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Forsyth County Police arrest 10 in drug bust, please see page 3A
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Staff photo - Kristin Jeffries
Almost summer
Brittany Romig, 3, left, and her sister Elizabeth, 6. rejoiced in a summer-like day
at Mary Alice Park last week. They were accompanied to the park by their
parents, Herb and Libby Romig of Cumming.
Georgia Proteins to conduct
nitrate study on Six Mile Creek
Previous studies
found Nitrates
By Brad Hundt
Staff Writer
The owner of Georgia Proteins is
paying for a $50,000 study of nitrate
levels in Six Mile Creek to dispel
what he says are unfounded fears
about the nitrate levels.
Tommy Bagwell, owner of Georgia
Proteins is initiating the study, he
said, aftertwo previous studies ofthe
creek by North Georgia College biol
ogist Mac Callaham and the state of
Georgia found unusual levels of ni
trates in the creek.
“Our position is, yes, there are ni
trates in the creek, but the creek is in
good shape, Lake Lanier is in good
shape. We want to study the long
term impact of it,” said Bagwell.
Both studies found the creek con
tained higher levels of nitrate than
would be found in a stream that car
ried no industrial discharge. While
Georgia Proteins, a processor of
chicken byproducts, does not empty
into the creek, nitrate residue could
INSIDE
Abby 3C
Birth 5A
Church Briefs 5C
Classified 7C
Dawson Co. News 6A
Deaths 10A
Editorials 4A
Events BC&9C
Food&Nutrition 1C
For the Record 10A
Friends&Neighbors 3A
Horoscope 3C
Joyce Jordan 4A
On Campus 7A
Sports 1B
Forsyth County News
“That’s one of the pret
tiest little creeks in north
Georgia,’’ Bagwell said.
“We haven’t broken any
laws. I’m no scientist, but
there ain’t nothing wrong
with that creek.”
be coming from the plant or irriga
tion fields, Bagwell said.
Callaham’s study found there were
four parts of nitrate per million in
the creek. Ten parts per million is
the level where drinking water be
comes unacceptable, although the
ceiling sometimes goes up to 15 parts
per million in drinking water
standards.
The year-long study has already
begun, Bagwell said. It is being car
ried out by David Bain of Auburn
University.
“That’s one of the prettiest little
creeks in north Georgia,” Bagwell
I J |
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Bart Simpson
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6, 1990-CUMMING, GA. 30130-32 PAGES 4 SECTIONS
Tax reassessment finally finished
Tax bills due
next week
By Kristin Jeffries
Staff Writer
New property assessments are
ready to mail but tax assessors contin
ue to stall the mailing of 1989 figures.
The board is waiting for a reply
from the state Supreme Court on its
motion for a rehearing on the deci
sion handed down against them in
May. The decision calls for a re-billing
for 1989 taxes based on the new
values.
All seven justices concurred in the
decision against the tax assessors.
“We are expecting to hear some
thing any moment,” said counsel to
the board Beau Stubbs.
The Supreme Court could take one
of three courses - it could deny a re
hearing, it may make written changes
right away or it could allow for new
oral arguments, said Stubbs.
“Being realistic with you it is com
mon for them to deny rehearings,”
said Stubbs.
The values from the 15-month reas
sessment were submitted to the
Board of Tax Commissioners Monday
by William P. Ferriss, ofthe W. P. Fer
riss Company hired to complete the
reappraisal. The board will meet Fri
day to recommend acceptance or re
jection of the new values.
If accepted new values could be
mailed as early as next week.
“We feel that our values represent
fair market value,” said Ferriss, add
ing the reappraisal is complete ex
cept for submitting the new values to
the public for review.
Anyone who believes their values,
whether 1989 or 1990, are incorrect
may call and set up an informal hear
ing with the board up to 30 days after
the bills are mailed.
All the assessment information for
both years is in the computer and ei
ther year could be billed with minor
changes, said Ferriss. “Ninety-eight
“From my own feelings
of seeing the creek run
through my property, It’s
my opinion that creek is
not being affected in any
way,” he said.
said. “We haven’t broken any laws.
I’m no scientist, but there ain’t noth
ing wrong with that creek.”
Previous news reports, Bagwell
said, have painted the creek as “a
toxic waste dump.” Bagwell said he
owns property on the creek, has a
boat anchored on it, and has caught
healthy fish from Six Mile Creek.
“From my own feelings of seeing
the creek run through my property,
It’s my opinion that creek is not being
affected in any way,” he said.
Fertilized golf courses near the
creek and leaking septic tanks could
also be contributing to the nitrate
levels, Bagwell added.
Most school administrators think ‘Bart’s’ not worth hassle
“Hey, man,
don’t have a cow,”
By Brad Hundt
Staff Writer
Hey, man, Bart Simpson is alright with Forsyth
County school administrators.
Well, kind of.
On any given day, at least a dozen students at any
of Forsyth’s elementary or middle schools will be
wearing T-shirts featuring spike-haired mischief
maker Bart Simpson, the main character of the
Fox Television Network cartoon series “The
Simpsons.”
But the apparel has run into problems with
school administrators in other parts ofthe country,
where students have been prohibited from wear
ing them. The most common complaints about the
shirts are what Simpson is saying on them: phrases
like “Hey, man, don’t have a cow,” “I’m Bart Simp-
to 95 percent ofthe values will remain
the same for 1990 as 1989 ”
No matter the year, new values will
be up 40 to 60 percent over those used
since 1982 for the basis of the tax
digest
There could be a billion dollar tax
digest, said chief appraiser James
Payne.
