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Decade Of Dedication
Aids Fire Department
By LANE GARDNER CAMP
Staff Writer
It used to be that before Forsyth County got its
volunteer fire department, residents were pretty much
without fire protection.
Whenever a house or business caught fire, the best
bet, according to Chief John C. “Jake” Moore, was for
the occupants to attempt to save the furnishings and
just let the structure bum.
But that’s far from the situation today thanks to
the men and women, too many to name, who have built
up what Moore says is the largest volunteer fire
department in the country.
Just ten years ago, there was only one truck that
served all of Forsyth County. Because it was stored in
a chicken house in the north end of the county, it didn’t
do the residents south of Cumming a whole lot of good.
Moore boasts that the local fire department today
$435,000 Grant Is
Going To Schools
The Forsyth County School System
learned recently that it will be receiv
ing a grant in the amount of a little
more than $435,000 ($435,458) as part of
$75-million that was appropriated by
the 1981 Georgia General Assembly for
tax rebates to the state’s 187 school
systems.
The money, which is provided in
accordance with Act 562 (House Bill 95)
as amended by House Bill 1372, will be
forwarded from the State Department
of Education on Aug. 31 after the board
of education notifies the local taxing
authority how the funds will be used.
School systems have the option of
using grants for property tax relief or
for educational purposes in the school
Gainesville Man Is
a
Killed In Shootout
Forsyth County investigators said
Monday an apparent shootout on a
county road late Sunday left one man
dead.
Officers identified the victim as Mil
ton Eugene Prescott, age 51, of a Gai
nesville address. He was pronounced
dead on arrival at Forsyth County
Hospital.
Investigators said the shooting inci
dent occurred on Westbrook Drive in
the north end of the county late Sunday
evening following an apparent do
mestic argument.
According to Sheriff Wesley Walra
ven, Prescott apparently exchanged
shots with a Forsyth County resident
who was not identified.
Hospital Celebrates Its Week
By LANE GARDNER CAMP
Staff Writer
The Forsyth County Hospital was one
of numerous hospitals throughout the
country to celebrate National Hospital
Week last week, May 10-15.
National Hospital Week serves to
recognize all members of hospitals’
health care teams - everybody from
volunteers to doctors.
The local hospital observed its week
by setting aside special days for its
different employees and volunteers.
There was nurses’ day, held the week
before, employees’ day, doctors’ day
and even auxiliary day. (See other
related stories.)
+++
The physical status of the local hospi
tal at this time compared to National
Hospital Waak, 1960, ‘'is 100 percent
A k'ii£ COUNTY NEWS
BILL SAUNDERS OF THE DEER CREEK SHORES STATION
...stands by one of the department’s two jeeps
system. Last year the Forsyth County
Board of Education voted to use the
money for tax relief.
School Supt. B.M. “Bud” Amsler said
last week that the board will likely vote
to accept the money at its May 21
meeting.
The grants, which range in amount
from $17,000 to $5.7-million, are based
on a system’s resident average daily
attendance in kindergarten through
grade twelve for the first four months of
the year. Forsyth County’s resident
ADA was 5,862.
Students are counted for systems in
which they live even though they might
attend school in another system.
The Forsyth resident returned fire
and fatally wounded Prescott, officers
said.
Sheriff Walraven said Monday af
ternoon that the incident was still under
investigation to determine the cause of
the argument and the exchange of
gunshots.
No charges have been filed against
anyone pending further investigation,
the sheriff said.
Also under investigation Monday af
ternoon was the shooting death of a
Forsyth County man who died of an
apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound,
officers said.
No details of the shooting were avail
able at presstime.
different,” noted Hospital Administra
tor Joe Brandon.
“The condition of our physical plant
is as good as any other area hospital,”
he said.
During the last year, the hospital has
sought to better its facility by complet
ing a $2.4-million renovation and con
struction project. With open house held
in November, the project included a 13,-
000 square foot addition and the renova
tion of an already existing 7,000 square
feet of space.
Currently, the hospital is finishing up
a renovation project of 16 rooms not
included in the first project.
