FLOWERY BRANCH - Tara Richards is officially finished as a member of the Flowery Branch City Council, and said her goodbyes at Thursday night's meeting.
Richards announced her retirement in early March along with former Council member Damon Gibbs, who left at the time of the announcement to serve as Superintendent of Schools in Dawson County; Richards is moving due to a reassignment in her deployment in the Air Force.
"I couldn't have been blessed with a better opportunity, and I'm grateful for that," said Richards.
She is moving to Fort Wort, Texas at the beginning of May, and then she will deploy for several months to Honduras.
Richards said her favorite part of working on the Council was "working on the downtown development plan. Seeing what this downtown is going to look like in a year or two is very exciting."
Overall, she said laying the foundation for the future of the city was ultimately the most rewarding part.
A special election will be held on June 16 to fill both posts.
COUNCIL DENIES ROAD CLOSURE FOR MOVIE SHOOT
Melissa McCain, City Clerk, told the Council that DeVan Clan Productions indicated that they didn't need the close Main Street when they shoot their movie next week at the Liberty Candy store and Salon Carpe Diem.
The production company, which will bring 33 actors and crew members April 23 for the shoot, originally requested a regulatory license to close the street from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. for safety precautions, but later indicated that the vast majority of their filming would be done inside.
The crew tried to pull their application for the license, which they no longer needed, but simply didn't get that notification to the city in time.
"(But) they're still planning on shooting on the 23rd," said McCain.
As for parking, McCain said they planned to ask the crew to park along Railroad Avenue, and leave the parking along Main Street for customers of the shops.
The movie itself is going to be a horror flick called "Tell Me Your Name," according to paperwork submitted by the company to the city; it stars Jessica Barth ("Ted 2"), Matt Dallas ("Kyle XY"), Sydney Sweeney ("The Ward"), Madison Lintz ("The Walking Dead"), Kyla Deaver ("The Conjuring"), and Bruce Davison ("Seinfeld").
No word on how many of those actors will be making an appearance in Flowery Branch.
