luke Circle, which would have allowed the applicants to get an R-2 zoning and build a planned subdivision of 310 single-family homes with a proposed mini mum of 2,000 square feet and a density of well over two units per acre. The board then backed up the planning commission by approving a rezoning to R-l, but that zoning re quires 1-acre minimum lot sizes and carries further re strictions on the density because the character area for the parcels is under Rural Reserve and Rural Neigh borhood. “I think the planning commission made the right call,” BOC chairman Pat Graham said. The board’s approval of the R-l zoning came with four staff-recommended conditions: that the project be developed as an open-space subdivision, that all homes be a minimum of 2,000 heated square feet with no vinyl siding, and that sod and landscaping be in stalled in front and side yards. But it was unclear Tuesday what the applicants’ next step — litigation, walking away from the project or going forward with it — would be, as their attorney, Joshua Scoggins, has said a less-dense subdivision would not be economically feasible, Scoggins made an appeal to the board during a public hearing on the case Tuesday, saying it would be appropriate to amend the FLUM and allow for the project as planned. “This proposal before you satisfies all the legal re quirements,” Scoggins said. “Not everybody’s going to like it. But at the end of the day, I think it’s the right thing to do by the property owners and by the applicant.” A few residents, including ones from neighboring properties spoke against the requests Tuesday, object ing to them over concerns related to traffic and storm water management. Scoggins stressed that the project was planned to be phased in over four to six years. OTHER BUSINESS In other business Tuesday, commissioners: •approved a request by Euphoric Development to rezone just under 96 acres of wooded land near the intersection of State Route 316 and Kilcrease Road in order for an industrial park with 1.1 million square feet of warehouse space to be built. The developer plans to build four warehouse buildings to be market ed to companies looking to expand their space. No suitors for the space have been publicly announced yet. Plans are to build the project in one phase with an estimated completion by the end of 2022. The project has an estimated $70 million value at buildout. •approved a request by David Dillard and the Jack and Janet Dillard Family Partnership to change the character area for and rezone 5.63 acres on Carl-Beth- lehem Road near its intersection with Loganville Highway for commercial and retail uses, with 3-5 outparcels next to the IHOP restaurant. •approved a request to change the character area of and rezone 0.835 acres at 241 Hwy. 211 NW, Winder, for a new convenience store to take the place of the former “Real Deal,” which closed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Though a convenience store has been operating there, the property has been under See BOC, page 2A o