About The Banks County news. (Homer, Banks County, Ga.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 11, 2023)
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
