About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 20, 2020)
Verbal spars make up virtual debate in race for Loeffler’s U.S. Senate seat, inside, 6a Tuesday, October 20,20201 GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com These insects moving around Georgia are “ appearance but harmful to the touch. LIFE, 7A Honestly Local Planners approve S. Hall development Commission scaled back original proposal of nearly 400 housing units to just over 300 The Hall County Planning Com mission voted Monday, Oct. 19, to approve a 305-unit housing devel opment off Spout Springs Road, after the developer agreed to scale back plans for the subdivision. The Hall County Board of Com missioners will have the final vote Nov. 12. Winder-based Ridgeline Land Planning Inc. was initially was seeking to build 274 apartments and 124 townhomes, but the plan ning commission voted Monday to approve a development with a maximum of 220 apartments and 85 townhomes. The development would be located at 7285 Spout Springs Road, near the Reunion subdivision. The proposal drew opposition from some area residents Monday, who said they were concerned about traffic, erosion and the development’s fit for the charac ter of the area, which includes several single-family home developments. Planning commissioners Johnny Varner and Gina Pilcher voted in opposition Monday, and all other commissioners voted in favor. Megan Reed The Hall planning commission voted to approve a development with a maximum of 220 apartments and 85 townhomes at 7285 Spout Springs Road. The Times ‘It takes all of us’ THOMAS HARTWELL I The Times James Tipton, founder of Tipton Construction Co., stands outside his Gainesville business on Oct. 15. Tipton Construction was one of two recipients of the Family Business of the Year awards for 2020 from the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce. Family construction business founder reflects on company history BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com James Tipton had just wrapped up stud ies at Gainesville Junior College (now University of North Georgia) in Oakwood when his father asked him a simple ques tion, “What are you going to do next?” “I blurted it out. I said, ‘I’m tired of going to school,’” Tipton said. And on that response, Tipton turned from his plans of becoming a CPA, includ ing further studies at Berry College near Rome, and following in the family con struction business. Decades later, that decision would serve him well, in the form of a successful ‘The Lord just smiled on us. We were in this area of North Georgia at the (right) time.’ James Tipton founder, Tipton Construction business, which was recently recognized by Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce as 2019-20 Family Business of the Year. Gainesville-based Tipton Construc tion was one of two recipients — the other being The Collegiate Grill at the chamber’s 2020 gala. “I tell everybody, ‘If we don’t have somebody answering the phone, if we don’t have somebody doing the books, if we don’t have somebody digging the ditch, we don’t build a building. It takes all of us,” Tipton said in an interview last week in his office at 604 Washington St. NW. Reflecting on his career and the com pany’s history, he said, “The Lord just smiled on us. We were in this area of North Georgia at the (right) time. We migrated from Jackson County over to (Gainesville), and (Lake Lanier) just boomed. We started by working for ■ Please see TIPTON, 4A Downtown parking deck to close upper floors Nov. 2 Several upper floors of Gainesville’s Main Street parking deck will close for two weeks beginning Monday, Nov. 2 to allow for initial construction of the Gainesville Renaissance development. The third, fourth and fifth levels of the deck, as well as the restroom area, will close. The parking deck entrance facing the downtown square will also be closed, but the Main Street entrance will remain open. Gainesville Renaissance will be a mixed-use, three-story development on the Spring Street side of Gainesville’s square that will include restaurants and retail on the first floor, Brenau University’s Lynn J. Darby School of Psychol ogy and Adolescent Counseling on the second floor and eight condominiums on the third floor. Developer Fred Roddy said Monday, Oct. 19, that prices for the condominiums were still being determined and he was working with a local marketing agency on the Renaissance website. The development broke ground in September. A private pedestrian bridge will be built between Renaissance and the third floor of the parking deck, giving residents access to parking. Sixteen spots on the fourth level will be reserved for Renaissance residents, Gaines ville City Manager Bryan Lackey said. Megan Reed The third, fourth and fifth levels of Gainesville’s Main Street parking deck, as well as the restroom area, will close Nov. 2 to allow for construction. Times file photo Hall Schools to provide high-speed internet BY KELSEY P0D0 kpodo@gainesvilletimes.com Having 24/7 access to Wi-Fi will soon be eas ier for Hall County students and parents this fall. During the Hall County Schools Board of Education meeting on Monday, Oct. 19, Aaron Turpin, assistant superintendent of technology, announced the district’s plans for setting up additional Wi-Fi access points not only at each school, but in Hall parks and other outdoor locations in all seven clusters. Turpin said all the funding for the project came from the state who sent the equipment. “One of the things we’re cognizant of is not all parents and students have access to high speed internet at home,” Turpin said before the board. The internet will be filtered the same way it is at each campus, so children won’t be able to access inappropriate material. Turpin said the Wi-Fi won’t be accessible to typical park visitors, just students and teachers with the guest password. A new access point has already been tested at Chicopee Woods Elementary’s outdoor classrooms, which works 120 feet away from the building. Turpin said the connectivity will prove strong enough for Zoom calls as well as livestr earning. “We have Wi-Fi at the Hog Mountain Sports Complex and the East Hall Community Cen ter,” Turpin said after the meeting. “That’s the first part. We hope to have them in all seven access at parks clusters by Thanksgiving.” In other business At the Monday meeting, Superintendent Will Schofield said the district closed on the property for its new Agribusiness Center. The 51-acre plot was priced at $775,000. The land will provide a cattle herd working farm and agribusiness education for middle and high school students. This e-edition sponsored by: ■ L/rtvfl&ri YOU CAN COUNT ON Rjght Choice HOMES jacksonemc.com
