Newspaper Page Text
20 Pages, 2 Sections
A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. Winder, Barrow County, Georgia $1.00 Copy Wednesday, February 8, 2023
General
Beauregard
Lee predicts
early spring
in Georgia
Groundhog Day was Thursday, Feb. 2 and Georgia’s
General Beauregard Lee didnot see his shadow, which
means early spring is upon us. French Creek Fred
die of West Virginia also predicted an early spring.
Up north, however, Pennsylvania’s Punxsutawney
Phil and Wisconsin’s Jimmy the Groundhog predict
ed six more weeks of winter.
Runoff election
Chase and Persinger facing off
for House District 119 seat
The special election for House District 119 is now in
overtime.
A runoff will be held Tuesday, Feb. 28, between Char
lie Chase and Holt Persinger, both Republicans, to fill the
seat.
The House District 119 seat was vacated by Rep. Elect
Danny Rampey following his arrest in Barrow County.
A special election was held Jan. 31 between seven can
didates. None of the candidates secured 50% of the vote,
forcing the Feb. 28 runoff election.
Chase and Persinger were the top two vote-getters in the
special election. Persinger took 27.9% of the vote, while
Chase took 25.48% of the vote.
EARLY VOTING
Early runoff voting for Barrow County residents living
in House District 119 runs from Monday, Feb. 20 through
Friday, Feb. 24 from 8-5 p.m. No Saturday voting is of
fered.
Early voting will be held at the Barrow County Elec
tions Office at 233 East Broad St., Winder.
ABSENTEE BALLOTS
To request an absentee ballot, call the Barrow County
Elections Office at 770-307-3110 or email evote@barrow-
ga.org. by Feb. 17.
ELECTION DAY
Barrow County residents who live in House District 119
can cast their votes on Election Day at the following poll
locations:
01 — Bethlehem First United Methodist Church, 709
Christmas Avenue, Bethlehem
02 — Bethlehem Church (211 Campus), 1061 Old
Thompson Mill Road, Hoschton
05 — Fire Station 1 (Statham), 1625 Bethlehem Road,
Statham
08 — First Baptist Church Winder, 625 Jefferson Hwy.,
Winder
13 —Winder Community Center, 113 E. Athens Street,
Winder
16 — Restoration Church, 1250 Tom Miller Rd., Beth
lehem
Registered voters can confirm their polling location at
https://mvp.sos.ga.gOv/s.
Auburn to restructure
police salaries
The Auburn City
Council is restructuring
the current salary for an
entry level police officer
to a more competitive
rate of $52,255 to allow
for the hiring and reten
tion of quality officers.
The salary reclassi
fication will help with
hiring POST certified of
ficers by offering a more
MAILING LABEL
'0 4879 14541 7
competitive wage. The
new salary and revised
benefits package aims
to attract more qualified
personnel who can be
employed without hav
ing to attend police acad
emy mandated training,
which will save the city
in costs.
Currently, the Auburn
Police Department’s au
thorized strength is down
four positions, according
to Auburn Police Chief
Chris Hodge.
“Due to manpower
shortages, the depart
ment may be forced to
recall its member from
the Gwinnett Metro Drug
Task Force to assist with
road duties,” said Hodge.
“Staffing the Uniform
Patrol Division takes pri
ority over all other de
partments.”
A position within the
authorized strength of
the department will go
unfunded, and budget al
lotment set aside for that
position will go to fund
the new salary structure.
No additional funding is
being requested to fulfill
the request other than
See Auburn, page 2A
Local teen Zeigh-V inspires social
movement through pop music
Credit: A-POP® Entertainment
Freshman at Apalachee High School, Zeigh-V (pic
tured above) is the face of the A-POP® movement as
its first signed artist and recently released her debut
single, “Gone Too Soon.”
By Morgan Ervin
morgan@barro wne wsj ournal. com
Local teen and rising pop star Zeigh-V, 14, is deter
mined to make a positive impact on teens through her
seemingly endless musical talents, which she showcas
es in her debut single “Gone Too Soon” and other songs
she’s written and recorded since signing with A-POP®
Entertainment Group, LLC.
A-POP® isn’t merely a music genre, it’s a social move
ment put into action through pop music. At the heart of
the movement is teen empowerment, which begins with
teens making a difference on all levels, from their own
personal lives, to their friends, communities and society
at-large.
“Our music’s style emulates that of a Top-40 pop sound
with influences from K-Pop. Afro-Pop and other music
from around the world,” said founder of A-POP® Jim
Joyner.
