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.
