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VOLuwt LXXVII—NUMBER 65
Welch, Bennett, Barnett, Anderson win
By Molly Read
Staff writer
About 37 percent of Forsyth County’s eligible voter
population came out to cast their vote in the August 12
primaries, defeating an incumbent member of the
county commission and nominating a state House mem
ber to defend his seat against GOP opposition in Novem
ber.
In a close race for county commission Post 1, former
Cumming city councilman Charles Welch edged out
incumbent Jack Shoemake by carrying 52 percent of the
votes. The unofficial final count showed Welch with 2,547
HOMEWORK
Residents leave the rat race
to conduct business at home
By Chuck Tanner
News editor
Every morning, behind the
wheel. An hour to work. An hour
back in the afternoon.
Two hours a day. Traffic. Rush
hour. Tension. Ten hours a week,
listening to the radio and drinking
convenience store coffee.
A workweek every month, spent
sitting behind the wheel just
getting to work, and getting home.
That is an accepted way of life
for may Americans, but increas
ingly suburban dwellers are find
ing that happiness, as well as a
regular paycheck, can be found a
lot closer to home.
It isn’t always the commuting
that leads people to experiment
with making a living from their
living room. Sometimes it’s a need
to be closer to the kids. Sometimes
a desire just to do something dif
ferent, or to see if there isn’t a
better way to spend personal time.
But for whatever reason, some
Forsyth Countians are deciding
they would just as soon their home
address and their work address
coincide.
Formerly employed in Marietta,
Lynne Broome now works for her
self in a portrait studio behind her
home on Aaron Sosebee Road.
“Having a studio was something
I wanted for a long time,” Ms.
Broome said. “I had always
worked for someone else.”
During her one-hour drive to
work she would think about what
she had to do that day.
Now she can sleep later, spend
more time with her daughter, do
more around the home and eat
lunch at home.
Although her studio, Little Peo
ple Portraits, specializes in chil
dren’s photographs, Ms. Broome
is doing a lot of adult pictures.
She plans to have a big promo
tion for the studio, which also does
family shots, in mid-September.
Ms. Broome said her business is
special because she does a lot of
work outside the studio, such as
shooting children’s birthday par
ties.
Now that she’s working at home,
Revised airport plan hits turbulence over site
By George Hruby *
Staff writer
Contention over the proposed Suddeth Air Park in
western Forsyth County is increasing as the county’s
next zoning variance meeting nears.
Last week, over 200 residents of the Friendship-Duck
town area met at Sawnee Elementary School to express
their disapproval of rezoning the former race tract site
on Hurt Bridge Road as a general-use airport, and to
map out their protest strategy before the County Plan
ning Commission meeting, August 26.
“We have them out working everywhere against it,”
said Geneva Key, a resident of the area opposed to the air
strip. “And we don’t intend to give up. As long as he’ll
fight for it, we’ll fight against it’”
But Lamar Suddeth, owner of the 41 acre tract pro
posed as the county’s future airport, believes the prob
lem is a lack of understanding on the part of some area
residents.
“I don’t see a way in the world this airport is going to
hurt these people except make their property go up in
value,” said Suddeth. “The people don’t understand the
benefit of it. The commissioners can see the need for it,
but they can’t open their mouths.”
Commission Post 1
Shoemake 2,295
Welch 2,547
Noose District 10
Barnett 2,926
Otwell 1,976
votes and Shoemake with 2,295.
Michael Bennett won the Post 3 county commission
seat without a runoff, defeating Billy Evans, Walter
Brown, and Kermit Karr. Votes cast for Bennett totaled
2,699; for Evans, 1,235; for Brown 461; and for Karr, 282.
State Representative Bill Barnett outpolled James
(Jim) Otwell for the District 10 House seat, and will go on
to face Republican candidate Bill Brown in the general
election. Barnett led in Forsyth County with 2,926 votes,
over Otwell’s 1,976. Barnett also led in Cherokee County
with 67 votes compared to Otwell’s 47.
