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BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2021
Kaspian continued from 1A
BCES to conduct live fire training
this weekend in Bethlehem, Braselton
Barrow County Emergency Services
will conduct live fire training exercises
this weekend in the Bethlehem and Bra
selton areas.
On Saturday morning. Oct. 16, crews
will be in Bethlehem for a training exer
cise and, due to the need for water sup
ply, Manning Gin Road from East Star
Street to Joseph Street will be closed
during the training, starting around
9 a.m., BCES officials said in a news
release.
Around 9 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 17, crews
will be training off Tuscany Drive in
Braselton. Crews will be on the road
way, so citizens are asked to avoid the
area if possible.
“We have enjoyed working with North
east Georgia Medical on developing a
model that we believe works well for them
and works well for us.” said Michael Cow
art of Meridian Development, who added
that he believes the development would
help NGHS's efforts to recruit employees.
Brian Rochester of Rochester and As
sociates, who also spoke on behalf of Me
ridian, pointed to a study that found that
30% of residents of a multi-residential
development in Sandy Springs adjacent to
Northridge Hospital walked to work. He
pitched that vision to the BOC for the Dil
lard Farms development.
“What we think we really have in this sit
uation is a great live, work and play devel
opment.” he said. “We have restaurants, we
have retail, we have a major employment
corridor.”
Rochester also pointed to a central green
space within the Dillard Farms develop
ment that would be available to hospital
workers. Plans call for pedestrian connec
tivity between the development and the
hospital as well.
The board's vote comes after the Bar-
row County Planning Commission recom
mended approval of Meridian’s requests
last month.
BOC PLACES MORATORIUM
ON TEMPORARY EVENTS
The commissioners voted 5-1 to place
The training will give fire crews the
chance to train on extinguishing fires
in a home that includes small room and
contents, to fully involved structures.
The training is designed to keep the fire
fighters skills honed and enhance areas
that can be improved, officials said.
“The training will allow us to start
several fires inside of a home and have
our Fire Investigation Team come in
and collect evidence and determine
the cause of the fires,” said Capt. Scott
Dakin, public information officer for
BCES. “This will allow them valuable
experience in determining origins and
causes of fires and enhance their skills
in collecting evidence.”
a moratorium on temporary events in the
county for 90 days to allow county staff
time to review those ordinances, but the
move raised some questions.
Commissioner Rolando Alvarez, who
voted against the moratorium, suggested
that events be allowed to proceed and that
any changes to codes take effect in Feb
ruary.
“It seems like a negative impact to the
public,” Alvarez said of the moratorium.
Commissioner William Brown, how
ever, pointed to public-safety issues with
events in his support of the moratorium.
According to staff, the county receives
an average of one request per month to
hold a temporary event.
24-LOT SUBDIVISION APPROVED
The BOC voted unanimously to approve
a R-l rezoning request from South Pointe
Homes. LLC. to develop a single-family
subdivision with a maximum of 24 lots
on 36.32 acres on Smith Mill Road. Two
residents, Steve and Kathy Williams, who
live near the proposed subdivision, spoke
against the development, however.
Kathy Williams raised concerns about
privacy issues and homes on septic tanks
being located in close proximity to her
residence. Steve Williams expressed
concerns regarding noise, traffic and 24
homes “kind of crammed into a pretty
small area.”
to be around 50 percent, though survival
odds do improve over time.
Kaspian’s PVS led to pulmonary hy
pertension and chronic heart failure, and
his parents, January and Travis Kenoyer,
have watched him endure a seemingly
endless line of procedures at the Sibley
Heart Center at Children’s Healthcare of
Atlanta (CHOA) — two open-heart sur
geries, the most recent one in May, che
motherapy and roughly two dozen heart
catheterizations, with another one sched
uled for later this month.
“It’s been a wild ride,” January said.
“The PVS has been really aggressive
and never really stopped. (Kaspian) goes
probably four to eight weeks in between
(catheterizations) because the disease
just doesn’t want to slow down. We tried
another round of chemo, but it didn’t
work. He goes in for the heart cath Oct.
28 because his veins again, and those
have really been the only thing keeping
him with us.”
Kenoyer said CHOA’s addition of a
specialized PVS program, one of only a
handful in the world, has been a major
boost and added to their hopes that Kas
pian will be able to survive long-term.
She said a lung transplant would even
tually give him the best chance of that,
though doctors say it hasn’t reached that
point yet.
“We don’t have any other options re
ally (other than to continue with the fre
quent catheterizations),” January said.
“They’ve been saying he’s out of options
a long time, and he’s still here.”
The Kenoyers attribute Kaspian’s per
severance to his unbreakable spirit.
“He loves planes and sharks, and he’s
obsessed with Legos,” January said.
“He’s very sassy. He’s got the personali
ty to take on the world. He’s always smil
ing, always happy. You wouldn’t know
he’s sick. He’s still really small (for his
age), but he’s mighty.”
FAMILY RAISING FUNDS
FOR NONPROFITS
The Kenoyers are continuing to chron
icle their journey on various forms of
social media — Facebook, Instagram,
TikTok — through the hashtag #prayers-
forkaspian and have also gotten involved
Submitted photo
Despite the heart disease he struggles
with, Kaspian is a happy boy who is
obsessed with Legos, according to his
mother.
in charity fundraising efforts.
The family is currently conducting
a fundraiser and hopes to split the pro
ceeds between two nonprofits — Little
Bricks Charity and Kids at Heart.
Little Bricks Charity has delivered
Legos to more than 200 children’s hospi
tals around the U.S. and Canada, includ
ing $41,000 worth of Legos this year,
and CHOA will be among the 2021 tour
recipients Nov. 1.