Seven private and nine semi-private
rooms in the older section of the hospi
tal are being remodeled in order to
bring their appearance up to the mod
em standards set by the newer section
VOLUME LXXII—NUMBER 20
has “more volunteers than any other volunteer outfit in
the county.” Besides the 330 firefighters on call around
the clock, there is also a very active ladies auxiliary.
The men who fight fires there are no females yet—
range in age, says Moore, from 18 to 78. There are
mailmen and mechanics who battle blazes alongside
airline pilots and doctors. (Even professional firefight
ers who live in Forsyth County offer their services free
of charge when not on duty at their departments in
metro-Atlanta.)
Not only do these men get similar satisfactions from
what they do, they all also run the same risks.
Moore expresses the danger of the job when he says,
“It’s a proven fact that more firemen are killed in the
line of duty than policemen or mineworkers.”
In nearly a decade of operation, the local department
has experienced the loss of life of only one of its
Continued on Page 16A
WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 1981 CUMMING, GA. 30130
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COAST GUARDSMAN
...come to rescue
of the hospital.
Total cost of the 16-room renovation
project, said Brandon, has been about
$60,000, with some of the money being
donated by various local individuals
and civic groups.
The renovation work, according to
Brandon, has included dropping in new
ceilings to include overhead lights,
painting three of the walls in each room
and making the fourth wall an “accent”
wall by applying a vinyl wall covering.
Eleven of die 16 rooms have received
new air conditioning and heating units
while the other five rooms have had
their units “reconditioned,” said Bran
don.
New electrical outlets have been
placed in all the rooms, said Brandon.
Only five rooms have not yet received
new carpet. Installation, he said, has
g* a. Mn w
**■ ■ l»' ~ '
/ v.V'v' j ''jWmBKBKEMBbL.
BOATS GATHERED ON LAKE NEAR DEMONSTRATION SITE
...in the background is the auxiliary flagship
Guard, Auxiliary
Hold Demonstration
BY JAY JORDAN
News Editor
The little blue speedboat steered a
straight and determined course. It was
like a jogger who is going to make it to
the top of the hill before he quits.
Behind it, the helicopter approached
upwind, perhaps 20 feet over the waves,
tail down a bit, matching its speed to
the boat.
The door was open and suddenly a
grocery cart popped out. It was sus
pended from the hoist, so it did not fall.
Inside was an orange-clad Coast
Guardsman. The cart descended into
the cockpit of the speedboat. The Coast
Guardsman stepped out dry-shod.
been prevented because of heavy pa
tient loads recently.
Divider curtains must still be placed
in the semi-private rooms, he added.
Included in the $60,000 room renova
tion project, said Brandon, was the
replacement of the hospital’s hot and
cold water system in the older portion
of the building. He added that the old
“underslab” water supply system has
been abandoned.
The hot water supply system has
been “reconditioned” by adding a new
coil in the hot water tank, he said.
With renovation work nearly com
plete, Brandon said that the hospital
will next be working on beautification
of its grounds and on improving the
internal health care services of the
institution.
32 PAGES, 3 SECTIONS—2S CENTS
MECHANIC JOHN CUNNINGHAM
...one of only three paid with the Fire Department
“Skipper of the blue houseboat!
Please stay away from the helicopter!
You’re getting too close!” The loud
hailer sounded like it was 200 inches
instead of 200 yards away. A cabin
cruiser with “Coast Guard Official Aux
iliary Patrol” signs on the sides was
charging up, trying to herd the house
boat away.
The auxiliary had circled up around
the helicopter and the speedboat to
keep back the crowd.
This was no real rescue. It was only a
demonstration and training mission put
on by a Coast Guard H-52 from Savan
nah and flotillas 24 and 26 of the auxil
iary. The sun was out Sunday afternoon
and about 90 boats of all sizes gathered
off Holiday Marina on Lake Lanier to
watch the show. The speedboats rafted
and circled, the houseboats cruised
about, the cruising sloops tacked and
reached through the fleet.
The auxiliary kept circling.
