Barrow Journal

Barrow County could have a new chief of emergency services as soon as Jan. 12.

Commission Chairman Danny Yearwood on Tuesday offered the position to Dennis Merrifield, the former chief of the Statesboro Fire Department, and Merrifield accepted the offer in a call to Yearwood that evening.

The offer is contingent on a clean toxicology screen, criminal background check, and the approval of the Barrow County Board of Commissioners. If the BOC votes, as expected, to hire him Jan. 11, Merrifield will start his new job the following day.

“He’s very excited and will be a great asset to the community,” said Yearwood, who met him for the first time Tuesday. “He’s bringing a lot of qualifications to the county.” [Full Story »] 

A lieutenant at Barrow County Emergency Services and his pregnant daughter remained hospitalized Monday following a Christmas Day shooting in which each lost a portion of a limb from being struck by the same bullet.

Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said a family argument between Lt. Todd Orr and two of his daughters culminated in violence shortly after 4 p.m. Saturday after Orr picked up a loaded, .270-calibre hunting rifle that was in his bedroom.

He told deputies that he had intended to leave the house and to take his gun with him. However, his daughters believed he was going to commit suicide, Smith said. [Full Story »] 

Three months after back-to-back wrecks at Highway 211 and Barrow Park Drive, two county employees say they are relieved that a left turn lane now has been added to the intersection.

“That’s the best thing that has ever been done,” said Nat Dukes, director of Barrow County Roads & Fleet, who was rear-ended July 29 in a county truck while attempting to turn left onto Barrow Park Drive. “It should have been put in a long time ago.”

“The turning lane is marvelous,” said Gail Buchanan, chief clerk of the Barrow County Magistrate Court, who on Aug. 6 was T-boned on the driver’s side by a loaded tractor-trailer while making the turn. “I love it. I don’t have to cringe every time I turn in to come to work.”

The project was completed Nov. 19 when Georgia Department of Transportation workers replaced guardrail that had been damaged by Buchanan’s Chrysler Sebring smashing into it.

“It works good, traffic flows good, DOT likes it, everybody’s happy,” said county engineering manager Darrell Greeson, who designed the project and oversaw every step of planning and construction. “Hopefully it will make it safer.”

Dukes’ own staff prepared the preliminary site work, preparing it for paving.

“We did everything except the paving and striping on it,” Dukes said, noting that it was the first time his crews had worked on a state-highway project.
[Full Story »] 

Barrow County’s government is preparing to relocate and upgrade more than a mile of water lines in connection with the state’s planned improvement of the intersection of highways 124 and 211.

The Barrow County Board of Commissioners on Nov. 9 unanimously approved the expenditure of up to $49,000 for Jordan, Jones & Goulding Inc. to engineer the relocation and replacement of the water infrastructure.

The engineers have yet to determine the exact scope and cost of the utility project, but preliminary plans call for the replacement of 6,100 linear feet of water main and the relocation of related infrastructure, including a “water meter vault” that will be moved to a site adjacent to Beaver Dam Road. [Full Story »] 

Two Winder city councilmen who once served as chairmen of the Barrow County Board of Education are miffed that the city had to pay the school system $2,300 for a strip of right of way to improve an intersection adjacent to school headquarters.

The land transaction already had taken place, but councilman Bob Dixon brought up the issue at Monday night’s council meeting, saying he wants to change the way the city and the school system negotiate future deals.

He said the land negotiations did not involve elected officials and a school employee at one point had suggested the city sell the land for twice its appraised value in water credits. [Full Story »] 

At a called meeting Oct. 27, the Winder City Council agreed in a 3-2 vote to provide $10,000 to the fundraising campaign of the Barrow Economic Development Council.

Council members Ridley Parrish, Bob Dixon and Sonny Morris voted in favor while Frank Dunagan and David Maynard voted no. Charlie Eberhart was absent.

Asked by councilman Ridley Parrish if the requested funding for the “Best of Barrow” campaign is available in the city’s current budget, Mayor Chip Thompson said that while there is no specific earmark for it, the money is available. [Full Story »]