Budgetel Inn Reopening Japanese Company by JAMES SWIFT Ing Buildings,” Liotta Told the Daily Tribune [email protected] News
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Sunday Edition January 19, 2020 BARTOW COUNTY’S ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER $1.50 February targeted for partial Budgetel Inn reopening Japanese company BY JAMES SWIFT ing buildings,” Liotta told The Daily Tribune [email protected] News. “We’re hoping to achieve it within the next week — I’d put two weeks in there if I’m seeks During Tuesday afternoon’s dreary weather committing to it in the paper.” about a dozen individuals gathered at the Bud- It’s been an especially trying three months $60M-plus getel Inn off Carson Loop — attorneys, code for Liotta. After the DPH suspended the mo- enforcement offi cials, Georgia Department of tel’s permit last October, more than 100 tenants in bonds for Public Health (DPH) inspectors and Bartow were evicted from the property. He got a sec- County Fire Department personnel among ond shock a month later, when Bartow County Adairsville them. Commissioner Steve Taylor approved an ordi- Contractor Don Liotta, who has overseen nance amendment stipulating more stringent renovations and repairs at the embattled motel regulations for extended stay hotels — complete project since last April, guided them through sever- with updated fl oorspace minimums it would be al of the facility’s remodeled and refurbished virtually impossible for the motel to meet. BY JAMES SWIFT rooms. Almost all of them took copious notes And earlier this month, Liotta was blindsided [email protected] on bright yellow ledgers as he showed off the yet again — this time, by Mother Nature. Torren- revamped units. tial thunderstorms didn’t just rock the Budgetel Documents obtained by The “They’ve agreed to open one building, Inn one week ago, they ended up shredding off Daily Tribune News outline the JAMES SWIFT/THE DAILY TRIBUNE NEWS which is a completed building, as long as about 9,000 square feet of the facility’s roof. fi nancial details of a memoran- Sri Bollepalli, owner of the Budgetel Inn off Carson Loop, sur- we have met all the criteria of the new code dum of understanding (MOU) veys storm damage at the property on Tuesday afternoon. that Bartow County implemented for exist- SEE BUDGETEL, PAGE 5A between the Development Authority of Bartow County (DABC) and a Japanese com- pany looking to construct an 87,000-square-foot “state of Cartersville the art” manufacturing, ware- house and distribution center in Adairsville. City Council According to the MOU, Nip- pon Light Metal North America, approves Inc. and AL8, LLC, anticipate the project — located on 38 acres along Martin Luther King Drive emergency — exceeding more than $60 mil- lion in capital expenditures. water main The MOU lists two separate projects as part of the proposed development. “The real property relocation project” entails the “acquisition, construction and installation BY JAMES SWIFT of the land and improvements” [email protected] for the proposed facility, which falls under the purview of AL8, Members of the Cartersville LLC, a Delaware limited liabili- City Council voted unanimously ty company. Thursday evening to approve a “The equipment project” con- request to relocate a water main sists of the installation of “cer- along Etowah Drive. tain machinery, equipment and “We do regard this as an emer- related personal property” to gency repair,” said City of Car- be used in the proposed facility, tersville Water Department Di- with Ohio corporation Nippon rector Bob Jones. “It’s causing the Light Metal North America, intersection to fl ood, and that can Inc. described as the “equipment promote icing and other traffi c-re- company” in the MOU. lated problems going forward.” The aluminum manufacturer Originally installed in 2014, is a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Jones said the water main has, Nippon Light Metal Co., Ltd., essentially, gotten lodged inside a company that reported more a nearby stormwater line. than $4.5 billion in revenue last “During that project, we had year. The Adairsville project is a bore underneath West Avenue a joint venture by Nippon Light RANDY PARKER/THE DAILY TRIBUNE NEWS and in April, I believe it was, of Kingston Elementary School third graders, from left, Kamillah Richardson, Katelyn Carroll and Madison Eubanks Metal North America, Inc. — last year, we had some fl ooding test evidence in an attempt to solve a forensics case. primarily known for products at that intersection,” he said. “We in the automotive sector —and realized that the bore that was put another Tokyo-based company, in actually impacted the stormwa- ITOCHU Metals Corp. ter line that was in that road that KES gifted students learn to solve According to the document, drained that intersection there.” the equipment project