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VOL 151, NO. 23
WEDNESDAY, June 7,2023
$1.00
INSIDE: Bell Family Honors Bennett’s Mill Nursefor Saving a Life, B2
INSIDE: FSS Hosts Cancer Survivors Celebration, B6
Main street
FArETTSVIUl, Bi
onttmae
Photos by Luke Haney/Fayette News. See additional images at www.fayette-news.net
Fayetteville Celebrates 200 Years
Luke Haney
Editor
lhaney@upsonbeacon.com
In honor of the City of
Fayetteville’s 200th birth
day, hundreds of folks from
near and far traveled to the
historic Fayette County
Courthouse lawn and City
Center Park on Saturday for
the Fayetteville Bicenten
nial Celebration.
Following tours of the
city cemetery, a scavenger
hunt led by the historical so
ciety, and historic walking
tours inside the courthouse
earlier in the day, the cele
bration began with a 75-
vendor makers market on
the courthouse lawn, along-
See Bicentennial, A6
Destadio Discusses Public Comment Policy Changes
Leah Banks
Investigative Reporter
leah@fayette-news.net
During the June 1
Peachtree City Council
meeting, Councilman Frank
Destadio expressed his
thoughts to fellow council
members regarding changes
to the policy for public com
ment - which has been ad
dressed at recent council
meetings - resulting in a 4-1
vote to amend the city coun
cil meeting procedures and
rules policy.
Formerly, public com
ment speakers were allotted
two minutes each. Recently,
the council increased that
time to three minutes per
speaker. Destadio suggested
a different route.
“During the first part of
the minutes I had suggested
that we would add during
the staff topics, that we
would allow the individuals
to have some of that time to
introduce their topic,” De
stadio began, “not make any
major changes, not use their
whole time, but if you’ve got
three minutes and you’re
going to eventually want to
speak on a topic at a later
council meeting, use some
of that time, whether it be
two seconds or 20 seconds
or the whole three minutes
to introduce the topic.”
Destadio’s suggestion to
introduce the topic in the
beginning of the public
comment allows the speaker
and council to understand
what the speaker is refer
ring to in a more direct for
mat. This would allow
council to decide whether
the comment should be
placed on a future meeting
agena.
“I recommended that we
do that so the council can
have a heads up at what the
topic will be and so the
[city] staff would be able to
do some preliminary re
search and tell us about
what it would cost and what
it would entail for staff
time,” Destadio said.
Whereas members of
the public that want an item
added to the council’s
agenda must submit a
See Destadio, A6
Progress Made on Pedestrian Bridge
The recreational pedestrian trail bridge spanning above Highivay 54 West
in Fayetteville has been lifted into place, and creivs continue ivorking to secure
the structure, according to city officials. Above is the prefabricated bridge after
being lifted into place during the iveekend. Courtesy of Fayetteville
Tyrone Council Holds
First Public Hearing for
$17.5 Million Budget
Mayor Dial Explains
Public Comment Sections
Leah Banks
Investigative Reporter
leah@fayette-news.net
Two weeks after initially
discussing the Fiscal Year
2023-24 Town of Tyrone
budget in a workshop meet
ing, the town council held
its first of two budget public
hearings during the June 1
council meeting.
Following a brief over
view of the proposed $17.5
million budget, Mayor Eric
Dial welcomed citizens in
attendance to speak on
items in the budget, encour
aging conversation while
emphasizing that he and the
council “are here to listen.”
During public comment,
citizens took to the podium
to discuss finances relating
to construction and how the
budget will impact public
works, as well as public
safety officials.
Dial explained the pur
pose behind having two dis-
See Tyrone, A6
House Rep 68
Runoff is June 13
Early Voting Ends Friday
Leah Banks
Investigative Reporter
leah@fayette-news.net
Early voting for the Dis
trict 68 House representa
tive special election runoff
began on June 3 in Fayette
Couty in preparation of the
June 13 election.
The runoff between
Mark Baker and Derrick
Jackson comes on the heels
of the initial primary vote.
Voting precincts for Fayette
County areas within District
68 include precincts seven
(Hopeful), nine (Rareover),
10 (Sandy Creek), 11 (Shake-
rag East), 16 (McIntosh), 19
(Aberdeen), 27 (Dogwood),
and 31 (Fielding Ridge).
Advance, in-person vot
ing continues from 9 a.m. to
5 p.m. daily Monday, June 5
to Friday, June 9.
The three early in-per-
son voting locations are the
Fayette County Elections
Office, the Peachtree City
Library, and Tyrone Recrea
tion Office.
The Fayette County
Elections Office accepted
applications for absentee by
mail ballots until June 2.
More information about
the election is available at
fayettecountyga.gov/elec
tions/.
WWIIVet, Fayetteville
Resident Celebrates
100th Birthday
Leah Banks &
Rachel Hopkins
Each trip around the sun
is a reason for celebration,
and Fayetteville native Cal
vin George Kemp, Sr., has
too reasons to cheer as he
celebrated his 100th birth
day milestone on June 2.
Born in Atlanta on June
2, 1923, Kemp is a veteran
of the United States Navy
and was stationed in the
South Pacific Islands and
Pearl Harbor during World
War II.
He, along with his wife
of 43 years, Dr. Jean De-
Vard-Kemp, are long-time
residents of Fayetteville. He
is the beloved patriarch of
his family, with two chil
dren, four grandchildren,
five great-grandchildren,
Calvin George Kemp, Sr.
and three great-great-
grandchildren.
Throughout his life,
Kemp has served the com
munity as a scoutmaster for
a local Boy Scouts of Amer
ica troop, a little league
See Kemp, A6
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