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Page A2 Lake Oconee News Friday, October 13,2017 MORGAN COUNTY Deputies catch church vandal wearing stolen T-shirt T. Michael Stone michael@lakeoconeenews.us The Morgan County Sheriff’s Office arrested a Madison man last week for vandalism and burglary of a local church. According to the inci dent report, Deputy Derrick Roland met with Matthew Alexander at the Fusion Church on Athens Highway on the afternoon of Oct. 6. Alexander told Roland that someone entered the church through the mechan ical room and took several black Fusion T-shirts. He also sprayed green spray paint on the floor and sprayed orange paint on one of the doors saying, “GOD DED.” He finished by spraying orange paint on a children’s slide in the back of the church and stole a boom box style radio from one of the rooms. The suspect also appar ently made himself some hot chocolate while he was at it. Earlier calls to the Sherriffs Office said a white male was walking along Athens Highway had entered a couple of residences. A Morgan County deputy had even beenkind enough to give the man a ride to Bishop, not knowing what he had been up to. Oconee County deputies were contacted and asked to see if they could locate Donnie Floyd Layson in the vicinity of the gas station where he had been dropped off. The Oconee County dep uties found Layson and detained him until Roland arrived. According to the report, Layson was belligerent and screaming loudly. He was wearing a T-shirt from the church he had just vandalized and had green paint on his shorts. He also had a can of orange spray paint in his bag. Contributed A vandal painted children's slides at the Fusion Church on Athens Highway last week. MORGAN COUNTY Hodges seeks second term on Madison City Council Madison City Council member Chris Hodges is seekingher second term in the 5th District. “It’s been my pleasure repre senting the citizens of the 5th district. I’m grateful for the chance to serve another term. “Early on, I knew I wanted to be hands on and to keep my boots on the ground. I was determined to roll up my sleeves and do the work, whether it’s neighborhood clean ups, beautification projects, visiting with my constituents in their homes or patrolling neigh borhoods. Ifeellike I’ve made good headway, but there’s still a lot of work to do. “Some of the things I’ve cham pioned are the installation of free Wi-Fi in town park, recycling bins on town square and an improved online bill paying system. Also, I’m proud of the work I’ve done with council woman Carrie Peters- Reid, the mayor, DDA and the GICH housing team to improve the Canaan district and the West Washington gateway. But I’m most proud of two projects I spearheaded: the sidewalks on Eatonton Road, which made gro cery shopping more accessible for pedestrians, and separating the Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Chamber of Commerce, which allowed both organizations to become stronger and to focus on their single minded missions and sole purpose. “If I’m elected, I will continue to improve sidewalk connectivity throughout the entire city. Also, I’m working on a public arts project alongside a public water feature for children in one of our parks. Strengthening and support ing our local police force is also a goal. I am always looking for ways to enhance our city so our children will want to make Madison their forever home.” “I feel it’s vital to have ahistorical knowledge of aplace andits people. I was born, raised and educated here. I have a great appreciation of where we’ve been and where we need to be. We must stay com petitive for quality industry and creative tourist attractions. We should never take ourselves for granted.” “Most importantly, I am grateful for all the support I’ve received over the last four years, and If I’m elected I will continue to work hard for the city we all love and call home.” Chris Hodges Zoning Continued from A1 the applicant requested the postponement, and said that holding the public hearing withhispresencewouldn’tbe fair to him and could invite a lawsuit. City staffer Molly Bogle said thelegal ad that ran in the Oct. 5 issue of the Citizen should havereadthatthehearinghad been rescheduled but didn’t. Bell and Murray suggested the city council was being manipulated by developer Brad Good who has proposed thezoning change forpolitical purposes due the impending election and the controversial nature of the rezoning. Kathi Russell FOR MAYOR ‘A Voice for Change Putting Transparency St Trust back in our City Providing Accountability from every aspect of our City Reduce Spending St start doing More with Less Save the Historic District Hundreds of 80,0001b trucks do not belong on Main Street in Madison. Establish term limits for all Commission mem bers and especially the Historic Preservation Commission to two 2 year terms. Give others in Madison a chance to serve. Find out where the Pennington money went Say YES to new business. No more of "None of this and none of that" Making Madison Great Again ★ 706-342-6779 ★ Paid for by the Committee to elect Kathi Russell. * * Early voting starts October 16** The charge drew a sharp response from Carey Peters- Reid who said that not all members of city council were up for re-election and that holding the public hear ing without the applicant’s knowledge would be unfair. Theresa Bishop, another long-time opponent of the rezoning, said the city council was more interested in the rights of developers than residents of the city. Bell and Murray suggested thatadvertisingapublichear- ing for Nov. 3 would allow the required 15 days and give Good time to appear so the issue could be resolved before the election. Mayor Fred Perriman said that it was unknown if Good would be able to appear at a called meeting on Nov. 3. The controversy began more than a year ago when Good proposed a planned residential district within Madison’s historic district. That plan drew heavy criticism and was quickly dismissed by the Madison Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council. In July, Good floated another idea, this time asking that the 10.36 acres oflandhe owns between Foster Street and Hunter Street south of Main Street be rezoned from R2 To R4. Good said he needed the zoning change in order to lay out a neighborhood with homes on the both sides of a proposed street with 24 lots. Zoned R2, Good said the property would only allow for 13 lots. Good argued that his plan would create 2.1housingunits per acre which was in keeping with the 2.08unitsper acre in the adjacent Plum, Pine and Poplar Street neighborhoods. The Madison Historic Preservation Commission first weighed in on the plan last July and rejected Good’s proposal. “I think this develop ment is too dense for the area,” Commissioner Cherie Vaughan said of the proposal. “Eventually, something will happen with this property, but once it is developed we can’t go back.” The HPC doesn’t have any statutory authority on zoning matters, buttheboard sent a recommendation to the Madison Planning and Zoning board voicing oppo sition to the zoning change. Later in the month, the Planning and Zoning Commission delivered strike two by recommending that city council reject the idea. 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