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Forsyth County News
J Your "Hometown Paver” Since 1908 J ... r ,„,
VOLUME 88, NUMBER 41 Copyright CH997 Forsyth County News
Landfill hours
extended; fate
of landfill
still unknown
By Karleen Chalker
Editor
The Forsyth County
Commission voted Monday
night in a called meeting to
extend the hours of the
Hightower landfill because of
an increase this week in the
amount of garbage being
brought to the facility.
Landfill supervisor Ben
Knight told the commission
that as of Monday G&G
Sanitation, the largest hauler
in the county, has started
bringing more garbage to the
landfill. .
Knight said the average
amount of garbage brought
per day to the landfill was 50
tons. The landfill has experi
enced a “considerable
increase” in the past two days
(Mon. and Tues, of this week),
Knight said, of “a couple of
hundred tons.”
Knight said about 150 tons
of garbage was brought to the
landfill on Tuesday.
The landfill will now be
opening at 6 a.m. instead of
7:30 a.m. and closing at 5
p.m. Knight said the existing
staff has agreed to work the
overtime hours to accomodate
the increase, instead of having
to hire new staff now.
“I feel like we should be
putting more in the county
and supporting the county,”
Jim Grogan, an owner of
G&G Sanitation said when
asked why the company had
increased the amount it was
bringing to the Forsyth land
fill. Grogan’s company picks
See LANDFILL, Page 2A
WEATHER
Rain Friday,
high 74. Chance
of storms
Saturday and
Sunday, highs in F
the law 70s.
INDEX
Abby BA Events 7A
Church briefs 4A Entertainment 6A
Deaths 3A Horoscope 8A
Classifieds 4B School News 5A
Opinion lIA Sports IB
COMING SUNDAY... .
Board of Education
The county school board met
Thursday night on redistricting stu
dents. See complete coverage in
Sunday's edition.
Legislative wrap-up
State Rap. Mike Evans (R-Forsyth
County) reviews the highlights of
the recently adjourned 1997
Georgia General Assembly.
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.
J
Your "Hometown Paper" Since 1908
Former county employees file lawsuit
By Sheri Toomey
Staff Writer
A lawsuit was filed Tuesday
regarding the jobs abolished by
county commissioners earlier this
year.
The suit was filed against the
county, the Civil Service Board
and County Administrator Stevie
Mills in Forsyth County Superior
Court.
In their preliminary statement,
attorneys Lee Parks Jr. and
William J. Linkous 111, represent-
Parents line up for popular
pre-kindergarten program
By Laura Boggs and Michael
Kurtz
Staff Writers
Eamonn O’Riordan camped
out for Elvis tickets 30 years ago.
This week a pre-kindergarten slot
for his 4-year-old was at stake.
The free program has its price.
O’Riordan and other local parents
braved 30-degree temperatures
Monday night to enroll their kids
in pre-k Tuesday morning.
A group of parents outside
Primrose School at Johns Creek
made the best of the wait - they
bundled up around the Arizona-
Kentucky basketball game on TV
and ordered pizza.
Almost all of Forsyth
County’s 598 pre-k spaces filled
up within a few hours April 1.
Although the county is grow-
Highway 20 developments petition for city of Cumming annexation
By Laura Boggs
Staff Writer
Three of Highway 20’s
biggest developments are asking
to be annexed by the city of
Cumming.
A total of 335 acres was peti
tioned for annexation last week,
including Cumming Marketplace;
which includes a soon-to-open
Home Depot and Wal-Mart
Super Center; the site of the future
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_ Photo/Tom Brooks
New flag
Cumming Elementary School was presented with an American flag that flew over the
nation’s Capitol Dec. 7, 1996, the 55th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
Cumming Police Chief Earl Singletary, a Vietnam veteran, (right) presents the flag to
Principal Tom Yankus as Cumming Elementary students look on.
South and Central
dash in boys' soccer
SPORTS, IB
FRIDAY EDITION
ing the former county employees,
claim Civil Service policies were
violated.
The plaintiffs were under the
Civil Service system and “pos
sessed the right to appeal their ter
minations/lay-offs, however, the
Respondent Civil Service Board
refused to hear any appeal from
the Petitioners/Plaintiffs” accord
ing to the statement.
In March, the Civil Service
Board denied requests to hear the
appeals filed by plaintiffs. The
decision not to hear the appeals
was based on a section of the Civil
ing, next fall’s pre-k program will
not. Area day care centers and
schools, which applied for a total
of 278 new slots, did not get any
of the 2,000 slots added by the
state.
That’s because the Office of
School Readiness is only expand
ing the program in the 28 Georgia
counties that serve fewer than
half of 4-year-olds with pre-k or
the federally funded Head Start.
