About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 17, 2024)
Wednesday, January 17,2024 dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 3A County to consider speed zone updates Dawson County Board of Commissioners What: First regular public meetings of 2024 When: Thursday, Jan. 18; The work session will start at 4 p.m., with the board’s voting session to immediately follow. Where: Assembly room; second floor of the Dawson County Government Center; 25 Justice Way in downtown Dawsonville. How: Attend in person or watch the meeting online via the Dawson County Government Facebook page. By Julia Hansen juliahansen@ dawsonnews.com Dawson County com missioners are expected to hear more about a proposal to update speed limits along several county routes, according to the agenda for their first public meeting of 2024. Both the state and local jurisdictions have the authority to set and enforce speed limits, stated a Jan. 18 work session memo from Dawson County Public Works Director Robert Drewry. “In the past year, staff noted several locations where speed zones were questionable or nonexistent and consulted with the sheriff’s office for assis tance,” the memo stated. County staff consulted with firm KCI Technologies, who looked at the basis for posting speeding limits at eight locations throughout unin- corporated Dawson County. These results were shared with the Dawson County Sheriff’s Office and endorsed by the sheriff. The speed limit propos als include the following: • 25 mph on the .47-mile section of Athens Boat Club Road from War Hill Park Road to Lakepoint Drive • 45 mph on the .77-mile section of A T Moore Road from Ga. 9 to Govan Road • 45 mph on the 1.47-mile section of Blue Ridge Overlook from Ga. 53 to Forsyth County • 50 mph on the 3.4-mile section of Dawson Forest Road from G W Taffer Road to Ga. 9; there is already a quarter-mile school zone with a 35-mph speed limit in front of Black’s Mill Elementary School. • 25 mph on the .85-mile section of Grant Ford Drive from Ga. 136/Price Road to Lakeshore Drive • 30 mph on the one-mile section of Jewell Slaton Road from Dawson Forest Road to Ga. 9 • 45 mph on the 10.9-mile section of Kelly Bridge Road from Govan road to the Pickens County line • 45 mph on the 1.62-mile section of Lumpkin Campground Road from the Forsyth County line to Dawson Forest Road Considerations for the suggested speed limit reductions include motor ists’ speed in normal driv ing conditions, traffic vol ume, roadway type, sight distances, crash history and pavement condition, among other factors. The Board of Commissioners last updat ed speed zones in Dawson County in March 2016. The request is asking for the board to adopt a resolu tion concerning the pro posed speed limits. Should the board vote to adopt the resolution endorsing the speed zones, the measure would be sub mitted to the district Georgia Department of Transportation for review. If GDOT opts to move the measure forward, GDOT would request formal approval from the Georgia Department of Public Safety. Following state approval, the county can adopt or amend local laws to set the speed zones, and speed detection devices could then be used in the afore mentioned areas. Entertainment district rules The Board of Commissioners will also have another chance to hear about proposed rule changes for an entertain ment district at the North Georgia Premium Outlets. The discussion will follow talks on the topic at the Dawson County Planning Commission’s Jan. 16 meeting. 911 call system Dawson County com missioners are also set to decide on upgrades for the county’s 911 call handling system at their voting ses sion next Thursday. In December, the Board of Commissioners were reminded of the county’s outdated and stressed call system infrastructure fol lowing inclement weather and an outage which led to 911 and non-emergency calls being temporarily rerouted to neighboring Lumpkin County. An initial estimate for the call system fixes included figures of roughly $211,000, with $24,000 in maintenance over the next five years. A representative with AT&T previously suggest ed that the county work on rebooting the current serv ers, with alternative plans, like call rerouting, ready to go just in case. Board members seemed avid about working with AT&T over the next six months to upgrade the call system, with chairman Billy Thurmond suggesting that Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax funds would be a proper long term budget avenue to fund future call system upgrade costs, similar to other regu lar technology needs. FROM 1A Theater Both Giovinazzi and Wright have been in theater for years, but it is a first for both of them to get to try their hand at directing. Wright, who has been in theater since she was about seven years old, said that blazing the trail as the first student directors at the school has been both intimidating and exciting. “This is our first fully student-directed show at Dawson; last year we had an assistant director who was a senior but this is the first one where we’ve been in control of what’s happening,” Wright said. “I think it was a learning curve; we didn’t really know what to expect and there weren’t other people we could ask ‘how do we do this’, so it was weird being the first people to pave the way for other kids, but it’s been a lot of fun.” Giovinazzi, who has been in theater since she was a freshman, said that one potential career path she’s thought about pursuing is that of a drama teacher, so getting to direct a play as a student has been a valuable experience. “It’s