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I2J OUR REGION
Shannon Casas | Editor in Chief
770-718-3417 | news@gainesvilletimes.com
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia
Wednesday, November 14, 2018
OAKWOOD
348-unit apartment complex approved
JEFF GILL I The Times
Kurt Alexander, principal with The Residential Group, talks about the developer’s plans for a 348-unit apartment
complex off Mundy Mill Road in Oakwood.
BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
A 348-unit apartment complex
off Mundy Mill Road got the Oak-
wood City Council’s first approval
Monday, Nov. 12.
Final approval will come later
as the Atlanta-based The Residen
tial Group is seeking to annex and
rezone 26 acres for the complex,
which would be between Mundy
Mill subdivision in Gainesville and
Old Oakwood Road and Oakwood
Hills Drive in Oakwood.
“This property is designed spe
cifically to take advantage of the
growth of the University of North
Georgia (campus in Oakwood),”
said Kurt Alexander, principal
with The Residential Group.
The units would vary between
one and three bedrooms and be
spread out among nine buildings.
Also, the complex would feature a
swimming pool, an amenity area
and a small commercial area fac
ing Mundy Mill Road.
Alexander said after the vote
that if all goes well with the proj
ect, construction could begin in
the summer of 2019, with the first
apartments opening in the fall of
2020. The entire complex could be
finished by the spring of 2021.
Councilman Stephen Hendrix
asked Alexander if UNG was able
to run a shuttle to the complex,
“would there be a central area
where (there’s) maybe a bench
that’s covered or something where
(students) can walk from the com
plex and wait to be picked up?”
Alexander said his company
“has done bus waiting areas” in
other projects.
“If we could form that alliance
with the university, absolutely,” he
said. “Last project we built, we did
an Uber pickup lounge area. That’s
becoming so prevalent.”
Townhome project denied
A proposed 107-unit townhome
complex off McEver and Flat Creek
roads was rejected Monday, Nov.
12, by the Oakwood City Council.
MB Endeavors was seeking to
change the zoning from commer
cial to planned residential devel
opment for the nearly 12-acre
complex.
Council members heard from a
couple of residents who were con
cerned about the housing density.
The density of 9 units per acre
“may be a little higher than what
we would want to consider,” Gina
Pilcher told the council.
Council members discussed
delaying a vote on the project.
Mayor Lamar Scroggs said the
property has had its current zoning
for about 15-20 years and “there
haven’t been any buyers for the
property.”
Councilwoman Sheri Millwood
wasn’t interested in holding the
matter, seeking instead to deny the
project.
Councilman Stephen Hendrix,
who voted for denial, said the com
plex “doesn’t meet our (compre
hensive land-use) plan.”
AUSTIN STEELE I The Times
Kevin Smith installs tires on one of Kubota’s vehicles Tuesday, Nov. 13. Kubota was awarded the Greater Hall Chamber
of Commerce’s 2018 Industry of the Year award for a large sized employer.
INDUSTRY
■ Continued from 1A
Board of Commissioners
chairman, also praised the
winners.
“We’re committed to
working with (the busi
nesses) in our county,” he
said. “... We’re working
together toward common
goals, and we appreci
ate everything everybody
does.”
Anne Kaiser, chairwoman
of the Technical College
System of Georgia, was the
event’s keynote speaker.
“I’m honored to see this
full room,” she said. “Do
you realize that one out of
three jobs in your county are
in manufacturing, that you
have an economic impact
of $2 billion, that you’re
fourth in the state in that...
investment?
“The main thing to know
is you’re doing an unbeliev
able job and how much
we need your continued
leadership.”
SCOTT ROGERS I The Times
AUSTIN STEELE I The Times
Above: Adrian Majka
inspects the inside of a
Prime Tech PT-300 land
clearing and mulching
machine Tuesday, Nov.
13, at FAE USA’s facility
in Flowery Branch. The
Greater Hall Chamber
of Commerce awarded
the small firm the 2018
Industry of the Year
Award for the small
employer category. Left:
Mark Gunn, an installer
technician at Gainesville
Coca-Cola Bottling Co.,
begins to work on a
cooling unit. Gainesville
Coca-Cola Bottling
Co. was awarded the
Industry of the Year
award for a medium
sized employer.
Faith-based sobriety
house head accused
of credit card fraud
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@
gainesvilletimes.com
The operator of a
Dahlonega faith-based
sobriety house investigated
for alleged fraud
was wanted under
a different name in
Arkansas, according
to authorities.
