About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (June 24, 2020)
4A Midweek Edition - June, 24-25, 2020 The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com LOCAL Historic Thompson family graves moved to Alta Vista Cemetery BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com The Thompson family cemetery has a new resting place in Gainesville — its second one since being dis placed from Lake Lanier more than half a century ago. Descendants are celebrat ing the new location in the city’s Alta Vista Cemetery off Jesse Jewell Parkway, in a move that was completed in May. “It’s a wonderful change from where they were,” said Tom Shope of Blairsville, visiting the Alta Vista site on Monday, June 22. “It’ll be protected, people can have access to it and it’s no lon ger lost over in the woods somewhere.” The 19th century cem etery, containing graves of one of Hall County’s found ing families, was moved 6.3 miles from private property off Dunlap Drive in North Hall. The cemetery had been at that location for more than 60 years. The cemetery origi nally was where Lake Lanier is now, moved in 1957 by the Army Corps of Engineers to higher ground when the lake was created. The property owners, Tim and Susan Carey, building a house overlooking the lake, originally wanted to move the cemetery out of their front yard to the side of their lot. The proposal drew oppo sition as it went before Hall County officials, with some descendants wanting the graves to be left alone. Both sides kept talking, and an agreement was reached to move the cemetery to Alta Vista, which has several notable graves, including Confederate Lt. Gen. James Longstreet. “The city went to bat for us,” said Julius Hulsey, a Gainesville lawyer heavily involved in the issue. “Had it not been for that, we would have been in trouble on this thing.” The move was approved Jan. 9 by the Hall County Board of Commissioners. Southeastern Archeo logical Services of Athens oversaw the digging up and moving of graves, which have arranged in neat rows at Alta Vista. A marker describing the move is also at the family plot. “They wanted (the new site) just like it was when the Corps moved it where it was before,” said Hulsey, him self a descendant. “We had a Corps map and pictures, so the archaeologist had every thing to go by.” Plans are underway to have a formal ceremony dedicating the ceremony, but that date is uncertain because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We want to do it when we can get a lot of the descen dants here,” Hulsey said. THIS* 24 (.V Vi IS tVG'A THOMVSO** ISMtlN { t.*A» \UW *EBt MO"* LO W.*t 'AKt iU'iU Photos by SCOTT ROGERS I The Times Top: The Thompson family cemetery that was previously on private property in North Hall has been moved to Alta Vista cemetery in Gainesville. Above: Tom and Betty Rose Shope, of Blairsville, visit the Thompson family cemetery Monday, June 22, at its new location. Tom Shope is a decedent of the Thompson family buried at the site. Hall school board approves ESPLOST funds for new school, other projects BY NATHAN BERG nberg@gainesvilletimes.com The Hall County Board of Education approved the use of $1.64 million worth of Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax money for facility expansion projects, including the con struction of one of four new planned elementary schools. The yet-to-be-named school — cur rently referred to by the board as replacement elementary school No. 1 — will be designed and constructed by Lindsay Pope Brayfield Inc. The school, which will be built on Ramsey Road, will serve as a replacement for White Sulphur Elementary and River- bend Elementary schools. The district approved the use of $1.1 million in ESPLOST funds to complete the project. There is no current timeline on when construction will begin on the new school, but HCSD director of facili ties and construction Matt Cox said the school district would be “very aggres sive” in getting the project completed as soon as possible. Another $425,000 of the ESPLOST money will be used to construct a new performing arts center at Johnson High School. Robertson Loia Roof, PC was chosen to construct the building. Super intendent Will Schofield said that a deci sion on a new performing arts center for West Hall High School would be next on the docket. The remaining $115,000 of ESPLOST funds will be used for new cameras and intercom systems at the main entrances of all Hall schools. Schofield said the new cameras and intercom systems would allow front office workers to communi cate both visually and verbally with peo ple from outside of the school buildings. HATE ■ Continued from 1A The GBI would then com pile the statistics for annual publication in the Georgia Uniform Crime Reports. President Pro Tem pore Sen. Butch Miller of Gainesville said: “It became increasingly apparent that Georgia must enact hate crimes legislation. The families of the individuals who have lost their lives at the hands of hate deserve nothing but sweeping justice. To the thousands of Georgians who have called, emailed, marched, protested and made their voices heard at the Capitol, I applaud your commitment to fulfilling social justice. ... Hate has no place in Georgia.” BUDGET ■ Continued from 1A But his new estimate of $2.2 billion less in state funds is actually an improvement over earlier outlooks. It will equal a 10% funding cut for state agencies, K-12 schools, universities and colleges, down from earlier forecasts of as much as 14% reductions. “I recognize the difficult decisions that these reductions represent for our state agencies, higher education institu tions and K-12 schools,” Kemp wrote. “However, I am confident that our agency leaders can identify and imple ment innovative cost-saving solutions to craft a balanced budget without undermining their mission or services.” That may be optimistic. Many state agencies expect to send workers home without pay one day a month, which would amount to an almost 5% pay cut. Universi ties have also projected unpaid furloughs, while many K-12 school systems have yet to make decisions. The state-federal Medicaid program will be fully funded, thanks to another $50 million in tobacco money that Kemp allotted Monday, plus increased federal aid because of the