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Barrow News-Journal
Barrow County News Est. 1893 • Barrow Journal Est. 2008
Merged August 2016
16 Pages, 2 Sections
A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc.
Winder, Barrow County, Georgia
$1.00 Copy
Wednesday, August 23, 2023
Auburn city council approves
controversial change orders c in protest’
Credit: City of Auburn
As Auburn’s municipal complex nears completion, communication and transpar
ency among city leaders falls under scrutiny.
The atmosphere during a recent Au
burn City Council meeting was charged
as it came to light that a series of change
orders for the construction of the city’s
municipal complex project and their as
sociated expenses had not been prompt
ly presented to the council for approval,
leading one councilmember to call for a
recall of the mayor.
The builders of the multi-faceted
project requested change orders needed
to move forward with expansions, con
struction of detention ponds, reconfigu
ration of office spaces and other chang
es and adjustments deemed necessary
to meet the project’s evolving needs.
The change orders consisted of added
bath capacity for future police depart
ment use, basement and elevator pump
lines, an added stone veneer water table
around the base of the building instead
of full bricks, a police evidence room,
added electrical panel for current and
future expansion, a flagpole, basement
workout area for police, receptacles and
exterior lighting.
Buried debris discovered near the
detention ponds also necessitated addi
tional changes.
The change orders totaled rough
ly $800,000, which Blechinger said
amounted to about 6% of the total
cost of the project, which the city had
already budgeted for using SPLOST
funds and URA bonds.
The lack of timely communication
regarding these changes and their as
sociated costs sparked criticism from
council directed against Blechinger
and former city administrator Alex
Mitchem.
Absent from the meeting due to hos
pitalization, Blechinger said the lapse in
communication was just as much of a
surprise to her as it was to council, but
believed the change orders “seemed
very fair.”
Council said their frustrations aren’t
about the price, but the lack of timely
communication.
Councilmember Jamie Bradley, the
council’s newest member, criticized
the orders for not being conservative,
specifically pointing to money spent on
“a mayor’s suite,” which was expand
ed and moved from the first floor to the
second floor.
Bradley finished by boldly professing
that she “would call for a recall because
of the lack of confidence in the mayor
at this point.”
“When someone wants to spend
$156,000 on a mayor’s suite,” she said,
“I call that a lack of confidence.”
Councilmember Bob Vogel said
he’s “hugely disappointed” in how the
change orders were handled between
Blechinger and Mitchem, who he said
gave “no inclination whatsoever” about
the money spent on the change orders.
Vogel continued that he understands the
“leverage concept” of waiting until the
end of the project to bring the change
orders before council, calling the added
projects “reckless” and a “farse.”
Vogel also brought up concerns he
would have likely brought up had he
been given the opportunity, such as
whether the city received credit for
uninstalled material. “I’m saying it out
loud because I don’t won’t it to fall on
deaf ears for the next endeavor because
it won’t be this calm.”
“This is crap basically.”
Councilmember Peggy Lang
ley agreed with Vogel, adding that
Blechinger and Mitchem had plenty of
time to come to council with the chang
es “before we just go and make them
ourselves and do what we want to over
there.”
Langley also expressed that although
she had no ill will toward the construc
tion company, “I’ve got a lot for the
mayor and Alex. I am very disappointed
in both of them.”
While Langley, Vogel and Bradley
were in agreement about their disap
pointment in the handling of the situa
tion, Langley and Vogel stopped short
of supporting Bradley’s recall proposi
tion.
Vogel, Langley and Bradley approved
the change orders in protest with Coun
cilmember Taylor Sisk serving as May
or Pro Tem in Blechinger’s absence.
Current city administrator Michael
Parks and city attorney Jack Wilson
maintained that the changes had under
gone proper discussion and were neces
sary for the project to continue moving
forward without further delays.
In response to council’s concerns,
Wilson admitted that although the
change orders “were not communicated
to the mayor and council as soon as they
could have and should have been,” the
change orders were “for legitimate cor
rections to conditions or enhancements
to the building.”
