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16 Pages, 2 Sections
Mayor of Auburn 5A
Auburn City Council- • ■ ■ 5A-6A
Auburn Candidate
Forum set for Oct. 5
A candidate forum is set for
Oct. 5 at the Auburn
Elementary School cafeteria
at 6 p.m. The forum will be
moderated by Barrow County
Commissioner, District 5,
Tim Walker and is hosted by
the Piedmont Regional
Library System.
Winder Candidate
Forum set for Oct. n
The public is invited to the
Winder Public Library to
meet the candidates
running for Mayor of
Winder and the Winder
City Council on Oct. 11
from 5:30-6:45 p.m.
A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. Winder, Barrow County, Georgia $1.00 Copy Wednesday, October 4, 2023
CFIT Park breaks ground
The CFIT Park groundbreaking and special playground
reveal was held Saturday, marking the official start of the
project’s first phase, scheduled for completion in Spring
2024.
photos courtesy of The Barrow Community Foundation
The Barrowsaurus is a 28-foot tall climbing net structure ,
which will be surrounded by seesaws, spinner bowls, spin
ning nets, an embankment slide and more. “The destination
playground at CFIT is designed to be an inclusive commu
nity space to engage both the young and the young-at-heart
across the wildest range of abilities,” according to the proj
ect team with the Barrow Community Foundation.
During the ceremony, “Bar
ry” the Barrowsaurus was
introduced as the playful
representative face of the
park and future Barrow
Community Foundation
projects. The catchphrase
“I Support the ROAR!” was
introduced with Barry as the
movement for community
support of BCF and its out
reach. “This park has been a
rumble but is now a ROAR,”
said Douglas Mitchell,
chairman of BCF. Pictured
above (from left) are Doug
Mitchell, Barry the Barrow
saurus and Phillip Gossling,
vice chair of the BCF and
co-chair of the Building Our
Future fundraising cam
paign.
Ackerman 81
industrial hub
gets green light
By Morgan Ervin
A 2.21-acre tract at 589 Lo-
ganville Hwy. was rezoned
from agricultural residential
(AR) to light industrial (Ml)
by the Barrow County Board
of Commissioners (BOC) last
month. 'Hus rezoned property
will be merged with an adja
cent 72.19-acre area zoned as
Ml to accommodate the de
velopment of three warehouse
distribution facilities.
The project, known as Ack-
ennan 81, will collectively
span 584,920 square feet of
industrial warehousing space.
The largest building will oc
cupy 324,000 square feet, the
second-largest will front Hwy.
81, covering 154,000 square
feet, and the smallest, located
at the western end of the lot,
will span 106,920 square feet.
Each building will include
employee parking spaces in
front and a tmck court behind,
with a single entrance onto
Hwy. 81.
In addition to the rezoning,
the BOC also approved an
amendment to its Future Land
Use Map, reassigning the
character area of the 2.21 acres
from Rural Neighborhood to
(Employment Industrial Cen
ter. Finally, a special use was
approved, allowing for an in
crease in the allowable imper
vious surface coverage from
25% to 48%. This adjustment
will facihtate the construction
of warehouse facihties, truck
docks, trailer storage, employ
ee parking areas and drive
ways.
Due to the property’s lo
cation within the Fort Yargo
watershed, the approval came
See Ackerman, page 2A
Tax Commissioner discontinues
tax collection for City of Winder
By Morgan Ervin
In a statement issued on Friday,
the attorney representing the Barrow
County Tax Commissioner announced
that the office would no longer be
responsible for collecting taxes on
behalf of the City of Winder. This de
cision comes in the wake of recent dis
crepancies discovered in data related
to the city’s stormwater fees.
The Tax Commissioner’s office
became aware of a significant bill
ing error amounting to $550,000 in
stormwater fees, as notified by Wind
er Mayor David Maynard on Friday,
September 22. In addition to requiring
the tax commissioner’s office to rebill
7,000 tax bills, the inaccuracy also in
tensified the ongoing discord between
the parties stemming from a similar
incident involving stormwater fees
last year, each claiming the other was
responsible.
Residents of the City of Winder
should expect revised tax bills in the
coming days that accurately reflect the
corrected data. After many residents
were pleasantly surprised to see lower
tax bills than expected, most residents
can anticipate an increase in their up
dated bills, with an average rise of ap
proximately $66, according to Garrett,
who added that the due date has been
extended to Dec. 4.
For several years, the Tax Commis
sioner has managed tax collections for
the City of Winder under an informal
“handshake” agreement. In Friday’s
letter, Garrett’s attorney advised the
city to immediately make arrange
ments to collect its own taxes begin
ning Jan. 1, 2024.
In February 2022, the city invested
roughly $40,000 in tax management
software to take control of its billing
processes following last year’s error
and is actively recruiting personnel to
manage the software.
BASA parents fight to
keep track and field team
By Carole Townsend
Barrow Arts and Sciences
Academy (BASA) parents and
students turned out in num
bers Tuesday for the regular
meeting of the Barrow County
Board of Education. At issue
is confusion and misinforma
tion about the school’s popular
cross country, track and field
team. Parents and students
were told in August that the
team was being “dissolved”
for all but the exceptional par
ticipants.