Incumbent District 9 Representative Ed Jenkins tow
ered over Larouchian candidate Jim Olsen, with 4,179
she feels more involved in her
community. “I can keep up with
what’s going on where I live,” she
said.
The U .S. Department of Labor
predicts that half of the American
work force could be working at
home in the next 10 to 15 years.
Already, 10 million Americans
cite home addresses as their place
of business on tax returns, an
increase of 50 percent compared to
a decade ago.
Unlike Ms. Broome, who used to
work outside the home, Sue Bunch
has never worked anywhere else.
Involved with sewing most of
her life, she has operated an alter
ations shop in a converted carport
for two years.
“I used to watch my mom sew
when I was a child,” said Ms.
Bunch, who does a broad range of
alterations, from repairing canvas
tents to lining coats.
Her specialty is formals the
main reason she opened an altera
tions shop.
“It was hard for anyone to get a
formal gown altered,” said Ms.
Bunch, who also works with wed
ding dresses. “When I opened two
years ago there was no alterations
shop.
“I knew I would do pretty good,
but I didn’t realize I would do as
good as I’m doing now.”
Sue’s Alterations Shop is located
on Ga. 20 west of Cumming.
Ms. Bunch said benefits of work
ing at home include “saving time
and money.”
Another Forsyth Countian who
has decided to work at home is
John Vigil, who opened J&S Wood
works on Heardsville Road in
early July.
Vigil wanted the opportunity to
use all of his abilities at work.
“I found I had a lot of skills I was
not using,” he said. “It was very
frustrating wanting to do certain
things and not being able to do
them.”
He believes a person who’s self
employed can be “more produc
tive,” because production “gets
lost in the red tape of running a
business.”
“I do believe in efficiency,”
Suddeth points out that the airpark will generate more
property tax dollars for county schools without costing
the county a penny. He also maintains that the air strip
could provide quick transportation to full-sized hospitals
in emergencies, and help reduce the number of planes
forced to land on Ga. 400. And he believes the county
would do better to approve the airport now, than wait 10
years and be forced to condemn an entire residental
neighborhood somewhere, at taxpayers expense, in
order to put one in.
“If this private-use airport doesn’t go in here, I can
assure you in five or six years from now, people around
here are going to be sorry,” said Suddeth.
Suddeth points to the painful foresight that was nec
essary to build Ga. 400 and Lake Lanier.
But residents of the area do not agree.
“We don’t want the airport in here ruining our neigh
borhood,” said Barbara Landrum, another resident.
“We have a good neighborhood here and we don’t want
the airport ruining it.”
Residents fear the noise, the increased traffic and the
safety hazards an airport would present. Resident Phil
Gresley noted the Peachtree-Dekalb airport as an exam
ple of how a small airport can grow into a huge headache.
Gresely used to live nearby the north Dekalb county
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 13, 1986—CUMMING, GA. 30130—28 PAGES
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Sue Bunch finds happiness working at home
Vigil added, noting that he has his
own personal “standards for qual
ity work.”
An employer may also have
standards, but they may be “over
ridden” at times, he said.
Most products manufactured by
Vigil are decorative wall shelves
for gift shops or stores having a
gift department.
He has spent more than a month
marketing his products and has
sold several accounts that appear
to have “good potential.”
Like Vigil, Alex Mason has been
working to build accounts, and
when enough work has been se
cured, he plans to operate his Sub-
Fab company on the ground floor
of his home off Mt. Tabor Road.
At first, Mason will primarily be
spray- and hand-painting metal,
wood and plastic parts, known as
“piecework.” He’ll also be sandb
lasting.
“A lot of light fabricating
usually goes along with assem
bly,” he said, “and painting hap
pens to be in that category.”
Mason plans to expand to other
services later and eventually buy
metal lathes, milling machines
and grinders to make his own
products.
