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Bank Promotes
Fagan And Pair
Jimmy S. Fagan andHenryT.
Pair Jr. were named to the
Board of Directors of the Bank
of Cumming, it was announced
this week by Roy P. Otwell
Sr., president of the Bank.
Pair, who joined the local
bank in 1968 after 22 years with
the Citizens and Southern Bank,
is vice president.
Fagan, with the Bank of Cum
ming since 1965, is the Cashier.
Otwell said Fagan is a “Lo
cal boy, brn and raised in
Cumming and we think he’s one
Mother Of Three
First Traffic Death
A 30 - year - old mother
of three became Forsyth
County’s first traffic fatality of
1973 when her car overturned
on Ga. 369 Monday about a mile
west of U.S. 19.
Mrs. Peggy Ann Holbrook
Rich of Route 2, Cumming,
was killed when she was thrown
from her car. The car rolled
over on top of ha- according
to Forsyth County Sheriff’s de
puties.
Deputy C.W. Yarbrough said
the accident was unexplainable.
The road was dry and according
Georgia PSC Okays
Southern Bell Hike
The Georgia Public Service
Commission (PSC) has granted
Southern Bell Telephone Com
pany a rate adjustment of $lO,-
437,000 in gross annual reven
ues; $5,218,500 after taxes.
However; the company does not
propose to Increase its cus
tomers monthly bills unless
they dial weekday long distance
calls within the state or move
their service.
The approval of the adjust
ment comes three months after
the superior court of Fulton
County ordered the PSC to con
sider Southern Bell's current
earnings situation.
“We had originally asked for
12.3 million dollars in addi
tional revenues and are dis
appointed the commission did
not grant that amount," said
Jasper Dorsey, Southern Bell
vice president.
“Studies show that some 20
Got A Dead Cow?
County Says Keep It
Dead animals are no longer
county business.
The Forsyth County Comm
ission has agreed to stop Its
practice of burying dead cows
and horses with one exception.
Commissioner Lanier Ban
nister said that the exception
of the finest young officers in
Georgia banking circles. We’re
glad to move him up.”
Pair, Otwell said, is an “ex
perienced banker who has ser
ved us well as vice president
and we’re pleased to make him
a director.”
Both are experienced ban
kers, fine men, church men and
family men, Otwell said.
The Bank of Cumming showed
$7.3-mlllion growth in the past
year.
to tests made by the state con
trol the car was not exceed
ing the speed limit.
Yarbrough said Mrs. Hol
brook’s seat belts werenotfas
tened and she probably would
not have been seriously Injured
had she been strapped In.
The victim was the wife of
Hubert Tich and the sister of
grocer J.P. Holbrook. She had
three young daughters.
Funeral services were held
Wednesday at the Liberty Bap
tist Church.
per cent of our customers move
once a year or more and since
it costs us considerably to in
stall a residence or business
telephone, this adds substan
tially to the cost of furnishing
telephone service.”
Dorsey added that those who
move in the future will be able
to put the new installation ch
arges on an installment billing
plan which will spread the cost
over several payments.
“We believe that those cau
sing the expense should bear tin
cost, rather than the genera
rate payer."
Charges for long distance
calls dialed within the state
will also be lncreasd, but acc
ording to the company, the ch
ange will be slight, keeping
the weekday rate for dialed calls
the lowest available.
The adjustment will become
effective February 15.
is when a carcass is in the
road blocking traffic.
Bannister said the Forsyth
County Health Department has
assembled a list of persons
who will bury large animals,
who will bury large animals
for a fee.
Virus Closes
College
North Georgia College
in Dahlonega closed Its
doors at noon Tuesday
and suspended all classes
because of a highly In
fectious virus.
Officials at the school
said approximately 2 5 per
cent of the 1,400 member
student body were sick
and the virus was
spreading.
No Truck
For “Gus”
Newly appointed county ad
ministrator A.R. “Gus” Hous
ley received and then lost a
pickup truck during Tuesday’s
four hour county commission
meeting.
But the loss was Housley’s
Idea.
The Forsyth County Commis
sion earlier In the extended ses
sion agreed to furnish the ad
ministrator with a pickup truck
for “official county business.’*
Housley, In apparent agree
ment at that time, spoke up as
the meeting neared a close and
asked to use his own car with
ten cents a mile reimburse
ment from the county till.
The Board met his wish, con
curring that the administrator’s
suggestion would probably be
cheaper In the long run.
Chamblee
Woman
Found Dead
A Chamblee, Ga. woman waj
found dead last week in a north
east Forsyth County motel.
