About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 20, 2018)
(The ettmes TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2018 | $1.00 | GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com Honestly Local Oakwood rejects 120 townhomes BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com A 120-unit townhome com plex was rejected Monday by the Oakwood Planning Com mission, but it may be revived as part of a larger multi-use development. MB Endeavors, which has been trying for a couple of months to get residential housing approved between McEver, Flat Creek and Oak- wood roads, sought Nov. 19 to get the townhomes approved for 16 acres between Flat Creek and Oakwood roads. But planners seemed to balk when B.R. White, the city’s community development director, said MB Endeavors was looking to fuse the devel opment with another pos sible development off McEver Road. The McEver development, a 12-acre site featuring resi dential and commercial com ponents, was rejected earlier this month by Oakwood City Council. But MB Endeavors was hop ing to get the council to recon sider the project in league with the townhome complex — a blending that would reduce overall density of the project and add single-family homes. “The layout will change,” White said. “So, we really don’t have anything to look at?” asked planning board member Tony Millwood, referring to a map of the overall development. “That’s correct,” White said. Planning board members were wavering some over whether to deny the project or table it to another meeting. “I guess the worst thing we could do ... is delay you from what you ultimately are try ing to get,” Millwood said to John Purcell, representing MB Endeavors. “Only tabling this is going to harm you.” MB Endeavors had tried earlier this year to get a 107- unit townhome project on a slightly smaller site between Flat Creek and Oakwood roads approved. Council voted down that pro posal on Oct. 8. Several residents spoke at that meeting opposing the proj ect. Concerns included that it might infringe on the privacy of neighboring residents and increase crime. One resident spoke about how the development would be ■ Please see OAKWOOD, 6A JEFF GILL I The Times MB Endeavors is proposing 120 townhomes on this site off Flat Creek Road in Oakwood. 200,000 gallons of raw sewage spilled into Sherwood creek Photos by SCOTT ROGERS I The Times A sewage pipe is exposed by recent heavy rains Monday, Nov. 19, along Sherwood Creek in the Reunion subdivision in South Hall County. The creek bank collapse caused the pipe to shift and begin to leak. Force main break dumps effluent into South Hall waterway An exposed sewage pipe is bent along Sherwood Creek in Reunion Country Club Monday, Nov. 19, 2018, following the creek bank collapse three days earlier that resulted in 200,000 gallons of sewage spilling into the creek. The pipe has since been shut down and sewage diverted to Gainesville for treatment. BY MEGAN REED mreed@gainesvilletimes.com About 200,000 gallons of sewage has spilled into Sherwood Creek in South Hall after a force main broke Friday due to flooding. The sewage pump station at the site was shut off and the spill was stopped within a few minutes once the spill was discovered, Ken Rearden, Hall County’s public works director, said. A contractor is working to replace the force main, and that work is expected to be complete in a few weeks. No disruption of service is anticipated. The spill occurred in the Reunion Country Club subdivision. Rearden said the broken pipe was discovered Saturday afternoon, but the pipe likely broke on Friday. “The pipe was running and we didn’t know it. It was a remote area, so nobody saw that,” Rearden said. “We started getting lower flows on the plant, and the operators called me and said, ‘Something’s going on.’ They started looking at pump sta tions and lines, and we found it about 5:30 Saturday afternoon.” On a tour of the spill site, Ralph Cavedo, an engineering inspec tor with the county, said the pipe shifted when heavy rains eroded the hill leading down into the creek. The Reunion subdivision has seen about 4 to 5 inches of rain over the past week, according to the National Weather Service. A path will need to be cleared through the woods behind the homes in Reunion so crews can reach the site, Cavedo said. The spill site is about a 10-min- ute walk into the woods from the streets of the subdivision. A smell of sewage lingered at the site Monday ■ Please see SEWAGE, 6A ‘Sneeze guard’ co. gets OK to build plant in Oakwood BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com A Buford-based company got Oakwood’s preliminary OK Monday night to build a plant that makes sneeze guards, the see-through shields that protect food in restaurant buffet lines from germ-carrying patrons. Versa-Gard wants to build the 15,000-square-foot plant on Southland Drive in the Fairground Business Center off Atlanta Highway/Ga. 13. The company is seeking the city’s approval to rezone a 2.4- acre vacant site from highway business to heavy industrial. The request is being made because current zoning doesn’t allow for assembly line production, Versa-Gard’s application states. The Oakwood Planning Commission voted Nov. 19 to recom mend approval. The matter now goes before the Oakwood City Council for final approval. With the new plant’s approval, the business park “is close to buildout,” said B.R. White, Oakwood’s community develop ment director. “We’re pleased with that,” White said. “This (Versa-Gard) site has been on the books for a while. I hope (development) will move very rapidly.” The park, which is west of Wallis Road and across from Cres- thill Drive, has a mixture of commercial buildings, including restaurants. A Buford company is planning to build “sneeze guards,” which are used to protect food in restaurant buffets, at this site off Southland Drive in Oakwood. JEFF GILL I The Times 15-year-old boy charged with raping 18-year-old BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com A 15-year-old was charged with rape after an alleged inci dent at a Gainesville home, police said. Gainesville Police Sgt. Kevin Holbrook confirmed that Mat thew Brady Pittman, of Gainesville, was being charged as an adult. He was booked Thursday, Nov. 15, in to the Hall County Jail. Police said Pittman “did reportedly have unwanted sexual intercourse with an 18-year-old victim.” Pittman’s attorney Clint Teston had no comment other than to say his client had bonded out of the jail. Holbrook said a witness “walked in on the sexual encoun ter,” which allegedly took place Nov. 3 at a private residence. The sergeant said Pittman and the alleged victim knew each other. A third party reported it to law enforcement on Nov. 6, “someone that obviously recognized that this was unwanted sexual intercourse and someone that had the courage to stand up for the victim,” Holbrook said. “Although they did not necessarily speak for themselves at the time, it led to us opening the investigation,” Holbrook said. Police did not have any information on any other details sur rounding the incident. 40901 06835 INSIDE Advice 5B Business 3B Calendar 2A Life 4B Opinion 4A Our Region 6A ® Sports 1B WEATHER 2A Low High 56 34 Lake Lanier level: 1,070.91 feet Full pool 1,071. Down 0.26 feet in 24 hours DEATHS 7A Grace Anthony, 80 Katrina Ayers, 38 Joe Banks Sr., 74 Somchit Bannavong, 80 Chris Benson, 50 Robert Black, 66 Shiretta Dyer, 74 Marcus Elrod, 80 Maretta Gibson, 79 Margie Hughes, 89 Larry Jackson, 58 Dannie Kidd, 52 Russell Lamp, 75 Joyce Mosteller, 75 Sara Nichols, 75 Skye Patterson, 24 Nikola Preusser, 54 Lillian Reed, 91 Charles Rich Jr., 76 JoAnn Rogers, 75 George M. Sasser, 69 Sandra Smith, 74 Jean Snow, 94 Francisca Sonmez, 82 Debbie Weaver, 58 Nancy Wood, 74
