Newspaper Page Text
o
O
$1.00
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2023
Homer, Banks County, GA 30547 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. • 16 Pages, 2 Sections Plus Supplements
Vol. 57 No. 43
Pumpkin
Festival
planned in
Homer Oct. 21
A Homer Pumpkin Fes
tival is planned for Satur
day, Oct. 21, from 2 p.m. to
6 p.m. in downtown Homer.
The event, which is spon
sored by the Homer DDA
and North Georgia Pro
duce, will include games
and crafts for kids, pump
kin painting, games and a
pumpkin patch.
There will be a Kiddie
Parade at 3 p.m. for ages
birth to 12 years old. There
is no entry fee and first, sec
ond and third place winners
will be given. Those who
participate are encouraged
to decorate their wagons,
bikes or battery operated
small vehicles.
There will be a Storybook
Scarecrow contest. Entries
may be set up Oct. 15-16
from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. The
entry fee is $5.
Early voting
starts Monday
Early voting will start
Monday, Oct. 16, for the
town elections on the Nov.
7 ballot. Absentee ballot
requests may be submitted
until Oct. 27.
In Maysville, incumbent
mayor Richard Presley will
face challenger William S.
McLeish Jr.
One council seat in Mays
ville will also be on the bal
lot. In Ward 4, Brodriche D.
Jackson and Roy Dean will
face off.
In Alto, incumbent PJ.
Huggins, Patrcia Gail Ar
mour and John Smith will
be on the ballot in the may
or’s race.
In Baldwin, Stephanie
Almagno and Tom Whit
ney are seeking the mayor’s
seat.
The mayor’s seat current
ly is held by acting mayor
Alice Venter and will be
elected for the remainder
of about two years and one
month, beginning around
Dec. 1, 2023, and run
through Dec. 31,2025. Ven
ter serves as Post 5 Coun-
cilmember and will return
to that seat once the new
mayor is installed.
In Lula, incumbent Gar
nett Smith and Roy Henry
Jr. qualified for District 4.
In District 5, which is va
cant, Juliette Leone Talley,
Joseph Michael Headrick
and Debbie Parker-Presley
qualified.
MAILING LABEL
Nightly lane closures underway at
Banks Crossing to install median
The Georgia Department
of Transportation (DOT)
and contractor C.W. Mat
thews Company, Inc. will
close a single lane in each
direction both northbound
and southbound on US 441/
Banks Crossing from the In
terstate-85 Bridge to Dallas
Drive to install a raised con
crete median.
The lane closure will be
gan on Monday evening,
October 9, and will contin
ue for approximately four
weeks. The work will be
—£? I
U 3
done from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.,
weather permitting.
The area to be impact
ed will be at Banks Cross
ing US 441 from the 1-85
bridge to Dallas Drive. This
operation will impact both
northbound and southbound
traffic.
Motorists are cautioned
to reduce their speed while
traveling through work
zones, stay alert, and watch
for workers.
“Delays are anticipated,”
DOT officials report. “Con
sider alternate routes. The
exact dates may change due
to weather or other factors.
Before heading out, get re
al-time information on work
status and traffic conditions
by calling 511, visiting
511ga.org, or downloading
the Georgia 511 app.”
Erik Keith to fill vacant seat
on Baldwin City Council
By KARLEE CALDWELL
The Baldwin City Coun
cil plans to appoint Erik
Keith to Post 1 to fill the va
cant seat that was formerly
held by Larry Lewallen.
The seat needs to be filled
to ensure there is a quorum
in case of an emergency
within the council.
In Baldwin’s charter, if
a council member vacates
their seat within 90 days of
an election, anyone can be
appointed.
This issue was discussed
at a meeting of the city
council last week.
Also at the meeting, the
city council came to a con
sensus on a partial rollback
for the 2023 millage rates
of both their Habersham
and Banks County sides of
Baldwin.
A partial rollback would
result in a Habersham rate
of 8.735 (a decrease from
2022’s rate of 9.342) and
a Banks rate of 3.240 (up
slightly from 3.465 in
2022).
With only 24 percent of
the budget coming from
property taxes, there will
be a total impact of around
$27,111, resulting in an im
pact of $1.34 to Habersham
taxes and $2.74 to Banks
County taxes due to less
parcels within their limits.
