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24 Pages, 2 Sections A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. Winder, Barrow County, Georgia $1.00 Copy Wednesday, April 19, 2023 Submitted photo PNK Group locating at former Trinity Rail site, locat ed next to the Barrow County Airport. Multi-million dollar industrial project locating to old Trinity Rail site PNK Group, a leading manufacturer of main structural elements for industrial warehousing facilities, is locating to the former Trinity Rail site beside the Barrow County Airport, east of Winder. The company will initially invest $15- 20 million in the new project. This site has been a major job produc er for the area for over half a century, including Rohr, who manufactured jet engines for Lockheed Martin and later transit cars for the DC Metro, Por-Tec, Thrall Car and Trinity Rail. PNK Group is build ing two buildings within the area including the new Archer (vertical transportation of peo ple/ drone taxis) facil ity in Covington and a building in Social Circle for Rivian, an electric vehicle manufacturer. The new facilities are expected to bring up to 120 new jobs to the area once they are at full working capacity. “I want to thank Will Cobb from the Norton Agency for bringing this project to Barrow Coun ty,” said Ben McDaniel, economic development administrator for Bar- row County. ‘“This site has meant so much to Barrow County over the years, and we are excit ed to see it continue to be a major job provider for the area.” Statham mayor and council spar over former accountant’s severence pay A handful of concerned citizens in Statham are calling for Mayor Joe Piper to resign due to a severance agreement he and former city ac countant April Stephens entered into following her resignation last month. The severance documents signed by Piper on March 10 offered Ste phens six weeks’ salary in the amount of $8,685.27 and the sum of her total paid leave (PTO) accu mulated, for a total of 164.76 hours, in exchange for a full release of all claims against the city. Absent the agreement, Stephens told Piper she would have no choice but to take legal action against the city due to a hostile work environ ment. Had the city been sued on such allegations, it would be required to pay a $25,000 deductible at the onset of a lawsuit, no matter the outcome of the case. Piper said before unsealing the envelope containing the severance agreement, he and Stephens dis cussed its terms. Piper then dis cussed the terms of the agreement with city attorney Jody Campbell. Although Campbell was informed of the details agreed upon, he didn’t see the document before it was signed, putting Piper’s signature in violation of the city’s charter. Coun cil was also unaware of the agree ment until several days later. According to the city’s purchas ing policy. Piper can spend up to $25,000 without council approval. This policy also aligns with the city charter, which identifies the mayor as the city’s purchasing agent. Since Piper didn’t exceed his dis cretionary spending limit as mayor in the agreement with Stephens, Camp bell advises that Piper’s oversight hardly warrants punishment. How ever. a handful of Statham residents aren’t letting the mishap go unno ticed. In fact, some see it as grounds for his resignation and voiced their concerns during the city’s April 12 council meeting. According to Rudy Krause, hus band of councilwoman Deborah Krause, who recently hinted at a mayoral run this fall during the city’s St. Patrick’s Day parade, “the best thing that could happen right now for this city is to have an interim may or and have the mayor we have right now replaced.” Former Statham councilmember Dwight McCormic said the handling of Stephens’ severance package was an “exit strategy” that “exposes us.” McCormic also questioned Ste phens’ allegations against the city. He pointed out that former employ ees who worked in the same environ ment as Stephens never made such allegations. “I think in lieu of what is happen ing we have got to change the char ter where the city council is strong,” said resident Tim Terilli during pub lic comment. “Is there any way to get him off the bank account? How can he willy-nilly pay somebody $16,000? The city is going to sink if this person is elected again.” he said. Stephens was hired as a city ac countant in September 2020. The previous council-approved job de scription of “city administrator/city accountant” was dissolved and Piper electively assumed all roles and re sponsibilities as city administrator and created the position of city ac countant, which Stephens was hired to fill. No severance agreement was included in her employment con tract. Over the three years Stephens worked for the city, she also as sumed the responsibility of planning and zoning administrator. She was given an additional $2,000 salary for the added responsibility. “Throughout the entire duration of my employment, I have been disre spected (in my own presencejby all but one city elected official regarding my salary and position, I have been repeatedly dismissed of the amount of work I do for this city, dismissed of my education and dismissed of my knowledge and experience in lo cal government.” Stephens wrote in a letter to the mayor on Jan. 31. As part of Stephens’ letter to the mayor, she requested her own salary reduction and relief from her respon sibilities as planning and zoning ad ministrator. She also provided a rec ommended course of action for the city in overcoming the change. “I hope this change will create a more peaceful and less stressful work environment for everyone,” Stephens wrote. According to Piper, council mem bers often referred to Stephens using terms like “that girl” and “that thing” and made comments such as “she makes too much money,” and “she’s just a numbers girl.” directly to her face. These comments were a regular occurrence, he added. “They would constantly ask for more bank information than what she supplied them with, despite re ceiving far more information than a bank statement provides,” said Piper. Since Stephens’ resignation, the city has subcontracted with Jerry Weitz and Associates for planning and zoning. Piper is serving as inter im city administrator while staff re cruit for several open administrative positions. Art in the Park lights up Winder Winder’s Art in the Park was held April 14 and showcased a variety of local artistry including a fire show and other unique performers including a Granite Goddess living statue and a lantern parade and live music. More photos, see page 12A MAILING LABEL O High school FFA spring plant sales FFA Spring plant sales are still open through April 22 at Apalachee and Barrow Arts & Sciences Acad emy. Sales benefit the FFA programs at each high school. •APALACHEE HIGH SCHOOL Sale extended through April 21 from 5-7 p.m. • BARROW ARTS & SCIENCES ACADEMY April 20 & 21 from 8am-5pm April 22 from Noon-2pm A young woman who received an Adventure Bag like the one pictured gave her touching testimony with her foster mom at the gala. Adventure Bags hosts inaugural gala Adventure Bags, Inc. raised over 20,000 to go toward its mission of serv ing Georgia’s children during its inau gural fundraising gala on April 15. The event consisted of sharing what Adventure Bags, Inc. is and the work the organization does in the local com munity and throughout the state. The program began with a short vid eo called, “Removed Trailer,” which shows what children go through when being removed from their homes due to domestic violence situations. The chairman of the board, Tracey McMahon, thanked all of Adventure Bags’ supporters, donors, sponsors, guests and presenters for coming out for the Inaugural event. McMahon went on to share her story of how Adventure Bags, Inc. began in 2011 and how her mother, Debbie Gori, took the organi zation and single-handedly served over 137,000 children across the state before her passing in 2019. The event’s presenting sponsor, Judy Paul, put out a challenge to all of the at tendees to have 200 bags “adopted” by guests attending the gala. A guest could adopt a bag by scanning the QR code on the back of paper cutout backpacks, making their payment, then proceeding A challenge was given at the gala to have 200 bags “adopted” by guests attend ing the gala. A guest could adopt a bag by scanning the QR code on the back of paper cutout backpacks, making a pay ment, then proceeding to a display where the backpacks would cover garbage bags up on a board. The big goal that evening was to completely cover the garbage bags, signifying replacing the bags with Adventure Bags. to a display where the backpacks would cover garbage bags up on a board. The big goal that evening was to completely cover the garbage bags, signifying re placing the bags with Adventure Bags. “We had 62 backpacks adopted throughout the evening,” said Misty Manus., executive director of Adven ture Bags, Inc. Awards were presented to: •Esther Mass, Employee of the Year •Linda Morrison, Volunteer of the Year See Adventure Bags, page 2A