But, for now, he will “start slow,
build up clients and invest a cer
tain amount” of his profits.
“I always wanted my own
Commission Post 3
Bennett 2,699
Brown 4@-j
Evans 1,235
Karr 282
votes, compared to 544 cast for Olsen.
The two Forsyth precincts included in the 56th state
Senate district Brandywine and Big Creek leaned
toward Haskew Brantley over Sallie Newbill in the
Republican race, by 15 to 5. In November, Brantley will
face Larry Talley, the Democrat’s candidate, who re
ceived 257 votes Tuesday.
In the Post 2 Forsyth County School Board race,
Dennis Anderson won handily over candidates Mayford
Barrett and Jimmy Hamrick by carrying 3,139 of the 4,-
424 votes cast. Barrett totaled 464 votes in the primary,
and Hamrick raised 821. Post 1 candidate Johnny Stone,
Meanwhile, he won’t
have to “wear out” his
car driving to and from
work ... “I don’t have to
waste time and money,”
Mason said. “I like being
my own boss.”
shop,” said Mason, who took an
interest in metal fabrication at an
early age.
After completing the eighth
grade, he spent three consecutive
summers studying metal fabrica
tion and auto mechanics.
He continued his studies in
metal fabrication, including mold
making and tool and die, at North
Georgia Technical and Vocational
School in Clarkesville.
Mason worked at Tucker Tool
and Die and Quality Engineering
in Smyrna, and was employed in
mold making in Miami.
He looks forward to the day that
Sub-Fab becomes an established
business.
Meanwhile, he won’t have to
“wear out” his car driving to and
from work.
“I don’t have to waste time and
money,” Mason said. “I like being
my own boss.”
airport until the noise of the air traffic drove him away.
Confusion over details of the airport proposal has
muddied the debate. Airport opponents, such as Ernest
Landrum, insist the proposal would create an airport
housing 200 planes with 500 flights a month in five years.
But a plat of the proposed air park on file at the
Forsyth County Planning and Zoning Office depicts only
35 tie-down spaces. According to Suddeth, that few
“parking" spaces makes the figure of 500 flights a month
inconceivable.
Suddeth’s wife, Pat, notes that the length of the runway
2,550 feet would prevent large planes such as the C-4)
from landing, and that the current approval from the
state DOT and the FAA is for visual landings only in
other words, no night flights.
“We intend to beat this thing on a factual basis,”
explained Laughton Sosebee, a spokesperson for the
airport opponents, “so we have to be very careful about
these details.”
Sosebee notes the number of flights or planes housed
are not important.
“What we all fear is the expansion of this thing," said
Sosebee.
Several county commission candidates and a state
representative running for re-election attended last
Board of Education
Anderson 3,139
Barrett 464
Hamrick ''B2l
who ran unopposed Tuesday, was confirmed with 3,612
votes.
When contacted after all the results were in early
Wednesday morning, Welch expressed his anticipation of
new programs for the county commission, and paid
Shoemake a compliment. “It’s a tough race when you
have two candidates as qualified as we are running
against each other,” he said. “I think it was a campaign
of issues, and I look forward to trying to put some of the
water and sewerage programs we’ve got in place.”
Barnett attributed his success with Forsyth voters to
See PRIMARY, Page 2A
County supports
Fowler, Bottoms
By Chuck Thompson
News editor
Forsyth County voters were good to
incumbents in state and national
races Tuesday, except when it came
to the race for state school superin
tendent.
Gene Bottoms, a Forsyth County
native, received the overwhelming
support cf local voters in his bid to
unseat incumbent Democrat Werner
Rogers.
The total vote count for Bottoms
was 3,120 compared to 1,156 for Rog
ers.
Charles Lindsey received 279 votes
and Ed Deaton came in last with 172
votes.
As usual, 9th District Congressman
Ed Jenkins had Forsyth County vot
ers’ unquestionable support.