January said her family is participating
in that Nov. 1 delivery in hopes of giving
back what was given to them. Her son
was one of the previous recipients of the
Legos, which organization leaders say
can be used as a tool to help pediatric
patients open up about their feelings and
ask and answer “tough questions.”
For more information on and to donate
to Little Bricks Charity, go to https://
www.littlebrickscharity.org/.
The Kids at Heart program through
CHOA provides educational resources,
social activities and emotional-support
services for inpatient and outpatient
heart families.
For information on the program and
how to donate, go to https://www.choa.
org/medical-services/heart-center/sup-
port.
BOC
continued from 1A
Winder continued from 1A
unnecessary spending un
til a review of every aspect
of the current budget can
be completed and we can
locate where adjustments
can be made, especially to
non-essential items.”
Yvonne Greenway, a for
mer long-time employee in
the city’s planning depart
ment who left her position
in March, said that the ma
jority of the council “totally
ignored” options to imple
ment a smaller, more incre
mental increase and said the
entire city budget process
was rushed.
Stephanie Britt and Jer
ry Martin, who are running
against Akins for the at-
large seat, were also critical
of the city’s transparency
around the budget, and Britt
said she and other citizens
felt like they were largely
ignored during the public
hearings.
“It was the callousness of
it, the fact that some peo
ple wouldn't even look up.”
said Britt, a math teacher
at Winder-Barrow High
School. “There is no item
ized detail in the budget. ...
We have a right to that and
we're not getting that. It's
been going on too long, and
that's what we need to cut
out.”
Terrell, the Ward 3 in
cumbent and one of two
council members to vote
against the budget and the
only one to vote against
the millage increase — for
mer councilwoman Holly
Sheats, the other “no” vote
on the budget, resigned in
between those votes and
has since been replaced by
Shannon Hammond. — said
Monday he stood by his op
position votes and that he
believes city officials didn't
do “a good job of selling the
budget.”
“I still, today, believe we
could have gone to 4.5 or
5 mills and accomplished
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what we needed to do right
now to get on track,” Terrell
said. “We have to hold de
partments accountable. We
have to understand we don’t
have a blank checkbook.”
Danny Darby, who is run
ning against Terrell, said it
would “be a good idea (for
the city) to look into having
someone” specifically hired
to review and help with a
more efficient budget.”
Akins said the city is
“working toward” filling its
vacant finance director/CFO
position and developing
long-term capital planning
processes that city adminis
trator Mandi Cody advocat
ed for during budget discus
sions this summer.
Morris, who joined Akins
in voting for the budget
and the millage increase,
defended his votes and the
city's public outreach and
contended that the council
meetings that went into ulti
mately adopting the spend
ing plan for FY22 were ben
eficial.
“I felt like we put a good
budget together,” Morris
said. “I know some don’t
agree with that.”
In response to citizens’
concerns about the council
valuing their input, Akins
said he has an “open-door
policy” in discussing issues
with residents.
‘Til talk any day, any
time. with anyone on any
thing they want to talk
about,” Akins said.
The opposition to the
millage rate increase among
the council challengers
wasn’t universal, though.
Matthew Redfern. the third
candidate running against
Morris, aligned more with
the incumbent on the issue,
framing the increase as nec
essary to help the city meet
the demands that ongoing
population and business
growth are and will place on
the city’s infrastructure.
“Without (the increase),
we won’t be able to grow
our city effectively and plan
for the future,” said Redfern,
who added that the council
can’t always be “reaction
ary” to vocal opposition.
Redfern also repeated
ly took aim at two of three
petitions circulating around
the city in response to the
millage increase — one
which, if brought to a refer
endum vote and approved,
would cap the city’s millage
rate at 3 mills and another
which would create a citi
zens' veto procedure for any
action taken by the council.
The third would impose
term limits on council mem
bers and the mayor.
“If we don't have the sta
bility in our government and
the ability of our city coun
cil and leadership to run the
city properly without hav
ing to worry about which
way the leaves are blowing
that day. we're not going to
be able to attract those busi
nesses to our city,” Redfern
said.
Coming next week: The
candidates were also asked
by the chamber commit
tee about their thoughts on
opportunities and obstacles
for economic development
in the city. See the Oct.
20 edition for a story on
their responses. The cham
ber also hosted a candi
date forum in Statham on
Tuesday, Oct. 12, for that
city’s council race and is
set to have one in Auburn
at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct.
14, at the Perry Rainey
Center. See next week’s edi
tion for coverage of those
forums.
Considering
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selling?
770-867-9026
www.maynardrealty.com
CITY OF STATHAM
AD VALOREM TAX RATE
The City of Statham has tentatively adopted a millage rate which will require an increase
in property taxes for the 2021 tax year. The City of Statham anticipates the property tax
levies will be set at 4.345 mills, which is a 16.64% increase from the proposed rollback
rate of 3.725.
All concerned citizens are invited to the public hearings on this tax increase to be held on
Tuesday, October 19th at 7:00 p.m. and Tuesday, November 4th at 6:30 p.m. at Statham
City Hall, 327 Jefferson St., Statham, Georgia 30666.
The proposed tax increase for a home with a fair market value of $225,000 is approximately
$55.80, and the approximate tax increase for a home with a fair market value of $300,000
is $74.40. A Tax Report from the City’s Finance Department is available on the City’s
website, or may be obtained by contacting Statham City Hall.
The City will set the millage rate at the Regular Meeting on Tuesday, November 16th at
7:00 p.m. at Statham City Hall, 327 Jefferson St., Statham, Georgia 30666. The five-year
tax and levy histoiy will be published no less than 14 days prior to its adoption.
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Atlanta Higlnvay in Statham, 7 miles East of Winder