Newspaper Page Text
Barrow News-Journal
Barrow County News Est. 1893 • Barrow Journal Est. 2008
16 Pages, 2 Sections
A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc.
Winder, Barrow County, Georgia
Merged August 2016
$1.00 Copy
Wednesday, September 6,
Austin Road Rockets officially launch
The official ribbon cutting for Austin Road Elementary, Barrow County’s newest school and
latest addition to the Innovation Campus, was held Tuesday, Aug. 29.
Barrow leaders celebrate new elementary
school at ribbon cutting ceremony
By Carole Townsend
Barrow County Board
of Education members,
area mayors, law enforce
ment, county commission
ers and state officials were
on hand Tuesday for the
official ribbon cutting for
Austin Road Elementary
School. The school, situat
ed on the Innovation Cam
pus in Winder, is Barrow
County’s newest.
“A school is a place
where futures are shaped
and futures are nour
ished,” said Dr. Chris Mc-
Michael, Barrow County
Schools Superintendent.
“A lot of hard work and
a lot of heart have gone
into the creation of this
school.”
The new elementary
school was funded us
ing local funds instead of
state funds, and athe Aug.
2023 opening provides
much-needed overcrowd
ing relief for Bethlehem
Elementary and Kenne
dy Elementary schools.
Growth remains both a
challenge and an oppor
tunity for Barrow County
schools.
“The Board’s fore
thought and conservative
budgeting over the years
have made this possible,”
said McMichael.
The Austin Road Ele
mentary Rockets - stu
dents and staff - are led
by principal Julia Hodges.
Auto shop fire on Bert Day Road
Submitted photo
Firefighers with Barrow County Emergency Services responded to an auto shop lire on Bert
Day Road in Winder on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, just before 6 p.m., fire
fighters with Barrow County Emer
gency Services (BCES) responded
to the 300 block of Bert Day Road in
Winder on a reported structure fire.
Upon arrival crews found an auto
shop with heavy fire showing.
“Crews quickly started fighting the
fire from the exterior of the building
due to the amount of fire,” said pub
lic information officer Scott Dakin.
“This included aerial operations and
several fire engines.”
The fire took several hours to con
trol and firefighters were on scene for
several more hours completely extin
guishing the fire and performing over
haul.
The building and numerous vehicles
around it were completely destroyed
by the fire.
The Fire Marshal Office responded
to the scene to conduct an origin and
cause investigation. It was determined
to be an accidental fire. One person
who was in the building at the time
of the fire was treated and released on
scene by medical personnel.
MAILING LABEL
o
WINDER LEADERS HOST
HOMETOWN CONNECTION
Credit: City of Winder
Last Wednesday, the City of Winder hosted a Hometown
Connection event with local legislators Senator Frank
Ginn, Rep. Holt Persinger and Rep. Chuck Efstration’s of
fice had General Council Sam West in attendance. Direc
tor of Government Relations from Georgia Municipal As
sociation, Jim Thornton, was also present. Mayor David
Maynard, Mayor Pro Tern Travis Singley and department
leaders participated in a presentation to the guests and
Winder Police Chief Jim Fullington introduced the group
to the newest member of the Winder Police Department,
River, the new emotional support K-9.
BOE proposes
new property tax
exemptions for seniors
By Carole Townsend
The Barrow County
Board of Education has
proposed amended prop
erty tax exemptions for
senior county residents.
The board, after first meet
ing with the University of
Georgia’s Carl Vinson In
stitute for Government, has
worked for eight months
to devise new, more equi
table, tax exemptions for
senior citizens.
The proposed new prop
erty tax exemptions are as
follows:
• For residents age 62+
with annual earned income
less than $60,000 (exclud
ing social security and re
tirement income up to the
yearly social security max
imum benefit): $140,000
exemption on Barrow
County School taxes
• For residents age 70+
with earned income less
than $113,000 (exclud
ing social security and
retirement income up to
the yearly social security
maximum benefit): unlim
ited exemption on Barrow
County School taxes
The following rules will
apply to both of the above
circumstances:
• Home values will be
frozen when residents ap
ply for the exemption.
• Seniors will not receive
either exemption if there
are minor children residing
in the homestead, unless
such children are the nat
ural or adopted children of
the person, are foster chil
dren under the care of the
person, or are children for
whom the person has been
appointed guardian.
• Exemption covers up to
5 acres and one home.
• These exemptions
will be in lieu of, and not
in addition to, any other
homestead exemption ap
plicable to school district
ad valorem taxes for edu
cational purposes.
