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FAYETTE
COUNTY
NEWS
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INSIDE:
VOL 151, NO. 24
WEDNESDAY, June 14,2023
Introducing the 2023 All-County
Boys’ Lacrosse Team, Bl
$1.00
INSIDE: GJC Awarded $1 Million Grant for Reducing Backlog of Cases, A2
INSIDE: June is National Safety Month, B6
Commissioners Hold First of Two Budget Public Hearings
ARC Rep Presents Metropolitan Transportation Plan Through 2050
Luke Haney
Editor
lhaney@upsonbeacon.com
Commissioners held the
first public hearing for the
Fiscal Year 2023-24 Fayette
County budget on June 8,
which included an overview
of the $135 million budget
and votes to approve fund
ing for constitutional of
ficers and judges to receive
the same 12.5-percent raise
that all county employees
are set to receive.
The budget includes no
millage rollback and an esti
mated $32.6 million fund
balance, about $2 million
less than in FY22, which
provides a positive impact
to the general fund of
$395,123.
Positive highlights noted
during the presentation in
clude a positive general
fund impact from mainte
nance and operations, rol
ling five-year Capital
Improvement Projects
funds of $6,975 million, and
changes in personnel levels
to protect existing outstand
ing service delivery to cit
izens.
County officials con
tinue to maintain a commit
ment to balance current
year revenues over current
year expenditures. Officials
also noted that the budget
maintains employee bene
fits, including medical, den
tal, vision, and retirement.
Commissioners unani
mously approved increases
to pay for county constitu
tional officers, members of
the magistrate court, and
members of the Griffin Ju
dicial Circuit, as all county
employees are set to receive
a 12.5-percent pay increase
through approval of the
budget. These numbers are
already included in the
budget but must be voted
See County Budget, A5
PTC City
Council
llection
Set Nov. 7
Posts 1 and 2
Seats Up for Grabs
Leah Banks
Investigative Reporter
leah@fayette-news.net
Peachtree City folks are
preparing to enter another
election cycle. This time,
ballots will be cast to fill
PTC City Council seats for
Post l and Post 2.
City Council Post l is
currently represented by
Councilman Phil Prebor,
who was elected to his first
term in November 2015. His
position will be up for grabs
in the upcoming Nov. 7 elec
tion.
City Council Post 2 is
currently being held by
Councilman Mike King,
who has been active on the
council for the past five
years. His seat will also be
on the Nov. 7 ballot.
On the Peachtree City
website, representatives
have noted that all positions
of the PTC mayor and coun
cil are non-partisan. The
term for these two seats
ends on Dec. 31, 2027.
The qualifying period for
the two seats begins at 8:30
a.m. on Monday, Aug. 21,
and ends at 4:30 p.m. on
Friday, Aug. 25.
In addition to qualifying
affidavits, citizens who are
interested in running for
See PTC Election, A6
Rising Starr Middle's Christy Todd receives her trophy as the 2024 Georgia Teacher of the Year
from State School Superintendent Richard Woods. Courtesy of Fayette County Schools
Rising Starr's Todd Named
State Teacher of the Year
One of Fayette’s bright
est stars has been recog
nized as the state’s best.
Rising Starr Middle’s
Christy Todd has been
named the 2024 Georgia
Teacher of the Year by the
Georgia Department of
Education.
Todd is the first Fayette
County Public Schools
teacher to be named Geor
gia Teacher of the Year.
“It is thrilling to see a
teacher so deserving being
recognized as an excep
tional educator,” said Rising
Starr Principal Kathy Smith.
“The Rising Starr com
munity is very proud of her
leadership in creating op
portunities for all students
in Fayette County.”
Todd is a music technol
ogy teacher at Rising Starr
See State TOTY, A6
PTC Council Discusses
Budget in June 8 Workshop
Leah Banks
Investigative Reporter
leah@fayette-news.net
In the June 8 special
called city council work
shop, the Peachtree City
Council began discussions
on the breakdown of the
Fiscal Year 2023-2024
budget.
The presentation was
led by PTC City Manager
Robert “Bob” Curnow, who
is taking a “PATHSS” ap
proach to the allocation of
funds for the budget for the
new fiscal year. The acro
nym stands for Profession
alism, Accountability,
Teamwork, Honesty, Sus
tainability, and Safety.
“I just want everyone to
keep in mind that the focus
of the budget is going to be
on uncompromised excel
lence,” Curnow said.
According to Curnow,
the focus for the budget is to
maintain the service level
and amenities that are in
place within Peachtree City,
which is done by identifying
a baseline service level.
There are three areas
that Curnow highlighted
during the workshop relat
ing to service levels. The
first is financial sustainabil
ity, the second is opera
tional sustainability, and the
third is environmental sus
tainability.
Curnow placed an em
phasis on the fact that PTC
is not immune to inflation
that is impacting other
areas of the country.
“So, as you will notice,
over the last several months
that I’ve been here, the ma
jority of contracts that have
come in front of council
have had significant cost in
creases associated with
them,” Curnow said.
Curnow touched on a
multitude of different cost
See PTC Budget, A6
PTC Council Debates
Short-Term Rentals
Leah Banks
Investigative Reporter
leah@fayette-news.net
In its June 8 workshop,
the Peachtree City Council
brought two topics to the
forefront for discussion. The
first was the proposed
short-term rental ordi
nance.
To begin the workshop,
Peachtree City Planning Di
rector Robin Cailloux pre
sented the proposed
short-term rental ordinance
to the council, but it was in
terrupted quickly when
Councilman Phil Prebor
noted that there was no real
“vote” among the council as
to who was in favor of hav
ing short term rentals and
who was against them alto
gether.
“We really haven’t had a
formal vote to say who’s in
favor on council of having
short-term rentals. So, we
have not formally voted on
that,” Prebor said.
While Peachtree City
Mayor Kim Learnard agreed
that this was a fair observa
tion, the city does have
short-term rentals through-
See Short-Term Rentals, A5
Results of Rick Ross
Car Show Discussed
at Commission Meeting
Luke Haney
Editor
lhaney@upsonbeacon.com
During the public par
ticipation portion of the
June 8 Fayette County
Commission meeting, mul
tiple residents, including
State Rep. Deborah Baze-
more, addressed commis
sioners regarding the June 3
Rick Ross car show before
event coordinator Michael
King spoke about the suc
cesses and challenges of the
event.
Dorothy Herring spoke
on behalf of the Northridge
community, stating she was
glad things turned out as
well as they did, thanking
commissioners for the pres
ence of law enforcement
and for the opportunity to
disallow non-residents from
parking inside the neighbor
hood. She said she wonders
if the event continues in fu
ture years, “How much
more are we going to have
to put forward to be safe
and sane?”
Rep. Bazemore says that
the event is less than one
mile from her home and
while she represents Ross,
she also represents every
one else in District 69. Baze
more urged commissioners
to begin preparing now for
next year’s potential event,
noting the benefit of local
law enforcement agencies
working together on June 3.
Event coordinator King
began his time by thanking
all who worked with him,
commissioners, and the
neighborhood surrounding
See Rick Ross, A5
CORRECTION:
In the story, “Tyrone Council Holds First Public
Hearing for $17.5 Million Budget,” in the June 7 edition
of Fayette County News, FCN incorrectly stated that a
second public hearing would be held on June 15.
Consideration of the budget will be held during the
June 15 Tyrone Town Council meeting at 6 p.m. at Ty
rone Town Hall, located at 950 Senoia Road in Tyrone.
FCN regrets the error and apologizes to Town of Ty
rone officials, and to our readers, for any inconvenience
resulting from the mistake.
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