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PAGE6A
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VOLUME LXXXVII, NUMBER 83 Copyright 6 1996 Forsyth County News
City and
developer
go back
to court
By Thomas W. Krause
Staff Writer
After several days of testi
mony in February, and a cou
ple more in March, a lawsuit
between an apartment devel
oper and the city of Cumming
is once again back in the
courtroom.
The case will be heard
Thursday at 9 a.m. in the
Forsyth County Courthouse.
In March, Judge Stan
Gault gave city officials 60
days to rezone a piece of
property on Old Buford Road
from Highway Business zon
ing to a “more appropriate”
zoning.
Realty Development
Corporation contended the
land was best suited for a 240-
unit apartment complex.
Members of the Cumming
City Council have maintained
a large-scale complex will
cause a significant strain on
the city’s infrastructure.
In May, the City Council
rezoned the land for industrial
use claiming M-l zoning was
most appropriate.
Realty Development coun
tered by bringing the case
back to court. Tim Tise, vice
president for Realty
Development, said the compa
ny has filed an amended com
plaint to include a contempt
charge against the City
Council.
The saga began in
February 1994 when Realty
See CITY, Page 3A
WEATHER
Partly cloudy
Wednesday,
high 91. Storms
Thursday and
Friday, high 93,
low in the 70s. '
INDEX
Abby 6A Bramblett 9A
Events 5A Danner 9A
Deaths 3A Horoscope 6A
Gassifieds 7B Features 4A
Editorial BA Sports IB
City Council meeting
The Cumming City Council will
meet Tuesday night. See coverage
in Friday's paper.
Olympic flame
Two individuals who are active in
the community are Olympic torch
bearers. See coverage of their runs
in the relay in Fridays edition.
Missed paper policy.' For replacement
paper call between 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on
Wed., 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, and 9
a.m. to I p.m. on Sun., 887-3126.
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Rains make for hazardous conditions
Staff photo/T om Brooks
A van turned over Monday morning after hydroplaning on Highway 306 between
Highway 9 and State Barn Road. The driver was taken to Baptist North Hospital with
minor injuries.
School board may discuss
closing Midway next year
By Laura Boggs
Staff Writer
A Board of Education discus
sion Thursday about whether to
close Midway Elementary may
determine the fate of the school.
Or the discussion will be post
poned.
Parents called board members
Monday asking them to take
Midway off the meeting agenda,
as Midway Principal Dennis
Whittle is running with the
Olympic torch in Roswell early
■FI
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Staff photo/Tom Brooks’
Midway Elementary may be used for another purpose
after the 1996-1997 school year. The campus is located
on a busy section of Highway 9 and is considered by
school officials to be unsafe for young students.
Forsyth teams shine
in GRPA Districts
SPORTS IB
Cumming, GA / July 17,1996
WEDNESDAY EDITION
Thursday evening. Some Midway
community members said they
want to support Whittle during
the relay, but they also would like
to attend the board meeting. It
was not known at press-time
whether the board will table talk
ing about Midway or not.
Midway may be used for
another purpose after the upcom
ing school year.
Steve Tomlinson, facilities
director, needs to know about
Midway to determine where to
build a new elementary school.
Mt
the last of three being built with
part of a $55 million bond issue
to handle the growing student
population.
If Midway is closed, students
living between Highway 9 and
Ga. 400 would go to Big Creek.
Students between Highways 9
and 20 would be redistricted to
attend the Post Road school open
ing in August 1997, relieving
overcrowding at Sawnee
Elementary. Some students at Big
Creek and Dave’s Creek, which is
opening in December, would go
to a third new elementary school,
perhaps to be constructed in the
south.
But that new school would be
built in the northwestern section
of the county if Midway stays
open, Tomlinson explained.
“We couldn’t justify building
another school in the southern
end with a capacity of only 300,”
Tomlinson said. “We would just
be picking up overages of kids
going to Big Creek and Dave’s
Creek.”
A school in the northwest
would relieve overcrowding at
Sawnee and Coal Mountain.
“I’m ready to move forward
with building a school in either
area,” Tomlinson said. “I just
want the board to tell me what to
do.”
The idea of using Midway for
another purpose has come up in
the past. The school, which is
located on a busy section of
Highway 9 and is surrounded by
businesses, is not safe for elemen
tary-aged children, Tomlinson
said. More than $500,000 would
have to be spent to add a much
needed second entrance to the
building. And the facility, which
can’t be expanded because it’s on
a small piece of property, can
only house 500 to 600 students.
