A6 Fayette County News
Wednesday, June 28,2023
July 4 Parade,
Continued from Front
try.”
Rogers will lead more
than too registered parade
units down South Peachtree
Parkway as part of this year’s
Independence Day celebra
tions.
PTC’s July 4 parade
started in 1973 as the brain
child of Sallie Satterthwaite.
This year marks the 50th an
niversary of the parade’s
founding. It has grown from
a small gathering of partici
pants to a yearly event that
attracts more than 10,000
people.
The parade begins at 9
a.m. at the intersection of
Pinehurst Drive and Peach
tree Parkway. It winds down
Peachtree Parkway for 1.8
miles before turning left onto
McIntosh Trail, where it ends
at the McIntosh Trail Recrea
tion Complex.
A panel of three judges
will award trophies to parade
participants in several cate
gories, including the Mayor's
Trophy, Most Creative, Most
Patriotic, Grand Marshal
Trophy, and awards for the
top three golf cart entries.
The Peachtree City
Fourth of July Parade is not
only a celebration of the na
tion's independence, but also
a celebration of community,
bringing together residents
and businesses from both
Peachtree City and surround
ing Fayette County to honor
this momentous day. With its
50th anniversary, this year's
parade promises to be a mile
stone event that people will
not want to miss.
Treatment
Facility,
Continued from Front
ditions as care homes, and to
add that the Department of
Behavioral Health could also
be a licensing board.
“This approach will allow
the county to remain compli
ant with both state and fed
eral law,” Kaye said. “Under
state law, a six to nine month
waiting period is required
only for legislative zoning
decisions related to the loca
tion or relocation of halfway
houses, drug rehabilitation
centers, and other facilities
for the treatment of drug de
pendencies.
“I emphasis legislative
zoning decisions because if
no legislative zoning deci
sion is being made, then no
waiting period is required,”
he explained. “The zoning
decision under state law has
a very specific definition,
and if the commission
chooses to set up this defini
tion as a conditional use of
property... then no zoning
decision need be made, and
again, no waiting period is
triggered.”
Five others spoke in sup
port of changing the defini
tion, including Doreen Barr,
who said “We need to break
the stigma of addiction in
Fayette County” before list
ing the names of 24 Fayette
County high school students
“who have lost their lives to
addiction.”
“Maybe if we had this
detox center in our com
munity, I wouldn’t have lost
my son, Ryan Barr, to add
iction,” she said.
The county attorney
stated, “We are working as
fast as we can to get the facil
ity located here, however, we
must comply with the Zon
ing Procedures Act... Ac
cording to the state
legislature, their minimum
procedure is to provide due
process to the public. With
that in mind, we are in a sec
tion that provides for any lo
cation or relocation of
halfway house, drug rehab
center, or other facility for
the treatment of drug de
pendency. This falls in that
particular provision. It does
require a zoning decision be
made, but the addition of
this definition to our zoning
code is its own decision.”
She added that once they
are further into the process,
the property in question will
be posted, with a legal notice
in the paper and two public
hearings, which must be a
minimum of six months
apart, as required by state
law.
Commissioner Eric Max
well moved to amend the
definition based on Kaye’s
suggested language, which
was ultimately denied by
members of the board due to
the amended definition not
accounting for the “detox na
ture of the facility,” which is
legally viewed by the state as
being separate and different
than drug treatment facil
ities.
Commissioner Ed Gib
bons revealed his passion for
bringing a detox facility to
Fayette County, adding that
he “got out of one 92 days
ago.”
“Had there been one
here, I might not have had to
go to north Georgia to go to
detox. I got out of residential
rehab yesterday. I’m very
fortunate that I was able to
still attend county commis
sion meetings,” Gibbons
said. “So if anyone in this
room would like to see one of
these built in Fayette County
as fast as I would, I would
like to shake their hand.”
Gibbons added that he
was not comfortable amend
ing the definition against
legal advice of the county at
torney, “as well as making
changes to county ordi
nances on the fly” without
providing the county attor
ney and staff with time to see
potential changes that will
be permanent and will set a
precedent.
Following denial of Max
well’s motion, commis
sioners ultimately approved
the revised definition as rec
ommended by staff.
Prior to executive ses
sion, the topic arose once
more, and Chairman Lee
Hearn was in tears as he
promised to do all he can to
bring the facility into Fayette
County.
