Newspaper Page Text
o
o
24 Pages, 2 Sections
A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. Winder, Barrow County, Georgia $1.00 Copy Wednesday, April 12, 2023
Easter in Barrow
EASTER EGG HUNT
ATF0RTYARG0
Kamila (pictured left), Stella and Sierra (pictured
right) and other local little ones enjoyed Easter af
ternoon playing games and hunting for eggs at Fort
Yargo’s annual Easter egg hunt.
EASTER BUNNY VISITS
STATHAM PUBLIC LIBRARY
Credit: Statham Pubic Library
The Easter Bunny received mixed reactions from
Statham’s littlest residents during his visit to the
Statham Public Library on April 1 for family photos
and fun.
BARBARA SHEDD
PROSPERITY PROJECT
DONATES EASTER BASKETS
TO LOCAL YOUTH
Barbara Shedd Prosperity Project, Inc., assembled
and donated dozens of Easter baskets to children at
the Boys and Girls Club of Winder-Barrow County and
The Tree House.
MAILING LABEL
Winder
recognizes
Georgia
Cities Week
April 23-29
The City of Winder will
join Georgia Municipal
Association in celebrat
ing Georgia Cities Week
April 23-29 with the fol
lowing events:
April 24 — The City
of Winder utilities depart
ment will host the Barrow
County School System
at its drinking water fa
cilities for an interactive
tour. Students will see
where their drinking wa
ter comes from and the
See Winder, page 2A
The Barrow County Board of Commissioners and county manager Billy Pittard
with Jessica Porter, director of the Barrow County Department of Family and Chil
dren Services with the signed proclamation during the board’s meeting Tuesday.
Barrow proclaims April as
Child Abuse Prevention Month
The Barrow County
Board of Commissioners
proclaimed the month of
April as Child Abuse Pre
vention Month, urging
all citizens to dedicate
themselves to improv
ing the quality of life for
all children and families
throughout the month.
The proclamation ac
knowledges and honors
the Piedmont Collabo
rative, which consists
of representatives from
Piedmont CASA (Court
Appointed Special Ad
vocates), the Department
of Family and Children
Services, Family Con
nection, The Tree House,
Barrow County School
System, A Kid’s Dream,
Peace Place and the Boys
A number of North Geor
gia Methodist churches, in
cluding some from Jackson,
Barrow. Madison and Banks
counties, have filed a lawsuit
against the North Georgia
Annual Conference over a
dispute about the process of
disaffiliation.
In 2019, the worldwide
United Methodist Church or
ganization created a way for
individual churches to disaf
filiate from the UMC orga
nization and keep their prop
erties. Some UMC churches
are unhappy with the UMC’s
position on LGBTQ issues,
among other items.
Last year, 70 UMC church-
To ensure its ability to
supply adequate sanitary
sewer service to support
growth and development,
the Barrow County Board
of Commissioners ap
proved two resolutions
March 28, which will ex
pand the treatment capac
ities at the county’s Tan
ner’s Bridge and Barber
Creek wastewater facili
ties.
The county current
ly operates the Tanner’s
Bridge facility for treat
ment up to 1,500,000
gallons per day (GPD).
The Tanner’s Bridge land
application system (LAS)
facility currently oper
ates for treatment up to
500,000 GPD with an ad
ditional future capacity
expansion for treatments
bringing it to 2.5 million
gallons of capacity per
day.
The county’s resolution
will earmark and reserve
300 Equivalent Residen
tial Units (ERU’s), or
75,000 gallons per day,
of its currently sanitary
sewer capacity within the
Tanner’s Bridge facili
ty and an additional 400
and Girls Club of Wind
er-Barrow County. These
individuals commit each
day to preventing child
maltreatment and promot
ing positive parenting.
Through their unwavering
dedication, these groups
can effectively intervene
in the lives of children
affected by abuse while
creating meaningful con
nections and partner
ships between child wel
fare, education, health,
community, faith-based
organizations, business
es and law enforcement
agencies. These connec
tions are what make child
abuse prevention activi
ties succeed.
In 2021, Barrow Coun
ty received 1,076 reports
es in North Georgia, includ
ing several local churches,
voted to leave the UMC orga
nization.
But in December, the North
Georgia Conference suspend
ed the process, a move over
180 churches claim violates
their right to disaffiliate under
UMC rules. Churches have
until the end of 2023 to dis
affiliate under the organiza
tion’s original rules.