Lumpkin County
Sheriff’s Office Lt.
Alan Roach said
authorities began
investigating “pos
sible criminal activ
ity” at the Experi
ence of Grace Ministries
sobriety house on Tipton
Drive in Dahlonega, which
is run by Star la Pope.
“It has been reported that
she was involved in fraud
against some clients. How
ever, the case is still being
investigated,” Roach wrote
in an email.
Authorities discovered
Pope was wanted in Arkan
sas under the name Starla
Occhito on charges
of credit card fraud
and theft of a credit
card, Roach said.
“Once this was
learned, Starla Pope
aka Starla Occhito
was arrested and
detained on the war
rant from Arkan
sas,” Roach said.
The alleged
fraudulent activity is still
being investigated, and
anyone who may have
been a victim is asked to
call Capt. Marcus Sewell at
706-482-2619.
Pope
Chicken house catches fire
with roughly 9K hens inside
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
A chicken house holding
roughly 9,000 egg-laying hens
caught fire Tuesday, Nov. 13,
in northeastern Hall County.
Hall County firefighters
were still extinguishing hot
spots around 9 p.m. at the
500-foot-long chicken house
in the 4000 block of Cedar
Creek Road.
“These guys did a lot of
work in a short period of
time and were able to get
it stopped,” Capt. Zachary
Brackett said.
The defensive attack kept
the spread to roughly one
half of the chicken house.
Brackett said the chicken
house belonged to a private
grower associated with CWT
Farms.
“All of the chickens were
exposed to what we would
call products of combustion,
what you would call smoke.
They were all affected in
some way, but I don’t how
many are actually dead,
because (the firefighters)
were still in there fight
ing the fire and putting out
hotspots,” Brackett said.
An estimate on the
chicken death toll could
come as early as tomorrow.
No other injuries were
reported, and the cause is
undetermined.
Police: Driver stable after
vehicle hydroplaned on 1-985
The driver in a crash Mon
day, Nov. 12, on Interstate
985 arrived at Northeast
Georgia Medical Center in
stable condition after author
ities initially believed he was
in critical condition.
“It appears that they lost
control when they hydro
planed,” Gainesville Police
Sgt. Kevin Holbrook said.
He and another occupant
of the vehicle were pulled
from wreckage between
mile markers 17 an 18 on
1-985 northbound, Holbrook
said. One lane was shut
down as authorities worked
the scene around 5 p.m.
The injuries were not as
serious as they previously
appeared, Holbrook said.
The vehicle was traveling
northbound on the interstate
when it lost control, struck
the guardrail and a tree,
according to the prelimi
nary investigation.
Identities of those
involved have not been
released.
Nick Watson
CALENDAR
■ Continued from 1A
it’s important that local districts
have the flexibility to design their
school calendars around their
individual community needs.
For example, Hall County
Schools has utilized school-from-
home days that are not required
by any state or federal educa
tion mandates, and has included
courses in media bias, personal
finance, CPR, first aid
and bicycle safety.
A focus on the U.S.
Constitution, an ongoing
effort that includes an
entire week recognizing
local efforts to educate
students on the country’s
founding principles, has
also been included in
school-from-home curriculum.
“I’m the last one to figuratively
and literally come on board with
(the school-from-home) initia
tive,” said Hall County Schools
Superintendent Will
Schofield.
But the results so far
have the “old guy believ
ing in it,” Schofield
added.
In February, Hall
County tracked participa
tion among students in the
digital learning courses,
with 63 percent of elementary
students, 78 percent of middle
schoolers and 66 percent of high
schoolers completing some of the
coursework.
At the end of a five-day period
to engage in the coursework, 85
percent of middle schoolers and
79 percent of high schoolers par
tially completed the work.
And at the end of a 10-day
period for elementary students,
90 percent had completed some
of the coursework.
During a school-from-home day
in September, 98 percent of high
school students in the district
logged into the district’s learn
ing portal LaunchPoint to work
on assignments developed at the
classroom and individual school
level.
In October, 97 percent of high
school students logged in during a
school-from-home day.
The growth in online learning,
and the available opportunities
for online college and university
studies, compelled school offi
cials to spotlight these efforts in
developing a proposed calendar.
“We really have an obligation,
we believe, to expose kids to this
kind of learning,” Schofield said.
“So we’re moving with the times.”
Schofield