Fayette County News
learned that the facility in
question is proposed to be
located at 1008 Highway 54
West in Fayetteville. The
property was formerly used
as a hospice center.
Shelter Pets
of the Week
Fayette Humane Society
Francesca
Francesca has what her foster
mom calls "resting concerned
face.” Ever since she got picked
up at a feral colony, she has had
an adorable, concerned expres
sion on her face.
She LOVES to play, and she
can be vocal if she really wants
something!
If you’re interested in adop
ting Francesca, please complete a
no-obligation pre-adoption form
at fayettehumane.org. If you have
any questions, email Fayette Hu
mane Society at info@fayettehu-
mane.org or call 770-487-1073.
Journey
Meet Journey! This pocket-
size baby is so ready to be your
shadow!
She is a wiggle worm and a
complete goofball. She loves car
rides, and she is ready to go on a
car ride home with you forever.
Come meet this beefcake prin
cess and fall in love today!
Journey is available for adop
tion at Royal Animal Refuge, lo
cated at 414 Jenkins Road in
Tyrone. For more information
on adopting, visit www.royalani-
malrefuge.org.
ake Every Da
Fayette Clinic,
Continued from Front
have insurance and are
from underserved areas.
It allows people to see a
doctor, receive preventative
care, and get needed medi
cations.
“The patients that come
to this clinic, all of them,
their income level is 200
percent below the poverty
level. The national poverty
level,” Weaver said.
Most of the clinic’s
funding comes from fund
raising, grants, and dona
tions.
Weaver said Ross’ dona
tion is the largest individual
donation they have ever
had.
But Ross said this is just
the start.
“I look forward to con
tinuing to help out as much
as possible. I consider you
family, friends, and of
course, neighbors,” Ross
said.
Fayette C.A.R.E. raised
$19,000 of its $50,000 goal
before Ross stepped in to
help.
To learn more about
Fayette C.A.R.E. Clinic and
to donate, visit https://fay-
ettecareclinic .com /.
PTC Budget,
Continued from Front
proposed budget, as well as
the possibility of increasing
staff numbers and imple
menting an FMP that would
allow for these needs to be
met, as far as financial bene
fits and sustainability are
concerned.
Prior to Salvatore’s
breakdown of the budget
plan, Curnow said there are
multiple considerations
prior to deciding how to al
locate the budget.
“As a project manage
ment professional, I can tell
you that the multitude and
magnitude of projects that
this city has identified in
SPLOST, CIP, and with the
facilities maintenance plan,
we’re going to need capacity
in many departments to
meet these needs,” Curnow
said. “When you look at
projects, you look at three
constraints of a project.
Those three constraints of a
project are time, scope, and
cost. At the end of the day,
they all boil down to cost.”
Salvatore began his por
tion of the presentation by
discussing the general fund
overview, which provided a
comparison between the FY
2023 budget and the pro
posed FY 2024 budget.
“You can see that we had
budgeted to use about
$571,000 of cash reserves
with that [FY 2023] budget,
and in the proposed budget
you can see is about $51.3
million in revenues and
$51.4 [million] in expendi
tures. So, we’re proposing to
spend another $100,000 of
the fund balance,” Salvatore
said.
Salvatore continued to
highlight that both percent
ages are “rather large” to off
set inflation that the city
must expect when consid
ering the proposed budget.
“So, we’re looking at
about a 12.3 percent in
crease in revenues and 11.2
percent in expenses. But
even though the percent in
crease in revenues is a little
higher, we’re still budgeting
to use about $100,000 of
cash reserves to balance the
budget,” Salvatore said.
In the proposed budget
highlight for revenue, Sal
vatore emphasized that
most of the city’s revenue
comes from taxes, but there
are three major current
revenue impacts that are es
timated for the 2024 FY
budget. These three are the
ad valorem property taxes,
the local option sales tax
(LOST), and income on in
terest.
When it comes to ex
penses, Curnow highlighted
that a driving impact has
been, and still is, the fact
that inflation is increasing
the cost of materials needed.
Strickland highlighted
that there is a need for per
sonnel changes due to the
reduction of staffing from
COVID-19 losses. These po
sitions include many public
safety officials, such as po
lice officers, full-time fire
fighters, and maintenance
employees.
“We will be charging
some of these positions to
SPLOST, as they will be
working on maintenance
positions. So, some of these
will be dedicated to our
streets and they will be
maintaining those,” Strick
land said.
