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
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Providing Accountability from every aspect of
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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"
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* * 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.
The issue was originally
scheduled for an August
meeting but has been post
poned until the Nov. 11
meeting.
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