About 73 percent of Forsyth
County 4-year-olds are in pre-k,
said Steve Tompkins, the gover
nor’s deputy press secretary.
Children who will be 4 by
Sept. 1 are eligible for pre-k,
which provides 6.5 hours of
activities per day. Studies have
found that children who attend
See PRE-K, Page 2A
Baptist North Hospital; and Dan
Cowart’s center.
The developments could bene
fit from lower water and sewer
rates if they are annexed by the
city, said attorney Emory
Lipscomb, who filed the annexa
tion papers.
And Forsyth County’s zoning
rules may not fit with the Cowart
project’s plans for mixing com
mercial and residential develop
ment. The county’s mixed-use
Cumming, GA / April 4,1997
Service Policy that says the coun
ty’s management team is exempt
from Civil Service Protection
according to a letter sent to each
appellant. All the former employ
ees were included in the manage
ment team.
The letter also said the board
had no jurisdiction over the
appeals, and the matter could be
taken to Forsyth County Superior
Court.
Late in 1996, the previous
Board of Commissioners placed
the management team back into
the Civil Service system.
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Parents camped out Monday night in front of the Primrose School at Johns Creek to enroll
their kids in pre-kindergarten Tuesday morning. The lottery-funded program is free.
zoning calls for developments to
be at least 95 percent residential.
“That’s not really a feasible
mixed-use plan when you’re in a
commercial district,” Lipscomb
said.
The developer wants about
two-thirds, or 81 acres, of the
project to include 700,000 square
feet of shopping space and three
story office buildings. A 45-acre
tract near Sanders Road would be
residential. Plans are to build
Central wins Region
7-AA literary meet
PAGE 5A
“The above referenced 1996
amendment was properly and
validly enacted via the home rule
powers of the Forsyth County
Board of Commissioners,”
according to Tuesday’s statement.
Refusal to grant the hearings is
a breach of contract entitling the
plaintiffs “to reinstatement and all
damages occasioned thereby.”
The complaint asks the court to
require the plaintiffs’ appeals to
be heard, “back pay for the period
of time for which they were
improperly denied hearings,” “the
costs and expenses of litigation,
about 250 apartment units and 79
cluster homes.
Cumming now has a moratori
um on apartment complexes with
more than 48 units. Mayor H.
Ford Gravitt said the moratorium
was put in place in January 1996
so infrastructure could catch up
with growth. Gravitt, who has not
yet reviewed the annexation peti
tion, said it will have to “go
through the process.”
The city’s Planning and
Proposed ethics code includes
county government employees
By Sheri Toomey
Staff Writer
A new code of ethics proposed
by the Board of Commissioners
will include county employees.
“The policy of Forsyth
County’s Board of Commissioners
is to institute, establish, promote,
and enforce standards of ethical
conduct for all Forsyth County’s
officers or employees; in order to
protect the integrity of the Forsyth
County Government,” reads the
proposed code.
Commissioner Andy Anderson
was appointed head of the ethics
committee by Commission
Chairman Julian Bowen.
“The previous code was gener
ic. This is a very specific ethics
code,” Anderson said. “I think it
ought to apply to employees and
officials.”
“I just want to make sure we
have an ethics program that we
practice what we prc,ach,” said
jrjft •’' 4UP
including attorneys’ fees” and
“any other relief the court deems
appropriate.”
County commissioners voted
4-1 to abolish the positions at their
first meeting Jan. 3 and again at a
Jan. 16 meeting. Commissioner
John Kieffer cast the dissenting
vote.
The following positions were
abolished by the commissioners in
the motion proposed by
Commissioner Andy Anderson:
See LAWSUIT, Page 2A
Zoning Commission will hear it
April 15, and then the annexation
will be considered by the City
Council. Both hearings will be
open to the public.
Lipscomb said the annexation
could benefit the city if it ever
turns to charging property taxes.
“The city doesn’t charge prop
erty taxes now, but if it did it
would be a big benefit to the city
to have a balanced tax base,”
Lipscomb said.
Commissioner Lamar Suddeth,
who voted against authorizing a
public hearing for the proposed
code.
The code allows county lead
ers and employees “to participate
in the making of a contract,” even
if they have a personal financial
interest, as long as the “contract is
awarded through a process involv
ing public notice and competitive
sealed bidding, the Board of
Commissioners determines that
the contract is in the best interest
of Forsyth County” and “the offi
cial or employee, who has the per
sonal pecuniary interest in the
contract takes no part, whether
directly or indirectly” in the
board’s decision regarding the
contract.
The code also says county offi
cials and employees must notify
the public when they have a finan
cial or personal interest in any leg-
See ETHICS,, Page 2A