In total, the proposed
number of positions dis
cussed included three police
department positions, three
police positions, four fire de
partment positions, five
public works positions, two
engineering services posi
tions, two recreation posi
tions, and one executive
services position, acceding
to Strickland.
Strickland continued to
provide context about how
the cost of the positions can
change based on the type of
position for which the city is
allocating funds.
The total number of the
FY 2024 general fund ex
penditures is $51,462,062.
According to the presen
tation, the general fund
budget for FY 2024 is
$50,606,599 in total esti
mated revenues, and the
total sources of funds tallied
$51,462,062.
The workshop continued
with the discussion of differ
ent funds that the city pro
poses to add to the budget,
including the storm water
utility fund, the amphithe
ater fund, and the
hotel/motel tax fund. Ad
ditionally, the presentation
included a detailed break
down of projects that are
needed within the city, as
well as percentages of tax in
crease that projects will im
pose on residents and the
city.
Concluding the presen
tation, Curnow asked coun
cil to propose questions to
staff, and Councilman Mike
King led the charge, ad
dressing the fact that, based
on the listed pricing for the
cost of living in Peachtree
City compared to Fay
etteville and Tyrone, living
in Peachtree City is a “bar
gain.”
Councilman Phil Prebor
agreed with King and em
phasized that when res
idents look at the amenities
that the city has, the prop
erty tax being less than
$1,105 is a “bargain” consid
ering other areas in the
county, but also highlighted
that there are minor changes
that the city needs to ad
dress, like having nets on
basketball hoops in the
parks.
Curnow also told council
members they would be
bringing back a recreation
group to the council to ad
dress amenities the city has
to offer, as well as imple
menting a paths group made
of residents who can regu
late and monitor the multi
use paths within the city.
The detailed, proposed
FY 2024 budget can be
found on the Peachtree City
website.
Bernard,
Continued from A4
thermore, Trump is proud of
these exploits. Those guys
were suckers, according to
him.
Trump’s attitude toward
taxes is telling. He stated he
is too “smart” to pay taxes (or
ever show tax returns due to
his permanent audit). You
losers can pay them. Other
candidates can show you how
their income is derived, not
me! Meanwhile, the head of
The Trump Organization has
been jailed on tax evasion.
His attitude towards im
migrants shows how his pol
itics is transactional. Most
Americans do not know that
Trump Tower in Manhattan
was built by illegal immi
grants or that the contractor
Ludwig,
Continued from A4
barely enough room to
move and being totally ex
posed to the elements -
heat, cold, wind, rain - bar
reling down the road at 85
hired by Trump shorted their
pay to the tune of
$600,000... and didn’t pay
them until a court order
forced him to do so.
Don Corleone was ruth
less. Seeing an opportunity,
he moved quickly, taking no
prisoners. In that one way, he
was like Trump, unconcerned
about destroying the Consti
tution to get reelected in
2020. And provoking an
armed insurrection.
It’s unfortunate that a mi
nority of America’s electorate
choose to ignore Trump’s
many shortcomings, includ
ing hiding classified doc
uments. They buy the
fallacious argument that
these facts are somehow un
true, created by coastal elites
and socialistic “Fake Media.”
As long as the base believes
miles per hour (Are all the
state troopers on vaca
tion?) for their final mo
ments as living creatures.
Thankfully, they have no
idea what’s coming - sorry -
down the road.
Think about that the
his lies, Trump will win each
primary by a plurality, given
the large number of candi
dates that will run (DeSantis,
Haley, and a half-dozen
others).
But can he win the gen
eral election?
Senator Lyndsey Graham
is a major Trump booster, but
stated that Trump will be in
trouble if 2024 is a "person
ality contest.” Given Trump’s
antagonistic attitude, versus
Biden’s jovial demeanor, it is
sure to be a major factor.
If the 2024 election isn’t
stolen in swing states by
MAGA (with the help of Rus
sia), we will hopefully be rid
of Trump permanently. But
with the GOP base, you never
know if they will accept his
downfall.
next time you enter the
drive-thru at your favorite
fast-food restaurant.
And before you order, I
have one last oxymoron for
you to think about.
Happy meal.
FAYETTE COUNTY NEWS
P.0. Box 96, Fayetteville, Ga. 30214 ■ Phone: 770-461-6317
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