About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (July 17, 2020)
LOCA^STATE The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com Friday, July 17, 2020 3A Flowery Branch OKs speed limit change on key city street The speed limit on East Main Street in Flowery Branch has been lowered from 40 mph to 25 mph — the first move in what could be an eventual expan sion of the city’s golf carts route. Flowery Branch City Council approved the speed limit change at its meeting Thursday, July 16. “In addition to allowing for the expansion of our PTV route, a lower speed limit will foster a safer driving environment for this corridor,” according to city documents. A PTV is a personal transportation vehicle, or motorized cart, typically a golf cart. The idea would be that those driving PTVs on East Main Street could reach downtown, or the city’s Old Town district, taking Mulberry Street and Spring Street, and crossing Atlanta Highway/ Ga. 13. Amending the PTV Plan “could not be done until the correct signage and signalization was in place,” according to the city. “The signalization of Atlanta Highway will be fairly expensive.” Jeff Gill Developer looking at industrial project in Flowery Branch A developer looking to build a 750,000-square-foot warehouse/distribution center in Flowery Branch has asked the city if it could speed up the rezoning process. “They’re wanting to occupy the building by Sep tember or October 2021 and because of that, they have a very tight time frame of getting the rezon ing, having the clearing (done) and then construc tion on the building site itself,” Flowery Branch City Manager Bill Andrew told City Council Thursday, July 16. He didn’t name the developer, which is working with a Realtor in representing a company that wants to build the center. “They’re looking at a number of sites within this area,” Andrew said. He told the council he asked the developer if a rezoning application could be submitted by Aug. 1 or Aug. 15 —which would shorten the process —and “they indicated that they could.” Jeff Gill State sues Atlanta Governor seeks to stop cities from overriding orders on pandemic BY JEFF AMY AND BEN NADLER Associated Press ATLANTA — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is suing Atlanta’s mayor and city council to block the city from enforcing its mandate to wear a mask in public and other rules related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Kemp and Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, in a suit filed in state court late Thurs day in Atlanta, argue that Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has overstepped her authority and must obey Kemp’s executive orders under state law. “Governor Kemp must be allowed, as the chief execu tive of this state, to manage the public health emergency without Mayor Bottoms issuing void and unenforceable orders which only serve to confuse the public,” the lawsuit states. Kemp on Wednesday clari fied his executive orders to expressly block Atlanta and at least 14 other local governments across the state from requiring people to wear face coverings. Kemp’s order was met with defiance Thursday by Bottoms and some other mayors, who said they would continue enforcing the order. The lawsuit forces that showdown, resolving an ambiguous situation with Kemp denying local gov ernments could order masks, but local governments arguing it was within their power. Bottoms said Thursday during a video news conference that the city’s order is still in effect. “As of today, 3,104 Georgians have died and I and my family are amongst the 106,000 who have tested positive for COVID-19,” Bottoms said in a statement after the lawsuit was filed. “A better use of taxpayer money would be to expand testing and contact tracing. If being sued by the state is what it takes to save lives in Atlanta, then we will see them in court.” The state asks a judge to over turn Bottoms’ orders that are more restrictive than Kemp’s, block her from issuing any more such orders, instruct the City Council not to ratify Bottoms’ actions or adopt any ordinances inconsistent with Kemp, to force Bottoms not to make any pub lic statements claiming she has authority that exceeds Kemp’s, and to require city officials to enforce “all provisions” of Kemp’s existing orders. In filing the lawsuit, Kemp com bined a previous dispute with Bot toms over policing in the city with coronavirus control. He said he was suing to protect business own ers and employees in the same way he called out the National Guard last week to protect state office buildings and the governor’s mansion after an 8-year-old girl was fatally shot July 4 by armed men at a site where a white Atlanta police officer shot and killed a Black man who had grabbed a stun gun and ran. The shooting of Rayshard Brooks prompted unrest, including the burn ing of the fast food restaurant at the site, and complaints that armed people were blocking traffic with no police interven tion. The city struggled at times to provide officers after many called in sick when a prosecutor, over Bottoms’ objection, criminally charged the officers involved. Kemp also alleged in his lawsuit that Bottoms has forbidden police from enforcing Kemp’s earlier orders against gatherings of more than 50 people. Officials in at least 15 Georgia cities and counties had ordered masks during the coronavirus pandemic, and many were angry at Kemp for swatting down their efforts. Bottoms last week made statements that people had