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PAGE 2A BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2021 Clarification: A story in the Sept. 15 edition about petitions being circulated to amend the City of Winder's charter men tioned that resident Jessica Burton vowed at an Aug. 3 city council meeting to re call sitting council members who weren't already up for re-election and had voted in favor of increasing the city’s millage rate, but that she had been told by the city attorney she could only pe tition to amend the charter. Burton did say at the meeting that she intended to hie a recall petition, but the petition she initially drafted was one to override the council's resolution adopting the millage in crease, which prompted the response from the attorney that residents could only pe tition to amend the charter. One of Burton’s three active petitions being cir culated seeks to establish a citizens' veto measure in the charter where citizens could vote through a referendum to override any actions tak en by the council. Barrow resident receives ‘Hice Headliner 9 award after Loganville mayor’s nomination On Sept. 13, Congressman Jody Hice of Geor gia's 10th Congressional District presented Bar- row County resident Dana Cureton with the most recent Hice Headliner Award. Cureton is the founder and president of Clau- dine's Closet, a nonprofit that partners with busi ness organizations to care for residents who are in need, according to a news release from the con gressman’s office. “Dana Cureton is one of those selfless citi zens who springs into actions when faced with a need.” Hice said. “Time and again, she has teamed up with civic organizations and local businesses to provide backpacks to students and both free meals and clothing to those in need. Dana has organized regular food box giveaways in communities, including Loganville. Monroe, Atlanta, and Snellville, and has demonstrated her deep sense of gratitude by serving up meals to area health care workers. In winter months, Dana drives a mobile ‘clothes closet’ from which she distributes jackets, home-made mittens, hygiene products, and more. Thank you, Dana, for the way in which you bring people together to serve our larger community!” Hice selected Cureton for the Hice Headliner Award after receiving a nomination from Logan ville Mayor Rey Martinez. To nominate an individual “making a positive impact in your community,” Hice’s office said, send an email to Jessica.Hayes@mail.house.gov. Submitted photo Barrow County resident Dana Cureton, right, is pictured with Congressman Jody Hice after recently receiving the Hice Headliner award. COVID continued from 1A School continued from 1A There had been 1,449 deaths at NGHS fa cilities from COVID as of Tuesday. Eight- one percent of the current patients at NGHS who are being treated for COVID-19 are unvaccinated. According to the latest available DPH data Tuesday, Barrow’s full vaccination rate was at 37%, with 42% having received at least one dose. Those figures continued to trail the statewide figures of 46% fully vac cinated and 53% having received at least one shot. SCHOOL UPDATE The Barrow County School System on Tuesday reported a second straight weekly drop in student COVID cases after imple menting a district-wide mask mandate Sept. 1. According to the district's latest data, there were 52 students with positive cas es the week of Sept. 13-17, less than half a percent of the total student population, a week after the district reported 57. Twen ty-eight employees were out with COVID last week. District officials attributed the recent drop in positive cases as well as a sharp re duction in at-home quarantines to the tem porary mask mandate, which they plan on reassessing in the middle of the next month, according to a news release. While more than 4,000 students had to miss school in August due to a quarantine, less than 50 have been required to stay at home due to a close contact with a COVID case since the mask mandate went into effect. “When students wear masks, they can keep learning in school,” officials said. “Without masks, significantly more stu dents are required to stay at home due to a quarantine. This means students must pro actively manage their learning at home and that parents must provide childcare, which is often challenging to arrange due to work requirements.” Officials said they plan to reexamine the case numbers the week students and staff ers return from the district’s Oct. 4-8 fall break and are anticipating announcing the next steps the week of Oct. 18. “Schools will have time to track and gather data on positive student cases and look at the number of students quaran tined,” officials said. “Student quarantines and positive cases will be the two primary criteria used to determine temporary mask requirements on a school-by-school basis.” without the usual addition of funds from the Georgia Department of Edu cation. What’s unique about the innovation campus, officials said, is the “shared campus concept,” where schools from elementary level to college level can be attended across one large campus. The innovation campus elementary school will be adjacent to Barrow Arts and Sci ences Academy for high school students, which opened in August 2020, on the same campus. Lanier Technical College also shares the campus as well as a