Entries by Katie Huston

The town of Carl is considering the addition of a threeway stop sign prior to the opening of what may become one of Barrow County’s biggest industrial employers. [Full Story »] 

The past year in Statham, there have been four armed robberies, two of which occurred last month at gas stations.

Police chief Steve Martin approached the city with the idea of offering a reward for citizens with information to come forward. He said that the police department had received some tips, but nothing substantial enough to make an arrest. He thinks citizens need more incentive.

“Any money that (the city) might be able to offer would hopefully move things along,” Martin said.

He added that an issue with offering an award is that there could be more than one suspect, and the reward may have to be paid twice. [Full Story »] 

The Auburn City Council held its first forum on its proposed Fiscal Year 2011 budget Tuesday night, which is down almost 6 percent from last year.

The $3.3 million in the proposed general fund is down $197,514 from FY2010 with cuts coming from 13 of 18 departments.

One major cutback comes from capital improvements, where the city has budgeted zero money for 2011 compared to $625,000 in 2010. [Full Story »] 

Finances and a potentially rough road ahead were the talks of the town for the Carl Town Council recently.

Mayor David Brock mentioned that the town had to transfer money to guarantee that accounts payable would be satisfied for the remainder of the calendar year. He also said that the town is not relying or counting insurance franchise monies, because he is unsure when it might come in.

Brock told the council that it will be necessary to cut $10,000 from its next annual budget.

“I’m not guaranteeing we’ll make that in revenues,” he said. “With everybody else’s revenues being down — that impacts our monies from them.” [Full Story »] 

The Town of Carl is awaiting distribution of 2011 SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) funds and hoping for a fair allotment.

Mayor Dave Brock attended a meeting with other mayors in Barrow County regarding the funds.

Winder Mayor Chip Thompson has the authority to disburse the money to the other municipalities.

According to Brock, the cities are disappointed with the county disbursement of funds.

No discussion was held on what Carl plans to do with its allotment, only that the town hopes it receives its fair share. [Full Story »] 

The Statham City Council approved its Fiscal Year 2010-2011 budget with plans to amend it at the city’s next meeting.

The previous budget had included plans for a five percent increase for two police officers. The council decided to approve the budget without the salary increase and will revisit the issue at its July meeting.

Council member Betty Lyle was uneasy with singling out two employees for raises when the city employs 13 others, including maintenance workers.

“There’s no secrets around here,” Lyle said. “And you’re going to cause friction with the other employees if two get the raise and the others don’t.”

According to the council, there hasn’t been a salary increase in at least two years, if not three. [Full Story »] 

Carl’s newly adopted alcohol ordinance was back on the table for discussion, this time considering excise tax and distance regulations.

According to state law, distilled spirits may not be sold within 100 yards of a church and within 200 yards of a school. Similarly, wine and malt beverages may not be sold within 100 yards of a school.

However, nothing in state law prevents the sale by a licensee for consumption on property. This means that by the drink, where consumers may be regulated, state distances don’t apply.

As far as taxing, the ordinance states that a 3 percent tax shall be imposed on distilled spirits and that comes from the licensee. For beer, it equals five cents per 12-ounce can and 22 cents per liter of wine, which comes from the distributor upon purchase. [Full Story »] 

Statham expects to break even with its proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2010-2011.

In all, the city is expecting $2,161,728 in revenue and the same amount in expenses. A public hearing was held at the council meeting Tuesday night where no citizen spoke in favor or opposition of the proposed budget, and the council had no discussion.

The city’s largest expense, the police department is looking at a few cuts along with some proposed increases. [Full Story »] 

Carl is in talks to begin paying the mayor and council members only if they show up for monthly and called meetings.

As it stands now, they are paid regardless. Mayor David Brock raised the point at the town’s meeting Thursday night, but did not say if it was due to any certain members missing repeated meetings.

Council member Rebecca Knight immediately made her stance known as against the motion.

“I object to it,” she said. “I get phone calls in my office all the time because people can’t get in here and people’s got questions about what’s going on in this city.”

Brock said that he also receives calls during the day and does work other times than solely at council meetings. [Full Story »]