“Some areas moved way up be
cause we had a lot of construction,”
said Ferriss.
Assessors quiet commissioners’
doubts on agricultural 2 zoning
By Kristin Jeffries
Staff Writer
The Board of Tax Assessors sought to set at rest commissioners'
concerns that they would disobey state law by not considering the new
agricultural 2 zoning in setting property values.
The blanket zoning, including 137 parcels, was adopted by county
commissioners Monday. It creates another agricultural zone to protect
active farms. It will not come into play in the taxing process until 1991.
Commissioners Michael McGaughey, Michael Bennett and Barry
Hillgartner were concerned property owners would not be taxed ap
propriately under the new zoning.
“I’m a farmer myself and I’d like to give them another 10 percent
break, but this action doesn’t give us the power,” said Billy Evans,
chairman of the Board of Tax Assessors.
To qualify for A-2 zoning, parcels must already have state preferen
tial assessment which taxes them on 30 percent instead of the normal
40 percent of fair market value.
The purpose of the new zoning is to protect the future of farms,
delineate between agricultural land held for speculation and working
farms, and more properly tax agricultural land, explained Beau
Stubbs, counsel to the county.
There is nothing in the ordinance which requires the assessors to
give a specific tax break to A-2 parcels, said Stubbs.
“I’m interested in that they take a true look at what an A-2 zoning does
to the land values," said County Commissioner Barry Hillgartner.
The property must be taxed according to fair market value, said
board member Robert Wallace.
The fair market value depends on how easily the agricultural land is
rezoned, explained W. P. Ferriss, head of the company hired to do a
county-wide re-appraisal.
Because the preferential treatment assessment requires farmers to
sign up for it for 10 years or suffer a penalty, rezoning of A-2 parcel to
more expensive zoning would not be frequent
“It splits agriculture into two districts with the second taxed at a
lower value, but the first one taxed at a higher value,” explained
Hillgartner.
’ p X
House plant
Kudzu seems to be overtaking an old house on Matt sights are common in that part of the county
Highway in northeast Forsyth County. Such picturesque
Thornton also called Bartmania
“a symptom of being in the middle
grades," and feeling immense peer
pressure to wear the latest faddish
clothes.
son. Who the hell are you?,” and, most notably,
“Underachiever and proud of it"
Forsyth school administrators contacted last
week said they weren’t exactly thrilled with the
shirts - but would still allow students to wear them.
“They could be doing worse things than wearing
Bart Simpson T-shirts," said Vemette Studdard,
princial of Sawnee Elementary School. “You
know, the more we say about Bart Simpson and
these folks, the more we’d give them a flag to
J
He cautioned the percentage in
crease should not determine the fair
ness ofthe new value, but its proximi
ty to fair market value.
The recent Supreme Court ruling
was the result of an appeal filed by the
Board of Tax Assessors after it re
ceived Mills’ ruling Dec. 14, 1989. to
considerthe 1989 property tax bills as
temporary notices. Another billing or
credit would be made after the 1990
county-wide property re-assessment
was complete.
The plaintiffs named in the Decem
ber motion were Robert Meyer, Rob
ert Williams and Tommy Russell as
members of the Board of Equaliza
tion. They said the 1989 digest did not
comply with an earlier order requir
ing greater tax equity
The 1989 case named the board of
Tax Assessors and County Commis
sioners as defendants. The appeal
was another step in the four-year dis
pute over property’ taxes in the
county
It began in 1986 when the BOE or
dered tax assessors to complete a
county-wide re-assessment to rectify
extreme inequities among property
classes.
The process was completed in 1988,
but when property tax bills were sent,
many property’ owners appealed to
the tax assessors and eventually filed
a suit against the tax board.
The board rescinded the new as
sessments and resigned.
The BOE filed its first suit when the
new tax assessors used the 1987 digest
with improvements added as the 1988
tax digest
Mills' order for a re-assessment be
fore the submission of the 1989 tax
digest was the outcome of that suit
The tax assessors went ahead and
mailed bills because the re-assess
ment could not be completed in time,
which brought on the BOE’s final suit
and Mills’ order to consider the 1989
tax bill as temporary.
If Mills’ decision is again upheld by
the Supreme Court, property owners
will be re-billed or sent refunds for
1989 based on the reappraisal just
completed.
If the Supreme Court overturns its
earlier decision, the new property
values will make up the 1990 tax di
gest and 1989 taxes, which have al
ready been billed, will stand.
The system-wide policy regarding what's printed
on T-shirts is fairly loose, said Ann Sefzik, princi
pal of Chestatee Elementary School. It's usually
left up to the principal of each school to decide
what is offensive. For example. T-shirts advertis
ing alcohol or promoting any sort of drug are off
limits.
“The more rules you have about dress, you could
spend your entire life dealing with it." said Otwell
Middle School Principal Judy Thornton. “We have
no problems with it I think there are some things
that are best dignified with no response.”
Thornton also called Bartmania “a symptom of
being in the middle grades.” and feeling immense
peer pressure to wear the latest faddish clothes.
“I hate anybody making a hero out of a deliber
ate underachiever,” said Steve Benson, principal
of Coal Mountain Elementary School. “We have
just not mentioned it Sometimes the less said the
better.”
Ple'«e see SIMPSON, page 2A
25 CENTS
staff photo - By Brad Hundt