Auburn Archives

Auburn officials are currently attempting to collect approximately $110,000 in delinquent taxes. City clerk Joyce Brown said during Thursday’s meeting the amount includes penalties. As of Thursday, Auburn had received approximately $444,000 in tax payments. A total of 393 delinquent notices have been mailed to Auburn residents, Brown said. Also at Thursday’s meeting, the council approved a new police department policy allowing Chief Paul Nadeau to review officers’ social networking sites for inappropriate content.
For the full story, see the April 10 issue of the Barrow Journal.

The Miller Valentine Group has shown interest in developing a senior or senior/family community in Auburn, according to City Planner Larry Lucas. Lucas made the announcement at the January 17 Auburn City Council meeting. He reported that a market study of the area would be the determining factor in the exact type of community planned. The announcement that another apartment housing project might take a look at Auburn comes on the heels of a failed project in which the city got a lot of criticism for having started a now-defunct city transit system in an effort to help the proposed developer.
For the full story, see the Jan. 23 issue of the Barrow Journal.

The Auburn City Council scheduled a special called meeting 7 p.m. Monday to address the future of the city's bus system and the budget.
Notice of the meeting at 4 p.m. came just hours after city officials learned a proposed apartment complex they were hoping to attract to the town did not get the state tax credits the project needed. The proposed Auburn Hills project was not on the list released Friday of projects approved for the credits, although two other Barrow County projects were on the final list.
"We of course are disappointed; the staff certainly worked diligently to meet the need for our community," said Mayor Linda Blechinger. "We will meet to discuss the vehicle that was donated to us by (the developer). We always said if we did not get the apartments we would decide whether to sell it or keep it for city use. We will also discuss the budget and see where we can adjust." [Full Story »] 

The fate of a proposed apartment complex that Auburn is counting on to help fund its 2013 budget remained unclear this week as the state has not yet announced what projects have qualified for a state tax credit. What has become clearer, however, is the close relationship between the developer of that proposed Auburn Hills project, TBG Residential, and Auburn’s move last summer to create a city transit system known as ANT.
For the full story, see the Nov. 28 issue of the Barrow Journal.

Did Auburn officials get “used” by a large developer for a project that has nothing to do with the town? That’s the obvious question this week after city officials learned that TBG developers had used the town’s controversial transit system to help one of its development projects near Barrow Crossings to potentially get state tax credits. Auburn leaders had been under the impression that the town’s ANT system was designed just to help TBG get a tax credit for a proposed apartment construction project in Auburn.
Auburn city planner Larry Lucas was surprised Monday to learn from a Journal reporter that TBG had not only used the town’s money-losing transit system in a bid to score tax credits for Auburn Hills, a proposed group of apartments off Mount Moriah Road in Auburn, but that TBG had also used the transit system to get points for its Farmington Hills, Phase II project near Winder.
“They did not share that with us or include that as part of their discussions that the (Farmington Hills) Phase II would also include the ANT in their scoring," he said.
In addition, in a self-scoring process required of all developers submitting a tax credits proposal, TBG scored its Farming Hills project at Barrow Crossings two points higher than its proposed Auburn project. In effect, TBG has two projects in Barrow County competing for the tax credits and rated its Winder project higher. Both projects are proposed as family developments of the same size, 72 units. TBG is also asking for roughly the same tax credit allocation for each of its developments, at $805,000.
For the full story, see the Nov. 21 issue of the Barrow Journal.

The Auburn City Council is moving forward with plans to find a new water source. During its meeting Oct. 18, the council voted unanimously to proceed with closing on a $546,000 loan through the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority. The money will be used to fund state and federal permits for the construction of a new reservoir as well as the engineering costs for pumping stations, force mains, storage tanks and the water treatment plant, according to GEFA.
For the full story, see the Oct. 24 issue of the Barrow Journal.

The Auburn City Council voted to place limits on what kind of signs or billboards can be erected near the town’s railroad tracks. The unanimous vote followed a public hearing on the issue during a meeting Oct. 4. No comments were made in favor or against the proposal.
For the full story, see the Oct. 10 issue of the Barrow Journal.