About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (June 19, 2024)
4A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com Wednesday, June 19,2024 BOE approves some midyear ESPLOST project requests By Erica Jones ejones@dawsonnews.com During the June 11 meet ing of the Dawson County Board of Education, board members approved a list of several proposed projects to put a total of $4,995 mil lion in ESPLOST funding towards. ESPLOST is the school system's Education Spe cial Purpose Local Option Sales Tax and is a one per cent sales tax that goes to fund capital improvement projects in the district. Cur rently, the system is on the sixth iteration of the tax, and the seventh iteration was approved by voters in the November 2023 election. The bulk of ESPLOST project approvals are made by the board in December for each following year, Superintendent Nicole LeCave explained during Tuesday's board meeting, but the list of midyear proj ects approved in June allow the system the flexibility of not having to wait until the end of the calendar year to vote on needed projects. “These are midyear requests to allow us to begin a new project and also to continue some projects that we're working on," LeCave said. The list of midyear ESPLOST projects pro posed during the meeting includes: • Renovations at Blacks Mill Elementary School, installation of a secondary data storage site and the sec ond phase of the baseball/ softball complex project: $4,000,000 • Continuing the dis trict-wide flooring project, landscaping needs and play ground repairs or updates: $100,000 • Cafeteria upgrades at Kilough Elementary School and HVAC upgrades at Dawson County Middle School: $350,000 • Ipad carts to charge more iPads and to replace carts that are no longer working or outdated: $45,000 • Digital resources: $500,000 “Our new ESPLOST ref erendum will allow us to purchase digital learning resources and software; we have a large amount of fund ing in our general budget right now going to pay for this and so we are going to be transitioning half of that commitment in our general fund to ESPLOST,'' LeCave explained regarding the $500,000 allotted to digital resources. The full list of midyear ESPLOST project requests comes out to a total of $4,995,000, which will be paid for through ESPLOST VI funding. The board members, with Board Chair Nathan Ingram absent, unanimously approved the list of midyear ESPLOST project requests. DCN file photo The Dawson County Board of Education approved a list of several proposed projects to put a total of $4,995 million. Community celebrates recent additions to Main Street Park On Monday June 3, the Dawson County Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the City of Dawsonville’s pickleball and basketball courts and skate park. Photos by Erica Jones Dawson County News By Erica Jones ejones@dawsonnews.com On June 3, community mem bers celebrated the City of Dawsonville’s pickleball courts, basketball courts and recently expanded skate park with a ribbon-cutting ceremo ny. The city first installed its skate park at Main Street Park in 2021, and it very quickly became popular with local skaters of all ages. Because of its popularity, the city made the decision to expand the skate park, moving it to a larg er area in the park and reopen ing the newer and larger skate park in the beginning of 2024. The other most recent addi tions to Main Street Park are several brand new pickleball and basketball courts, which opened about the same time as the expanded skate park. Ever since the courts opened, they have constantly been used and enjoyed by community mem bers, City Manager Bob Bolz said during the June 3 ribbon cutting. “The pickleball courts are slammed all the time, the skate park is slammed all the time, and we really didn’t know how busy the basketball court would be but there’s not many mornings you come out here and there aren’t people on it,” Bolz said. Main Street Park has been a longtime project of the city, Bolz said, and they’re current ly on about phase three of five. Other additions the city has made to the park over the past several years have included playgrounds, disc golf, corn- hole, picnic shelters, walking trails with exercise stations and more. “We’re just glad to have this done; it’s taken us several years to get to this point and we’ve still got a lot more work to do out here but we’re really proud of what we’ve got,” Bolz said. “We’re proud of what we’ve got and we hope it’s useful to you in the pub lic.” Before cutting the ribbon for the park’s newest additions, Dawson County Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Mandy Power commended the city and city staff on their hard work to continuously make the park better and provide a space for local families to have fun together. “This is one of my favorite places for my family to come,” Power said. “There’s always a ton of community members out here, whether they’re play ing disc golf or on the skate park or whatever, so this has been an amazing asset that the city has brought to fruition — I’m so thankful that they put in the hard work and dedication to do that.” Dawsonville Skate Park The City of Dawsonville recently opened a new, expanded skate park. The City of Dawsonville recently opened new pickleball courts at Main Street Park. Annual Pollinator Garden Tour seeks to teach about local pollinators By Erica Jones ejones@dawsonnews.com On Saturday June 22, community members of all ages will have the chance to learn about local pollinators and how to grow their own pollina tor gardens during the Dawson County Woman’s Club’s fourth annual Pollinator Garden Tour. The Pollinator Garden Tour is scheduled to take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on June 22 and will give attendees a chance to tour of some of the coun ty’s local pollinator gar dens while also learning about how to plant their own garden at home. The tour will include a chance to view several small displays, or “Pollinator Spots”, locat- ed throughout Dawsonville’s downtown area. These smaller dis plays are located at Main Street Park, the Dawson County Farmers Market, the Fancy Flea, Dawsonville City Hall, the Bowen Center for the Arts and the Dawson Erica Jones Dawson County News On June 22, the Dawson County Woman’s Club will hold its fourth annual Pollinator Garden Tour, which will showcase several local pollinator gardens includ ing the one at the city’s Main Street Park. County Library. The tour will also cover several larger home gar dens owned by members of the Dawson County Woman’s Club. Each garden will have information on the best plants to grow, tips for attractive honeybees and butterflies and free flow ers and seeds, a press release by the club said. “Because these gardens are primarily native plant species, they are an important ecosystem for insect pollinators such as honeybees, native bees, wasps, flies, butterflies, bumblebees and hum mingbirds,” the release said. “Guests will have the opportunity to observe these creatures in action as they move from flower to flower, collect ing nectar and spreading pollen.” The event is free, and children are invited to attend as well to enjoy the flowers and to get free stickers and tattoos. The event is part of the club’s goal to encourage the community to help “cre ate productive ecosystems one plant at a time”. “By setting aside part of our properties for native plants, whether it’s a few square feet or a few acres, we will be saving our pollinators that are so incredibly vital but threat ened by pesticides and lack of healthy and diverse ecosystems, espe cially non-native exotic vegetation,” the release said. Dawson County Humane Society a no kill shelter Doggie Spotlight Sonic (4 years, 70 lbs.) is a gentle giant, Sonic is also extremely smart!! He loves going on walks and getting yummy treats!! Sonic is calm and well mannered, he would do great in a family. If you’re interested in meeting Sonic call and schedule a meet and greet!! Schedule a meet and greet today by calling (706) 265-9160 or emailing info@dawsoncountyhumanesociety.org! By Appointment Only 706-265-9160 Sonic For more information contact the 706-265-9160 | 633 Martin Rd, Dawsonville Dawson County Humane Society Adjacent to the Rock creek sports complex Visit our RESALE SHOP & BOUTIQUE All proceeds benefits Wed. - Sat. 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. | 54 S. Lumpkin Campground Rd. the Humane Societ y Bradley M. Maple CPA, PC 706-216-2362 2390 Thompson Rd • Ste 100 Dawsonville Dawsonville ANH Collision (w ] Veterinary Specialists Vigy Hospital 706-216-0992 706-265-8381 103 Industrial Park Road, Dawsonville
