Wednesday, October 5,2022
dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 3A
Rezoning heads BOC’s Oct. 6 agenda
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By Julia Fechter
jfechter@dawsonnews.com
Members on the Board
of Commissioners will
again have a chance this
Thursday to approve or
deny a rezoning request
that would add more hous
ing to a proposed neigh
borhood in southern
Dawson County.
BOC meetings can be
attended in person at the
second-floor assembly
room of the Dawson
County Government
Center or virtually by
watching a live stream on
the Dawson County
Government’s Facebook
page.
The BOC’s work ses
sion will begin at 4 p.m.,
and the voting session will
immediately follow.
During their Sept. 15
voting session, the BOC
tabled a decision on
whether to rezone 25.35
acres of land for 152 more
residences in a proposed
subdivision along Lee
Castleberry Road, near
Ga. 400.
Last fall, the board
approved Flowery Branch
company Stark Land
Development’s rezoning
request for an initial 48
townhomes for the devel
opment.
If the developer’s newer
request is approved, then
the development would
include 200 residential
units, broken down into
160 townhomes and 40
single-family, semi
detached houses.
The two parcels pro
posed for the project sit off
of Lee Castleberry Road,
between Stacie Lane and
Lumpkin Campground
Road.
Prior to this week’s vote,
concerns were raised
about the lack of a traffic
light at Lee Castleberry
Road and Ga. 400. Even
with the projected density
of the area with the forth
coming Pointe Grand
apartments across the state
highway, developer Billy
Stark said his firm
wouldn’t be able to put a
light there because of
Georgia Department of
Transportation control
over the roadway.
Stark Land
Development is proposing
contributing $1.3 million
in infrastructure improve
ments toward Lee
Castleberry Road, which is
classified as a non-residen-
tial collector road.
Proposed stipulations
include a 20-foot right of
way that the developer
would donate along Lee
Castleberry Road, and the
developer would have to
make improvements along
that land strip.
Proposed fixes include
an eastbound left turn
deceleration lane going
into the main entrance,
widening Lee Castleberry
Road and installing a min
imum five-acre passive or
active park.
Concept plans show a
linear park along the
developer’s side of Lee
Castleberry Road and a
park or monument sign at
the corner of the road’s
roundabout at Lumpkin
Campground Road.
Since Stark Land
Development doesn’t own
the parcel in front of Ga.
400, they would have to
work with the county to
install a sidewalk along it.
Road improvements would
be started alongside site
development, Stark told
the board.
Another sticking point
was taxes. In making a
motion to table, District 2
Commissioner Chris
Gaines wanted more time
to “crunch numbers” on
the estimated break-even
value of the proposed
homes, $463,000, and
whether local sales taxes
could make up the gap
between that and the rough
proposed price for the
homes, $400,000.
The break-even amount
represents how much a
home should be valued at
and then taxed in order to
satisfy the cost of county
services for servicing that
home.
Previously, a 2021 study
from Georgia Tech pinned
break-even values for a
house in Dawson County
to be around $431,000.
During the Sept. 15
meeting, Planning and
Development Director
Sharon Farrell also clari
fied that the townhomes
would be “truly single
family attached” and not
“a multifamily product.”
Budget
BOC Chairman Billy
Thurmond is expected to
present the FY2023 bud
get for Dawson County
this Thursday. Hearings
were held for individual
county departments back
in August.
Thurmond’s presenta
tion of the overall county
budget will cover the gen
eral fund and a range of
other budgets, including
SPLOST VI and VII, capi
tal projects and more.
Three public hearings
will be held on the pro
posed FY2023 budget, the
first two being at the
BOC’s Oct. 20 work and
voting sessions. The last
hearing will be held at the
BOC’s Nov. 3 voting ses
sion, after which the board
will be able to tentatively
adopt the budget.
Road project
Public Works is sched
uled to present a request
for BOC approval of a
$556,459 bid for a road
realignment project at
Thompson Creek Park
Road and Ga. 53.
This request comes
ahead of a planned round
about at the two roads’
intersections with Dawson
Forest Road.
County officials will
work with GDOT on the
roundabout, which was
proposed to manage addi
tional traffic from the near
by Penler project now
known as Advenir at
Dawson Hills.
In order for the forth
coming roundabout to
work properly, Thompson
Creek Park Road must be
realigned, according to
county documents.
As part of the bid
request, the board would
also have to determine
which funds would be
used to proceed with this
phase of the roundabout
project.
Park ball fields
Parks and Recreation
will also come before the
BOC to seek approval of
bids for three different
park fields.
In July, the board
approved a design-build
request for an ADA-
compliant rubber field at
Rock Creek Park’s field
no. 9 and artificial turf for
Veterans Memorial Park’s
football and multipurpose
fields.
Commissioners are
expected to consider a
$1.4 million bid for Rock
Creek’s ADA field and a
$699,289 bid for Veterans
Memorial Park’s turf
fields.
The board’s July vote
authorized the use of not
more than $2.5 million in
impact fee funds for the
design-builds.
Impact fee money has to
be used for growth-related
infrastructure, and out of
the various county
departments, Parks and
Rec has seen the continual
growth of its programs in
recent years.
The board will also have
a chance to vote on Parks
and Rec’s Sept. 15 request
of $150,000 for re-grading
Rock Creek Park’s ball
fields 7-12 and re-sodding
all four of the park’s tee-
ball fields.
Project funds would
come from SPLOST VI,
which was collected from
July 2015 through June
2021. Payne previously
said the renovated fields
would be easier to main
tain and use, with less lips
in the soil and better drain
age.
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Photo courtesy of Cineflex
Danielle Colby and Mike Wolfe star in the
History Channel show "American Pickers." The
antiques show is currently looking for Georgia
participants.
‘American Pickers’
returning to seek
antiques in Georgia
By Erica Jones
ejones@dawsonnews.com
History Channel televi
sion series American
Pickers will be filming in
Georgia once again in
December, and show pro
ducers are looking for
Georgians with large col
lections of antiques to
include in the show.
According to a press
release, the documentary
series explores the world
of “antique picking” and
follows skilled pickers in
the business as they hunt
for valuable antiques.
The show documents the
pickers on their search to
find large and unique
antique collections and to
learn the interesting sto
ries behind them.
“As they hit the back
roads from coast to coast,
the Pickers are on a mis
sion to recycle and rescue
forgotten relics,” the
release said. “Along the
way, they want to meet
characters with remark
able and exceptional
items. They hope to give
historically significant
objects a new lease on
life while learning a thing
or two about America’s
past along the way.”
In the past, Dawson
County’s own Dell
Conner has been featured
on American Pickers
with his impressive array
of antiques and unique
items he’s collected over
the years. With the show
returning to Georgia, pro
ducers hope to find leads
of other people like
Conner who have inter
esting items and stories
behind them to feature.
“If you or someone
you know has a large,
private collection or
accumulation of antiques
that the Pickers can
spend the better part of
the day looking through
we would love to hear
from you,” the release
said. “Please note, the
Pickers do not pick
stores, flea markets,
malls, auction businesses,
museums or anything
else open to the public.”
To submit a lead to the
show, send your name,
phone number, location
and description of the
collection with photos to
americanpickers @cinef-
lix.com or call 646-493-
2184.
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