The Jasper attorney received 4,179
votes, while his opponent, James K.
Olson, received only 544.
In the race for U.S. Senator from
Georgia, Republican incumbent
Mack Mattingly received 238 votes
compared to nine for Don Madey,
three for Dean Parkison and only one
Landfill hearing requested
By Molly Read
Staff writer
Members of a group opposing the
proposed Hightower landfill have
filed a petition requesting an appeal
of the landfill permit issued to For
syth County on July 10. Action on the
request could delay operations at
Hightower for months, and possibly
cause construction of the planned
facility to cease altogether.
The last-minute appeal request was
filed Friday, the final weekday dur
ing the mandatory month-long public
input period which follows the state’s
Environmental Protection Division’s
issuance of a permit.
The appeal request will be heard by
Mark Dickerson, an adminsitrative
law judge with the E.P.D. Dickerson
said Monday that he has not seen the
appeal request yet, but that hearing
such a request typically takes about
two or three months.
Forsyth Commissioners, who say
the county is already brimming over
its limits at the present Kelly Mill
week’s meeting at Sawnee Elementary.
“I voted against this before,” said County Commis
sioner Jack Shoemake. “Nothing’s changed. I think we
need an airport in the county, but I think it ought to be
closer to Ga. 400 in the north end of the county. It’s the
only place there’s still enough open land.”
District 10 Representative Bill Barnett also expressed
opposition to the airport.
“I think it would devalue their property, the noise and
all that. I wouldn't be against an airport if it were placed
in the right place. If it were in an industrial park or
something like that away from a residential neighbor
hood then I wouldn’t think it would be a bad situation.”
Suddeth insists that not all of the commissioners are
against it, and that several residents are in fact in favor
of it.
“It’ll be a whole different ball game after the elec
tion,” said Suddeth. “The county’s growing and there
ain’t no way anybody’s going to stop it from growing. I
don’t believe the county can afford to stop it. It’s just not
going to stop.”
But local residents are continuing to collect signatures
on petitions in preparation for the upcoming zoning
hearing.
for J.W. Tibbs.
Among Democratic candidates for
Mattingly’s seat, Wyche Fowler was
the favorite, with 2,562 votes.
Totals for Fowler’s opponents were
as follows Hamilton Jordan, 1,232;
John D Russell, 878; and Jerry
Belsky, 58.
Local voters gave Governor Joe
Frank Harris a strong boost in his bid
for a second term.
He received 3,780 votes, with 853
votes going to his opponent, Kenneth
B. Quarterman.
The only Republican contender for
governor, Guy Davis, received 183
votes.
Forsyth Countians also indicated
that they’d like to see Zell Miller
serve another term as Lieutenant
Governor of Georgia.
The total vote count for Miller was
3,778 compared to only 675 for Bobby
Hill.
Commissioner of Agriculture
Tommy Irvin received 3,808 votes in
Forsyth County compared to 603 for
his opponent, Billy A. Odom, while
See COUNTY, Page 2A
Road landfill site, and who had
planned to start dumping at High
tower sometime within this month,
were first informed of the appeal
request Monday night. When asked
what type of action the county might
take if forced to wait so long for a
hearing on the request, commission
ers said that Forsyth may have to pay
to dump its trash outside of the
county during the interim period, or
pay to have more cover dirt shipped
to the Kelly Mill site.
One member of the Etowah Con
cerned Citizens group, which has
retained two attorneys and hired two
engineering firms during its opposi
tion to the landfill, said that all the
county’s work on the Hightower site
has been in vain, and that no trash
will ever be dumped on the lot if he
can help it.
Signatures of people requesting an
appeal of the permit for operation of a
landfill at Hightower include the
names Daniel Tyndale, Terry Solo
man, William and Marilyn Smith,
and John R. Mitchell, an E.P.D.
spokesman said Monday.
35 CENTS