LOOKING BACK AT 2021: WALKER COUNTY’S TOP STORIES OF THE YEAR
As 2022 begins, the Walker County Messenger is looking back at the top stories of 2021. While the global pandemic continued to dominate headlines with its impact on local schools, businesses and the community, this article will also highlight some of the local events affecting Walker County residents.
What follows are summaries of 2021’s top news stories arranged in chronological order:
BATTLE AGAINST COVID-19 CONTINUED
The COVID-19 pandemic dominated the news. Almost every edition of the newspaper in 2021 included at least one article that was directly related to coronavirus or at least mentioned it.
Georgia nursing homes began receiving the first wave of COVID-19 vaccines Dec. 28, 2020. Starting in January 2021 vaccinations were available locally to healthcare workers and medical first responders in the Phase 1a category. Then vaccinations — and later boosters — rolled out in phases for more of the population; special drive-thru clinics, local vaccination stations and regional mass vaccination sites were set up to vaccinate the public as quickly as possible in a push toward herd immunity.
Leaders wrangled about vaccine mandates and safety requirements for restaurants, businesses, houses of worship and public gatherings. Some businesses cut their hours of operation, laid off staff or shuttered altogether. Gov. Brian Kemp’s final executive order extending the public health state of emergency expired July 1 at midnight.
The delta variant surged in the summer, and then the omicron variant led cases to spike at the end of the year. Testing became readily available for those feeling symptomatic; however, social distancing and wearing masks became less prevalent as the year progressed.
Businesses, governments and schools struggled to return to normalcy. Jury trials resumed in the spring with safety precautions. The animal shelter resumed adoptions by appointment only in February. Walker County and Chickamauga school districts resumed in-person classes in August but adapted their teaching formats as necessary two weeks later as COVID cases surged again. Back Alley Productions resumed performances for live audiences with safety precautions and mask requirements; however, other organizations and governments continued to cancel or postpone events.
By Dec. 29, the Georgia Public Health Department reported 10,292 confirmed cases, 138 confirmed deaths and 38 probable deaths in Walker County.
As the year closed and the governor ordered up to 2,500 Georgia National Guard troops to prepare for deployment Dec. 28 to deal with the state’s record high for COVID cases, people wondered when they will be able to work, shop, dine, worship and attend large events as they did before the coronavirus. One thing was evident — the pandemic will continue to exact its toll into 2022.
COMMISSIONERS TOOK OFFICE
Walker County Probate Judge Christy Anderson swore in the members of the new Walker County Board of Commissioners Dec. 30, 2020, at the courthouse in LaFayette. The new board included Commissioners Mark Askew, Robert Blakemore, Brian Hart, Robert Stultz and Chairman Shannon Whitfield.
The commissioners took office on Jan. 1 and held their first meeting Jan. 4, electing Askew as vice chairman and setting the board’s meeting schedule for the coming year.
The installation of the board ended 80 years of a sole commissioner form of government. The transition began in 2017 when the Georgia General Assembly drafted a bill outlining the composition of a five-member board, duties, powers, district maps and other related matters. Then-Gov. Nathan Deal signed the bill into law on May 2, 2017. Walker County voters approved the change on Nov. 6, 2018, when 80% of them voted yes to it.
AMBULANCE SERVICE PROVIDER CHANGED
Walker County switched Feb. 1 from ambulance provider Puckett EMS to CHI Memorial EMS.
Whitfield, then Walker County’s sole commissioner, accepted a proposal Sept. 24, 2020, from CHI Memorial EMS to provide emergency and non-emergency ambulance service for the county effective Feb. 1, 2021. Puckett EMS provided ambulance service for the previous 4½ years.
The four-year agreement called for ambulances to be located throughout the area to ensure
optimal response times and a 24hour supervisor to manage dayto-day operations to be installed at Walker County Fire Station No. 1 in Rock Spring.
EDUCATION TAX RENEWED
Walker County voters approved continuing a 1% special educational sales and use tax that could generate up to $37 million to benefit public schools.
