Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, August 8,2018
dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 3A
"Most governments who do not have this advantage of living off their sales tax monies has
to publish a five-year millage history in their local paper, I wonder if perhaps we could con
sider doing that showing the rollback so that the citizens have a better idea of just how
much money we are saving them each year utilizing these funds."
Mark French
Council member
FROM 1A
Tax
rate back and not levy a tax this
current fiscal year,” Wiggins
said.
The council voted unani
mously to roll its millage rate
back to zero for the upcoming
year.
Dawsonville residents still
must pay county property taxes,
but the last municipal property
tax was over 30 years ago.
Mayor Mike Eason stated
that the city’s $5.7 million bud
get for the 2018-19 fiscal year
was planned based on the
LOST money continuing to
come in at the rate it has been.
Council member Mark
French suggested that Wiggins
publish the city’s five-year mill-
age history in the paper, like the
county and school board do.
“Most governments who do
not have this advantage of liv
ing off their sales tax monies
has to publish a five-year mill-
age history in their local paper,
I wonder if perhaps we could
consider doing that showing the
rollback so that the citizens
have a better idea of just how
much money we are saving
them each year utilizing these
funds,” French said.
In other business:
New planning director
The council also welcomed
Robbie Irvin in the role of plan
ning director, a role he assumed
July 25, replacing former direc
tor Casey Majewski. Irvin pre
viously worked for Dawson
County government for 19
years, most recently as a plan
review manager in the planning
and development department.
“I’m very thrilled to be here,
I’ve told several people it’s one
of the best career decisions I’ve
ever made,” Irvin said. “I look
forward to a long working rela
tionship with all of you.”
The city is also hiring a new
part time permit technician for
the department.
Public comment procedure
approved
The council also unanimous
ly voted Monday to approve
new public comment proce
dures.
According to the new proce
dures, a public input session
will be held at both the coun
cil’s regular meetings and dur
ing work sessions. Those wish
ing to speak must fill out a pub
lic input request form and
return it to the city clerk prior
to or during each meeting.
Twenty minutes will be allo
cated during each meeting for
the public to speak with no
more than five minutes per
speaker.
The procedures also state that
if the agenda is amended at any
time following its initial
approval at the start of meet
ings, an additional public input
section will be added prior to
action being taken on any new
item placed on the agenda.
“I’d like to thank the council
for their passing of a public
comment policy this evening,”
French said. “While it differs a
little bit from what I originally
proposed I think it’s something
I can live with.”
French asked that the policy
be amended to include the stip
ulation that the city have a uni
formed law enforcement officer
present during hearings at a
cost of $2,000 a year.
“In lieu of the fact that earlier
this year we spent $18,000 to
repair our blinds I think we can
afford roughly $2,000 a year for
this,” French said.
Council member Caleb
Phillips said he did not want to
amend the policy until the city
had confirmed that Dawson
County Sheriff Jeff Johnson
could send the officers to
attend.
Main Street Park, farmers
market and food trucks
Also at the meeting City
Manager Bob Bolz presented
updates on Main Street Park
and the farmers market.
Bolz said that phase one on
the park is well underway and
that crews are working on
stormwater and utilities instal
lation.
“I have met or am meeting
with a total of six playground
companies for designs and
bids,” Bolz said. “We met with
a really good one today that
also does amphitheaters, stages
and picnic pavilions so we’re
real excited about that process.”
Bolz said he also has a meet
ing with Davis Engineering
scheduled to begin discussions
on designing a landscape plan
for the park in phases, so that as
construction is finished, land
scaping will immediately fol
low.
Bolz also said that demolition
at the farmers market site on
Allen Street started on Monday.
Two homes on the property will
have to be demolished and the
land cleared before the pavil-
lion, parking spaces and rest
rooms can be put in.
“We received this afternoon
the engineered plan for the
farmers market so now we’ll be
able to start reviewing that and
get it out to bid very quickly,”
Bolz said.
Bolz also reminded the coun
cil of planned food truck nights,
scheduled for 5 to 9 p.m. Aug.
17, Sept. 14, Oct. 5, Nov. 2 and
as part of the Christmas tree
lighting festivities Dec. 1.
FROM 1A
Bennett
During Bennett’s time on
the board, he worked with
five superintendents:
Clarence Denard, Randall
Townley, Nicky Gilleland,
Keith Porter and Damon
Gibbs. In 2014, Bennett
said in an interview that he
enjoyed serving with all of
them and always shared the
concern that the new super
intendent wouldn’t be as
good as the previous.
But they always were.
“We’ve been very
blessed so far,” he said.
Bennett was tasked with
making some tough deci
sions while on the board
that continue to impact the
community today. He was
involved in every single
structure in place and
helped guide the board
through the difficult deci
sion to demolish the old
middle school campus to
make way for new build
ings.
He served during the
recession of 2008 when the
board really struggled to
make the changes for the
betterment of the county in
some of the darkest days
the county had seen in
years.
But even though things
seemed insurmountable,
Bennett was able to make
the board laugh and always
had a way of letting his col
leagues and friends know
that everything would be
okay.
“One of the most defin
ing things about Cecil is he
had an infectious smile,”
said board member Will
Wade. “He could have said
two words and have every
one smiling.”
His sunny disposition
helped the board get
through some tough eco
nomic times as Bennett
would always keep the
board in good spirits and
feeling confident in their
decisions.
“Humor was a big part of
his life,” said Wade, who
looked up to Bennett as a
mentor. “He’s the only per
son I know who could
make Roger Slaton speech
less.”
Wade said Bennett truly
loved the children of
Dawson County, inspiring
Wade throughout his child
hood when he would come
into Wade’s elementary
school classes.
“He was one of those
guys that I looked up to
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and I will always cherish
our time together,” Wade
said.
And when he wasn’t
making important deci
sions for the betterment of
the growing community,
Bennett could be found
with a smile on his face
greeting customers at
Walmart where he worked
as a community liaison
since 2008.
Bennett found himself in
a position at Walmart
where he could help civic
organizations receive dona
tions from the Walmart
charitable funds, a position
Representative Kevin
Tanner said Bennett loved
in his older years.
“He just always loved
that position because he
always loved being able to
help people,” Tanner said.
Growing up in Dawson
County, Tanner always
looked up to Bennett as a
role model with a “pure
servant’s heart” that helped
him ignite his passion to
serve his community.
“I’ve always, all my
adult life, I’ve worked in
various roles to try to serve
my community and one of
the people that inspired me
to do that was Cecil,” said
Tanner. “He inspired a lot
of folks with his attitude
and the fact that he was
always willing to and want
ed to serve others.”
Ever since Tanner could
remember, Bennett always
served his community
either through the school
board, county commission
or serving as deacon at
Liberty Baptist Church for
51 years.
Family was the most
important thing for
Bennett, but his extended
family was always his
community, said Tanner.
“We get one opportunity
to live our lives and some
folks go through it and you
know it’s difficult to maybe
tell that they were there, but
Cecil’s kind of one of those
individuals that you know
long after today is gone and
long after he is buried what
he’s done for the communi
ty will continue to live on,”
said Tanner.
Funeral services were
held Aug. 3 at Liberty
Baptist Church.
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