About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (July 27, 2022)
■HU f More play space, rooms proposed for Happy Dog Retreat INSIDE, 4A . MHAPP RETREAT I life?! BOARD & BATH ~ *V%-< . Elliott wins at Pocono after top two finishers are disqualified SPORTS, 1B DawsonCountyNews WEDNESDAY I JULY 27, 2022 DaWSOflNeWS >COnri DAWSONVULE, GEORGIA $1.00 Hiker's death appears accidental By Julia Fechter jfechter@dawsonnews.com All signs appear to point to a hiker’s July 17 death at Bearden Falls as being an accident, according to Dawson County Sheriff Jeff Johnson. Michael Joseph Gorman, 39, of San Antonio, Texas, died after incurring fatal injuries from a fall at the remote hiking spot. Zach Hannah, a friend of Gorman’s, posted to Facebook about his friend’s “tragic accident at Bearden Falls.” “If you don’t have the proper gear and aren’t trained PLEASE don’t climb waterfalls. Make sure you are prepared for emergencies,” Hannah said. Bearden Falls sits along a creek of the same name inside of the Chattahoochee National Forest and is one of multiple falls in Dawson County. Officials with Dawson County Fire & EMS, DCSO and multiple other agencies responded Sunday to a hiker who had fallen from Bearden Falls at 12:43 p.m., according to a press release. Another person was hiking with Gorman at the time of the incident, Johnson told DCN. Rescue personnel from Dawson and Forsyth counties arrived at the scene around 2:22 p.m, at which time the incident changed into a recovery. Gorman’s body was subsequently turned over to the Dawson County Coroner, who assisted with the identi fication process. After the July 17 inci dent, DCSO opened an investigation. Gorman previously worked as a nuclear engineer for Dynamic Concepts and Siemens before starting his most recent job as a partner con sulting solutions engineer at Zscaler, according to his obituary from Allen Funeral Home. Services were held for Gorman at that funeral home in Morristown, Tennessee on Saturday. He leaves behind parents, a brother and sister-in-law, extended family “as well as many other dear friends and coworkers.” “He especially loved to travel and had been to many of God’s Creations throughout the world,” his obituary said. Michael Joseph Gorman enjoyed traveling to hiking spots all around the world, such as Machu Picchu in Peru. Photo submitted to DCN. Photo submitted to DCN Plugging into the future Photo courtesy of Indigo Energy North Georgia company Indigo Energy recently installed a brand-new electric vehicle charging station in Dawsonville's Main Street Park. New EV charging station installed at Main Street Park Dawson fire chief leaving for new job By Julia Fechter jfechter@dawsonnews.com Dawson County is now looking for its next fire and emergency services director. Fire Chief and Emergency Management Director Danny Thompson has resigned, with his offi cial last day being Aug. 23, according to a letter which DCN obtained through an open records request. He will stay until that time to help with preparing for next year’s Fire & EMS budget. See Chief 16A Thompson Vote again tabled on mixed-use village rezoning By Julia Fechter jfechter@dawsonnews.com By Erica Jones ejones@dawsonnews.com Main Street Park in Dawsonville now has yet another addition: a new electric vehicle charging station installed by Gainesville-based company Indigo Energy. Colson Rivers, account manager for Indigo Energy, said that the company installed the charging sta tion in collaboration with the City of Dawsonville and at no cost to the city. “I’ve been working a lot with the city manager Bob Bolz with this project; I talked with the city council about it and got it all okay ed with them,” Rivers said. “This was actually done at no cost to the city or the community of Dawsonville; this was sim ply the city allowing us to put it there at our cost so it was great for the city that they didn’t have to pay to bring this to the communi ty, and we’re excited to have the opportunity for our business as well.” According to Rivers, the charging station is a “Blink” brand station and is a very high-powered sta tion, with the highest pos sible power input that a Fevel 2 charging station can offer. “That was important to us was for that to be kind of a future-proof installa tion that we’re not going to need to come back in a few years as technology devel ops to increase the amount of power that’s available there,” Rivers said. This particular station, he said, can charge vehicles with converters rated for up to 19 kilowatts. To charge a vehicle, the station puts out alternating current and the vehicles’ batteries store it as direct current, so the power and charging speed is essentially limited by each car’s converter. “A very common number is that converter is rated for 11 kilowatts, but we’re see ing newer vehicles that have a 19 kilowatt charger, and some older models like a Nissan Feaf have a 7 or a 6 kilowatt converter,” Rivers said. “It’s only been in the ground a few weeks now, but we’ve already See Charger 13A Before tabling a rezoning application for Fox Creek Properties’ proposed mixed-use village, the Dawson County Board of Commissioners made it clear on July 21 that their central concern was residential development outpacing commercial and industrial aspects of the project. District 2 Commissioner Chris Gaines recognized the developer’s willingness to work with the county on the proposed proj ect’s “moving parts” and to “bend over backwards to make concessions,” “but we’ve got to get it right for their benefit as well as ours”. “If you ask me to go concurrent with commercial [development], I’ll tell you to See Rezoning 17A 0 9 0 9 9 4 Inside Volume 8, Number 26 © 2021, Dawson County News Dawsonville, Georgia Events 2B Classifieds 7B Dear Abby 5B Deaths 2A Legals 7B Opinion 9A Sports 1B Dawson to hold‘A Family Fair on July 29 8A University of * North Georgia economic impact tops $755 million We Are a Digital Impression Practice Proud Owners of an iTero' Element " Scanner. element •jlj- invisalign "We all try and go above and beyond and give that five start treatment, so it's rewarding to know that what we do matters." Q)amonville (^Distinctive ^Dentistry B. MANZUR, D.M.D. 754 HWY. 53 WEST, DAWSONVILLE, GA 706-265-2505
