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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.
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