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UGA alumni wants football field
named after legendary coach
LOCAL, 5A
Dawson County High senior
signs to play soccer at Brenau
SPORTS, 1B
DawsonCountyNews
WEDNESDAY I APRIL 24, 2019 DaWSOflNeWS ^com DAWSONVULE, GEORGIA $1.00
ETOWAH VILLAGE
Rezoning denial recommended
Residents at April 16 Planning Commission meeting voiced concerns about project
By Joshua Demarest
jdemarest@dawsonnews.com
Representatives of Dawson
Village Partners went before the
Dawson County Planning
Commission April 16 to request
rezoning of the proposed location
for the Etowah Village mixed use
development project in a meeting
lasting well over three hours.
After hearing arguments and
opinions from both sides, the
planning commission voted 3-2
to recommend denial of the
rezoning to the Board of
Commissioners.
The majority of residents
who stood up to speak at the
meeting voiced their concerns
with the project, which ranged
from increased traffic to the
environmental impact to the
nearby Etowah River.
“I heard this is the same guy that
did Avalon and Battery Park,”
Dawson County resident Patrick
Urutia said. “Those are beautiful
places. But I can take my car and
be there in 30 minutes or an hour. I
can go take advantage of that and
then come back home and have
peace and quiet in my back yard.”
After the meeting, Urutia spoke
with the Dawson County News.
“I’m not opposed to the develop
ment,” he explained. “I don’t want
it in my back yard, and I don’t
think we need 1,000 acres.”
“I’m for smart development,
not greed-driven development,”
added Dawson County resident
John Bianchini.
See Rezoning 14A
Phase 1 of Main Street Park
resumes after months of rain
Jessica Taylor Dawson County News
Paving begins March 28 on the Main Street Park project in Dawsonville. Months of rain has delayed the com
pletion of phase one of the project.
City hopes to have playground, walking trails open this summer
By Jessica Taylor
jtaylor@dawsonnews.com
After months of constant rain, dirt
finally began to move once more at
the site of the Main Street Park in
downtown Dawsonville earlier this
month.
Because of soggy ground condi
tions, paving of roads, parking lots
and walking trails within the park has
been delayed since the fall of 2018,
according to Bob Bolz, Dawsonville
city manager.
“Week before last we had five days
without rain and that’s the first time
we had that happen since October,” he
said.
In late March, a few sunny days
allowed the ground to dry enough for
paving to begin.
“That was exciting. We’ve been
waiting to see some paving forever
because they moved in paving equip
ment probably in the fall and it just
hadn’t quit raining,” Bolz said. “The
problem with paving is the soil’s got
to be dry. If it freezes and ruptures,
your paving is gone.”
Pavement of the roads, parking lots
and walking trails is part of the first
phase of the much anticipated city
park, and now that weather conditions
have allowed for the concrete to be
poured, installation of the playground,
the creation of a dog park, landscap
ing and fencing are on the agenda for
this year.
On March 4, the Dawsonville city
council approved the design of the
playground that will be installed in the
next six or seven weeks.
Great Southern Recreation’s design,
which includes a zipline, multiple
slides, climbing elements and inclu
sive swings and wheelchair accessible
equipment, will be installed on the
Allen Street side of the park.
“It’s going to be a destination play
ground,” Dawsonville Mayor Mike
Eason said. “It’s not going to be just a
place with some swings.”
There will be elements of the park
for older children as well as children
with special needs and disabilities.
See Park 14A
Etowah Water and
Sewer Authority
hold 1st reservoir
project meeting
By Jessica Taylor
jtaylor@dawsonnews.com
The Etowah Water and Sewer Authority
conducted an informational meeting
recently to update the community on the
design and construction of the Russell
Creek Reservoir that is set to be built out
by the first quarter of 2023.
The reservoir will span 137 acres off
Etowah River and Seed Tick roads and will
accommodate 126,000 people, the project
ed population of Dawson County in 50
years. It will cost about $40 million.
The authority began the project in 2006
but did not get the necessary 404 permit
from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to
proceed until July 2017.
At the April 11 meeting, EWSA general
manager Brooke Anderson informed the
public that the authority has brought in
Canadian-based Golder Associates, a glob
al consulting, design and construction
company, to design and build the project.
The authority was originally permitted to
construct an intake pump station out in the
Etowah River to pull water out and pump
through a 24-inch water line to fill the res
ervoir, but since then the engineers were
See Reservoir 16A
Ga. House Speaker faces
pressure to resign post
By Joshua Demarest
jdemarest@dawsonnews.com
Ga. Speaker of the House David Ralston,
R-Blue Ridge, is facing mounting criticism
from both sides of the aisle over his use of
legislative leave to delay court cases.
At an April 17 press conference in
Atlanta, State Rep. David Clark, R-Buford,
and former FBI agent Derek Somerville
presented research in which Somerville
documented 1,091 separate legislative
leave continuances across 279 cases.
A legislative leave continuance is a court
order that a lawyer who also serves in the
legislature can apply for when his or her
legislative duties conflict with scheduled
See Ralston 18A
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Inside
Volume 4, Number 31
© 2019, Dawson County News
Dawsonville, Georgia
Church Events
3B
Classifieds
7B
Dear Abby
6B
Deaths
2A
Legals
7B
Opinion
9A
Sports
1B
3A Annual Relay
for Life set for
Friday
Dawsonville
moonshiner
discusses his
craft at library
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