to return to shelter ing at home and forcing restaurants to return to only offering takeout and delivery. Kemp quickly swatted those claims down, and Bottoms on Thurs day described them as guidelines. But Kemp’s lawsuit says the court should set Bottoms straight on those statements as well, and forbid her from making more claims about her power to reporters. Kemp says he strongly supports mask- wearing to combat the spread of COVID-19 infections. He traveled the state this month to encourage face coverings. But he has maintained for weeks that cities and coun ties can’t require masks in public places, saying local actions can’t be more or less restrictive than his statewide orders. Wednesday, in an otherwise routine renewal of rules governing business operations and ordering medically vul nerably people to stay home, Kemp made that prohibition explicit. He also said local governments could not order masks on their own property, which would include Atlanta’s massive airport. Although national health officials have called on people to use masks, President Donald Trump’s administra tion has not issued any nationwide guid ance. Twenty-six states and the District of Columbia now require masks. Microtransit service headed for big vote in Gainesville I Gainesville City Council What: consideration of microtransit contract for Hall Area Transit When: 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 21 Where: Public Safety Complex, 701 Queen City Parkway BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com Hall Area Transit’s new micro transit service, which will be known as WeGo, is a vote away from being a reality in Gaines ville this fall and later, other parts of Hall County. Gainesville City Council is set to vote Tuesday, July 21, on a four-year contract with New York-based Via Inc. for soft ware and technical support that would enable the service — and a major revamping of Hall Area Transit. “We’re very, very excited about it,” City Manager Bryan Lackey said in the council’s work session on Thursday, July 16. The service, a public shuttle service that mirrors app-cen- tered, pick-up services such as Uber and Lyft, could start up in October in Gainesville and by July 2021 in other parts of Hall County. “Unlike other things we’ve done — we’ve painted the buses, we’ve changed the logo — this is truly a system change,” said Phillippa Lewis Moss, direc tor of Gainesville-Hall County Community Services, in a pre vious interview. “A big system change.” Hall Area Transit now operates a fixed-route system, Gainesville Connection, and Dial-A-Ride, a countywide curbside transporta tion service that requires phone reservations at least 48 hours before pickup. Microtransit will launch as a major service, taking over Dial- A-Ride as it expands into the county and chipping away at Gainesville Connection, which would drop from six routes to three, Moss has said. “This is a service that, because it’s so new and uses technology, will attract younger people, so this is an opportunity to really expand our ridership like noth ing else we’ve ever done before,” Moss said. Earlier this year, Hall Area Transit began receiving propos als from vendors specifically targeting the technology behind microtransit. “We’re not interested in having any (company’s) drivers,” Moss said. “We’re looking for the tech nology we can use in vehicles we purchase.” The city is paying for start up and first-year costs through federal stimulus funding. Vehi cles will be smaller than Hall Area Transit’s buses and simi lar in size to the Ford Transit cargo van. “We want them to be swift and nimble,” Moss said. In the second through fourth years of Via’s contract, up to half of the expenses will be reimbursed through the Federal Transit Administration, and the remaining expense will be split between Gainesville and Hall County Government based on the percentage of trips originating in the city and county, according to city documents. Riverside Acad, postpones start of school year BY NATHAN BERG nberg@gainesvilletimes.com Riverside Military Academy will be postponing its reopening for in-person learning by two weeks to Aug. 9, according to an announcement from the school. Return ing cadets will report on Aug. 9, while new students will arrive on Aug. 10. Classes will resume on Aug. 12. Riverside Military is planning on starting the school year with a “restricted first six weeks,” during which no visitors will be allowed on campus, and no leave will be granted to cadets. All students will be tested for COVID- 19 upon their return to school, and those who test positive will be quarantined. School president Stanley Preczewski said in a state ment that a “delay in securing ample testing equipment” was partially responsible for the postponed reopening. “We are committed to in-person, on-campus learning, and the extra two weeks will greatly increase our ability to do that safely,” he said. Riverside Military Academy will provide a more detailed reopening plan to all parents, faculty and staff “later this week” according to the announcement. School officials told The Times earlier this week that it has cut staff and frozen salaries in preparation for a reduction in enrollment for the fall semester due to the economic effects of the pandemic. ‘It is definitely a hybrid. We do think it will benefit parents in that it will give their child a different school experience, and we hope it will create that greater sense of safety.’ Matt Alexander, literacy and numeracy elementary director, HCSD HOURS ■ Continued from 1A The plan carries with it a great deal of logisti cal difficulty, according to Alexander. First, only one elemen tary school in each of the seven Hall County high school clusters will offer the noon to 5 p.m. program. He said choosing the seven elementary schools to host the classes has not been an easy task. Geography has also been a challenge, Alexander said, particularly since par ents of students in the noon to 5 p.m. plan will be fully responsible for transporta tion to and from school for their children. “For example, if you look at East Hall cluster, there are students that feed into East Hall that go all the way from Lula, White Sulphur, Tadmore, Sugar Hill (Academy of Talent & Career) and Myers,” Alex ander said. “If you know our district, that’s a lot of geographic space.” He added that he plans to have a final list of which seven elementary schools will be hosting the program by next week. Once the list is public, principals will begin contacting parents who have shown interest in the plan to see if the chosen locations work for them. Also challenging is that students from multiple grade levels will be receiv ing instruction in a mixed grade setting, according to school officials. In other words, one teacher will be responsible for teach ing students in grades K-3. Since students will not be leaving the classroom for elective classes, the teacher will also be respon sible for integrating art, music, physical education and technology lessons to the curriculum under the noon to 5 p.m. option. Though some parents may be wary of their chil dren being taught along side students of varying different grade levels, Alexander said studies have shown “there’s a lot of benefit of clustering kids that way.” He said that the one-room schoolhouse concept works because it exposes younger students to more advanced concepts earlier on, adding that edu cators are “always going to want to teach up.” Alexander said he antici pates teachers who carry out this program will sepa rate students based on abil ity, rather than grade level, splitting them up into small groups and administering lessons and assignments based on what each group of students is capable of. “It’s going to take a very special teacher to make it happen,” he said. “I know our principals are going to give a lot of consideration to that best fit. Who can do this? Who can differentiate on a very high level, to cre ate rigor and create sup port all students need?” Like the other two learn ing plans, parents who select the noon to 5 p.m. option will have until Aug. 21 — the first Friday of the school year — to make a final decision, although according to Alexander, the expectation is they will be committed to that choice for at least the first semester of the 2020-2021 school year. He says it is the perfect option for parents of K-3 children who want their kids to return to school but are still concerned about safety in the conventional, in-person learning model. “It is definitely a hybrid,” Alexander said. “We do think it will ben efit parents in that it will give their child a differ ent school experience, and we hope it will create that greater sense of safety.” JAMAICAN ■ Continued from 1A The two first met while attending high school in New York City. Before the Great Recession hit in 2008, the Hibberts were living in Maryland. Ann-Marie said they lost their home and decided to move to Georgia to live close to her sister. The two now reside in Braselton. Ann-Marie said the idea to start their first restaurant in Hall County came when her husband launched his home-based business, Blue’s Jamaican Catering, two years ago. After witnessing the catering operation’s success, the two kept their eyes open for potential restaurant locations in Buford and Braselton. When a spot off Lanier Islands Parkway became available during the pandemic, Ann- Marie said they felt it was time to put their faith in God and take the plunge. “It was scary because we were wrestling with the idea,” she said. “We didn’t know if it was a good time. We have strong Christian beliefs.” SCOTT ROGERS I The Times Curry chicken cooks on the stove at Blue’s Jamaican Restaurant Thursday, July 16, on Lanier Islands Parkway in Buford. Donning masks and spreading tables apart by at least 6 feet, Blue’s Jamaican Restaurant opened for business on July 1. And the Hib berts’ risk paid off. “A lot of people came and said that they love what we’re cooking,” Ann-Marie said. “That’s just a passion and desire for me and my hus band. We’re always cooking together.” Blue’s Jamaican Restaurant is located at 5370 Lanier Island Parkway in Buford. Its hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday. 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Lamb Investments, Inc. is a top quality management company that cares for your needs. “This institution is an equal opportunity provider and employer.” If you wish to file a Civil Rights program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, found online at http:// www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html, or at any USDA office, or call (866) 632-9992 to request the form. You may also write a letter containing all of the information requested in the form. Send your completed complaint form or letter to us by mail at U.S. Department of Agriculture, Director, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, by fax (202) 690-7442 or email at program.intake@usda.gov.”