Sheriff’s deputies said the death
of Mrs. Marilyn Millen Arm
strong, about 45, was “an ap
parent suicide from a probable
overdose of pills.
Mrs. Armstrong, who resided
at 2936 Surrey Lane Chamblee,
checked into the motel on Satur
day paying two days rent in ad
vance. Motel employees be
came suspicious Wednesday and
contacted the sheriff’s office.
Deputies said she left a note,
Supt. Says
Vacation
Wasn’t
Forsyth County School child
ren who had a surprise week
long vacation due to last week's
ice will have to make it up.
That's the word from acnool
Supt. Robert Otwell.
The state in making its grants
to local schools demandlSOdays
of classes and even rain or snow
or dark of night can not change
that.
Otwell said the school system
Is still working on a solution to
the lost days and would not have
It finalized until at least late
this week.
He said that among the pos
sibilities are Saturday classes
and cancelled holiday vacations.
He said he hoped it wouldn’t
have to be tacked on at the end
of the school year-—at least
not more than one or two days.
The News will print the re
vised school schedule when it
is available. So don't bother the
schools by calling to ask.
rfIVVVI FORSYTH MUllg
1 111 l COUNTY ll Cl W 9
CUMMING, GEORGIA
Commission Rescinds Action-
No Split For Planning Board
The Forsyth County Board
of Commissioners rescinds Its
action of two weeks ago which
would have served to sever
the county Planning and Zoning
Board.
The three to two decision by
the five member panel was a
personal defeat for Commiss
ioner Lanier Bannister who In
troduced the change. His pro
posal, approved three to one
at the earlier session, would
have split the Cumming- For
syth planning group Into a city
planning board and a county
planning board.
Bannister had said the Cum
ming members would have been
permitted to sit In on county
zoning under his restructuring,
but their votes would not count.
The commission meeting was
preceded by a special joint ses
sion with Cumming city officials
sitting in with the commission.
The special meeting, requested
by the city which thought the
Bannister proposal was acted
on too hastily, consisted main
ly of strongly worded argu
ments against the change.
Included were resolutions
from the County Bar Associ
ation, The JayCees, The Cham
ber of Commerce, and others
asking that the planning group
remain as it is.
The motion to rescind the
earlier action was Introduced
by Larry Watson, who at the
Jan. 2 meeting was the lone
opponent to the Bannister pro
posal. Chairman Herman Ham
by did not vote after the pro
posal was supported by Bannis
ter, Lawton Sosebee and Craw
ford Roe.
Roe, with two weeks to think
about his earlier vote, sided
Tuesday with Watson and Ham
by broke a two to two tie by
voting to retract the dividing
action.
Bannister, at the special ses
sion, repeated his arguments
for the change. He said the
board was currently “top hea
vy on land speculators” and
claimed he was following up
on an election campaign pro
mise by attempting to alter the
planning body.
Cumming Mayor Ford Gra
vitt disagreed clainlng the act
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Jackson M. Butler, president of Forsyth Insurance Agency,
Inc., announced this week that construction will begin within
90 days on a major addition to his Butler Office Center. De
signed by architect C.W.White, the expansion will Increase
DEDICATED TO THE PROGRESS OF CUMMING AND FORSYTH COUNTY
LXVI
ion would deprive Cumming re
sidents of a needed voice in
county affairs. He said the peo
ple of Cumming pay county taxes
and it was unfair to take away
their votes on the advisory
planning panel.
“You have your differences
in churches, civic clubs and
all other groups,” Gravitt said,
“But you don’t split up. You
stay united and try to work
things out."
Community Planner James
Fisher said there were two
issues to the controversy—
whether to have a joint board
and what its makeup should be.
In defending the joint concept
he went one step farther and
urged the county and city to
adopt a singular zoning ordin
ance which he claimed could
prevent one area from getting
all the less desirable develop
ment.
Fisher said he agreed with
Bannister in part because such
boards at times become “wei
ghted with people with vested
interests.” The solution for
that is to appoint person's of
the highest Integrity, Fisher
said.
At one point Bannister pro
posed “a Compromise”. He
said he would be willing to
accept a percentage basis for
the makeup of the board.
Bannister’s “compromise,”
based on the 1970 census, would
in essence give Cumming one
vote on a nine member panel
instead of three votes on the
present eight-member planning
board.
Jaycees’ President Bill Bar
nett read two resolutions rela
ted to the matter. The first com
mended the planning board for
its efforts to date and the sec
ond urged the commlsslonio re
consider and make no changes
“until further study can be made
to determine what changes
should be made, If any.”
Chamber of Commerce Pres
ident George P. Ingram said the
county can “best be served by
a joint commission.”