future middle school, which will likely open in 2025. “We looked at a lot of different mag net schools and charter schools and we modeled pretty much on that,” said Mc- Michael. However, BCSS added transportation options to accommodate students who would otherwise lack reliable means to travel off-campus independently, offi cials said. To clear the transportation obstacle, the district runs shuttle buses to and from the innovation campus and Winder-Bar row and Apalachee high schools. Photo courtesy Barrow County School System Superintendent Chris McMichael speaks during the groundbreaking ceremony. “We made sure to provide that transpor tation that a lot of these types of schools don’t offer.” McMichael said. “One of my big things is it needs to be accessible to everybody. “In Barrow County, if you want to grad uate high school, you have to work not to. We've got a little bit of everything.” Planning continLied from 1A project would be a “high- end quality development” that will “flourish over the years.” The requests didn’t draw any opposition during a public hearing before the planning commission last week, though the Barrow County School System raised concerns about it in a letter to the county. Roches ter said the apartment com munity would likely have very few children, and his firm presented calculations suggesting that the school district would see an annu al net benefit of more than $158,000 from the estimat ed $35 million develop ment. The panel’s recommend ed approval comes with 17 conditions — including that there be a limit of 275 units, that there be no more than 12 three-bedroom units and that there be no playground. OTHER BUSINESS In other business at its Sept. 16 meeting, the plan ning commission: •tabled and called for a second public hearing on a request by developer D.R. Horton and the J. Daniel Blitch Family Partnership to eliminate nine of the 17 conditions attached to a re zoning of 144.7 acres just west of Highway 211 for a planned single-family Considering ((TM*R) )) buying or selling? 770-867-9026 www.maynardrealty.com subdivision on both sides of Rockwell Church Road with a little more than 300 homes. The property was rezoned by the county in 2008, but the project has yet to be built. The developers are seeking to strike a con dition that the northern side of the development be an age-restricted 55-and-old- er community and are also planning to do away with a planned commercial com ponent for the project. And while county staff has rec ommended 2,000-square foot minimums for homes, the applicants are propos ing a minimum of 1,800 square feet for their ranch- style homes, adding that they would abide by rec ommendations for a new traffic study for the project that was completed in July. Planning commissioners agreed they wanted more time to review the requests, and nearby residents made similar comments during last week’s public hearing. The second public hear ing on the request will be held by the panel at its next scheduled meeting, Oct. 21. •recommended approval of a request by South Point Homes to rezone 34 acres on Smith Mill Road between Vinings Drive and Ode Pep pers Road for a single-fam ily subdivision. The request now heads to the BOC for a public hearing and final vote at its Oct. 12 meeting. LESLIE SPORNBERGER JONES, LLC ATTORN EY-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 NOTICE The City of Auburn City Council does hereby announce that the millage rate will be set at a meeting to be held at the Auburn Courthouse/ Council Chambers located at 1361 Fourth Avenue, Auburn, Georgia on October 7, 2021 at 5:00 PM and pursuant to the requirements of O.C.GA. § 48-5-32 does hereby publish the following presentation of the current year's tax digest and levy, along with the history of the tax digest and levy for the past five years. ** Due to recommendations by the CDC during the Coronavirus crisis, this meeting may be conducted via teleconference. This is allowed by O.C.G.A. §50-14-1 (g) as the public is provided simultaneous access to the teleconference meeting. The City of Auburn may utilize the Zoom meeting app to conduct this public hearing teleconference meeting, more information can be found on the City’s website www.cityofauburn-ga.org . CURRENT 2021 TAX DIGEST AND 5 YEA R HISTORY OF LEVY City of Auburn Barrow District 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 Real & Personal $115,900,408 $128,548,492 $149,634,223 $166,545,281 $181,077,957 $203,445,877 Motor Vehicles $5,408,510 $3,843,320 $2,808,600 $1,322,850 $1,990,570 $1,732,140 Mobile Homes $466,539 $506,966 $492,329 $538,834 $530,493 $538,907 Timber -100% $C $C $C $C $32,446 $C Heavy Duty Equipment $C $C $C $C $C $C Gross Digest $121,775,457 $132,898,778 $152,935,152 $168,406,965 $183,631,466 $205,716,92^ Less M& O Exemptions $4,073,530 $4,390,861 $4,954,235 $5,872,052 $6,807,646 $6,995,528 Net M & O Digest $117,701,927 $128,507,917 $147,980,917 $162,534,912 $176,823,82C $198,721,396 Gross M&O Millage 13.591 12.976 12.404 12.291 12.437 12.612 Less Rollbacks 8.660 8.045 7.473 7.360 7.506 7.681 Net M&O Millage 4.931 4.931 4.931 4.931 4.931 4.931 Net Taxes Levied $580,388.20 $633,672.54 $729,693.90 $801,459.66 $871,918.26 $979,895.20 Net Tax $ Increase -$13,814 $53,284 $96,021 $71,766 $70,456 $107,977 Net Tax % Increase -2.32% 9.18% 15.15% 9.84% 8.79% 12.38%