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Local Militia District Lines To Be Studied By Committee BY JAY JORDAN News Editor The Forsyth County Board of Com missioners voted to establish a com mittee to study changes in the militia district lines prior to adopting an offi cial map of voting districts at its Mon day afternoon meeting. Citizens present at the meeting spoke in favor of an official map, but said any move to adopt one now, immediately prior to the November general election, would force a Republican, presumably school board candidate Ron Wood, out of the race. The Forsyth County Board of Com missioners voted to establish a com mittee to study changes in the militia Tyson Foods Gets Extension Of Lease On Oxidation Pond The Cumming City Council voted to extend Tyson Foods, Inc.’s lease on a city sewage oxidation pond for 10 years at its Sept. 16 meeting. A new rent will be set at the next reg ularly-scheduled meeting. Earl Whitaker of Tyson Foods ex plained the company was expanding and needed to legally secure the long term use of the pond to financing. Under the expansion plan, Tyson may spend almost $6-million, employ about 150 new workers and in two years, may produce 50 percent more chickens, Whitaker said. Tyson recently renewed its lease on the oxidation pond for 10 years, from 1980 to 1990. The extension runs until 2000. The city first leased the pond to Ty son in 1970 at S2OO monthly. Tyson is one of the largest sewer users in the city. Now, Tyson uses 600,000 gallons of water a day, Whitaker said, When the expansion program is complete, the firm will use around 900,000 gallons a day, he said. The city is paying off bonds on the pond until 2004, while Tyson pays for Business License Law Is Discussed The Forsyth County Board of Com missioners worked through a lengthy agenda at its Monday meeting. The board discussed support for a proposed business license ordinance, and purchasing a computer terminal and vote recorders. The business license ordinance is in the form of an amendment'to the Georgia constitution which will be on the ballot in the November general election. If the amendment is approved by the voters and the General Assem bly, the the board will be able to pass a law establishing fees and other details. The board decided to form a commit tee to gather facts about the business li cense ordinance and to seek public support for it. The ordinance was voted down in 1978 by a substantial majority. The board stressed repeatedly the business license ordinance is not in tended to produce income for the county, but to ensure orderly growth and fly-by-night, disreputable busi nesses. Fees would be set only high enough to support the program, board chairman Bill Barnett said. A business license ordinance would “put alot of extra teeth into the zoning ordinance,” chairman Barnett said. “We are not doing our duty if we don’t support it,” commissioner James Harrington said. The business license ordinance would uphold the zoning law. Business licenses were one of the few ways to control building, he explained. The board voted to spend $4,695 to purchase a new computer terminal for Cumming Girl Hit By Car In Athens A 17-year-old Route 4 Cumming girl was struck and hit by a car as she crossed the street in Athens Thursday. Authorities said Shelia Lee McClure Was pdmitted to Athens General Hospi tal in critical condition after being struck by a car at the comer of Broad Street and College Avenue. The accident was termed unavoid able and no charges filed, authorities •aid. Miss McClure attends the University of Georgia in Athens. " UJ. QU J 'ocVfw JMURnALISw ft si fY 'Of- Gfcijftbl A “~1 FORSYTH MWIIg A nil COUNTY IV El TV 3 VOLUME LXXI—NUMBER 38 district lines The committee is to consist of one member from each of the 13 Georgia militia districts in the county and one each from the Democratic and Repub lican parties. The committee is to re port when it has finished, but not before the November general election. The committee was formed after the Forsyth County Democratic Party sent a letter to the board asking it to adopt an official map of election districts. The official map should be forwarded to state officials, Democratic secretary J. Lanier Bannister wrote. An official map would ensure both political parties were using the same map and would avoid future litigation. the maintenance and upkeep. The city needs additional revenue and must pay off the bonds, Mayor Ford Gravitt said. The city will consult with its accountant before setting a new rent, the mayor said. The council also tabled the proposed budget of the Forsyth-Cumming Plan ning Department until the next meet ing so part of it could be checked further. The council understood Forsyth County would charge “rent” to the planning department for the space it occupies in the courthouse. Gail Davis, the planning department head, said at the meeting she had learned of the “rent” requirement when county officials told her she would have to revise upward the $3,500 budgeted for utilities. The matter was straightened out later, she explained, after the “rent” turned out to be what Mayor Gravitt suspected a utility charge based on the size of each office in the court house. Every office in the courthouse would be charged its snare of the court house utility bill based on the space it the sheriff’s department. The old one has been broken for over a week and would cost $4,270 to fix, county admin istrator Donald Major said. The computer terminal is linked to a state crime control computer and is used by patroling deputies to check auto registrations and other records. The board also voted to buy 12 voter recorders at a cost of about $225 to $250 each. The recorders were refused by an other county which had ordered them. Normally, they would cost $290, Major Continued on Page 3A 8- - I | WILLIAM (BILL) REED IS SELECTED ... Forsyth County Teacher of the Year WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24,1980- CUMMING, GA. 30130 This was in apparent reference to thg dispute over post five board of educa tion candidate Ron Wood. Wood, a Re publican, lives in the Cumming precinct, according to the most recent Georgia Department of Transportation county road map. Earlier maps, dating' back to the 19205, show Wood living A post five, though. f> No legal descriptions of the militia district and voting district lines are known to exist. Wood was not present at the board meeting, but did send a brief letter which was read by county administra tor Donald Major. Wood asked that an official map and legal descriptions of the district