very exciting; it’s also kind of scary because I’ve never done some thing like it before,” Giovinazzi said. “I’m very proud of everything that everyone’s been able to do — it’s very exciting to have these ideas in my head and they’re able to put them on the stage.” Beyond the two student directors, dozens of students have put hours of work into rehearsing and learning the play, including 12th grader Lucian Smith, who has also been in several the ater productions before and will play the role of Captain Hook in this week’s show. He said that he’s very excited for opening night and to get the chance to perform next to his peers. “We’ve put a lot of work into it — many rehearsals, going over dances, learning the songs — it’s been difficult but that’s kind of the fun part getting to work hard with everybody and see all of our hard work pulled off,” Smith said. “The play itself has been really fun to be in so far; it’s great getting to work with fellow seniors.” Smith, who first became interested in the stage thanks to his older brother, said that one goal of his in his senior year is to maybe have that same effect on a younger student in the audience. “My older brother was a very big influence for me wanting to do the drama — he was in 9 to 5 and footloose and shows like that — and he’s always been a big influence for me so I’d love if I could help pass it on,” Smith said. “And who knows? Maybe some little kid watching it could want to pursue a career in drama or join the Little Tiger Theater.” DCHS theater teacher Maggie Ellis, who has been the advisor and overseen the process of preparing for opening night, said that she couldn’t be more proud of all the hard work her students have put into the production. “This is really a student-led produc tion; I’ve been assisting along the way but they’ve done all of the blocking, they’ve picked out all of the set pieces and costumes, and all I’ve really done is help make sure that it happens,” Ellis said. “We’ve never done it, and I think that it worked really well, and I’m super proud of Abigail and Cadence. They have done great things; I’m super proud and I want to give them all the credit.” “Peter Pan Jr.” will open this Thursday and will have showings at the DCHS Performing Arts Center on Thursday Jan. 18 at 7 p.m., Saturday Jan. 20 at 7 p.m. and Sunday Jan. 21 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students, and can be purchased online at https://dawsonchs.booktix.net/ cart.php?action=show_pers&show_ id=7&show_sec=2d7c47af4d4e4da7 or at the door at the time of the show. “We’ve been rehearsing this since October or November so it’s a long pro cess, but it’s a good show so you can bring your kids to come see it and have a fun time and leave inspired,” Wright said. “It’s not just for grown-ups to come watch; it’s also a kid-oriented show,” Smith added. “I remember when I was younger watching Peter Pan and I have memories with my mom watching it, so it’s just a good family bonding moment.” Board of Education elects chair, vice chair for 2024 By Erica Jones ejones@dawsonnews.com During the Jan. 9 meeting of the Dawson County Board of Education, board mem bers voted to elect their new chairperson and vice chairperson for 2024. The board voted unanimously, with board member Elaine Wilson absent, to approve Nathan Ingram as the new chair person and Barry Slaton as the new vice chairperson. Both positions will officially begin in Lebruary of 2024 and run through January of 2025. Ingram has served on the Board of Education since April of 2020, and ■ < ( . ***9 most recently he has K* M served as the vice chair- __ 4^1 person since February of 2023. He will be taking Slaton over the chair position from board member Karen Armstrong. Slaton has served on the Board of Education since September of 2021, and he will be taking over the vice chair posi tion from Ingram. Both appointees will officially take over their respective positions starting on Feb. 1. Ingram Dawson County Schools employees can expect boost in paychecks this month File photo Governor Brian Kemp announced supplement bonuses for state employees and school staff. By Erica Jones ejones@dawsonnews.com Dawson County School System employ ees can expect to see a boost in their paychecks this month, thanks to Governor Brian Kemp’s recently-announced state- funded bonuses. In December, Kemp announced an added $330 million in the state budget, allowing for one time pay supplements of $1,000 for about 112,000 state employees and 196,000 teachers and school support staff. The state funding cov ers the bonuses for teach er and staff positions that are allocated through Georgia’s QBE (Quality Basic Education) fund ing. But thanks to a unan imous vote by the Board of Education during its Jan. 9 meeting, the Dawson County School System will be chipping in its own funds and extending the bonuses to all full-time school employees. “We have given reten tion supplements before - we did that with COVID money and that was a board-initiated supplement; this is a gov ernor-initiated supple ment,” Superintendent Nicole LeCave explained to the board before its vote on the matter. “When we did that, the board decided to give that to all employees regardless of what the guidelines were and what we received in state fund ing. So if you all want to continue to give this to all employees as we have in the past, which I’m going to recommend, it will cost the district $128,607.” The one-time bonus will show up in employ ees’ January paychecks, LeCave said. 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