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Your official newspaper serving Greene, Morgan and Putnam counties in Georgia’s Lake Country \ www.LakeOconeeNews.us
VOL. 19 NO. 52 FRIDAY DECEMBER 29 2017 75 CENTS
GREENE COUNTY
Greene sees growth in 2017
Dave Brown
dave@lakeoconeenews.us
The reports by Rick Zeier, code enforcement officer
for the City of Greensboro, at city council meetings
used to be mere tales of woe about bulldozing aban
doned houses.
These days, Zeier provides well-received updates
about the status of newbusinesses as the local economy
builds onto schools, expands manufacturingfacilities,
SEE GROWTH » A8
FRED — Unemployment Rote in Greene County, GA
2.5
2008
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Greene County's unemployment rate
continued to fall to 4.5 percent in
September 2017. Greene's unemployment
rate has not dropped below 4.5 percent
since July 2001 (4.1 percent). This
trend is consistent with the Georgia
unemployment rate which was at 4.4
percent and the Northeast Georgia Region
at 4.0 percent in September. Surrounding
neighbor counties Oconee and Morgan
were slightly lower than Greene at 3.3 and
3.9 percent respectively. (Source: U. S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics)
T. Michael Stone/Staff
Brad Good and his partner Wayne Lamar try to get the Planning and Zoning Commission to see things their way.
Madison P&Z rejects Foster Park plan
T. Michael Stone
michael@lakeoconeenews.us
The Madison Planning & Zoning
Commission rejected developer Brad
Good’s latest Foster Park proposal during
last week’s meeting held Dec. 21. The plan
calls for retaining the R2 zoning but that
would have required 80 zoning variances
to be implemented.
Good argued that the property is too
narrowto create a road with homes on both
sides unless zoning requirements regarding
lot size, setback and lot width and depth are
relaxed for the variances he asked for.
Good said that strict adherence to the
SEE P&Z » A9
PUTNAM COUNTY
County
tables
rental
decision
Shannon Sneed
shannon@lakeoconeenews.us
Commissioner Daniel Brown wasn’t at
the Dec. 19 Putnam County BOC meeting
to cast the deciding vote whether or not
to adopt a short-term rental ordinance
with occupancy restrictions, so theboard
tabled the item until a later date.
SEE RENTALS » A3
index
Calendar B4
Churches B6
Classifieds D4
Community B1
Obituaries A6
Opinions A4
Recipes D1
Sports C1
Sports C1
FRIDAY
42/31
Scattered Rain
WEATHER »D7
0
94922 87855 7
Published by
Smith
Communications Inc.
NEwsYear in Review
FILE PHOTO
Hospital leaders join local and state officials to break ground on the new Morgan Memorial Hospital Sept.
19.
T. Michael Stone
michael@lakeoconeenews.us
The past year was full of triumph
as well as nearlyunspeakabletragedy.
Greene and Morgan counties made
substantial progress onmajorprojects
and new businesses are coming.
January
In January, Morgan County took
a major step toward a new hospital
when the hospital authority approved
a letter on conditions to borrow $35
million from the USDA for construc
tion. Opponents fought against the
new facility and eventually forces
hospital authority chairman Terry
Evans to resign from theboard as part
of deal that ended litigation aimed at
stopping the project. The mood was
one of celebration on Sept. 19 when
members of the authority and other
dignitaries held a groundbreaking
ceremony on the site.
In Putnam County, The Eatonton
Messenger learned that Frank Don
Causey, the man accused of murder
ing Lydia Huggins Ivanditti on Dec.
2, 2016, is wanted by authorities in
Tennessee on assault charges. Pretrial
hearings get underway in September
and the trail starts in November.
Causey’s attorney presented sev
eral alternatives to Ivanditti’s death,
including an accident, a suicide, erotic
asphyxiation or that someone else
killed her. The state wrapped up its
case on Nov. 14. Causey was found
guilty and sentenced to life in prison.
February
The first of several unspeakable
tragedies visited upon Lake Country
would take place when 2-year-old
Phillip Dyson Robb was killed in an
accident in Wilkes County.
Atriangle of GDOTprojects on 1-20,
Hwy 441 and Hwy 44 begin, snarling
traffic and frustrating drivers who
seemingly can’t go anywhere in Lake
Country without construction delays.
Azoning controversy smolderingfor
months in Morgan County flares up
at the Madison City Council meeting
when Councilor Chris Hodges sug
gests the Planned Residential Districts
might be appropriate in Madison’s
Historic districts after all.
But it doesn’t end there. Developer
Brad Good, who proposed a PRD for
property between Foster Street and
S. Main Street, returns with a brand
new plan in June, hoping to convince
the Madison City Council to rezone
the property R4 from R2.
That proposal proved nearly as
unattractive to residents of Madison’s
Historic District as the PRD. Good
was scheduled to present his idea to
the Madison City Council on Oct. 9,
but the public hearing was abruptly
removed from the agenda a few
days prior to the council meeting.
Opponents of the plan argued the city
did not have the right to remove the
public hearing from the agenda and
reschedule it for a date following the
municipal elections.
The final showdown appeared
set for Nov. 13, but right before the
public hearing started, attorneys
representing both sides agreed that a
compromise might be in order. Good
returned with a complicated set of
variance, 80 in all, that was rejected
SEE REVIEW » A2
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