boundaries be chosen to occupied, explained Ms. Davis. The council also was displeased with other items in the planning department budget. The free use of planning de partment office machines by other county offices drew criticism. The planning department should be operated on non-profit basis, Mayor Gravitt said. Its office equipment is for its own use and not for other depart ments. If the department is making money, the fees it charges should be lowered, he said. The city also took action against the owners of buildings Mayor Gravitt Continued on Page 2A avoid possible litigation. Several of those who spoke against ah immediate change said there was a move afoot to change the rules at the last minute to have a Republican candi date, apparently Wood, thrown out of 'the race. * Some of the speakers said voters who live in the Shady Grove area are tech nically in the Cumming election dis trict, but are separated from it by Lake Lanier. To vote, these people must drive past the Chattahoochee district polling place. Everyone who spoke agreed the county needed an official map, but urged no action be taken until after the November election at the earliest. Republican Jim Weatherby, who is running for the county commission from post five, said the move to adopt an offical map now “strikes me as a rather shabby political attempt at a po litical trick.’” If the board acted now, he said, it could be accused of gerry mandering, or changing the voting dis trict lines to affect the outcome of an election. The county already had an official map, from 1928, which needed to be up dated, Weatherby said. But six weeks before the general election was not the time to do it, he added. Horace Beasley identified himself as a political independent. He said he un derstood there was a movement under way to throw a Republican candidate out of the November election. He suggested the board wait until af ter the election to choose an offical map. The 885th militia district boundry should be changed to the middle of Continued on Page 2A SISTER ANNE OF ‘THE PLACE’ WEAVES IN FRONT OF DISPLAY ... this display placed first in the theme for falling leaves festival By LANE GARDNER CAMP Staff Writer “I love teaching. I love to work for these young people. They keep me thinking young.” These are the words of the Forsyth County School System’s 1980-81 Tea cher of the Year (TOTY), William (Bill) Reed. Reed, a social science teacher at For syth County High School for 14 years, has recently received this honor be cause of his “contributions to education and the teaching profession.” A special committee chose Reed to represent the Forsyth County School System in Georgia’s 1981 TOTY pro gram which gets underway this fall. There were teachers of the year se lected at each of the county’s nine schools. Reed, who is originally from Atlanta and now lives in Doraville, travels to Forsyth County each school day to teach a variety of subjects: economics, psychology, sociology, criminology, and marriage and family adjustment. According to Betty Benson, curric ulum coordinator for the Forsyth County School System, “Mr. Reed is one of the most versatile teachers that I know.” She says that in addition to so cial studies, he is also quite capable of teaching English and history. “He’s the kind of person you like to William Reed Is Selected Forsyth’s Teacher Of Year 28 PAGES, 2 SECTIONS-25 CENTS |r JgH * W 1 Happy Homecoming Queen Angie Martin squeezes her dad’s arm with delight after hearing her name called as Forsyth County High School’s Homecoming queen. Angie, daughter of Rev. and Mrs. Robert Martin, was named during halftime of Friday night’s football game at the stadium here. Angie, a senior, is captain of the football varsity cheerlead ers. have in the classroom academically and morally,” she adds. Johnny Otts, principal of Forsyth County High School, says of Reed, “He’s really a fine teacher,” pointing out his “outstanding classes,” his “ex cellent rapport with his students,” and his “conscientious” attitude toward teaching. Describing his teaching philosophy, Reed states, “If I can get the child to enjoy whatever we’re doing, he/she will learn more readily as well as more maturely.” “Learning is a pleasure,” he says, “and I teach with that in mind.” 33-Year-Old Forsyth Man Dies In Car Accident Here A 33-year-old Forsyth County man was killed in a one-car accident here late Saturday, according to the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Department. Authorities identified the victim as Stanley Ray Little, of the Haw Creek Community near Cumming. Investigating officers said Little was apparently killed instantly when the car he was driving ran off the road and overturned several times. The accident occurred at approxi Winners Are Announced For Festival Hundreds of folks gathered at Lanier Village Shopping Center in Cumming Saturday for the annual Falling Leaves Festival, the largest in its six-year-his tory. More than 33 artists, craftsmen and civic clubs and groups participated in displays and booths around the store fronts of the shopping center. Several participants receive awards in the contests of the theme, best all around and best country dress. First place winner for the theme went to “The Place,” second place was awarded to “Judy and Renees” and third place went to “Forgotten Crafts”. An honorable mention was made to Joyce Holtzclaw. For best country dress, Lamar Smith was the first place male winner. In the female division, Stephanie Long re ceived First Place, Clara Thomas re ceived third place and Debra Gallard won third place. Honorable mentions went to Betty and Helen of The New comers’ Club and to Mary Samples. Continued on Page 16A Also, to maintain or develop his stu dents’ interests, Reed says he’ll do most anything. In the past, he’s strummed on a gui tar and arranged a dill pickle party. “I’ll even dance for them,” he says. Reed enjoys “laughing with” his stu dents, but at the same time, he believes in “proper discipline and maintaining an atmosphere that’s conducive to learning." “I am in charge. I respect my stu dents as young adults. And I will be re spected as their teacher,” he explains. “I’m not dictatorial, but I am the tea- Continued on Page 2A mately 11:45 p.m. Saturday at the in tersection of Brookwood Road and Georgia 141 in southern Forsyth County. No other vehicles were be lieved to be involved in the accident, according to Sheriff Wesley Walraven. However, the accident is still under investigation by Forsyth sheriff’s dep uties. Sheriff Walraven said the traffic death was Forsyth County’s third of the year.