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PAGE 2A
BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, JULY 26, 2023
Air quality alert
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources
Environmental Protection Division issued a Code
Orange (unhealthy for sensitive groups) Air Quality
Alert for the Atlanta area, including Barrow, Gwinnett,
Hall and Walton counties, effective from 1:52 p.m.
Tuesday, July 25 through 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 26.
Under Code Orange conditions, the outdoor air
quality is likely to be unhealthy for some people.
Children, people who are sensitive to ozone and
people with heart or lung disease should limit
prolonged outdoor exertion during the late afternoon
or early evening when ozone concentrations are
highest. For additional information on the Air Quality
Index, visit airnow.gov.
Winder
continued from 1A
passed in a 5-1 vote with
Councilwoman Kobi Kil
gore opposed.
• Unanimously approved
an application for condi
tional use per the City of
Winder’s Comprehensive
Zoning Ordinance to allow
for the sale of packaged
beer and packaged wine in
a neighborhood commer
cial zone (B-l) for a prop
erty at 59 W May St.
• Denied an application
for conditional use per the
City of Winder’s Compre
hensive Zoning Ordinance
to allow a tobacco shop in
a neighborhood commer
cial zone (B-l) for a prop
erty at 232 N Broad St.,
Suite E. The council voted
5-1 with Councilwoman
Stephanie Brit opposed.
According to the staff re
port, which recommended
approval of the request
with conditions, the appli
cation was within the laws
governed by the city’s or
dinances. The city’s lat
est ordinance on tobacco
shops allows for six to
be approved each year.
So far this year, the city
council has approved five.
“I think we have enough
vape shops in the city,”
said Councilman Sonny
Morris during discussions
over the proposal.
• Unanimously denied
a conditional use appli
cation to allow for the
sale of packaged beer and
packaged wine in a neigh
borhood commercial (B-l)
zone for a property locat
ed at 119 McNeal Rd. as it
violated proximity restric
tions governed by state
law.
an agreement with ESG
Operations for the opera
tion of the Hwy. 53 Water
Treatment Plant, Cedar
Creek and Marburg Waste-
water Treatment Plants and
the Wastewater Collection
System. This agreement
will continue services for
the next fiscal year for the
treatment of utilities and
the collection of sewer
• Purchased direct re
placement “tube settlers”
for the Marburg Creek
Wastewater Reclamation
Facility totaling $596,520.
• Purchased direct re
placement “diffusers” for
the Marburg Creek Waste-
water Reclamation Facili
ty from Templeton and As
sociates for $241,000.
• Purchased door ac
cess controls to the Cul
tural Arts Building for
$50,165.59.
• Purchased security
cameras at the Cultural
Arts Building purchase for
$25,376.83.
• Purchased a 2023 GMC
Sierra 1500 pick-up truck
to replace a 2007 vehicle
for the fire department for
$47,125.00 to Hardy Auto
motive.
• Purchased new permit
ting, licensing and code
enforcement cloud solu
tion for $100,346.72 from
Brightly Software.
• Ratified the procure
ment of property, liability
and cyber insurance for
the City of Winder from
the Georgia Interlocal
Risk Management Agency
(GIRMA).
City of Winder installs new internal fuel pump
station to improve emergency preparedness
The City of Winder’s new inter
nal fueling station will give city
leaders a plan for fueling up during
emergencies or natural disasters.
What started as a conversa
tion between city administration,
council members and department
leaders three years ago, was fast-
tracked after the cyber-attack of a
major east coast fuel pipeline in
spring of 2021.
“The idea to have on hand an
emergency 30-day supply of fuel
for our fleets was our initial goal.
But the more questions we asked
and research we did revealed that
fuel storage tanks must be peri
odically turned over to prevent
degradation of the fuel,” said Neil
Counts with ESG Operations, who
served as one of the fueling sta
tions project managers.
After realizing a storage tank
would benefit from regular usage,
the team audited the city’s annual
fuel consumption along with re
viewing the safety of the current
fueling process.
“All of our crews were using lo
cal gas stations, which most stan
dard commercial gas stations ar
en’t outfitted to accommodate large
vehicles. We considered that our
fire trucks, dump trucks along with
trailers hauling equipment would
benefit from an easily maneuver-
able space reducing the risk of
backing accidents and increasing
the safety for staff,” said Counts.
In May 2023, the idea of a fuel
ing station became a reality upon
council’s approval to have tanks
installed at the city’s Cedar Creek
campus.
A 20,000-gallon tank will pro
vide fuel daily to the city’s fleet ve
hicles, and in the event of a severe
natural disaster or other emergen
cy, police, fire and utility vehicles
will now have a plan for fueling
up.
The fuel station will be main
tained by city staff and will un
dergo regular safety inspections to
ensure its readiness.
A recently implemented fuel
management system will provide
safeguards to maintain appropriate
fuel levels for emergencies and ac
commodate regular usage.
Statham talks
TSPLOST at
latest meeting
County projects
funded by federal
American Rescue
Plan reviewed
By Carole Townsend
The City of Statham
held a public hearing
Tuesday evening, in
which citizens were in
vited to voice opinions
both in favor of and in
opposition to a proposed
Transportation Special
Purpose Local Option
Sales Tax (TSPLOST).
Barrow County wants to
put a TSPLOST referen
dum on the ballot in the
upcoming fall election.
