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BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2023
GDOT to host
virtual open house
Robin Rhodes retiring from Georgia
Press Association leadership post
The Georgia Department
of Transportation (GDOT)
will host a virtual, public in
formation open house (PIOH)
for the proposed improve
ments to the existing at-grade
intersections of State Route
(SR) 316 at Kilcrease Road
and at Carl-Bethlehem Road,
part of SR 316 Bundle 3 De
sign-Build projects. GDOT
has published information re
lated to the proposed Banow
County projects on https://
sr316bundle3 .scoutfeedback.
com/en/Welcome and is seek
ing public comment through
Wednesday, Nov. 1.
The proposed projects
would replace the existing in
tersections with a grade-sep
arated interchange (round
about control) at Kilcrease
Road and a grade-separation
at Carl-Bethlehem Road. The
SR 316 intersections are ap
proximately 3.1 miles apart.
GDOT will also host a live,
virtual presentation and a
question and answer session
on Thursday, Oct. 19, from
4 to 6 p.m. Interested parties
may join the event by visiting:
https://sr316bundle3.scout-
feedback.com/en/Welcome
on the day of the event and
entering the virtual meeting
room. A recording of the pre
sentation will be uploaded to
the project website after the
meeting.
In 2015, GDOT announced
plans to reconstruct intersec
tions along the SR 316 cor
ridor to grade-separations or
grade-separated interchanges
to improve connectivity, re
duce the potential for crashes,
and improve mobility in this
growing corridor. These two
projects are moving forward
in the project development
process.
“Grade separation of these
crucial intersections will ben
efit mobility in the area and
add safety through reduced
vehicle conflict points. Ad
ditionally, the proposed im
provements throughout the
SR 316 corridor are needed
to accommodate anticipated
population growth and sup
port economic development,”
said GDOT Project Manag
er, Kathe Ahmed. “To move
the project forward, Geoigia
DOT offers the opportunity
to virtually engage and submit
comments. We hope you will
visit the website to learn more
about the proposed improve
ments at Kilcrease Road and
at Carl-Bethlehem Road.”
Please visit the project web
site at https://sr316bundle3.
scoutfeedback.com/en/Wel-
come between Wednesday,
Oct. 4 and Wednesday, Nov.
1 to review the proposed con
cepts and submit your com
ments.
To learn more about the
proposed project and to pro
vide input, visit the project
website at https://sr316bun-
dle3 .scoutfeedback.com/en/
Welcome
By Dave Williams
Capitol Beat News Service
Thirty years ago, the
newspaper industry was
just beginning to feel the
first ripples of what would
become a massive wave of
change brought on by the
internet.
That same year - 1993
- Robin Rhodes was step
ping up from a staff posi
tion at the Georgia Press
Association (GPA) to take
the organization’s helm as
executive director. Thanks
to her leadership, newspa
per executives across the
state made the transition to
the digital world smoothly
instead of fighting it.
“The internet has made a
huge difference in the way
newspapers are produced,”
said Rhodes, who will re
tire as the GPA’s full-time
leader this fall. “We’ve had
to move the legal [notices]
online. That was a huge ac
complishment.
“The members realized
that had to be done or they
would lose that business.
We were probably one
of the first states to have
100% participation.”
Rhodes was a natural
fit for the GPA when she
joined the association in
1986. She had been work
ing for a company that host
ed trade shows, including
the Atlanta Home Show,
where she sold booths to
real-estate vendors.
Rhodes got a phone call
from then-GPA Executive
Director Kathy Berry ask
ing if she’d be interested
in handling arrangements
for the association’s annual
convention.
“Going to the GPA in
volved pretty much the
same thing,” Rhodes said.
When Berry left the as
sociation in 1993, Rhodes
applied for and landed the
job as her successor.
Along with adapting to
the internet era, Rhodes
said a major challenge of
her tenure in office has
been coping with large cor
porations buying up local
newspapers.
“They’re from out of
state. They don’t care about
the community,” she said.
“It’s not the same presence
as local ownership.”
One of the executive di
rector’s key roles is rep
resenting the newspaper
industry’s interests with
state government leaders.
That involves wearing out
a lot of shoe leather in the
hallways of the Gold Dome
during annual General As
sembly sessions.
“Robin Rhodes has more
connections than Georgia
has pine trees,” said Alan
NeSmith, regional pub
lisher of The Northeast
Georgian in Cornelia and
past president of the GPA.