“Churches in North Geor
gia that want to disaffiliate
using the previously approved
process are stuck. These are
churches that have done all
that has been required; yet.
at the last hour were denied
ERUs, or 100,000 GPD,
of sanitary sewer capacity
at the completion of the
future facility expansion
for at total of 700 ERUs,
or 175,000 GPD.
The Barber Creek Facil
ity currently operates for
treatment of up to 500,000
GPD capacity and an ad
ditional future capacity
expansion for treatment
of up to 1.5 million GPD.
The county’s new reso
lutions will earmark and
reserve 200 ERUs, or
50,000 GPD of its current
sanitary sewer capacity
and an additional 1,600
ERUs, or 400,000 GOD of
its future sanitary sewer
capacity upon the comple
tion of the Barber Creek
of abuse or neglect. Of
those 1,076, 480 didn’t
meet the criteria for as
sessment and screened
out. Of the 480 screened
out cases, 193 outsourced
to another program better
suited to serve the family.
Of the 1,076 reports re
ceived, 411 were assigned
to investigations, 282 of
those 411 were substanti
ated and 129 were unsub
stantiated.
Child abuse and neglect
can be prevented by sup
porting and strengthening
families and providing
the opportunity for chil
dren to develop healthy,
trusting family bonds,
thus building the founda
tions of the community as
a consequence.
the opportunity to proceed
with what had been promised
to them,” said John Kenney,
pastor of The Quest Church
in Grovetown, Georgia. The
Quest was allowed to disaffil
iate in 2022.
Among the UMC churches
in the area that have joined the
lawsuit are: Colbert, Com
merce, Ebenezer (Jefferson),
Holly Springs (Jackson Coun
ty), Jones Chapel (Madison
County), Mt. Bethel (Com
merce), New Prospect (South
Jackson), Redstone (South
Jackson County), Statham,
Hickory Flat (Lula), Homer,
Lula. Zion (Alto), Winder and
New Salem (Commerce).
facility expansion, which
will come to a grand total
capacity of 1,800 ERPUs,
or 450,000 GPD.
According to coun
ty public works director
Chris Yancey, this expan
sion is being implement
ed specifically to secure
adequate sanitary sewer
service for future com
mercial and industrial de
velopment and will give
staff guidance when plan
ning for future utility ex
pansion and improvement
projects.
There is no cost asso
ciated with these resolu
tions, which demonstrate
intent and can be changed
by future resolutions if
needed.
Winder
man falls
to his
death at
job site in
Gainesville
Javier Sanchez, 57, of
Winder, fell to his death
while working as a mason at
the site of a new elementary
school in Hall County last
week.
Sanchez fell about 70
inches from the scaffold
he was working on to the
ground, according to police.
An eye-witness told the re
sponding officer from Hall
County Sheriff’s Office that
just before Sanchez fell, he
saw him lean over, put his
head down as if to rest it, and
heard him say he didn’t feel
well.
A second witness and
friend of Sanchez said he
suffered from a medical
condition that caused him
to faint and that a similar
incident had happened three
months ago.
First responders trans
ported Sanchez to Northeast
Georgia Medical Center in
Gainesville, where he was
treated in the emergency
room for 45 minutes before
being pronounced dead.
Sanchez was sent to
Dekalb County Medical Ex
aminer’s Office for an autop
sy.
Hall County Deputy Cor
oner Kevin Wetzel said the
working medical hypothesis
is that Sanchez had a medi
cal episode, which caused
him to lose consciousness
and fall off the scaffold.
There is no formal decla
ration of the cause of death.
An OSHA investigation
into the incident is ongoing,
however, police observedno
indication of foul play or un
safe conditions at the scene.
Student spotlight
Apalachee
SkillsUSA
student
wins
state gold
Submitted photo
Apalachee’s Rhyan
Rogers (pictured
above) won first place
in Practical Nursing
at this year’s SkillsU
SA state competition,
where she was judged
on her knowledge
of medical terminol
ogy, body structure
and function, nutri
tion, medications and
nursing care. Rogers
will advance to the
SkillsUSA National
Leadership and Skills
Conference in Atlanta
June 19-23.
see SkillsUSA,
page 9A
Local UMC churches join lawsuit
against North Georgia Conference
BOC expands sanitary sewer treatment
capacity, prepares for future growth
r -• ... ~r - ; V. ..a.' ■:... L -U.’' \ - - A'"" V- . • ;.V
Credit: Google Earth
Tanner’s Bridge Wastewater Treatment Facility
