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o o 20 Pages, 2 Sections A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. Winder, Barrow County, Georgia $1.00 Copy Wednesday, May 17, 2023 Innovation Amphitheater: Barrow’s music headquarters Credit: AIM at CFIT The Barrow County School System presented the third annual Cultural Con nections Series, a performing arts series at the Innovation Amphitheater (pictured above). Held in partnership with the Georgia Council for the Arts, the series brings professional artists to the community and provides afford able and entertaining evenings of music, dance, poetry and other works of art. What’s more, Barrow’s own student artists are given the unique oppor tunity to present audience members with a special opening performance. Cultural Connections Series In April, students from the Arts and Innovation Magnet Program (AIM) (pic tured above) took a field trip to see the Atlanta Shakespeare Company perform “Much Ado About Nothing.” On May 9, the Atlanta Opera Studio Tour gave two performances of Engelbert Humperdinck’s take on the fairy tale, “Hansel and Gretel.” A daytime show provided an field trip opportunity for roughly 1,200 elementary students, many of whom experienced live opera for the first time. An encore show was performed for the community that evening and featured opening performances by several BCSS musical theater programs. Up next at the venue is a summer concert series, which begins Friday night (May 19) as American county music legends Doug Stone and T. Graham Brown take the stage. BCES promotes Shannon Faulkner to captain Youth Leadership Barrow Class of 2023 graduates By Carole Townsend Students from Apalachee High School. Barrow Arts and Sciences Academy (BASA), Bethlehem Chris tian Academy and Wind er-Barrow High School de voted nine days this school year to leadership develop ment and awareness of com munity issues. Through the Youth Lead- MAILING LABEL '0 4879 14541 7 ership Barrow program, stu dents interacted with local decision makers to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to become confi dent. active leaders in their community and schools. The participants completed community service projects, toured local government and industry organizations, and were mentored by local business and non-profit lead ers. This year’s tours and guest speakers included Wimberly Roots. Barrow County Courthouse and Jail, City of Winder Fire Department, Solvay, Fort Yargo, Geor gia State Capitol. Northeast Georgia Medical Center Barrow, Holiday Connec tion. Ministry Village, Wimberly Center non-prof its. and Extra Special People (ESP). MORE ABOUT THE YLBPROGRAM The Youth Leadership Barrow (YLB) program provides leadership devel opment and community awareness training for soph omores and juniors in Bar- row County high schools. YLB uses the University of Georgia Fanning Institute’s leadership development See YLB, page 2A Earlier this year, Barrow County Emergency Services (BCES) held a promotional process within the depart ment. Over the course of several weeks, the qualified candidates were evaluated in many areas. “The lieutenants that participated are some of the best in the industry,” said Chief Alan Shuman. “We are very happy to announce Shannon Faulkner as our newest captain.” Captain Faulkner has been with the department since July 2006. After completing his recruit school, Faulkner than proceeded to obtain his emergency medical techni cian-intermediate certifica tion. He later was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. He has worked with different crews on both C shift and A shift, where he has built a reputation as helping to push his crews to become better. Captain Faulkner has also been a regular instruc tor with recruit classes for many years, and has served on several committees with in the department. His latest work was on the extension of Fire Station 6. He put in many hours working on the proposal and the construc tion. Captain Faulkner is al ready in his new role as the field captain on C shift. “We look forward to seeing all that Captain Faulkner does in his new role and wish him well as he continues working with us,” said Chief Shuman. “He is a great example of the quality of the men and wom en of Barrow County Emer gency Services.” Statham mayor responds to council’s call for his resignation 1 Statham mayor Joe Piper (ictured left) was sworn in as the Mayor of Statham Jan. 2, 2020 by former city attorney Thomas Mitchell. By Carole Townsend Statham mayor Joe Pip er Tuesday read a prepared statement in response to the city council’s call to resign his office. Among other grievances, council members claim that Piper violated city policy when he entered into a severance agreement with former city employee April Stephens, without obtaining sign-off from the city attorney. Piper’s statement read as follows: “The council has decided that my actions have vio lated the Charter, and that talking to the news media violated their trust and put the city in a liable situation. This council demands that I resign from my elected post. Information provided by the council in this reso lution states that I did not seek advice from the attor ney. and that I did not have the contract reviewed. I did seek the advice of the counselor about the events and conversation of that morning; however, I admit to failing to have the contract reviewed. The situation was chaotic, with a disgruntled employee threatening to involve the city in an ugly lawsuit, which she may or may not have won. The cost to the city is a minimum $25,000 deductible, regardless of the result - a lot more than the severance package in dis pute. I was acting in the best interest of the city by trying to avoid litigation. This city council wanted April Ste phens fired and gone for years, then when she was terminated, you’re still not happy. I asked for impact fees three different times (based on $2,000, times 320 homes built or slated for build to date), and the council voted it and the $640,000 down. These fees are collected from new homes for people moving here and the impact See Statham, page 2A W- i k- • --yd. 'll Credit: City of Auburn The City of Auburn was awarded an over $11.4 million Georgia Fund loan. Credit: City of Winder The City of Winder was awarded a $14 million Drinking Water State Re volving Fund loan. Auburn, Winder awarded multi-million dollar loans for water system infrastructure WaterFirst Community qualifiesfor interest rate reduction AUBURN The City of Auburn was awarded an over $11.4 mil lion Georgia Fund loan by the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA) board of directors. The loan will finance the construction of a new water treatment plant. The city is converting an existing rock quarry to a pump storage eraw water storage pond. The new water treatment plant will treat the water stored in the quarry and will be used by the cities of Auburn and Winder. This project will increase wa ter supply and improve sys tem reliability. The city will pay 2.13% in terest on the 20-year loan. The loan qualifies for a reduced in terest rate due to the city being a WaterFirst Community. The Georgia Fund, a state-funded loan program, provides communities with low-interest loans for water, wastewater, water conserva tion, and solid waste infra structure projects. Eligible projects include water and sewer lines, treatment plants, pumping stations, wells, water storage tanks, and water me ters. These projects conserve and improve water resourc es and facilitate economic growth and development. WINDER The City of Winder was awarded a $14 million Drink ing Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) loan by the Georgia Environmental Fi nance Authority (GEFA) board of directors. The loan will finance up grading and improving the Highway 53 Water Treatment Plant. This project will in crease the water supply reli ability to 9.2 million gallons per day and improve the treat ment process. The city will pay 1.63% interest on the 20-year loan, which is eligible for a reduced interest rate because the city is a WaterFirst Community. The DWSRF provides low-interest loans for infra structure projects that deliver safe, affordable drinking wa ter. These projects conserve and improve water resources and facilitate economic devel opment. The program is joint ly funded by the U.S. Envi ronmental Protection Agency and the state of Georgia. The Georgia Environmen tal Finance Authority (GEFA) has approved financial com mitments totaling $5.5 billion to local governments, busi nesses and nonprofits since 1985. For more information, visit gefa.georgia.gov. GDOT PUBLIC INPUT MEETING SET JUNE 6 Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) is conducting a study on a 40-mile sec tion of State Route ( SR) 316, from 1-85 in Gwinnett County to SR 10 in Oconee County. The goal of the study is to set forth recommended potential improvements to the corridor, in addition to the ongoing SR 316 reconstruction projects. GDOT is hosting a public meeting in Winder on June 6 for Barrow County residents to share information and gather feedback from residents. Local leaders and strongly encourage the public to provide input to help with the planning the transformation of SR 316 into a safer, more efficient roadway. GDOT is also hosting meetings in Dacula (Gwinnett County) on May 23 and in Bogart (Oconee County) on May 25.