“While the communications were
flawed and not timely, the expenditures
are legitimate, and the city benefited
from the additional work. The changes
provided additional finished space for
the police department, parks depart
ment, and administrative areas.”
According to Blechinger, the city
plans to conduct its first city council
meeting at the municipal complex,
which will serve as city hall, in late
September.
Sen. Ossoffs staff members visit Winder
City leaders met with Sen
ator John Ossoff’s staff at
Winder City Hall last week to
discuss current projects and
collaborate on upcoming op
portunities for federal grant
funding.
During the visit, Sa
mantha Lucas, economic
development legislative as
sistant, and Sarah Tolchin,
grants and special projects
aide, talked with Mayor
David Maynard and a team
of city leaders about future
growth.
According to May
nard, the conversation
” r— ’
LL L
T
c
Credit: City of Winder
Members of John Ossoff’s staff Samantha Lucas, economic development legislative assistant,
and Sarah Tolchin, grants and special projects aide, visited the Winder-Auburn reservoir
with Mayor David Maynard and a team of city leaders during their visit to Winder.
MAILING LABEL
was “encouraging.
“Senator Ossoff’s staff
members were extremely in
terested and tuned in to what
we are doing to prepare for
our city’s future growth and
were more than willing to
help us identify sources for
federal grants.”
As this meeting culminat
ed with a scheduled staff site
visit of the Winder-Auburn
reservoir in Auburn, Tolchin
and Lucas were able to join
on the visit, getting a closer
look at the project’s status.
“We appreciate the time
they devoted to learning
more about the city’s current
work and future needs. It’s
encouraging when the legis
lative branch reaches out to
check on us,” said Maynard.
The Winder-Auburn
reservoir project consists of
constructing a 1.1 -billion-gal-
Credit: City of Winder
Sen. Ossoff’s staff visited the Winder-Auburn reservoir in
Auburn during their visit.
Ion raw water storage pond,
similar to a reservoir.
The project includes a new
water intake and pumping
station on the Mulberry River
near Covered Bridge Road,
a second new raw water in
take and pumping station
on Little Mulberry River at
Old Thompson Mill Road, a
30 000-foot-long raw water
pipeline and a raw water stor
age pond pumping station.
Upon completion, the res
ervoir will bring the city of
Winder’s total permitted raw
water withdrawal capacity to
9.1 million gallons per day.
Winder leaders,
community draft
first ever city-specific
Comprehensive Plan
By Carole Townsend
City leaders are taking a significant step in plan
ning for the future of the City of Winder, its residents
and its business owners. Substantial growth in recent
years, coupled with the desire to maintain a small
town feel and character, has spurred city leaders to
take a serious look at Winder’s future growth and de
velopment.
To that end, city officials and staff have spent
months designing a Comprehensive Plan, a vision
plan intended to guide them in rewriting the city’s
outdated Zoning Ordinance.
By creating a Comprehensive Plan, city leaders can
steer future growth within the city, by easing transi
tions from the downtown area to less dense devel
opment, by focusing on redevelopment of blighted
areas within the city, and by preserving rural areas
while identifying opportunities for higher density
and mixed-use development. Leaders can plan parks,
walking trails and conservation areas using this plan.
One area that provides an opportunity for growth
in Winder is senior housing. Currently, Winder has
on its books provisions for small, residential senior
housing facilities, but the Comprehensive Plan clear
ly identifies a need for larger senior living facilities.
These larger facilities often provide a continuum of
care for aging residents, ranging from independent
See Winder, page 2A
Credit: Winder’s Comprehensive Plan
This cottage-style development in Clarkston, Ga. features
clusters of single-family homes on small lots and is featured
in the comprehensive plan as an example of future public
housing.
An historic building in Blue Ridge used for retail on the
ground-floor and residential above is an example used in the
comprehensive plan for what would be appropriate to Wind
er’s Downtown character area.
The plan includes increased active recreation and
greenspace in the Glenwood area.
In addition to the Downtown character area, xixed-use de
velopments used for retail and residential space are part of
the city’s Commerce Corridor character area plan as a way to
activate and increase walkability.