About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (May 19, 2023)
ehc mmts Weekend Edition - MAY 19-20,2023 | $2.00 | GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com Honestly Local 1. TLiP Camper destroyed in fire on Candler Road in Gainesville. REGION, 4B Hall BOE to meet again for budget vote Superintendent Schofield on mistake Hall School Board Budget Hearings BY BEN ANDERSON banderson@gainesvilletimes.com The Hall County school board is calling a special meeting on Mon day, May 22, after forgetting to adopt a preliminary budget at their regular meeting earlier this week. The school system announced late last month that it would adopt its preliminary budget on May 15, but by the time the meeting was over, there hadn’t been any fiscal talk. Superintendent Will Schofield took the blame. “In terms of whose fault it was that we forgot on Monday, that’s 100% me. I’m the secretary of the board,” Schofield said. “I dropped the ball. We had all our documenta tion, we were ready, we had talked about it. We had actually gone over exactly what we were going to adopt a week before. It didn’t get on the agenda. I didn’t catch it and before you knew it the meeting was over and I said, ‘I’ll be doggone.’” Last year, the school board had to delay the adoption of its bud get and millage rate by a month because legal advertisements in ‘I dropped the ball’ The Times weren’t large enough. It was an unusually packed house on Monday: a total of 69 students were given awards for performing well in various compe titions related to career, technical and agricultural education. “We got all caught up in all those wonderful awards that we gave,” Schofield said. “With all the awards and stuff we presented Monday, we didn’t approve the preliminary budget,” said school board chairman Criag Herrington. “We had it there in front of us, but it wasn’t listed on Here is the 2023-24 budget and millage rate adoption schedule, which includes three public hearings at the school district’s central office at 711 Green St. Preliminary budget • 5 p.m. May 22 the agenda, so to make it offi cial we’re going to meet Monday afternoon at five o’clock and we’ll approve it then.” Schofield is recommending that the board approve a reduction in the millage rate, though officials haven’t said by how much. The final budget and millage rate will Public hearings • 6 p.m. June 12 • 11:30 a.m. June 26 • 6 p.m. June 26 Final budget and millage rate adoption • 6:30 p.m. June 26 be adopted June 26. “Right now, it looks like it’s going to be lower. Over the next couple of weeks we’ll be in a better posi tion to say, ‘We think it’ll be this,”’ Schofield said. The current millage rate is 15.99. ■ Please see BUDGET, 4A Knights to remember Photos by SCOTT ROGERS I The Times Johnson High graduating seniors and family members filled Free Chapel Worship Center on Thursday, May 18, for the school’s graduation ceremony. It is the school’s 50th graduating class. Buford man gets 12 years for fentanyl BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com A Buford man who admitted to selling fen tanyl every week for months was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison, according to authorities. Jamerris Head, 39, pleaded guilty to two counts of distrib uting fentanyl and was sen tenced Wednesday, May 17, by U.S. District Judge Richard W. Story. Story recommended that Head be allowed to serve his sentence at a facility as close as possible to ■ Please see FENTANYL, 4A Head Flowery Branch gives first OK to zoning changes BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com A flurry of new zoning changes could take effect when a growth moratorium in Flowery Branch ends July 5. The city is largely addressing codes that are outdated and don’t address current economic conditions, city officials said. For example, residential zoning for single family homes allows for bigger lots than are being marketed today. “It’s like back in the ‘70s, when people wanted a 1-acre lot with a house on it,” City Manager Tonya Parrish said. “As developments change and there’s increases in pricing for land and materials, you ■ Please see ZONING, 5A ONLINE INSIDE gainesvilletimes.com/newsletters: Sign up to receive email newsletters from The Times gainesvilletimes.com/apps: Download The Times’ app for a user-friendly online experience and app notifications for big stories Advice 6C Calendar 2A Classified 3B Comics 1D Fun+Games 5C Life 1C Opinion 6A Obituaries 2C Our Region 4B Sports 1B 4 0 9 01 06825 9 YOUR TAXES —your impact— Get a credit on your income tax by supporting your local hospital Northeast Georgia Medical Center LUMPKIN