“Her relationships with in
fluential leaders and hard
working newspaper people
across the state has been
the bedrock of our beloved
association.”
Rhodes said Atlan
ta-based Troutman Peppers
Strategies and its principal,
Ragen Marsh, have been
highly effective represent
ing the GPA at the state
Capitol. She also gave a
shout-out to the various ex
ecutives at member news
papers.
“Their relationships with
local legislators has been
tremendous,” she said.
GPA’s strong working
relationship with Georgia
decision makers paid off
this year when the General
Assembly passed and Gov.
Brian Kemp signed legisla
tion allowing newspapers
to raise their rates for le
gal notices. House Bill 254
cleared the legislature with
just one “no” vote.
“[Newspapers] hadn’t
had an increase in 27
years,” Rhodes said. “It
was time.”
Kemp had parting words
of praise for Rhodes in
congratulating her on her
retirement.
“For decades, her lead
ership has helped bring
awareness of important
developments to commu
nities all across our state,”
the governor said. “She has
played an essential role in
informing Georgians of
what’s going on, both lo
cally and statewide.”
Rhodes credited Capitol
Beat News Service, which
the GPA launched nearly
four years ago, with con
tributing to that mission of
informing Georgians about
the latest happenings in
state government.
“The small newspapers
don’t have the opportunity
to have somebody at the
Capitol,” she said. “That
was a void across our state.
You ask any newspaper out
there, and it has a lifeline to
the Capitol.”
Rhodes isn’t stepping
away from the GPA com
pletely. She plans to spend
the next two years in a part-
time capacity,
“I’ll be giving up the
day to day and working
with Ragen and the [GPA]
board, which is a great
opportunity for me,” she
said. “It keeps me in
volved.”
Winder continued from 1A
basins down and clean
those because we need
all four basins to pro
duce the amount of water
we’re using right now,”
said Counts. “We have
to be extremely strategic
in how we try to manage
that.”
The estimated cost of
the water treatment plant
upgrades and expansion
stands at approximately
$22 million. To finance
this endeavor, the city
has submitted a loan ap
plication for $14 million
to the Georgia Environ
mental Finance Authority
(GEFA) under the Drink
ing Water State Revolv
ing Fund Loan program.
This loan comes with a
favorable interest rate of
1.90% and a 1.25% loan
origination fee.
To secure the full $22
million needed for the
water treatment plant ex
pansion, the city plans
to commit $11 million
of previously awarded
American Rescue Plan
Act (ARPA) funds from
the Georgia Office of
Planning and Budget.
Notably, this expansion
project has implications
for the Auburn Reser
voir Project, another vital
initiative for the City of
Winder, as those ARPA
funds were originally in
tended for the reservoir
project. These funds will
now be redirected to sup
port the construction of
the water treatment plant
expansion.
“We had applied for
those funds for a combi
nation project reservoir
and water treatment. We
have looked at that and
decided that given the
timeline constraints for
the expenditure of those
funds and the timeline of
the water treatment plant
construction that its in
our best interest to utilize
that $11 million grant for
the construction of the
upgrade and expansion
of the water treatment
plant and that would keep
us compliant with those
grant timelines and ex
penditure requirements.
Any of the $11 million
not required would be
retained to the reservoir
project as needed,” said
City Administrator Man-
di Cody.
The contract was re
warded to Lakeshore
Engineering, Inc. as the
most responsive low bid
der for $18,337,600 and
an additional $200,000
was added as an unfore
seen condition allowance,
for a total authorization
of $18,537,600.
The council also ap
proved a task order agree
ment with ESG Engineer
ing, Inc. for construction
management services for
$939,720 for the project.
OTHER BUSINESS
During its meeting on
Oct. 3, the Winder City
Council also approved the
following agenda items:
• Recommendation by
the Friends of Rose Hill
for implementation to
proceed with phasing im
plementation of the Rose
Hill Master Plan; begin
ning with Phase I, Vet
erans Section and Main
Entrance. The first phase
will consist of Veteran’s
section improvements
and the beginnings of
the construction of the
Columbaria. The cost of
this phase is $555,568.
•Preliminary plat ap
proval to create two lots
for a property at 0 Ex
change Blvd. in Bethle
hem.
• A conditional use to al
low for the operation of a
tattoo artist establishment
in a general commercial
zone (B-2) for a property
located at 429 Loganville
Hwy., Ste 104.
•Final plat for three lots
at 0 Miles Patrick Rd.