Volunteer coach Ashley
Walsh addressed members of
the board and specifically the
superintendent, Dr. Chris Mc-
Michael. Walsh was told that
she will no longer be able to
volunteer to coach the students,
as she is not a school system
employee.
“More than sixty kids have
participated in track, and
they’ve done well,” Walsh
stated. “Then, Barrow Coun
ty Schools said there would
only be a very exclusive track
club at BASA from now on. I
want to sit down and talk with
this board about poor plan
ning and a lack of transparen
cy [about BASA and athletic
See BOE, page 2A
Danny Rampey pleads
guilty to multiple charges,
receives 10-year sentence
oween Happenings
at’s brewing in Barrow this October?
STATHAM HALLOWEEN/ BOO ON BROAD 5K
Credit: Facebook
Statham gears up for its annual Boo on Broad 5K and other
Halloween festivities.
By Morgan Ervin
Former House District
119 representative-elect
Danny Rampey entered a
guilty plea on Monday in
Barrow County Superior
Court, admitting to a se
ries of criminal charges,
including first-degree bur
glary and exploitation and
intimidation of disabled
adults.
Rampey’s plea came
with a 10-year sentence,
with the initial three years
to be served in prison and
the remainder to be served
on probation.
Rampey’s legal troubles
MAILING LABEL
stemmed from allegations
that he unlawfully entered
a residence he had leased
at a nursing home facility
he owned and took medi
cation from its residents.
According to court doc
uments, on two separate
occasions, Rampey is ac
cused of taking Oxyco
done from the home. On
four separate occasions, he
also allegedly took what he
believed to be Oxycodone,
but was later determined to
be over-the-counter medi
cine.
On Feb. 9,2023, Rampey
was indicted on six counts
of first-degree burglary, six
counts of exploitation of
elder persons, two counts
of theft in obtaining a
controlled substance, four
counts of criminal attempt
to commit a felony and
one count of possession
of a Schedule II controlled
substance.
Last week, Judge Wayne
McLocklin presiding over
the case agreed to merge
the theft and attempted
theft charges with the bur
glary charges related to
each count for sentencing.
Upon his release,
Rampey is subject to spe
cific probationary terms
that forbid him from as
suming any duties at an
elder care facility.
Rampey was represent
ed by Edward D. Tolley
and Devin Hartness Smith
of Cook & Tolley, LLP in
Athens.
By Carole Townsend
City of Statham leaders and
residents have been planning
for months for two widely
popular October events: the
Boo on Broad 5K and Hal
loween trick-or-treating. Tim
Terilli, one of the city’s newest
council members as of Janu
ary 2024, said recently that
not only is Barrow County
booming, so is Statham. Re
cent growth in the area is sure
to make this year’s Halloween
festivities more exciting than
ever.
On Saturday, Oct. 28, the
city will host the Boo on
Broad 5K, benefitting the
Statham Elementary School
and Bear Creek Middle
School running clubs. Every
one is invited to participate
and wear costumes, if desired.
Leashed dogs are also wel
come to walk alongside race
participants.
A IK race starts at 8 a.m.,
and the 5K race begins at
8:30 a.m„ both at Statham
Elementary. The entrance fee
is $30 per person (increases to
$35 on Oct. 18). Go to Run-
Signup.com, find this event,
and register.
Sponsors are encouraged
to get involved with the race,
also. Sponsors benefit from
promotional consideration,
and are also invited to host
booths during the 5K. “It’s
a great way to get involved
in the community and get to
know the people here,” Terilli
said.
Visit the Boo on Broad
Facebook page for more in
formation, or email Timteril-
li@gmail.com.
Statham’s widely popu
lar Halloween celebration is
scheduled for Tues., Oct. 31.
“For this event, we close down
Broad Street from just before
5 p.m. until 9 p.m.,” Terilli
said. Statham’s Halloween
trick-or-treat festivities bring
children and their families
from Statham and surround
ing areas, and the event has
grown with each year.
“We expect about 2,000
kids this year, almost double
the population of our city”
Terilli said, “It’s so much fun,
a candy free-for-all.”
Residents along Broad
Street decorate their hous
es, and some will even have
haunted house thrills for the
children to enjoy. “We start
buying candy for this event in
August,” Terilli said, “because
we give out so much of it.”
Other homes throughout
Statham will also welcome
trick-or-treaters, but the main
event on Broad Street has
become very well-known
in Statham and surrounding
areas. “So many homes out
here are rural, and without
this event, there really isn’t a
practical or safe place for kids
to enjoy Halloween,” Terilli
said.
Personnel from the Army
Reserve in Statham will be on
hand to help with security, as
well as the Statham Police De
partment and Barrow County
Community Emergency Re
sponse Team (CERT). The
Reserves will have a couple
of military tracks on site at
Statham Elementary for chil
dren to see.
Parking will be available at
the Post Office, along Rail
road Street, and in nearby
church parking lots. “There
is a ‘haunted’ path connecting
Railroad Street and Broad, so
that’s fun, too,” Terilli said.
Hot dogs, chips and water
will be offered for sale at this
event. Proceeds help to pay
for the large amounts of candy
given away during this event.
“We’d even love to have
sponsors who donate nothing
but candy,” Terilli said.
“I’m sure the homeown
ers along Broad Street would
appreciate the help.” The City
also raises money throughout
the year to help with the cost
of the candy.
SEE HALLOWEEN, PAGE 8A
