About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 25, 2019)
4A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com Wednesday, December 25,2019 BOC updates land use ordinance Anthem, NGHS could be close to deal; public hearing to focus on negotiations By Joshua Demarest jdemarest@dawsonnews.com The Dawson County Board of Commissioners updated the Land Use Resolution during its Thursday, Dec. 19, voting session. The updates included two new zon ing classifications, a land use chart, and an update to the language of the ordinance mandating commissioners follow the future land use map exactly. The first change was to further subdi vide the zoning classification Residential Suburban. The original classification called for a density of one residential unit per acre. The two new categories establish a Residential Suburban classification that calls for two and three units per acre. “Currently we don’t have anything between one (residential unit per acre) and six units per acre,” Dawson County Planning and Development Director Jameson Kinley. “So we need these two- and three-units-per-acre to try to move away from the Residential Multifamily. . . . But we don’t have a classification for that, so we tried to create those classifications to better feather the density per se from 400 out into these 5-acre lots.” The resolution was also updated from mandating the commissioners fol low the future land use map to allowing them the flexibility to approve rezoning applications they believe to be for the betterment of the community. “I could only come up with two (other counties that have a mandate clause in their land use resolution) across the state,” said Angela Davis, the county’s attorney whose firm repre sents local governments across the state. “I think it’s very much the excep tion that there’s a mandatory compli ance, and I think that’s in part because it works both ways. You know, a land use plan is supposed to be adopted at least every ten years, but it’s intended to last for a while. And so having that mandatory compliance does not give the opportunity to adjust for changing conditions, whether it be infrastructure or how the rest of the community builds out, that provides additional strain on infrastructure.” “So that’s going to give us discre tion,” commented District 1 Commissioner Sharon Fausett. “So if we had a public hearing, then what the citizens said could really carry weight.” “The spirit of it is that it’s the guid ing document,” said District 2 Commissioner Chris Gaines. “The comp, plan still has weight to it as the guiding document, but it’s not the end all, be all if something changes in two years and there’s a drastic change in the landscape and that we’re mandated. We can get feedback from citizens. This is the 15th time the Land Use Resolution has been amended since its initial adoption in 1998. “Really since 1998, when this docu ment was formed, it’s just kind of been updated piece by piece,” said Kinley. “This is really kind of an overall look — face lift, for lack of a better term. “And this is just the first update, too. The next thing that [we] are going to tackle is the commercial portion of this, which as far as from the planning standpoint, is actually huge for us,” added Kinley. “Moving forward with these tables is really going to help me and my staff and planning through dif ferent committees to help plan for the future. And hopefully after we get done with this, we will take another closer look at the future land use map so that we can take some of these principles and apply them into the long-range confidence plan.” By Megan Reed DCN Regional Staff A public hearing on Dec. 30 will bring patients, Anthem, the Northeast Georgia Health System and state legis lators together to discuss an agreement between the insurer and the health sys tem. State Sen. Butch Miller, R-Gainesville, and State Rep. Terry England, R-Auburn, issued a joint statement Friday on the negotiations between Anthem and NGHS. “Anthem and Northeast Georgia Health System have told us they are close to an agreement in principle, one that will benefit the patients of Northeast, the customers of Anthem/ Blue Cross and the constituents of the entire service area,” the statement reads. “The parties have specifically told us the following: NGHS and Anthem have resumed active negotia tions and are diligently working in good faith toward an agreement. The parties have documents in hand that are moving towards a deal. Evaluation of those documents is underway through next week.” The system has been out-of-network with Anthem since Oct. 1, although NGHS has said it will treat Anthem patients as in-network through Dec. 31. A judge has also issued an injunc tion that will keep the system’s Gainesville and Braselton hospitals, as well as Hospice of Northeast Georgia Medical Center, as Anthem locations through Feb. 7, 2020, according to the NGHS website. Anthem members can get care from those locations and will only be billed for their plan in-network deductibles, coinsurance or copays, according to NGHS. Anthem and NGHS began negotia- 'Anthem and Northeast Georgia Health System have told us they are close to an agreement in principle, one that will benefit the patients of Northeast, the customers of Anthem/Blue Cross and the constituents of the entire service area/ Reps. Miller, England joint statement tions for a renewal of the five-year contract in January but have long dis agreed on several key points in the contract, including rates paid by the insurer and what services should be covered. Miller, England and representatives from the Georgia Department of Community Health, Anthem and NGHS will be at the Dec. 30 event at 9 a.m. at the Gainesville Civic Center to hear from the community and discuss negotiations. Photo courtesy of Dawson County Fire and Emergency Services Dawson County Emergency Services responded to a structure fire on Millsap-Wacaster Road on Dec. 20. DCES responds to house fire off Millsap-Wacaster Road By Jessica Taylor jtaylor@dawsonnews.com On Friday, Dec. 20, Dawson County Emergency Services responded to a structure fire on Millsap-Wacaster Road. According to a press release from Fire Chief Danny Thompson, fire units arrived on scene at 2:56 p.m. Dec. 20 to find a single family home with heavy smoke and flames visible. Crews initiat ed an aggressive interior attack and a rapid search for the homeowner, who was initially unaccounted for on arrival. The fire was declared under control at 3:16 p.m. Personnel began overhauling the scene for any hidden fires and remained on scene for several hours extinguishing “hotspots.” Investigators were also on scene. The cause of the fire has yet to be deter mined but does not appear to be suspi cious in nature, according to Thompson. There are no injuries to firefighters or civilians. Cherokee County Fire responded with an Engine Company and Battalion Chief as a mutual aid request. Forsyth County Fire covered Fire Station 2 during the fire until units were placed in-service. DAIKIN find the best high-efficiency, energy-saving Daikin brand ductless heating and cooling system for you. -^KNEPPER HEATING AND AIR CONDITIONING 706-867-0535 121 Lumpkin Co. 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