• Exemptions will carry
over from year to year un
til financial or family situ
ations change (such as age,
income eligibility, pres
ence of minor children, or
when a new application is
filed).
A few issues are yet un
decided; for example, the
board would like to pro
vide that seniors who cur
rently receive exemptions
under HB 985 or HB 1124
would not need to apply
for the new exemptions.
Another provision Board
members request is that
taxpayers who currently
receive exemptions will
continue to keep those
exemptions until the new
ones go into effect.
On Tuesday evening,
Board of Education mem
bers voted to approve these
amendments. Next, the
proposed amendments will
be reviewed by the Geor
gia State Legislature. The
amendments will either
be approved as submitted,
or state leaders will sug
gest changes to the board.
Finally, the matter will be
put before the voters in
Barrow County.
If voters approve the
changes, the amended tax
exemptions will take effect
in 2025.
Municipal
Elections
★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★ ★★ ★★ ★* ★
CORRECTION: In last
week’s Issue, the Barrow
News Journal made an
error in reporting the
qualified candidates for
the Nov. 7 election. Mayor
Joe Piper of Statham was
initially not listed as a
qualified candidate on the
Georgia Secretary of State
website due to a clerical
error; however, it has since
been confirmed that Piper
did qualify and is indeed
running for re-election as
Mayor of Statham,
alongside Deborah Krause.
Also in Statham,
Councilmembers Gary
Venable and Hattie
Thrasher will not seek re-
election. Additionally,
Krause’s council seat is
vacant due to her mayoral
campaign. The November
election for Statham City
Council will not feature
any contested races, as
only three individuals
have qualified to fill the
three available positions.
The qualified candidates
for these vacancies are
Tim Terrelli, Frank
Burnette, and Christina
Bogenrieder.
In Carl, incumbent
Rebecca McKnight
qualified to rerun for her
seat unopposed.
Incumbent Billy Nix did
not qualify to rerun and
Jason Allen qualified
unopposed for Nix’s seat.
In Winder, Power Evans
and Todd Blackwell
qualified last week in the
Special Elecion to fill the
Ward 3 council seat
vacated by
Councilmember Jimmy
Terrell due to his mayoral
run.
Credit: City of Winder
Winder hosted its first
ever Internatinal Night
last Friday as its TGIFF
event for September.
The event showcased the
unique diversity of local
residents who come from
all corners of the world.
The different cultures
were experienced through
cuisine, live performances
and an internatinal vendor
market. A special showing
of Disney’s “Encanto”
concluded the evening.
INTERNATIONAL NIGHT IN WINDER TAKES
RESIDENTS ON A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD
Progress underway for
problematic intersection at
SR 53 and Mulberry Road
By Morgan Ervin
The findings from a recent study that fo
cused on improving the intersection of State
Route 53 (SR 53) and Mulberry Road were
discussed by the Barrow County Board of
Commissioners at its Aug. 22 meeting.
The project concept by BM&K, Inc. aims
to enhance vehicle safety at the junction of
SR 53, also known as Gainesville Highway,
and Mulberry Road by constructing a sin
gle-lane roundabout. This improvement en
deavor is designed to maintain intersection
mobility without compromising safety. The
proposed plan includes realigning SR 53
and Mulberry Road and building the round
about approximately 575 feet north of the
existing intersection.
According to the report, the current con
figurations of these two roadways present
several safety concerns. The skewed align
ment of Mulberry Road forces vehicles
making left turns onto SR 53 to venture into
oncoming lanes, increasing the risk of col
lisions. Meanwhile, for those making right
turns onto SR 53, limited visibility due to
vertical curves poses challenges when as
sessing southbound traffic.
Additional issues are encountered by
southbound SR 53 vehicles tinning right
onto Mulberry Road. Drivers must sig
nificantly reduce their speed to execute a
U-turn-like maneuver, potentially result
ing in abrupt speed changes along a high
speed route and requiring vehicles to cross
into opposing lanes, thereby increasing the
likelihood of rear-end and sideswipe col
lisions. Data collected by the Georgia De
partment of Transportation between 2017
and 2021 indicate a notable prevalence of
such collisions dining this period. During
the five-year data collection phase, morn
ing peak hours observed 1,030 vehicles on
SR 53 and 86 vehicles approaching SR 53
along Mulberry Road, with evening peak
hours showing 1,340 vehicles on SR 53
and 116 vehicles approaching SR 53 along
See SR 53, page 2A