•Alcohol resolution for
Spooktacular on Oct. 27
from 5- 9 p.m.
•Ordinance amending
Article IV of Chapter 15
of the Winder Code of
Ordinances governing
parades, processions and
demonstrations to include
special events.
•Ordinance to adopt an
amendment to provide for
regulation of the use of
streets by certain vehi
cles.
•Resolution for a for
mal record of action to
be taken by the city con
cerning an amendment of
the City of Winder 401(a)
Plan and the 457 Deferred
Compensation Plan and
allow City Administrator
Mandi Cody to replace
Mayor David Maynard as
the trustee to those plans.
•Amendment to the FY
2024 authorized person
nel to include one ac
countant III at a pay grade
of 21 and one project
management assistant at
a pay grade of 16 for cap
ital improvement projects
and asset management to
be funded through one-
third cost allocation from
the water/sewer fund, one
third from the natural gas
fund and one third from
the stormwater fund.
•Dedication of 11 utili
ty easements.
•A purchase order for
$66,153 to Amsco Inc.
for the purchase of a Gen-
erac natural gas generator
to serve the city’s fueling
station and finance/re
cords building.
•A purchase order for
$90,000 to Akins Ford for
two 2023 Ford Explorers
for use by the information
technologies department.
•A purchase order for
$97,310 for the purchase
of two FI50 Supercrew
Trucks from Akins Ford
for the engineering de
partment.
•A purchase order for
$69,800 to Gene & Matt
Tractor Sales as the low
bid for the purchase of a
Kubota Track Loader for
use by wastewater collec
tions in replacement of
surplus equipment.
•Surplus of a 1995
Bobcat skid steer that
needs a hydraulic system
and brakes replaced.
•Authorization for the
mayor to execute task
order #3 with the annu
al contractor, The Dick
erson Group, to install
930 LF of 6” water main
along Watson Road.
•A Joint Consent
Agreement between the
Georgia Public Service
Commission, Atlanta Gas
Light Company, City of
Buford, City of Coving
ton, City of Lawrencev-
ille, City of Madison,
City of Monroe, City of
Social Circle and City of
Winder to bind all parties
to the Walton County
wide Safety Plan.
Town of Carl
The Town of Carl regular
town meeting will be held
October 19 th , 2023 at 6:00
p.m. in City Hall.
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Fire Marshal visits
Statham City Council
By Carole Townsend
Capt. Jessie Knight of the
Barrow County Fire Mar
shal’s office, along with
Chief Alan Shuman, ad
dressed Statham’s mayor and
council Thursday evening.
Knight is visiting every Bar-
row County municipality to
introduce himself and his
department, as well as to in
form city leaders and citizens
about safety requirements at
public events.
Knight’s department is
also visiting schools, busi
nesses and other organiza
tions to talk about fire safety,
and to teach CPR and first
aid to groups who request
the training. These efforts
are part of the department’s
Community Risk Reduction,
a new program implemented
recently. “Barrow County is
growing. We have more peo
ple and more going on. We
feel it’s our responsibility to
do whatever we can to ensure
the safety of citizens and vis
itors to the city,” said Knight.
“We’re doing two to three of
these events every week, and
we’re just getting started.”
To learn more about the
Fire Marshal’s department,
new requirements for special
events, event vendors, and
more, visit barrowgafiremar-
shal.org.
Carl Hale Memorial Path
to be prepared for Statham
Halloween celebration
The Carl Hale Memorial
Path, that trail that connects
Railroad St. to Broad St.,
requires some attention be
fore Halloween, according to
councilwoman Christine Bo-
genrieder. “There are some
lights out along the path, and
last time I was back there,
I saw liquor bottles on the
ground. Councilman Scott
Penn added that limbs also
need to be cleared from the
path before the popular annu
al event.
Vandalism of path lights
has been a problem, and
some councilmembers sug
gested installing cameras
along the trail to prevent
destruction of city property
and loitering along the city
walkway.
Light Up the Night cele
bration planned for Novem
ber
Statham’s annual Christ
mas celebration will kick off
on Friday, Nov. 24 this year.
As in the past, lighted trees,
decorations, toys and of
course Santa will be there to
welcome the season and area
families. Cookies and hot
chocolate will also be served.
“This is another great
event here in Statham,” said
Penn. “It was really nice last
year, and people enjoyed
taking their little ones down
there (for the lighting).”
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October 4, 2023
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