About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 8, 2020)
$ JUNIOR LEAGUE OF GAINESVILLE-HALL COUNTY Women building better communities ' Silent auction to take place of Junior League’s canceled annual charity ball, insider Tuesday, December 8,20201 GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com Residents say no to East Hall road project at community meeting. INSIDE, 3A Honestly Local Downtown to get new parking deck Construction of 400-space structure expected to begin in early 2021 BY MEGAN REED mreed@gainesvilletimes.com A new parking deck planned for downtown Gainesville will soon take a step forward, with construc tion expected to begin in early 2021. The 400-parking-space deck will be built at 100 Brenau Ave., and will replace the former Turner, Wood and Smith building that has housed a temporary library branch and early voting location. The city purchased the lot in 2016 for $1.5 million, then leased it back to Turner, Wood and Smith, an insurance company that has since moved to another office in Gainesville. The deck will be jointly funded by Gainesville and the county, with the city contributing $4 million and the county paying $5 million. Gainesville is responsible for engi neering and construction for the project, according to an agreement the Hall County Board of Commis sioners will vote on at its Thursday, Dec. 10 meeting. Gainesville will then have to approve the agree ment, though that meeting date has not been set yet. The city and county will pay for the project with funds from Spe cial Purpose Local Option Sales Tax VIII, a 1% sales tax approved by voters in 2019 that local govern ments can use for capital expenses and special projects. Gainesville Mayor Danny Duna- gan said the city has yet to select a construction company for the proj ect but hopes to begin work soon. The Turner, Wood and Smith build ing is an early voting location for the Jan. 5 runoff, and early voting will finish Dec. 31. After that, Dun- agan said, demolition work could begin to prepare the site. ■ Please see DECK, 3A Rendering courtesy city of Gainesville A rendering of the planned parking deck in Gainesville. I lUkU Service Photos by SCOTT ROGERS I The Times Georgia Department of Labor Commissioner Mark Butler speaks Monday, Dec, 7, at the Gainesville Civic Center during the Rotary Club of Gainesville’s luncheon. Labor commissioner visits Hall Shots fired, 5 arrested at Gainesville apartments BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com Police said they found broken glass and bul let holes in six vehicles after responding to a shooting Sunday, Dec. 6, at the North Pointe Apartments in Gainesville. No injuries were reported. Gainesville Police officers responded around 7:45 p.m. Sunday to a 911 call at the apartments on North Pointe Drive about a fight involving gunshots. Georgia Department of Labor Com missioner Mark Butler spoke to the Rotary Club of Gainesville Monday, Dec. 7, recapping what has been a chal lenging year and looking at what may be ahead. Here are a few takeaways from his speech. Hall’s jobless rate is at pre-pandemic levels The Hall County area’s employment picture is strong. The October jobless rate was 2.9%, compared to 2.8% in February, or pre pandemic levels. The area hit a record high of 10.7% in April. “And there are help wanted signs everywhere,” an audience member said. “Yeah, the same in my hometown (of Carrollton) and we’re not doing near as good as y’all,” Butler said. “... You guys are doing fantastic, unless you’re trying to hire.” The area has 2,635 job listings, mean ing “the actual number of jobs is a lot higher than that,” he said. “One listing doesn’t mean one job.” Employers with the most job postings include Northeast Georgia Medical Center and Amazon. Butler estimates 250,000 job openings in Georgia on GD0L website Georgia, overall, has an improving eco nomic picture as well. The state has 164,000 listings through the GDOL’s employgeorgia.com. “I personally feel there’s a quarter of a million job openings out there,” Butler said. “I’m 100% confident that I’m dead- on there.” Wages range from $10 to $75 per hour and salaries of $30,000 to more than $100,000. Occupations with the most job post ings include tractor-trailer truck drivers, registered nurses, retail sales associates, physicians and software developers/ engineers. Sectors with the most openings include health care, truck transportation and ambulatory health care services. $16.2 billion in jobless benefits paid in 2020 The state has issued $16.2 billion in jobless benefits this year to 1.5 million people, more than in the last 28 years combined. “A lot of that has to do with new pro grams passed by Congress,” Butler said. Between March and November, the department sorted through 4 million claims. With about 5 million people in the workforce, many of those are duplicate claims. “I talked to a lady the other day who said she’s filed four claims and six appeals, and I mean, one of each would have been just fine,” Butler said. 70 GD0L workers have gotten virus, 2 have died The virus has taken a toll on the labor department as well, even though public offices, including one in Hall County, have been closed throughout the pandemic. “We have an older agency. The aver age age of our workers is 54 years old,” Butler said. Almost 70 employs have tested positive for COVID-19 — almost half in the last couple of weeks. Five people have been hospitalized, and two staffers have died. “So, it’s been tough,” Butler said. To meet the demand of jobless claims, staff workers have been retrained and temporary workers have been hired. “The main thing we’ve been pushing is overtime,” he said, noting that workers have logged more than 200,000 overtime hours since March. Butler eyeing whether new virus relief package is coming Butler has his hands full with labor department matters in Georgia, but he’s ■ Please see BUTLER, 4A ■ Please see SHOOTING, 5A A vehicle has a shattered window Monday, Dec. 7, after a shooting Sunday at the North Pointe Apartments in Gainesville. Six vehicles parked at the complex have been damaged in the shooting with no injuries. SCOTT ROGERS The Times BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com If you build it, they will come to order. Hall County courthouse officials are asking the county’s board of commissioners to approve a res olution that would allow Hall County State Court to operate at the North Hall Community Center. “The only really significant modification is the construction of a bench for the judge,” Court administrator Jason Stephenson said. “Thankfully, our county construction team has had a little practice building those after the ren ovations at the courthouse annex for Juvenile and Probate (courts)." Stephenson said they will also need to move mostly technology equipment and other items for any State Court sessions. In the documents submitted to the board, officials said the “COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an inability to conduct jury trials due to social distancing requirements, and our judges wish to reduce the backlog of cases during 2021.” The board moved the resolution Monday, Dec. 7, to the consent agenda for the Thursday, Dec. 10, voting meeting. ■ Please see COURT, 5A Hall court requests use of community center for trials GDOL head recaps year’s employment at Rotary Club meeting BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