pandemic, but Georgia is on track for reduced capacity to treat substance abuse and mental health problems. The state could spend $1 billion of the $2.7 billion rainy day fund to close the budget gap for the year end ing June 30. Some money will come back when Georgia collects state income taxes in July after delaying them from April. That money is supposed to be placed into the current budget, reducing the deficit. Kemp wrote that he was dipping further into the sav ings account “to mitigate the impact of this revenue decline on operations of state government and our local education authorities.” House and Senate lawmakers are in final talks over a budget, needing to reach an agreement before the legis lative session ends Friday. Senators have been considering other proposals to raise revenue, including eliminating more than $200 million in tax breaks and increasing taxes on cigarettes. There are also last-minute efforts to expand gambling as the 2021 meeting of the General Assembly ticks toward a conclusion. But none of those measures have passed even one legislative chamber. Kemp asked lawmakers to pay for increased enroll ment in the state’s K-12 funding formula, to set aside $15 million for a new law enforcement training grant program for state and local agencies, and to set aside $2.5 million to train a new 50-person class of state troop ers. Current budget proposals eliminate trooper train ing as one of many savings efforts. The Times asked the Department of Public Safety when a trooper class would meet if approved in the budget and how it might be affected by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. “It would be premature to discuss the ‘what if s’ regarding the budget. When DPS has a signed budget giving it specific details on how the budget will affect the agency, we’ll discuss it then. DPS will be able to adjust accordingly regarding budget needs,” said Lt. Stephanie Stallings, Department of Public Safety public information director. Criminal Justice Coordinating Council spokeswoman Britney Hough said the agency is “involved in com munication with the governor’s office concerning this grant program,” but she did not have any additional information to add on the program. Kemp’s budget recommendation also includes the elimination of a “proposed increase to the state base salaries of Pre-K, K-12 teachers and non-certified school employees,” but when The Times asked Gainesville City Schools superintendent Jeremy Williams how this would affect expected raises for school employees, he wrote via text that GCSS “will continue to award increases in sala ries and degree advancement for all of our employees.” Williams also wrote that based on Kemp’s recom mended 10% decrease in funding to the Quality Basic Education program would result in an approximate reduction of $5 million in state funds for the school system. He said that GCSS would use money from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security act, as well as local property taxes and the school system’s reserve to offset the decrease in funding. Hall County Schools superintendent Will Schofield could not be reached for comment on Tuesday. SLICED ■ Continued from 1A seen work in all locations, they’re energetic and friendly, and that’s what I want here.” The Sliced location in Oakwood will keep the same decor, fast-casual atmosphere and simple menu people know from its other locations. Some of the most popular dishes include the Margher- ita pizza — which is topped with mozzarella cheese, fresh basil, roma tomatoes and an olive oil drizzle — and the 01 Clifford, which is made with pepperoni, sau sage, ham, meatballs and bacon. “The ingredients, the quality is what we’ve hung our hat on,” Tedder said. “We’re not willing to com promise when it comes to main ingredients, and the atmosphere I think does a lot for it as well.” Running Sliced in Oak- wood won’t be the Latsises’ first rodeo. The two have owned Houndstooth Grill & Bar in Braselton for seven years, and Yanis spent over 20 years as the owner of Outback Steakhouse in Gainesville. Like most businesses starting during the pan demic, the franchisees hit a road bump in their plans. They intended to open the Oakwood restau rant around late March; however, Yanis said the outbreak forced him to postpone. “We look at challenges every day in this business,” he said. “The pandemic put us behind a little bit, but I think people still wanted to work.” Oakwood’s Sliced will include a patio with outdoor seating and a nook filled with arcade games for kids. Unlike the other locations, it will provide a full bar with 14 local beers on tap. “We’re just extremely excited for him (Yanis) and us,” Tedder said. “I hope the economy and every body as a whole gets back to some sort of normalcy. What’s more normal than pizza on a Friday night?” Sliced in Oakwood will be open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sun day through Thursday and 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday. Photos by SCOTT ROGERS I The Times Left: Sliced owner Josh Tedder inspects pizza ovens Tuesday, June 23, at their newest location in Oakwood. Right: Sport memorabilia waits to be hung on the walls at the newest Sliced location in Oakwood. PUBLIC MEETING The Town of Braselton hereby gives notice that the Town of Braselton will hold a public meeting on August 6, 2020 at 4:00pm in the Braselton Municipal Courtroom located at 5040 Highway 53 Braselton, GA 30517. The purposes of the Public Meeting are to: 1) Inform the public of the need for improvements to the Town's wastewater system. 2) To comply with Section 391-3-6-.02 of Georgia's Water Quality Control Rules (and amendments thereto). 3) To encourage public involvement in the development of a plan to improve the wastewater system. The public meeting will attempt to identify public preferences for alternative methods of improving the Town's wastewater facili ties. These alternatives will be evaluated and included in the Town's Facilities Plan and Environmental Information Document, the major planning document covering the wastewater system. Public participation is considered essential to the selection and development of the final plan to be adopted prior to its approval by the State of Georgia, Department of Natural Resources.
