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THE TRUTH SINCE 1886
FAYETTE COUNTY (1) NEWS
f ay ett e-news, net
Vol. 151, No. 46 Wednesday, November 15, 2023 $1.
Commission Authorizes Five-Year $35 Million
Bond Issuance to Advance SPLOST Projects
DPH Building Renovation GMP Less Than Originally Estimated
Luke Haney
Editor
lhaney@upsonbeacon.com
Fayette County Com
missioners unanimously au
thorized staff to proceed
with a five-year $35 million
bond issuance to advance
eligible 2023 special pur
pose local option sales tax
projects, enabling projects
to begin earlier than antici
pated, during the Nov. 9
meeting.
County Manager Steve
Rapson told commissioners
that all projects should be
completed in a three-year
cycle, and the bond debt can
be repaid as SPLOST reve
nue is received, estimating
that the county will receive
approximately $2 million in
interest revenue at that
time, enabling the county to
“take advantage” of a
“unique opportunity.”
Eligible projects include
the recreation multi-use fa
cility ($14 million), backup
911 center and emergency
operations center at South
Fayette Treatment Plant
($1.5 million), justice center
renovation ($14.5 million)
and Longview and Kozisek
Dams project ($5 million).
Commissioners unani
mously approved accept
ance of MEJA Construction,
Inc.’s guaranteed maximum
See County Bond, A6
Brigitte Greer/Fayette News
Georgia State Rep. Lt. Col. Josh Bonner addressed veterans and
their families at Tyrone Town Hall on Nov. 10.
Results Reported
for Fayette County
Municipal Elections
Leah Banks
Senior Reporter
leah@fayette-news.net
Nov. 7 was election day throughout Fay
ette County and citizens in each city and town
took to the polls to allow their voices to be
heard on who they want as representatives on
city and town councils.
While each race was equally important, all
eyes were on Peachtree City as numbers
rolled in for PTC Council Posts 1 and 2. Laura
Plauche Johnson secured the win for Post 1
with 2,477 votes, beating Eric Imker and
Tamara Moore.
Receiving nearly 42 percent of votes,
Johnson will face Moore in a runoff election
on Dec. 5.
Candidate Suzanne Brown secured the
win for Post 2 with 3,470 votes, beating op
ponent Vic Painter.
Fayetteville City Council Post 2 incumbent
Joe Clark secured the win in a tight race
against Cathy Vaught with 1,000 total votes.
In the Town of Tyrone, candidate Jessica
Whelan won the Tyrone Council Post 1 seat
against Will James with 622 total votes.
Of the four candidates running for Town
of Brooks Council Post 5 representative, in
cumbent Todd Speer won with 131 total votes
against candidates Donald Britt, Aaron Edge,
and David Harris.
Other council seats in area municipalities
were won by incumbents facing no opposi
tion.
Results were reported by Fayette County
Elections Office officials as of Wednesday,
Nov. 8, and are uncertified. As of press time,
numbers reported are uncertified.
Lawton Kugler shows his trophy at the USTA National Adaptive Tennis
Championships in Orlando on Nov. 5. Submitted
PTC Resident Places First
at NATO Tournament
Brigitte Greer
Staff Writer
bgreer@fayette-news.net
For Peachtree City resident
Lawton Kugler, tennis is more
than just a hobby or a game, it’s a
way of life, and he proved to be
“quite good at it” as he placed
first in his flight during the 2023
National Adaptive Tennis Cham
pionships at the USTA National
Campus in Orlando Nov. 4-5.
Kugler is a member of Special
Pops Atlanta, a nonprofit organi
zation that teaches children and
adults with intellectual disabil
ities the game of tennis. Along
with his partner Marcy Hirsh-
berg, chair of the USTA National
See Kugler, A6
Santa Delivers Christmas to Local Seniors in Need
Santa, with the help of
Fayette Senior Services
(FSS) and generous com
munity supporters, will
once again share the spirit
of the Christmas season and
the pleasure of giving to
others by bringing “Hope
for the Holidays” to seniors
in need.
During this annual holi
day initiative, community
partners and individual cit
izens provide gifts to ensure
that local seniors experience
a special Christmas season.
