Downtown Development Authority Plans to Review City Fire Marshal's Actions

UPDATE: According to Winder Downtown Development Authority Chairman Mike Rice, the person who signed the warning given to Wayne Bartlett’s tenants was Lt. Tommy Evans of the , not Fire Marshal Jeff Carlyle, who was out of town at the time of the incident. Rice said that the city is working to get the tenants back in business. Authority member Jerry Maynard resigned his post as a result of this matter.

Original story:

A Winder businessman spoke to members of the city's downtown development authority Tuesday, July 19, on behalf of his tenants at the old John Solomon building about an ongoing problem he has experienced with the city's fire marshal.

Wayne Bartlett told the members of the authority that since he purchased the Solomon building he has repaired and cleaned up the building to city standards but has experienced what he considers unnecessary requests from the fire marshal, Jeff Carlyle.

Recently, the fire marshal shut down the operations of a 10-year-old car restoration business in the building without explanation, Bartlett said.

“The only thing we can think of,” Bartlett added, “is that someone complained to the city that he [the mechanic] was painting cars inside the building.”

Bartlett said his tenant has proof he was not painting inside the building. The warning the fire marshal gave the tenants prevents any use of the building besides storage. Carlyle reportedly told the tenant that “if he even washes a car inside he will be fined $4,000.”

“(This is a) business which has a city license and pays sales and use tax," Bartlett said. "They have a legitimate business and yet they have been shut down and we don’t know why.”

Authority member Jerry Maynard spoke up on behalf of Bartlett and his tenants.

“Let me just chime in here and voice my own frustrations with Mr. Carlyle,” Maynard said. “I can’t think of anything we can do in the city of Winder to improve downtown business relations other than get rid of Mr. Carlyle. I don’t know how many buildings that are downtown that would be full if he wasn’t in this position."

Maynard explained to the committee that he himself has voiced similar complaints to the mayor and city council concerning the marshal’s “rudeness and arrogance” toward downtown business owners and tenants.

“Winder has a reputation for being the hardest place in the world to drop your business,” Maynard said. “I cannot believe the city of Winder would let someone like this continue to run off business.”

Maynard said that he himself has brought complaints to Winder City Hall and this has been an ongoing issue.

City Councilman and authority member Bob Dixon attempted to get the issue off the table, saying, “There are two sides to every story and I don’t even know what the other side is. I’m not gonna criticize our people until we find out. If we’re guilty of doing these things, I’m going to do my best to correct them.”

“It seems to me that the city ought to know something about this but doesn’t seem to want to do anything about it," Maynard said. 

Bartlett added, “We feel that it is time to bring this out into the open.”

“I think to solve this, the chairman of the DDA and the committee should set up a meeting with the city administrator," Dixon said. "This is how we resolve it. We don’t resolve it with the news media here. If we have these negatives affecting the city of Winder, let’s get together and solve it.”

A motion was made to resolve the issue through committee next week. 

“I don’t think you are listening, Bob," Maynard said. "They’re shut down! Their business is shut down. Their income has gone away while you want to have meetings. Let’s get this resolved today."

“I am not the mayor, I am a council person and I can’t resolve it today," Dixon responded. "If I had the power, I’d resolve it in two minutes!"

Dixon said the fire marshal does not have the authority to impose fines on tenants — a judge and police involvement are necessary for fines to be levied.

“It’s threats like that that scare people to death," Bartlett said.

Members of the downtown development authority voted to allow Chairman Mike Rice to represent the committee along with Dixon in a meeting with the city administrator to attempt to resolve the issue.

The committee also voted to request a review of similar complaints placed against the fire marshal.

The fire marshal could not be reached for comment as, according to his office, he is currently out of town.

“We’ll work on it today," Dixon said. "That’s a promise."

The Winder Downtown Development Authority will meet again at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 16, at the .