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CARROLL COUNTY, GEORGIA'S ONLY LOCALLY OWNED / LOCALLY OPERATED NEWSPAPER
Council on Aging invites
area senior citizens for
cook out lunch and
entertainment -see page 27
Spring Siome Sawn & (garden 2023 — Se ^o-^ GS
NEWS REPORTING / NEWS RECAP / NEWS ANALYSIS
APRIL 16, 2023 • VOLUME 29 NUMBER 4
Star News monthly traditional print publication / StarNews Online daily local news
www.starnewsgaonline.com
GA Registered Voter
Information System
now in use: “GARViS”
Custom built specifically for Georgia
Will house 12M voter records
from press release
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger
announced the launch of the Georgia
Registered Voter Information System:
GARViS. Partners in the project were MTX,
Salesforce, and Transform. The goal was to
make improvements to Georgia’s voter regis
tration process using this “one-of-a-kind tech
nology purpose-built for Georgia”.
See GARViS page 15
Legislature addresses
abuse in auto insurance
industry with HB 221
Proposed increases in rates by insurance
companies now to be reviewed Georgia
State Insurance Commissioner first
story by Sue Horn
The American Association for Justice, for
merly known as The Association of Trial
Lawyers of America,
published a 29 page
2008 report “The 10
Worst Insurance Comp
anies In America How
They Raise Premiums,
Deny Claims, and
Refuse Insurance to Those Who Need It
Most”. One of the recommendations in this
report was to “require insurers to obtain com-
See INSURANCE RATES page 10
South wire accepted: EPA’s
Green Power Partnership
from press release
Southwire has been accepted into the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA)
Green Power Partnership (GPP). According to
its website, the EPA established the GPP to
encourage organizations to use green power
voluntarily to protect the health of humans
See GREEN POWER PARTNER page 6
This issue is also
posted on over
110 Facebook
community pages,
Twitter,
Linkedln,
&
starnewsgaonline.com
Call 770-722-7227
suehorn.starnews
@gmail.com
waynereynolds.starnews
@gmail.com
“The Ten Worst
Insurance
Companies In
America” -
see page 6
Villa Rica is first
applicant in state to
receive grant to
create potable water
from waste water
City Manager Tom Barber: “using us as
the guinea pig” “to see how it plays out”
Finance Director Jennifer Hallman awarded
certificate for “spirit of full disclosure”
story by Januce Daniel
The Mayor and City Council of Villa Rica
met tor their Regular Monthly Meeting at 6:00
p.m. March 14, 2023, with all council mem
bers and mayor present.
Approval was given for Mayor Gil
McDougal to execute an agreement with the
Douglas County Water Authority, to purchase
150,000 gallons of water per day under a
See CITY OF VILLA RICA page 9
Lacking one council
member, Whitesburg
City navigating
with one - so far -
absence of quorum
No quorum at March work session: letter
of law’not violated, O.C.G.A. § 50-14-1 (a)
story by Sue Horn
In the state of Georgia, is it an absolute
requirement for a minimum number of council
members - quomm - be present for a meeting
to be held? According to Georgia Code Ann. §
50-14-1 (a): “a meeting is required to be open
only when a quomm of a governing body or
its agents have gathered”. But, further reading
of the statute clearly shows the full definition
of “meeting” is listed in three distinct parts:
1. “the gathering of a quomm of the mem
bers of the governing body of an agency or of
See CITY OF WHITESBURG page 11
Karen Handel exits
chamber job after
just 21 months of
employment
Hired July 2021 as CEO/president of
chamber of commerce/Carroll Tomorrow
story by Sue Horn
After just 21
months on the job,
CEO/president of
the Carroll County
Chamber of Com
merce and Carroll
Tomorrow Karen
Handel exited the
position in March.
Hired July 2021
with the mission to
See HANDEL
page 6
Karen Handel
Carrollton continues to hold
meetings seeking public input
on future direction of the city
Comprehensive Plan update to guide 20 year growth
from press release
Every municipality in Georgia is required by the Georgia
Department of Community Affairs to maintain and update
their comprehensive plan every five years to ensure that cities
achieve minimum planning standards. The first Public
Hearing was held Tuesday, March 14th, following by a
“Visioning Workshop” on Thursday, March 16th on “Develo
pment Quality, Neighborhoods & Housing, Land Use”. The
upcoming meetings are:
Thursday, April 13th 6:00 p.m. at WPA Center, Workshop
#1: Development Quality, Neighborhoods & Housing, Land
Use
Tuesday, April 18th 6:00 p.m. at Lakeshore Park Gym,
Workshop #2: Parks & Recreation, Beautification, Tourism
& Health
Thursday, April 27th 6:00 p.m. at Fire Station #23,
See PUBLIC MEETINGS page 15
County school board sets budget
timeline; reviews current expenses
story by Janice Daniel
On Monday, March 13, 2023, 5:30
p.m.. the Carroll County Board of
Education met for a work ses
sion/board meeting. Board member
Bart Cater was present by phone, and
Board members Clayton Kierbow and
See SCHOOL BOARD page 6
Commission’s hired consultant narrows
the field to three for Manager-At-Risk job
story by Janice Daniel
Carroll County Board of
Commissioners met for their monthly
work session Thursday, March 2,
2023, with two commissioners absent.
See COMMISSION page 7
New administration building
Manager-at-Risk position
72 RFPs received/ narrowed
to three candidates:
Balfour Beatty
Sheridan Construction
RA-LIN
Carroll County
total
%of
Board of Education
SS
budget
2022-2023 Budget
spent
spent
Revenues and transfers in
S104.2M
64%
Expenditures/transfers out
$86.6M
52%
Instruction
$51.9M
50%
Maintenance and Operation
$ 9.3M
53%
School Administration
$7.2M
61%
Student Transportation
$6.4M
49%
Founder of Creative Interface and podcast host of “Not Complicated - Just Green”
James Pirch is working to grow small, affordable housing options in West Georgia
story and photo by Wayne J. Reynolds
“Locally and nationally we have zoning
ordinances that prevent small housing,
affordable housing,
and multiple family
housing,” stated
James Pirch, founder
of of Creative
Interface. “Locally
Carrollton, Temple,
and Bremen would
be examples of
having these types of
restrictive
ordinances. If they
would change the
ordinances to allow
more density,
allowing more apartments and townhouses in
the city and city limits, we could reduce
vehicle traffic, but increase foot traffic.
“For example, we have a wasted
James Pirch
opportunity around the Green Belt in developed with higher density and
Carrollton. There are a lot of undeveloped aflfordable.housing. If we developed these
areas around Southwire, the hospital, and the areas with affordable housing, it would allow
(Sunset Hills) golf course that could be See N0 T COMPLICATED page 4
“Hope for the Journey”: 14 years of helping those
with a breast cancer diagnosis to walk the journey
story and photo by Wayne J. Reynolds
According to Cancer.org breast cancer is the most common cancer
in women in the United States, with the exception of skin cancers. It
is about 30% (or 1 in 3) of all new female cancers each year. The
American Cancer Society’s estimate for breast cancer in the United
States for 2023 is 297,790+- new cases of invasive breast cancer will
be diagnosed in women and about 43,700 women will die from
breast cancer.
In 2003, Carrollton resident Rosie Holley was diagnosed with
breast cancer. She was 43 years old. Rosie shared, “I had an
aggressive form of breast cancer. And I had a family history of breast
cancer including my sister and my mother who died from it. I had
chemo and radiation and other therapies throughout 2004.1 thought I
See HOPE for the JOURNEY page 5 Rosie Holley
