About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 2018)
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1,2018 | $1.00 | GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com Fox relocation to bring 800 jobs Shock, cycle product manufacturer moving headquarters from California to Braselton BY MEGAN REED mreed@gainesvilletimes.com A company relocating its head quarters from California to Hall County later this year is expected to create up to 800 jobs. Fox Factory Holding Corp., which manufactures and designs ride dynamics products for bicycles and powered vehicles, already has offices off of Ga. 53 in Braselton. Later this year, the company will relocate its corpo rate headquarters to that Brasel ton office before settling in at a new 23-acre site at Gainesville Industrial Park West on West Park Drive. The first phase of the project is expected to be completed in early 2020, according to a press release from the office of Gov. Nathan Deal. The Gainesville Industrial Park site will be used for manufactur ing, warehousing, distribution and office space. Fox plans to invest up to $50 million in the facility, according to the release. Tim Evans, vice president of economic development for the Greater Hall Chamber of Com merce, said Fox is an industry leader that will boost the local economy. “They are the suspension shock of choice for a lot of sport vehicles, powered and bicycles,” Evans said. “They’re a leader in shocks on mountain bikes in North America and throughout global mountain biking, but also on vehi cles like the Ford F-150 Raptor.” Evans said Fox’s relocation to Gainesville will also help support other local businesses. “They’ll create some quality jobs in the area, of course, and they’re already looking at doing business locally with other farms that are here, from engineering and construction and all of the many things that will be needed for building the new facility,” he said. Fox sponsored two off-road courses at Road Atlanta in Brasel ton last year. Flat Creek coming back to life Photos by AUSTIN STEELE I The Times Kevin Barnes of StreamTech takes a photo of Flat Creek on Tuesday, Oct. 30. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the city worked together to clean up 1,762 linear feet of stream in Flat Creek. Erosion project improves water quality of urban waterway BY MEGAN REED mreed@ gainesvilletimes.com A restoration project at Flat Creek, which flows through industrial mid town Gainesville, will help prevent erosion, a com mon problem with urban creeks. The city partnered with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Winder- based Clean Water Con sultants for the project, which started in January and is almost complete. “We spend more time and money on treatment plants and pipelines, which are important parts, but maintaining the streams — and Flat Creek being the most important one — is really important to water quality so that we don’t have sediment and any other pollutant coming down the creeks through the city and county to the lake,” Linda MacGregor, Gainesville’s water resources director, said. Joseph Carter of Clean Water Consultants said the project restored 1,762 feet of the stream. Addi tions include 13 rock structures, made from more than 300 tons of rock brought in from Tennes see, that keep the water from getting stagnant and introduce oxygen into the stream. More than 2,000 tons of riprap have also been added along the sides of the stream to help with erosion. The slope of the land surrounding the creek was also lowered. “If you had come out ■ Please see CREEK, 8A Linda MacGregor, director of Department of Water Resources, speaks to a crowd during a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Flat Creek restoration on Tuesday, Oct. 30. Driver’s license center expansion planned for 2019 BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com A new, larger Georgia Department of Driver Services center could be open in Gainesville by October 2019. The brick, nearly 4,000-square-foot building at 1010 Aviation Blvd. will be replaced by a 10,000-square-foot structure, state officials announced at a groundbreaking ceremony Wednes day, Oct. 31. A rising population and higher demand for more people to acquire commercial driver’s licenses is putting “a good bit of stress on the facility that is here,” Gov. Nathan Deal said. Some 4,800 such commercial driver’s licenses, as well as 73,000 other driver’s licenses and ID cards were issued in Gainesville last fiscal year, he said. In 2010-11, the center, which began operating in 1991, was serving about 55,000 people per year, Driver Services Commis sioner Spencer Moore said. “The last two years, we’ve served more than 80,000 peo ple annually,” he said. “That just shows this is a growing ■ Please see DRIVER, 8A Pendergrass man gets 50 years for child molestation BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com A Pendergrass was given a 50-year prison sentence with 30 to serve Wednesday, Oct. 31, in a child molestation case. Eleazar Mata was convicted of child moles tation, statutory rape and second-degree child cruelty. Superior Court Judge Andrew Fuller gave Mata a 50-year sentence, with 30 years in custody. The rest can be served on probation. Addressing Mata during sentencing, Fuller said the Pendergrass man had groomed the victim for the purpose of perpetrating a hei nous act. Mata was acquitted of the most serious charge against him, aggravated child moles tation, but convicted on three others in a child molestation case Sept. 27. The Hall County Sheriff’s Office said in August 2017 Mata allegedly had a sexual relationship with an underage girl for five years between January 2012 and April 2017. The girl ■ Please see SENTENCE, 8A Mata INSIDE 0 *40901 06835 8 Advice 5B Bridge 5B Business 4B Calendar 2A Classified 7B Comics 6B Get Out 6A Lottery 2A Opinion 4A Our Region 8A Sports 1B TV/puzzles 5B WEATHER 2A ^ High Low ■7^68 59 Lake Lanier level: 1,069.38 feet Full pool 1,071. Down 0.04 feet in 24 hours DEATHS 9A Donna Faye Coleman, 75 Freda Joan Heilman Collins, 85 Alvin Douglas Dooley Sr., 61 Robert W. Doty, 52 Michael J. Grindle, 54 Regina Inez Miller Gunter, 87 Alison Elaine Haas, 61 Jerry Jenkins, 64 Janice Emily Crumley Lynn, 58 Margie JoAnn Milum, 51 Brian Joseph Morin, 39 Nell Nixon, 102 Claudia Pieczynski Orchowski, 84 Carol Berryman Stowe, 88 Laura Thompson, 93 Kimberly Willard, 53 complete orthopedic &c sports medicine (for reeling in the memories) -=5^ Northeast Georgia Medical Center Find your orthopedic expert today at nghs.com/complete-ortho 770-637-1030