“Over my life, I have seen many issues that are affect
ing our youth. Today, we are losing one teen every 10
hours to fentanyl-laced pills. I asked myself ‘What could
be done about it?,’ so in 2017, I began to pour my heart
“Gone Too Soon” was released Dec. 2 and commemo
rates the untimely and unexpected loss of so many
young people struggling with addiction and mental
illness.
and financial resources into a brand new genre of music
which I named A-POP®,” Joyner told Music Update Cen
tral in a press release.
As an artist, Zeigh-V’s mission is to encourage kids to
love one another by promoting uplifting themes of change
and hope for future generations. She wants to create long
term and meaningful connections with her audience by
spreading the message of community with listeners.
“I want to let teens who are struggling know they’re not
alone,” said Zeigh-V.
“I want to be able to lift their heads up when they feel
like they can’t.”
Truly passionate about her mission, down-to-earth and
captivating, Zeigh-V is keen on staying true to herself
while showing her peers the importance of self love.
Her first single, “Gone Too Soon,” memorializes young
people lost in untimely and unexpected tragedies stem
ming from addiction and mental illness.
“This song is to encourage young people to refrain
from taking substances because we have already lost too
See Zeigh-V, page 2A
Barrow County School District Map Option 3-1
: Auburn ES
Kennedy ESLA-^g Bethlehem ES
Photo submitted
Pictured is the map to rezone the elementary school attendance zones in the Apalachee Cluster.
BOE chooses rezoning proposalfor Apalachee Cluster
By Hannah Barron
hannah@mainstreetnews.com
The Barrow County School System
has chosen how it will rezone the elemen
tary school and middle school attendance
zones in the Apalachee Cluster ahead of
the new elementary school opening in
August 2023.
The Barrow Board of Education ad
opted the rezoning proposal at its Feb. 7
meeting.
The elementary school attendance
zones will be rezoned based on the 3.1
map pictured below.
The new elementary zoning map fea
tures the most balanced distribution and
projected growth among the schools. It
also maintains major roads as dividing
lines with better traffic patterns than oth
er options.
Auburn, Bethlehem, Kennedy, Yargo
and the new elementary would be affect
ed.
The middle school attendance zones
will be rezoned based on the hybrid map
pictured below.
The new middle school hybrid zoning
map is a “workable compromise” be
tween the feeder and non-feeder options
with only a few changes for middle school
attendance zones. It has a better balance
of population among middle schools than
other feeder options. It also maintains the
feeder system for four of the five elemen
tary schools in the cluster. Students at the
new elementary school would be split be
tween two middle schools.
Middle schools affected would be
Haymon-Morris Middle School and
Westside Middle School.
Rezoning would take effect at the be
ginning of the 2023-2024 school year.
GRANDFATHERING PROPOSAL
See Redistricting, page 2A
Winder tables PUD proposed at City Pond Road
By Morgan Ervin
morgan@barrownewsjournal.com
A request to annex and rezone rough
ly 147 acres from Barrow County’s
medium-density residential (R-2) to
the City of Winder’s Planned Unit De
velopment (PUD),located at 982 City
Pond Road, was tabled Tuesday night
by the Winder City Council at the re
quest of the applicant following con
siderable pushback from the public and
council during its work session Thurs
day, Feb. 2.
The applicant, H.R. Horton, is pro
posing a 344-lot development, known
as Sycamore Reserve, consisting of
single family detached housing types,
ranging from three to five bedrooms on
property owned by Robinson John W
III Trust and Margaret Robinson Mar
tin Trust.
Out of the 344 lots, 166 lots are pro
posed to have a minimum lot width of
60 feet, a minimum lot area of 7,500
square feet (sq. ft.), 332 resident park
ing spaces and 90 additional parking
spaced for amenity spaces.
The other 178 lots are proposed to
have a minimum lot width of 50 feet, a
minimum lot area of 6,250 sq. ft., 356
resident parking spaces and 62 guest
spaces.
The proposed gross density is 2.34
units per acre.
The Barrow County Board of Com
missioners (BOC) originally received
the proposal from D.R. Horton to re
zone the property from the county’s ag
ricultural district to its medium-density
residential (R-2) zoning district as an
open space subdivision, which initiated
an influx of public interest and oppo
sition.
After extensive communications
with surrounding property owners, the
BOC developed a list of conditions to
protect public interests and ensure the
See Winder PUD, page 2A
o