Newspaper Page Text
o
o
20 Pages, 2 Sections
A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. Winder, Barrow County, Georgia $1.00 Copy Wednesday, November 30,
Hello, Christmas
Stati iam kicks off the season
WITH ANNUAL TREE LIGHTING
Credit: Enchanted Events
Santa came to downtown Statham Friday night and brought some
beloved characters along with him to celebrate Statham’s Annual
Tree Lighting event. This year’s celebration featured photos with
Santa, character meet and greets, airbrush tattoos, caroling and
music, hot cocoa and Christmas wishes. Pictured above are the
Statham Police Chief and officers, Mayor Joe Piper and his wife
Janel, Santa and one of his elves, the Polar Express conductor, the
Grinch and Disney princesses liana, Elsa and Moana.
County passes LOST resolution,
agreement remains pending
By Morgan Ervin
A highly anticipated
resolution authorizing the
approval of a Local Op
tion Sales Tax (LOST)
distribution was approved
and signed by the Barrow
County Board of Commis
sioners (BOC) following
an executive session held
during the board’s regular
meeting Tuesday, Nov. 22.
The county’s resolu
tion followed an update
from Winder Mayor Da
vid Maynard regarding
the city’s position on the
LOST agreement released
via a video message Nov.
18 after several months
of ceased negotiations.
Since Aug. 2, Winder city
leaders remained firm on
a resolution they passed
calling on the county to
meet certain conditions
in order for them to con
tinue negotiating a LOST
agreement.
The city’s position was
the current distribution of
LOST that is based solely
on population, is “really
unfair to the City of Wind
er and the other cities,”
said Maynard.
“I believe most of this
sales tax is generated with
in these cities and should
be returned to those areas
where the businesspeople
have invested.”
The council believed the
resolution would create an
opportunity for Winder
to resolve many ongoing
issues with the county,
including ongoing litiga
tion.
After the county an
swered none of the con
ditions laid out in the
city’s resolution, and an
impasse between the city
and county ensued.
In a recent press release,
the city said by refusing
to agree to the terms of its
resolution, the BOC “con
tinues to deny voters the
choice to fund transpor
tation improvements and
has refused to end its out
standing litigation against
the City of Winder.”
By Nov. 18, with the
Dec. 31 deadline to sign
a LOST agreement before
it’s terminated just around
the comer, Maynard
changed his position and
announced that although
he still feels it’s unfair
to all cities in Barrow
County, including Winder,
he will urge the Winder
City Council to agree to
the current LOST distri
bution, which allocates
62% of LOST funds to the
county.
Maynard’s offer would
provide a per capita tax
rollback of $119.51 for
unincorporated county
residents and a $195.51
per capita tax rollback to
residents living within
the city limits of Auburn,
Bethlehem, Braselton,
Auburn’s Sounding off the
Christmas Season
Auburn’s Christmas celebration is planned for Sunday, Dec. 11
from 3 to 7 p.m. in downtown Auburn. The event will feature
free pictures with Santa, musical performances by Christmas
characters, rides on a kids’ train, live music, food and inflat-
ables, crafts and more in the Kid’s Zone. The Christmas tree
lighinng will be at 6 p.m. beside the caboose.
Christmas Around the world:
Winder’s 74th Annual
Christmas Around the World is the theme for the 74th Annu
al Winder Christmas Parade hosted on Saturday, Dec. 10 at 2
p.m. The parade will begin in front of Ingles, and travel south
on Broad Street and end on East Athens in front of Jug Tav
ern Park. This year’s event will also feature the city’s annual
Deck the Paws pet parade, known as the “pre-game for the
main event.”The main event featuring community floats, mu
sical performances and more will begin promptly at 2 p.m.
and roads will be closed to enhance safety for participants
and attendees. This year’s Grand Marshall is Rep. Terry En
gland. After the parade, the community is invited to anta’s
After Party at Jug Tavern Park for pictures with Santa, s’mo-
res, food trucks, a holiday market, a Christmas DJ and snow.
Registration for participation in this year’s event will close on
Thursday, Dec. 1. “We are so excited for this annual favorite!
We’ve added more activities to the event so you can experi
ence Christmas in Winder all day long,” said Winder’s director
of special events, Kristin Edwards. Visit www.cityofwinder.
com/Christmas-Parade today and secure your presence at this
vear’s narade.
A portion of the grant funds will assist in redesigning
the intersection at MLK Jr. Drive, E Midland Avenue
and E Athens Street (pictured above), which will in
clude adding a roundabout and pedestrian enhane-
ments.
Winder to receive S300k
Transportation Improvement
Planning grant
The City of Winder was awarded a $300,000
Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) grant
from the Atlanta Regional Commission last month.
Approximately $250,000 of these funds will be
used for a consultant to conduct a citywide trans
portation study and needs analysis.
See Winder, page 2A
Credit: Reynold’s Realty Construction, LLC.
The proposed active adult community will be a mixture of single-family detached
homes and attached townhomes.
Active adult community proposed at
Hwy. 11 and Puiikin Junction Road
By Morgan Ervin
An active adult com
munity is being pro
posed in the City of
Winder and is current
ly under review by the
Georgia Department of
Community Affairs as
a Development of Re
gional Impact (DRI).
The proposal seeks to
annex and rezone 168
acres, located on Hwy.
11 at the intersection
of Punkin Junction
Road, from Barrow
County’s agricultural
(AG), neighborhood
commercial (Cl) and
community commercial
(C2) zoning districts to
Winder’s Planned Unit
Development (PUD).
The property owners,
Richard Brevard Rus
sell III Dynasty Trust
and R&P Holdings,
LP., are proposing 432
units, consisting of 231
single-family detached
homes and 201 townho
mes intended to serve
active adults, aged 55
and over.
A proposal also con
sists of four different
housing types and a
proposed density of
2.56 units per acre
across the entire devel
opment.
According to the
city’s DRI submission,
the estimated value at
build-out is $200 mil
lion, with the annual
local property tax reve
nues estimated at $2.85
million and annual
sales tax revenues esti
mated at $700,000.
The City of Winder
will provide the wa
ter supply for the site,
which is estimated to
generate a supply de
mand of 0.15 million
gallons a day (MGD).
See DRI, page 2A
Barrow CFO Rose Kisaalita
receives prestigious award
The Barrow County Finance Office
submitted its Annual Comprehensive Financial
Reports (ACFR), which are submitted by lo
cal governments each year to the Government
Finance Officers Association (GFOA) for con
sideration of the Certificate of Achievement for
Excellence in Financial Reporting award.
An impartial panel of the GFOA judged
the Barrow County ACFR as having met the
high standards of the program, which includes
demonstrating a construction “spirit of full dis
closure” that clearly communicated the county’s
financial story.
Barrow County manager Kevin Little pre
sented the Certificate of Achievement for Excel
lence in Financial Reporting for fiscal year 2021
to Chief Finance Officer Rose Kisaalita during
the Barrow County Board of Commissioners
meeting Nov. 23.
The Certificate of Achievement for Excel
lence in Financial Reporting is presented to the
department or individual designated as instru
mental in the government unit achieving the
award.
Recipients of the Certificate of Achievement
are judged to adhere to program standards and
represents the highest award in government ac
counting and financial reporting. “Its attainment
represents a significant accomplishment,” said
Litde.
Credit: Barrow County
Pictured (from left): Barrow County
manager Kevin Little presents Chief Fi
nancial Officer Rose Kisaalita with the
Certificate of Achievement for Excel
lence in Financial Reporting award Nov.
23.
