Commission Reviews Hotel Proposal
Business, Community September 20, 2022
HELEN, Ga.- The Helen Commissioners heard and took action, for a hotel that JT Gangwall is proposing for 8770 North Main Street.
The commissioners also voted to award a contract for the Lift Station project during the meeting. Mayor Fred Garmon presented Finance Officer Mona Wood with an award.
Gangwall has already been approved to have a hotel on the location by the PBR board, he has spent the last year designing the hotel. He took his plans for the hotel to the PBR board which was short three members and got the initial plans approved with a 4-0 vote and it got sent to the commission for their approval.
TJ Gangwell and Caroll Powell while presenting to the commission.
Gangwall and Carol Powell General Manager of the Holiday Inn Express made the same presentation to the commissioners that the PBR board members that were present saw. The hotel will be five stories going with the flow of the hill and have 90 rooms all of which will be suits.
The hotel will have one way in and one way out so the DOT has not made a requirement for there to be a turning lane off of Main street. On the first floor, there will be a tavern that is open to the public. The first floor will also have the lobby and an indoor pool and only guests of the hotel will have access to these.
The floor height for the hotel.
They are also planning a 3,000 sqft conference room. They have a pull-off lane for the deliveries right off the laundry room and another by the conference room. There is enough room for an 18-wheeler or bus to pull in without blocking traffic in the opposite lane.
Gangwall and Powell answered both commissioner questions and public questions at the meeting. The number of jobs that could be introduced with the hotel is anywhere from 40 to 70 including a food and beverage director for the tavern.
Heard in the clip above is Powell inviting anyone with questions or concerns to come to talk to her at her office. The hotel will also have 106 parking spots and not put any extra stress on the water and wastewater systems.
For more information on the PBR meeting on this subject visit https://cityofhelen.org/index.php/government/city-departments/building-permits/pdrb-meeting-agendas-minutes/2022. The commissioners voted to approve the current plan, now the next step is for Gangwall to finish the architectural rendering before going back to the PBR board for reviewal.
The next item the commissioners took action on was to award the contract for the lift station project. They originally budgeted $1,450,000 for the project and when the bids went out in Aug. they received two bids.
The lower one was with Square Deal for $1,141,053. The company is out of Sautee and has done work with the city in the past. The other bid was for $1,987,000.
The company that was awarded the contract was Square Deal. This project will not interfere with the cleaning of the wastewater ponds as they will be working on them at different times.
Fred Garmon and Mona Wood while he was presenting her with the award.
Garmon presented Wood with an award for completing all the necessary requirements for a financial officer. He also thanked her for all her hard work during the software changeover.
Board Reviewed Options for 2023-2024 Academic Calendars
Community, Education, Indian's Corner January 25, 2022
WHITE COUNTY, Ga.-Superintendent Dr. Laurie Burkett presented the board with two possible academic calendars for the 2023-2024 school year during the work session on Jan. 25.
Burkett also gave the board the Jan. dispositions and the COVID update. Assistant Superintendent Scott Justus present the Jan. ESPLOST request to the board and Director of Student Services Dr. MaryKay Berry gave out the 2022 Philip Wright Award.
The two options for the academic calendar for the 2023-24 school year. Option 1 is on the right and option 2 is on the left.
Burkett presented the board with the two possible options for academic calendars for the 2023-24 school year. These options if approved at the meeting on Jan. 27 at 6:00 p.m. will be given out to the community for their vote.
Calendar option 1 does not give as long of a winter break for the teachers as they usually receive. Option two is closer to the academic calendars that are currently in place.
If the board votes to send these out to the community there will be a survey to fill out. The numbers will be split up between those who work for the school system and the regular community. This way the board will have an idea of what the staff wants and also what the community wants and the decision will be made from there.
Next Burkett gave the board the list of the Jan. dispositions. Each school has items on the list. Those items are old Chromebooks, old Ipads and mini Ipads, and old calculators. The Chromebooks will still be used as spare parts when needed for the ones currently in use.
The Friday COVID report.
On Friday the current COVID report was released to the community. The only update from that is due to the shorter quarantine time, of the 17 staff members that were counted as positive on Friday 14 of them were able to return to work yesterday.
“We feel good about where we are, I’ve looked at the county numbers yesterday and the county seems to be trending down and we are usually a week behind the county, so I feel like we, I hope that we’ve hit our peak and that we’ll just continue to go down,” stated Burkett.
Justus brought to the board the Jan. ESPLOST request. The request is for $43,937.50. This will go to a new trailer for Ag which costs $40,346.00 and a new windscreen for the tennis courts which will cost $3,791,50. The board will vote on the request at their regular meeting.
Lastly, Berry presented the 2022 Philip Wright Award. The award is given on behalf of the Pioneer RESA group to an individual with a strong commitment to improving educational outcomes for students with disabilities. To learn more about Pioneer RESA and what they do with the school systems visit https://www.pioneerresa.org/page/about-us.
Dr. MaryKay Berry, with Laurie Higgins and the student she helped this year.
This year’s recipient is Laurie Higgins an administrative assistant who also serves as the community-based work site in the student services department. Higgins rearranged her office to accommodate a student with special constraints that she was working with and was able to get the student to a point where they could perform a task completely independently.
“She works tirelessly with the students to make sure they understand what they are learning and we are just blown away with her dedication to making sure the student feels successful,” highlighted Berry.