These numbers will pro
vide some relief for the city
while also keeping the bud
get balanced without having
to make cuts, city leaders
stated.
Baldwin is also looking
forward to new businesses
coming within the next year
to help with relief.
In other business at the
meeting, the council dis
cussed the purchase of a
seventh police vehicle into
the lease program due to
the recent addition of a new
full-time officer.
This would add $10,599
plus $9,000 in upfitting
costs to the FY24 public
safety projects budget.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
•The final 2023 Movie in
the Market at 7:30 p.m. on
October 20. Bring chairs
and blankets to the Baldwin
Farmers’ Marlet for a free
screening of “Coco.” Light
concessions will be avail
able with all proceeds going
to the “Shop with a Hero”
program.
•The City of Baldwin is
now accepting vendors for
their sixth annual Fall Fes
tival on October 21. The
event will include food
trucks, crafters. The vendor
application is available on
line at www.cityofbaldwin.
org or by emailing bald-
wine vents @cityo fb aldwin.
org
BOC split on deal
to locate water line
to new vet clinic
Proposal denied
in 3-2 vote
By ANGELA GARY
The Banks County Board
of Commissioners debated
Tuesday night whether to
approve a deal with a local
vet clinic to pay for half of
the cost of locating a water
line on the property. The
vote was 3-2 to deny the
proposal.
The proposal was for the
county to pay for half of
the cost of locating a water
line on Webbs Creek to the
new vet clinic. In exchange,
the business would provide
a half-off discount to the
county for animal services.
The county would get this
half-off fee for animal ser
vices until the point it reach
es the amount of money that
was paid for the water line
project.
Commissioner Chris Aus-
bum made the motion to
deny the agreement with
Bo Garrison and Danny
Maxwell also voting along
with him. BOC chairman
Charles Turk and Commis
sioner Keith Gardiner were
not in favor of denying the
proposal.
“This pains me for sever
al reasons,” Ausbum said.
“For one reason, I don’t like
to get into the trading out of
services for the county. To
me, it looks like it would
take 10 to 15 years to pay us
back. I’m struggling to do
this. I can’t make this deal
work for me. This looks like
a business deal I wouldn’t
sign in my personal busi
ness. I can’t support it for
the county. There is no clar
ity on what things will cost.
This is paying for their wa
ter line on their property. I
can’t do it.”
Garrison said, “I feel like
you are opening the door to
running water lines on pri
vate property”
Maxwell said he would
need more information be
fore he could approve the
agreement.
He said, “We are going
to get our money back but
I would like to know if it’s
going to be five years or 10
years.”
GRIFFITH
REAPPOINTED
In a 3-2 vote, Taylor Grif
fith was reappointed to serve
another term on the Banks
County Planning Commis
sion. Turk and Gardiner vot
ed against this, while Garri
son, Ausbum and Maxwell
voted in favor of it.
Before Griffith was ap
pointed, two other peo
ple, Steven Cain and Terry
Mick, were recommended
but both failed in 3-2 votes.
In other business at the
meeting Tuesday, the BOC:
•heard from Turk that
there were 308 fire calls and
2,645 sheriff’s office calls
reported last month.
•approved the public
transit agreement with the
Northeast Georgia Region
al Commission providing
transportation for Banks
County residents to Jackson
Creative.
Continued on Page 2A
Fall Festival time:
Annual events held in Gillsville, Maysville, Lula
Photo by Wesleigh Sagon
The Historic Gillsville Fall Folk Pottery Show was held on Saturday, Oct. 7, at Craven Pottery
Inc. The event was hosted by Billy Joe Craven (left), Wayne Hewell (center) and Stanley Fer
guson (right). The event featured 34 potters displaying their wares. It was estimated that 250
visitors attended the show. See more photos on Page 3A.
Former Lula council member Mordecai Wilson, 98, checked out the Lula Fall Festival. See
more photos on Page 8B
Photo by Wesleigh Sagon
Children made sand art at Lisa Hansen’s booth at Maysville’s
56th annual Autumn Leaf Festival. The festival featured arts
and crafts, entertainment and a parade. See more photos
from the festival on Page 8A.
14 14 3