Each year, around too local
seniors are touched through
this program.
Iris Harris, FSS case
manager, shares the goal
behind this thoughtful proj
ect.
“The purpose of Hope
for the Holidays is to spread
holiday cheer to seniors who
are financially challenged,
shut-in, or lonely, and who
may otherwise not have any
gifts this holiday season.”
Beginning Nov. 13, FSS
will have Christmas trees
standing at both their Fay
etteville (4 Center Drive)
and Peachtree City (203
McIntosh Trail) locations
filled with ornaments. Each
ornament includes a wish of
a gift that participating sen
iors hope for this holiday
season. The deadline to re
turn gifts will be Dec. 5, and
all gifts should be returned
directly to Fayette Senior
Services.
In addition to their
wishes being filled, those in
volved will also receive a bag
of fresh fruits and snacks to
enjoy. This year’s Hope for
the Holidays program is
sponsored by Kaiser Per-
manente.
For more than a decade,
FSS has played a role in en
suring seniors have a gift for
the holidays. After the needs
of individual seniors are as
sessed and wishes are sub
mitted, a team puts together
a list for “Santa.” The
Christmas trees go up, and
are full of ornaments indi
cating requested presents
and needs.
Members of the com
munity can retrieve orna
ments and go shopping to
brighten the holiday season
for many. Once presents are
returned, FSS and a team of
volunteers will have a gift
wrapping party to wrap and
organize everything re-
See Seniors in Need, A6
Hometown Heroes
Recognized on
Veterans Day
Leah Banks
Senior Reporter
leah@fayette-news.net
Fayette County is the
home to countless heroes
who have sacrificed their
lives for the safety and pro
tection of American citizens,
and between Nov. 10 and 11,
Fayette residents and mu
nicipalities celebrated the
hard work and dedication of
these service men and
women who reside locally.
In the Town of Tyrone,
residents and town officials
gathered for a salute to vet
erans on Nov. 10 at Tyrone
Town Hall. The National
Anthem was performed by
the Sandy Creek Advanced
Treble Chorus, followed by
the Pledge of Allegiance by
Officer Eric Holley of the
Tyrone Police Department.
Georgia State Rep. Lt. Col.
Josh Bonner addressed the
room of veterans and their
families as the keynote
speaker. Officer Holley con
cluded the ceremony with
the recognition of veterans
in attendance.
Citing inclement
weather, Main Street Fay
etteville’s Veterans Day
celebration was cancelled
and will not be rescheduled.
Across the nation, Vet
erans Day, which originated
as “Armistice Day” in 1919,
commemorated the end of
World War I. In 1926, Con
gress passed a resolution to
make it an annual obser
vance, followed by making it
a national holiday in 1938.
Sixteen years later, Pres
ident Dwight D. Eisenhower
signed legislation that
would change the name of
the holiday from Armistice
Day to “Veterans Day” to
honor and celebrate those
who served their nation
See Veterans, A6
Fayette County State
Court Receives Clearance
Rate Excellence Award
Fayette County State
Court was recently recog
nized with a Clearance Rate
Excellence Award for the
State of Georgia. Judge Jason
B. Thompson has worked
hard alongside court staff and
interns to keep a stable rate of
clearance in the courtroom,
according to court officials.
Due to their “tremendous
effort and dedication,” they
have been recognized with
this accolade for the first
time.
“This award is shared
with everyone in the court
house that works tirelessly to
manage the caseload and
move the cases forward both
fairly and efficiently. I am
proud of our hard-working
staff for going above and bey
ond on a daily basis to make
sure we are effectively serving
the citizens of Fayette
County. Special thanks go to
Tara Barfield and Sylvia Wil
son for consistently manag
ing our calendar and
assisting me in moving the
Judge Jason B. Thompson
cases,” Judge Thompson
said.
The Clearance Rate Ex
cellence Award is given to the
top 10 percent courts of each
category, such as state, super
ior, magistrate, and others,
that can maintain their clear
ance rate. The clearance rate
is the number of disposed
cases divided by the number
of filed cases, and if this
number is too percent or
above, it demonstrates that
said court can manage at
least the same amount as it
did the previous year.
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