During the board’s monthly
meeting, members will also hear
a recommendation by Tomlinson
to take the Forsyth Central High
auditorium project “off the table.”
“That was promised to Central
in the original bond issue,”
See Page 2A
Area Olympic
events
Jp
PAGE 5A
Ambulance
service could
see changes
By Thomas W. Krause
Staff Writer
In a political era characterized
by privatizing government ser
vices, Forsyth County is consider
ing taking over local ambulances.
The county currently hires
Advanced Ambulance Service at a
cost of $427,700 per year. That
contract expires at the end of
1996.
Commissioner John Kieffer,
who has been investigating the
county’s emergency medical ser
vices for more than six months,
said the county is researching the
possibility of creating a county
run ambulance service as part of
the Forsyth County Volunteer Fire
Department.
In an effort to keep matters pri-
Two community ‘heroes ’
run with Olympic flame
Dennis Whittle, Forsyth
County’s community hero, will
carry the Olympic flame on
Thursday, July 18. Whittle will
receive the flame at Clock Tower
Place on South Atlanta Street, just
past the historic Roswell square, at
5:15 p.m.
Whittle is principal at Midway
Elementary School.
The route is about three-tenths
of a mile, beginning at Clock
Tower Place and proceeding south
across the Chattahoochee River.
Whittle will run the torch along
Pitts, Roberts and Ashford-
Dunwoody roads into Sandy
Springs.
Forsyth residents are encour
aged to arrive early and cheer the
hometown runner along his path.
Joining Whittle as another
Candidate gets ticket after
parking in handicap space
By Jennifer Eskew
Staff Writer
A candidate for magistrate
judge parked for nearly an hour in
a handicap parking space behind
the county Administration
Building last week.
On Thursday morning,
Deborah Moseley, who is in the
Aug. 6 run-off with incumbent
Chief Magistrate Ralph Jackson,
parked her blue van with her cam
paign signs on the side in a space
marked with two handicap signs.
When called for a comment
Thursday night, Moseley said she
had never parked in a handicapped
space before but said she only had
to do a few quick errands in the
Administrative Building.
Moseley also said there were
not enough spaces in the parking
lot behind the building, and when
the 250-space parking deck was
mentioned she questioned whether
it would have been a closer walk
to the building.
Late Monday afternoon,
Moseley was issued a ticket from
vate, however, county officials
have also drawn a more stringent
contract which will be sent out
soon for bid by private companies.
“We’re taking a two-fold
approach,” Kieffer said.
Although Kieffer originally
submitted a recommendation to
the Board of Commissioners
endorsing a county controlled
ambulance service, he now wants
to wait for a comparison of both
options.
Kieffer’s recommendation for a
public ambulance service came in
the form of a two-page letter.
Jerry Adams, owner of
Advanced Ambulance Service,
released to the Forsyth County
See CHANCE, Page 2A
community herojransporting the
flame was Donald Painter, who
was scheduled to run Monday
evening in Clarkesville.
Though Painter has a
Gainesville address, the Forsyth
resident is very active in the First
Christian Church in Cumming and
has become known for community
service in a number of areas.
Painter was nominated by the
Gainesville Lions Club and says
he is running in honor of “My
Lady”— his late wife, Trudy
Painter.
He was to take the torch at 7:43
p.m. on Highway 17 between
Ellison and Rocky Branch for a
half-mile tour. A large contingent
of family and friends were expect
ed to join him in Clarkesville.
the Forsyth County Sheriff’s
Department. Linda Stinson Worley
issued the ticket and said she
drove by Moseley’s car twice
Thursday morning while it was
parked in the spot.
Worley, who is running for
state representative Disrict 28, is a
quadriplegic and is a sworn-in
handicap patrol volunteer with the
authority to issue tickets to those
who park in handicap spaces with
out permits.
Marshal John Pickelsimer
attempted to find Moseley
Thursday in the building and said
he called the office of her hus
band, Harry Moseley, telling him
to have the car moved.
Pickelsimer said it is normal poli
cy to track the owner down and
have them move the car.
If all the handicap spaces had
been full, Pickelsimer said he
would have been much more
intense.
The commissioner’s office also
See PARK, Page 2A
50 Cents