is ex- Jones said the department pected to cost “in excess of $46 asked for a bid from the original million” while the real property water main contractor, but told whodunits during forensics activity project is anticipated to cost “in council members they “didn’t excess of $14 million.” have the quickest response time” BY DONNA HARRIS or four, the 23 third-, fourth- and al coordinator of the Etowah GYSTC, In the case of the former, the to the request for an estimate. [email protected] fifth-graders in gifted education said. “We have a suspect pouch at each MOU indicates Nippon Light Rather, he suggested the coun- teacher Brandi O’Tinger’s class spent table, and each pouch has a unique Metal wishes to transfer trade cil sign off on a $126,697.74 bid And the criminal mastermind be- about 2½ hours analyzing fingerprints name and a unique set of evidence. fi xtures, machinery, furniture from Bartow-based C.H. Kirk- hind the Great Cookie Recipe Ransom and shoe prints as well as samples of And then there’s a crime scene pouch. and other equipment to the patrick and Sons to relocate the caper was … Gregory Gruffest. synthetic blood, soil, powder, fiber, Right now, the detectives are at the DABC “in consideration for the water main, repair the damaged With the help of Dr. Bob Young from cookie bites and handwriting (look- crime scene. They’re collecting infor- transfer to the equipment com- stormwater line and perform any Georgia Youth Science and Technolo- ing for print or cursive, spelling and mation.” pany of the equipment bonds additional paving or patching gy Centers, gifted students at Kingston handedness) for seven suspects to de- O’Tinger said there “weren’t a lot of and leased to the equipment subsequently required. Elementary learned all about solving termine who stole an important cook- details given about the suspects” to the company under the terms of a For the most part, Jones said crimes during a forensic science activ- ie recipe. pint-sized Sherlock Holmeses. lease agreement.” he does not expect the relocation ity Wednesday. “The cookie recipe was stolen, and a project to greatly impact traf- Broken into seven groups of three ransom note was left,” Young, region- SEE FORENSICS, PAGE 6A SEE NIPPON, PAGE 7A fi c. “We should be outside of the lanes of travel,” he said. Still, the repairs will require some work on the roadway. Those repairs, Jones said, will likely be performed at night to avoid Reality Store seeks volunteers to heavy vehicular fl ow, adding he’s optimistic that such work can be wrapped up in “just a day or two.” help teens learn about adult life Council members also voted unanimously to approve a change BY DONNA HARRIS nating the event. “Our committee felt that with order to the City’s $37.5 million [email protected] the amount of students that participate, two James R. Stafford Water Pollution days would give students a better experience.” Control Plant upgrade project. With the 2020 Reality Store expanding to But adding another day means organizers “real- “We’ve had an issue come up two days, organizers are seeking more volun- ly need a lot of volunteer help,” Belisle said. where our fi rst milestone with teers than ever this year. “We wouldn’t be able to pull this event off the contractor is coming up this The Etowah Scholarship Foundation needs without the help and support of our volunteers,” month, and they need the extra 125 volunteers each day to work a 3½-hour he said. “The Reality Store gives students an weather days to get fi nished,” shift or a full seven-hour day at the ninth annual opportunity to learn about skills they will need Jones said. “So they have asked event, scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 6, and Fri- as adults. It is a benefi t to our community to that we formally amend the con- day, Feb. 7, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the student participate in this important part of teaching tract to refl ect that, which is why center at Georgia Highlands College on High- life skills to our youth. Every year, our volun- RANDY PARKER/THE DAILY TRIBUNE NEWS, FILE we are here earlier than we had way 20 in Cartersville. teers comment on how much fun they had in- The Reality Store, held at Georgia Highlands College’s Carters- originally thought we would be.” “We have expanded the Reality Store to two teracting with the students.” ville campus, gives local freshmen a taste of adult life by help- days this year,” said Bartow Collaborative Ex- ing them make real-life decisions in such areas as fi nances, SEE CARTERSVILLE, PAGE 6A ecutive Director Doug Belisle, who is coordi- SEE REALITY, PAGE 6A insurance, education and careers. INSIDE TODAY Sunny, VOLUME 73, NO. 220 Obituaries ............................. 2A Sports ................................... 1B windy U.S. & World .........................4A Classifieds...........................