The helicopter was not through. It
landed on the water and danced around,
spinning and pirouetting. It landed
again and shut down its engine. It took
off, circled and retrived its crewman
from the speedboat, still dry-shod.
On another pass, the helicopter made
a quick pass, set down on the water and
flopped out a frame. The frame hung
down into the water so swimmers could
grab it.
On one approach the copter came in
steep and fast, tail down. It splashed
down heavily, simulating an engineless
landing.
The helicopter traveled to Dobbins
Air Force Base from Savannah for
Armed Forces Day, the 16th, the day
before, and stayed over for the demon
stration.
The auxiliary works very closely with
the Coast Guard, and in 1980 the
Continued on Page 2A
Digest
Arbitrator
Named
Chief Tax Assessor Kenneth Mullinax
has been appointed to defend the For
syth County tax digest against state
claims the property on it is valued too
low.
The Forsyth County Board of Com
missioners appointed Mullinax last
week after learning the state Revenue
Department has claimed the property
tax digest is valued at only 32.92 per
cent of fair market value instead of 40
percent.
The state gave the county 15 days to
appoint an arbitrator and formally re
quest arbitration of the dispute.
State law requires that a sales ratio
study be done of each county’s tax
digest and real estate sales periodically
to determine if land is being taxed at 40
percent of actual selling prices.
Commission chairman Bill Barnett
and commissioner David Gilbert each
appointed one man to the county plan
ning and zoning board.
Chairman Barnett appointed Henry
Harris to represent district one. The
appointment was effective May 1.
Gilbert appointed Carroll Castle
berry to replace Dempsey Milford.
“He’s done a real good job and we’re
real proud of him,” Gilbert explained,
“but I just thought it was time for a
change.”
The commissioners recently ap
proved three rezonings, but turned one
down.
Approved were:
William Vaughan, 3.72 acres from
agriculture to multi-family on Kelly
Mill Road. The planning and zoning
board recommended approval. Two
citizens opposed it before the board.
Geneva Henry, 14.53 acres from
vacation cottage to vacation cottage
restricted on Deer Creek Shores Road.
The planning and zoning board recom
mend approval.
Chairman Bill Barnett, 2.33 acres
from vacation cottage to vacation cot
tage restricted on Bald Ridge Road.
The planning and zoning board recom
mended approval.
Robert John’s application to rezone
8.37 acres near the comer of Kelly Mill
Road and Bethelview Road from agri
culture to highway business was denied
by the commissioners. The request was
strongly opposed before the planning
and zoning board, which recommended
it be denied.
County Attorney Woody Jordan was
instructed by the commissioners to
begin the legal process to abandon part
of Mauldin Drive. One part of the road
is paved and is regularly used and
maintained by the county. The other
part, the part being considered for
abandonment, is not maintained, is not
used, and is blocked by a cable. The
commissioners decided to abandon the
road, rather than keep it, when they
learned a developer was ininterested in
building a subdivision on the right of
way.
The commissioners also accepted
Skyline Drive as a county road.
Painting
Bid Gets
County OK
The Forsyth County Board of Com
missioners voted to accept bids for
painting the courthouse trim and for
transferring property lines from maps
to new aerial photographs Monday eve
ning.
The low bid of $3,647 was from South
ern Renovation Specialists for the
courthouse trim. Houpt and Associates’
price of $18,375, the second lowest bid,
was accepted for the photo work.
At the May 11 meeting, the commis
sioners decided to reconsider the bids
received for the two projects before
accepting any of them.
The painting bid was initially ques
tioned because the next lowest bid was
$7,825, or more than twice Southern’s
figure.
But the building and grounds commit
tee of commissioners Harrison Tallant
and Donald Glover, County Administra
tor Donald Major and commission
chairman Bill Barnett met with the low
bidder, discussed the specifications and
inspected the building. Southern’s rep
resentative said he fully understood the
specifications and could start work
Monday, May 25, Major reported. The
project is expected to take seven to 10
working days.
The other project involved transfer
ring property lines from maps to aerial
photographs as part of the court-or-
Continued on Page 2A