Roughly 78%, or 817 of 1,048 ballots cast in the March 16 election supported continuing the ESPLOST VI (Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax); ESPLOST VI will go into effect after the current ESPLOST, ESPLOST V, ends in June 2022.
According to the referendum, the ESPLOST is expected to raise approximately $31,968,000 (86.4%) for the Walker County School District. The proposed projects include renovations and modifications to 15 existing school properties; technology-acquisition and upgrading of devices, infrastructure, safety and security, and other related resources; replacement of school system fleet vehicles; athletic fields and tennis court improvements; auxiliary gymnasium(s) at four middle schools; Central Office projects; and a new high school (based on enrollment, availability of State Capital Outlay funds and other factors).
The remaining $5,032,000 (13.6%) will be received by the Chickamauga Board of Education. The proposed projects include electrical upgrades and replacement of Chickamauga Elementary School’s fire alarm system; replacement of Gordon Lee Middle School’s fire alarm system; replacement of the Gordon Lee High School football field’s artificial turf; system-wide improvements for drainage and flooding issues; acquisition, construction and equipping of new educational buildings, athletic sites and facilities; acquisition and installation of system-wide security and safety equipment; acquisition, installation and upgrading of systemwide technology and equipment; renovations, improvements and equipping of existing educational buildings, athletic sites, properties and facilities; acquisition of any property, both real and personal, and equipment necessary for the listed capital outlay projects; and acquisition of real property for future schools, facilities, administrative offices, athletic sites, support services and other school system purposes.
HEISKELL REMEMBERED
Former Walker County Sole Commissioner Bebe Heiskell, 81, died May 27. She served as sole commissioner from 2001-2016 and previously served 24 years in the administration of Sole Commissioner Roy Parrish; when she took office in 2001, she was Georgia’s first and only female sole commissioner and the first Republican commissioner in Walker County’s history. As commissioner, Heiskell implemented a storm water management initiative, adopted a building inspection program, funded construction of several community centers, purchased the Marsh House in LaFayette for historic preservation, supported the preservation of Chattooga Academy, protected more than 20,000 acres
of greenspace, established an employee health clinic, approved the construction of the current animal shelter facility and built several new fire stations. The new fire stations helped lower the county’s ISO rating, reducing homeowners’ insurance premiums.
Her economic development credits include Northern Georgia Logistics, Audia Plastics, and the retention and expansion of Roper Corp. She will be remembered for meeting many challenges, including through the Tri-State Crematory scandal, the 2009 500-year flood and April 27, 2011, tornadoes.
CHI MEMORIAL ANNOUNCED NEW HOSPITAL PLANS
CHI Memorial announced in June plans to build a new hospital on Battlefield Parkway in Catoosa County.
The hospital will feature stateof-the-art inpatient beds including an intensive care unit (ICU), a full-service emergency department, operating rooms and procedural suites. It will connect to the current CHI Memorial Parkway building, creating a single campus geared on establishing a central location for inpatient and outpatient services.
The current facility at 100 Gross Crescent Circle, Fort Oglethorpe, is nearly 70 years old, and some portions of the hospital date back to 1904. Known for many years as Tri-County Hospital, the facility’s name changed to Hutcheson Medical Center in 1985.
Later managed by Erlanger Medical Center, its named changed to Erlanger at Hutcheson in November 2011. ValorBridge briefly operated the hospital as Cornerstone Medical Center. CHI Memorial announced plans in December 2017 to acquire the facility.
HEALTHY FOUNDATIONS ANNOUNCED CAPITAL CAMPAIGN CO-CHAIRS
Healthy Foundations announced in August that former Georgia Govs. Roy Barnes and Nathan Deal will serve as co-chairs of the organization’s capital campaign with a goal of raising $150 million for the integrative healthcare 374acre campus located in LaFayette.
The first program to open their doors will be the Veterans Village and Collective Integrative Healthcare building that will provide a 400-unit facility to those who have served in the military as well as first responders.
Once complete, the campus will feature programs offering healthcare, housing, education and employment. From young adults aging out of the foster care system to homeless veterans and families in crisis, Healthy Foundations will offer programs designed to meet individual needs with a goal of working toward self-sustainability. The campus off Burnt Mill Road in LaFayette will primarily serve Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade and Walker counties.
LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN LODGE BROKE GROUND
The Cloudland Lodge at McLemore hosted a groundbreaking ceremony Sept. 30 to mark the start of construction on a 245-room lodge, conference center and spa.
The resort, which will along the eastern edge of Lookout Mountain, will provide banquet and meeting space for corporate events and weddings, as well as on-site lodging for golfers and other guests. Developers said the lodge, which is expected to open in late 2023, will employ more than 300 fulltime employees.
The five-star facility will be a Curio Collection Hotel by Hilton and offer multi-level dining and entertainment terraces, infinity
edge pools and spas, as well as spaces that blend the building with the landscape, including a large outdoor events venue. The completed facility will provide banquet and meeting space for corporate events and weddings, as well as on-site lodging for golfers, families and couples looking for a romantic getaway.
CONTROVERSIAL ROSSVILLE REZONE APPROVED
Chairman Whitfield cast the tiebreaking vote Oct. 14 to allow developers to proceed with a controversial affordable housing development on Happy Valley Road across from Ridgeland High School.
Whitfield aligned with commissioners Askew and Stultz to rezone the property from agricultural to residential (R-1) to enable the 156unit Gateway at Rossville development to proceed. Commissioners Blakemore and Hart voted against the rezone.
The Gateway Companies, the developer, in a letter dated Sept. 29,
threatened to sue the county for $19 million in damages if Walker County did not issue a building permit to proceed immediately. The Gateway Companies asserted the property has been rezoned legally and that Gateway and the owner of the property, the Hutcheson family, have a “vested right” to develop the project.
Whitfield came under sharp criticism after he tabled the second public rezoning hearing on the project Feb. 27, 2020, and rezoned the property Nov. 12, 2020, without rescheduling the second public hearing; Whitfield was then the county’s sole commissioner. The discovery of the error prompted the county to repeat the rezoning process from the beginning.
The development will consist of three-story buildings that will include 18 one-bedroom units, 90 two-bedroom units and 48 threebedroom units. Rental rates will be structured for households in the $26,055 to $47,100 income bracket, with rents anticipated to
be $760 for a one-bedroom, $910 for a two-bedroom and $1,050 for a three-bedroom unit.
CHATTANOOGA SAYS WATER AND SEWERAGE AUTHORITY OWES $25 MILLION
The city of Chattanooga seeks to collect more than $25 million in unpaid bills and penalties from Walker County Water and Sewerage Authority (WCWSA).
WCWSA, which owns and operates an independent wastewater collection system and treatment facility and is not an arm of Walker County government, has also relied on Chattanooga’s Moccasin Bend facility to meet increasing volume. In 2019 Chattanooga filed a federal lawsuit alleging WCWSA breached its 2016 contract by not fully paying the city for wastewater treatment and disposal.
According to a Sept. 16 letter from the city to the WCWSA, WCWSA ”short-paid” 22 invoices for wastewater sewer treatment services from October 2017 through July 2019, resulting in an outstanding balance of nearly $1.9 million. During this time, Chattanooga has continued to treat and dispose of WCWSA’s wastewater while trying to resolve the dispute with the authority; however, the WCWSA has not complied with its payment obligations, according to Chattanooga’s Dec. 17 filing related to a request for summary judgment.
ROPER ANNOUNCED EXPANSION
Roper Corp. announced Dec. 21 it will invest $118 million to expand manufacturing operations at its plant, adding 600 new jobs.
Roper, a subsidiary of GE Appliances, a Haier company, currently employs 2,000 people and produces cooktops, free-standing ranges and wall ovens under the Monogram, Café, GE Profile, GE, Haier and Hotpoint brands. The plant is at 1507 Broomtown Road, LaFayette.
In 2019 GE Appliances invested $43 million in the plant and created 100 jobs. The expansion, scheduled to be completed in 2024, will not only boost employment to 2,600, but will also increase production capacity and enable manufacturing technology to be advanced.