About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 3, 2020)
Thursday, September 3,20201 GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com Busy area to finally get traffic light Timeline for installation in front of Mundy Mill subdivision still unclear BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com A traffic signal at the entrance to one of Hall County’s biggest sub divisions has been approved by the Georgia Department of Transpor tation, but a schedule for the proj ect isn’t known yet. The signal light would be on Mundy Mill Road at Millside Park way in Gainesville, at the entrance to Mundy Mill subdivision. The developer, Butler Property LLC, would pay for installing the light, said Katie Strickland, DOT district spokeswoman. Details about the schedule for the project weren’t available. Kent A. Starke, Butler Property manager, couldn’t be reached for comment. The DOT, which would main tain the light, doesn’t have a dead line for when the light must be installed, Strickland said. “The next step is for GDOT to coordinate with the developer about the implementation of the signal,” City Manager Bryan Lackey said, adding that Gaines ville has agreed to cover the power costs related to the light. “The developer was required by zoning condition that a signal warrant study be completed,” said Matt Tate, Gainesville’s dep uty director of community and economic development. “If war ranted, the developer was respon sible for the cost of the signal.” Officials say they are happy the light has been approved. “It goes without saying the inter section is an accident waiting to happen,” Mayor Danny Dunagan said. The sprawling subdivision, which started developing more than a decade ago, at one point approved for 1,148 homes, stretches between Mundy Mill Road and Mountain View Road. Millside Parkway cuts through the community to Old Oakwood Road. The road then continues as Tumbling Creek Road and ends at Atlanta Highway/Ga. 13. Millside Parkway runs past Mundy Mill Learning Academy, an elementary school in Gainesville City Schools. “The need (for the traffic light) has been there since the school opened (in 2017),” Gainesville school system Superintendent Jer emy Williams said. “In working with the developer, we are all on the same page regarding the safety of our students and families. “The traffic light will be a great addition to the Mundy Mill com munity, and we are thankful that GDOT recognized the need.” Swept clean w 1 — Photos by SCOTT ROGERS I The Times Geese gather Wednesday, Sept. 2, at Gainesville’s Longwood Park. Over the weekend, the annual Sweep the Hooch happened at Longwood, as well as the Lake Lanier Olympic Venue and Don Carter State Park. Volunteers clear 25 tons of trash from Chattahoochee BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com Kayakers, canoers and walkers comb ing the Chattahoochee River found more than 25 tons of trash — and furniture fit for a college dorm room. The trash was collected in the 10th annual “Sweep the Hooch” event, with three Gainesville sites in the headwa ters including Don Carter State Park, Longwood Park and the Lake Lanier Olympic Venue. There were more than 1,000 volunteers throughout the entire Chattahoochee watershed, with more than 200 of those in the headwaters. James Watson, facilities and waters- ports manager at Lake Lanier Olympic Park, said there were 30 volunteers this year at the Olympic venue, roughly dou ble the help from last year. ■ Please see SWEEP, 3A Hough slaying suspect faces another charge BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com n Bennett The East Point man awaiting trial for the 2019 murder of Gainesville businessman Jack Hough has picked up new charges in the jail, including attempts to throw a deputy off the top level of an inmate pod and grabbing the depu ty’s Taser. DeMarvin Ladele Bennett, 25, has been in jail since being charged with the murder last year. Gainesville police have said Bennett approached Hough at the CVS Pharmacy on Park Hill Drive in Gainesville on the evening of February 7, 2019 while Hough waited for his wife. A struggle ensued, and Hough was shot twice in the torso. Bennett was recently charged with attempted removal of a weapon from a public official and two counts of obstruc tion of an officer, all of which are felonies, according to a news release. Bennett’s trial in the case was delayed in March, and Sheriff’s Office spokesman Der- reck Booth said the inmate has picked up 10 additional charges since being brought to the Hall County Jail. Booth said the most recent incident started Aug. 27 when Bennett was allowed to leave his cell to get juice. “When he had the drink, he refused depu ties’ instructions to return to his cell and threw the juice on the ground,” Booth wrote in a news release. Deputies grabbed Bennett’s arms to take him back to the cell, but Bennett allegedly took a “fighting stance,” Booth said. He then allegedly lunged at a deputy, pick ing him up and turning toward the inmate pod’s railing roughly 12 feet above the concrete floor below, Booth said. An inmate assisting with lunch helped the deputy get Bennett on the floor, but the East ■ Please see BENNETT, 6A Echols family matriarch, Jaemor Farms co-founder, dies at 82 BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com The Echols family matriarch and co-founder of Jaemor Farms, Valvoreth Morrison Echols, died Tuesday, Sept. 1. She was 82. The stores in Alto and Com merce will be closed Friday, Sept. 4, for a celebration of her life, according to the farm’s social media accounts. Funeral services will be held at 3 p.m., Friday at Enon Baptist Church. Whitfield Funeral Home in Baldwin is han dling arrangements. “We know that the streets of Heaven are rejoicing at her arrival, but we will miss her so dearly here on this Earth,” according to the Facebook post. Valvoreth and husband Jimmy Echols founded the farm in 1981. The Commerce location opened in 2013. Several generations of the Echols family have farmed for more than 100 years, grow ing fruits and vegetables, such as peaches, strawberries and blackberries, most of which they sell at their Alto and Commerce locations. They also offer pick- your-own opportunities, corn mazes, sunflower fields and other activities. Valvoreth Echols, center, husband Jimmy Echols, right, and family walk through the site of Jaemor Farm Market in Commerce in this Times file photo. Valvoreth Echols, who co-founded Jaemor with Jimmy, died Tuesday, Sept. 1, at 82. Times file photo This e-edition sponsored by: Right Choice HOMES jacksonemc.com