This special tax is a
one-cent tax on all pur
chases made within
Barrow County, wheth
er those purchases are
made by citizens or by
travelers passing through
the county. TSPLOST is
designed to fund trans
portation projects only,
such as road construc
tion, maintenance and
resurfacing.
The Barrow County
TSPLOST would gen
erate an estimated $130
million over five years,
according to the coun
ty’s projections. Statham
would receive 3.37 per
cent of those revenues,
or about $876,000 per
year for those five years.
“We are responsible
for about twenty-three
miles of roads in our
city,” Piper said.
Councilman Lee
Patterson stated that
TSPLOST “is an ex
cellent opportunity for
our city.” Councilwom
an Debi Krause agreed,
saying that she hopes the
citizens of Statham will
vote in favor of the tax.
“It’s not just Statham.
Roads throughout the
whole county need im
provement.”
No citizens comment
ed on the proposed tax
during Tuesday night’s
public hearing.
According to Piper,
Barrow County officials
are hopeful that each
municipality within the
county will be in favor
of putting the matter to a
vote in the upcoming fall
election.
By Morgan Ervin
The Barrow Coun
ty BOC was given an
update on the projects
funded with American
Rescue Funds (ARC).
To date, the county
has received a total of
$16,168,394 in ARP
funds, which were pro
vided by the federal
government to address
issues arising from the
COVID-19 pandemic.
To date, the Coun
ty has spent a total of
$4,078,085 from the
ARP funds. Out of this
amount, $1,069,673 was
spent in FY2022, and
$3,008,411 was spent in
FY2023.
Additionally,
$676,721 of the ARP
funds have been have
been earmarked for spe
cific projects but not yet
expended.
The remaining bal
ance is $11,413,586.
The county has com
pleted the following
projects using the ARP
funds:
• HVAC installation for
Fire Stations — $34,875
• Fire/EMS Technology
upgrades — $8,21
• Board of Commission
ers (BOC) Technology
improvements — $8,213
• Emergency Response
Facility Workspace Ex
pansion for Station 6 —
$452,434
• HVAC and Filtra
tion upgrades for the
courthouse and jail —
$2,000,000
• Acquisition of a
Sweeper for Stormwater,
amounting to $273,48
• Procurement of a Jet/
Vac Truck for Stormwater
operations — $526,727
• Installation of an
HVAC System for the
stormwater building —
$10,000
• Employee Retention
Pay— $482,272
The county still has
more projects in the
pipeline and aims to
complete them by the
end of 2024, as required
by the ARP guidelines.
• Unanimously denied
a rezoning request from
Traditional Neighborhood
Planned Development
(TNPD) to Planned Unit
Development (PUD) for a
property at 262 Bill Rut
ledge Rd. and 0 Logan-
ville Hwy. The application
sought to rezone 122.38
acres at Yargo Township
to allow for the develop
ment of a townhome and
single-family residential
complex.
• Unanimously approved
final plats for 14 and 18
Wade Street under Chap
ter 28 of the Code of Or
dinances.
• Authorized the trans
fer of property located at
Elm Street from the City
of Winder to the Winder
Downtown Development
Authority. This item was
requested by Councilwom
an Kilgore for consider
ation to allow the proper
ty to be used for parking
for Tabernacle Baptist
Church, located across the
street at 125 Elm St. The
item was approved unani
mously by the council.
• Unanimously approved
utility easements for five
tax map parcels.
• Unanimously approved
Considering
((TM*R) )) buying or
selling?
770-867-9026
www.maynardrealty.com
July 26, 2023 ~ Crossword Puzzle
ACROSS 2. Jai , sport
1. A fencing sword 3. Curved segment
6. Agreement between two states 4. A sunken groove
10. Cut wood
14. The jejunum to the cecum
15. Common market people
17. Woven purse style of MA
19. Young goat
20. Den of a wild animal
21. Sea catfish genus
22. Rosenberg prosecutor Roy
23. Liberal rights organization
24. Tossed or flung
25. Shrimp sauteed in butter & garlic
28. Veras are one type
30. Hail (nautical)
31. & Hammer
33. Football’s Flutie
34. Bus fees
36. Streetcar (Br.)
37. Runs PCs
38. Cola name
39. French river
40. Winged fruit
42. Ripened plant ovules
44. Uniform
45. Am. Martial Arts Soc.
46. Kosher NYC bakery
48. Early Cubist painter Juan
49. Boxer Muhammad
52. “Twilight” actor
55. Worker who coats ceilings
56. Of the dowry
57. Vertical spar supporting sails
58. Mark for deletion
59. Enlighten
DOWN
1. Fall below the surface
5. Rivalrous
6. Beijing
7. Hungarian Violinist Leopold
8. Cathode-ray tube
9. Genus nicotiana plants
10. Most electropositive metal
11. Hawaiian head lei
12. Small integers
13. W. states time zone
16. Negotiation between enemies
18. Songwriter Sammy
22. Horsefly
23. Wimbledon champion Arthur
24. US band conductor John Philip
26. French capital
27. Formerly Persia
28. Form a sum
29. W.C.s (Br.)
30. They
32. Woman (French)
34. Sylvan
35. Kwa
36. Belongs to CNN founder
38. Play boisterously
39. Seaboard
41. Most specified
42. Existentialist writer Jean Paul
43. Utter sounds
46. Fr. naturalism writer Emil
47. Son of Lynceus
48. Kelt
49. Spumante
50. Bread unit
51. Inwardly
52. Revolutions per minute
53. Pakistani rupee
54. Wynken, Blynken &
v
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