A combined statement from
Donald Thompson of the Forsyth
County Bank, Furman Stansell
ISSUE 3
of the Bank of Cumming, and
Roger Slaton of Home Federal
Savings and Loan Association
urged the commission to “Iron
out any differences” and not
split the panel.
Former County Attorney John
Shinall read the Bar Association
resolution which asked the com
mission to reconsider.
Chairman Hamby in asking
his fellow commissioners to re
consider said “I’m sure each
one of them did what they felt
was in the best Interest of the
county at the time.” Hamby
asked for a six month delay
to “figure It out.”
Commissioner Watson, a for
mer planning board member,
said “When you hear Lanier
(Bannister) putting in the paper
that you’ve got a speculator on
the board-I’m It.” He said he
initially took a seat on the plan
ning board to weaken it. “I
didn’t think anybody had the
right to tell me what to do with
my land.”
“But Pm a believer In what
they’re doing now,” Watson ad
ded.
Bannister said he would pro
pose a code of ethics for mem
bers of the planning commis
sion.
Lawyer Shinall re-entered
the debate to say that such a
code was unnecessary. “These
men go overboard to separate
their decisions from their per
sonal interests,” he said.
Bannister suffered a second
political loss when he tried to
get the commission to go along
with new appointments for all
the county’s members of the
planning board. He did not ex
clude any of the three remain
ing county members of the board
lng county members of the board
from reappointment but asser
ted that none of three re
appointed by the old board of
commissioners.
Bannister said that the min
utes of the December meeting
did not reflect the renaming of
Amon Corn, Dow Vaughan and
Marvin Boling. Carroll Castle
berry resigned previously and
Watson resigned when elected to
the county commission.
Watson said he had affidavits
15 CENTS PER COPY
that Indicated the reappoint
ments were made and at that
point Bannister said someone
had apparently tampered with
the minutes and urged a Grand
Jury investigation.
Shinall, who served as county
attorney during the December
meeting, said the appointments
were made after Bannister left
the meeting. He had no explan
action for their absence from
the minutes.
County Administrator A.R.
Gus Housley did have one. Hou
sley, who was commission
chairman in December said the
County Meeting
Pulls A Crowd
The Forsyth County Board of
Commissioners drew a crowd
for their second official meet
ing of the year.
More than 75 persons, most
to hear the outcome of the plan
ning board rift, were on hand.
The bulk of them stayed for the
entire meeting even though it
ran more than four hours.
Among the actions taken were
an appointment to replace Her
man Hamby on the hospital
board and the setting of a sal
ary for county administrator
A.R. “Gus” Housley.
Hamby resigned from his
hospital board post when elected
to the county commission. The
commissioners unanimously
elected Ivan Orr to fill the spot.
The board set a salary of
$11,500 per year for Housley who
will also receive ten cents per
mile for using his own car on
county business.
The commissioners agreed to
use Leroy Martin's property on
UJS. 19 behind the Cumming
Superette as a new landfill.
The county will have to bring
in dirt to cover dumpings at
the new site.
The Board opened bids from
local banks for county banking
business but delayed a deci
the center's size by 16,000 square feet. The addition to the cen
ter, located on Dahlonega Street In Cummlng, Is pictured
to the left In the above architect's rendering. Hie building on
the right Is complete and occupied . Butler said sufficient off
street parking will be provided.
JAM <B. 197?
appointments were not in the
minutes because hp and com
missioner Loyd Smith later
agreed not to include them.
Bannister moved that all the
appointments be made anew and
Sosebee seconded his motion.
The two voted for the motion
with Watson voting against it
and Roe abstaining. Chairman
Hamby exercised his option vote
to deadlock the motion at two
and two.
The action means the com
mission will have to fill only
the planning board seats vacated
by Watson and Castleberry.
sion for new bids when they
realized they had not been clear
in their request for bids. New
bids including needed variations
are to be asked. Meanwhile the
county money will be split be
tween the Bank of Cumming and
the Forsyth County Bank, so
county funds will continue to
draw interest.
The commission also agreed
that the duties of the adminis
trator should be outlined.
In other action by the county
commission:
—A request by Phil Castle
berry for a cable television fr
anchise was delayed pending
further requests. Commis
sioner Lanier Bannister said
the county should wait before
granting an exclusive 20 year
franchise.
—County attorney Emory
Lipscomb 111 was asked to co
duct a title search to deter
mine if a road in the Twin
Lakes subdivision was public
or private.
—Steps were taken towari
the creation of a zoning boar:
of appeals.
—School bus turnaround*
were designated as an excep
tion to the county’s policy o
not doing work on private land.