About The Banks County news. (Homer, Banks County, Ga.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 18, 2023)
o o $1.00 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2023 Homer, Banks County, GA 30547 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. • 16 Pages, 2 Sections Plus Supplements Vol. 57 No. 44 Free Health Fair planned Saturday The Banks County Recre ation Department will host a free Fall Festival and Health Fair from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 21. The event will include games, bouncy houses, food, live music and free health screenings. The recreation center is located at 607 Thompson Street, Homer. Haunted Walking Tour set in Homer The Banks County His torical Society will hold the annual Haunted Walking Torn on Friday, Oct. 20, and Saturday, Oct. 21. There will be three toms, each night. The tom will begin at the Historic Court- house/Museum in Homer at 6:30 p.m., 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Democrats to meet Thursday Mike Buffington will be guest speaker for the Banks County Democrats meeting at 6 p.m. this Thmsday eve ning, October 19. The meeting will be held at Homer City Hall and all Democrats are encomaged to attend. The topic will be “Effec tive Use of Media.” BCHS Governance Council meeting changed to Oct. 24 The Banks County High School Governance Council meeting scheduled for Tues day, Oct. 17, was changed to Tuesday, Oct. 24. The meet ing will be held at 6 p.m. Inside this issue: BCHS Career Fair-Page 8B MAILING LABEL Pumpkin Festival planned in Homer Saturday; scarecrows placed in park Early voting underway for town elections 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 Pa rade at 3 p.m. for ages birth to 12 years old. There is no entry fee and first, second and third place winners will be given. Those who partic ipate are encomaged to dec orate their wagons, bikes or battery operated small vehi cles. 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. Photo by Angela Gary Scarecrows were being set up in Homer this week in prepara tion for the annual Pumpkin Festival set for Saturday. Homer’s planned roundabout construction slated for 2024 By HANNAH CAUDELL The Homer City Coun cil met last week to discuss issues related to the round about on the Historic Homer Highway and the construc tion of the well on Evans Road. The council gave an up date on the roundabout that is tentatively scheduled for construction next year by the Georgia Department of Transportation. Surveyors on the project have asked the council if the area is in the historic district or the environmental overlay dis trict, which could potential ly have an effect on plan ning. The council also reit erated that they have ex pressed their concerns for the businesses on Historic Homer Highway, including the Dollar General and the Golden Pantry, among other businesses. Equipment for the well on Evans Street is slated to be delivered between Jan uary 16 and January 30 of next year. As of now, there has been no estimate of cost from the contractor about installation, but quotes are currently being collected. Councilmember James Dumas also said that he wants a feasibility study to be done in the historic dis trict of Homer to determine whether new sewage piping can be available in the city. The council originally pro posed a feasibility study in 2021. The council discussed the lead piping in the town as well. According to Dumas, the Georgia Municipal As sociation may provide reim bursements for equipment purchased and potholes dug for detecting lead piping. The council also heard from Gary Reynolds, who asked the council to consid er accepting a one-acre lot on his property with a 20- foot easement to be record ed for the future construc tion of his granddaughter’s family home. According to city attorney David Syfan at a previous meeting, the ordinance re quires that the council ap prove an access easement for a separate lot. Coun cilmember Sandra Garrison motioned to accept the lot, and all the council voted in favor of the action. The council ended the meeting with some words from Downtown Develop ment Authority Treasurer Kellie Jones, who provid ed further details about the Pumpkin Festival and the Christmas on the Farm theme. The Pumpkin Festival will be held on Saturday. Oct. 21. The event is catered to children ages zero to 12 and will have free activities such as a scarecrow con test, parade, free games and crafts, a pumpkin patch, and more. Jones also informed the council that the closing of Yonah Homer Road for the event is likely. This week, the Downtown Development Authority will also begin preparations for the Christmas theme this year, which is Christmas on the Farm. The event will be held on Thursday, Dec. 9. More details will be provid ed at a later date. This week, the council will have a called meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 17, to hear from Banks County Golf LLC and the citizens of Ho mer concerning the applica tion for rezoning submitted to the City of Homer Plan ning Commission. The re zoning application asks the council to amend the plan for the Planned Community Development District zon ing classification to allow 367 residential units and/or to allow 22 townhome res idential units on Chimney Oaks. Mayor’s race set in three towns Early voting is underway 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, Pattcia 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. 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. Lula axes rezoning request for hatchery By SHERRY LEWIS The Lula City Council turned down a zoning request Monday night to change a 16.99-acre piece of property from Hwy. Business to Heavy Industrial for a poultry plant at Cornelia Highway (365) and Belton Bridge Road. Developers had said 11 acres would be used for the plant leaving additional property for green space. Former Lula Mayor Jim Grier spoke in opposition of the request. “I object to rezoning valuable commercial business land,” he said. “This is the most valuable plot of land available for commercial use that we have in Lula at this time. This would be rezoning good property for less than it’s greatest use.” Grier noted that many people would love to see a gro cery store on that site. Other citizens echoed Grier’s sen timents. “I’d say 50 percent of the people in Lula would like to have an actually grocery store without driving to Gaines ville or Cornelia,” stated Robert Grizzle. The council listened to the citizens and unanimously voted to deny this request. OTHER BUSINESS In other business, the city council: •approved a bid of $110,362 for architects to design the Belton Bridge water line. •agreed to take applications for a seat on the Lula Devel opment Authority. •noted that bid development is underway for culvert re placement at Chattahoochee and Carter Street. •announced that the Lula Ladies will offer a community meal on Sunday, November 12, from 2-4 p.m. to recognize veterans. The Lula Ladies will host a lunch at noon and dinner at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 25. •noted that the Historical Society will meet on Monday, October 23, at the Depot at 7 p.m. Baldwin Fall Festival set The City of Baldwin will host its sixth annual Fall Festival on Saturday. Oct. 21. The event will kick off at 9:30 a.m. at city hall with a “JEEPers Creepers Monster Bash Decoration Contest and Currahee Fall Crawl.” Starting at noon, local food, crafters, live music, a visit from Heroes in Force and Barbie, games and more will be offered at the Farmer’s Market. There will be a fireworks show at 7:30 p.m. Pumpkin time for students and seniors Students from the Banks Mountain Education Campus recently visited the Bountiful Hills Senior Living Community. They enjoyed a presentation from the Healthcare Administrator and helped decorate pumpkins as they visited with the residents.
