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Highs in the upper 60s. Lows in the 40s. THIS ISSUE Copyright O 1998 Fonyth Coonty News Outdoors Hiking in at Amicolola’s Len Foote Lodge. Page IB Sports extra * 7th-grade hoops update. Pag@3B 062-69 ft Schools Developing talents at Cumming Elementary. Page 5A ? INDEX Abby. Classifieds ~.~JB -Deaths.-.. 2A J S Events ~~.~~~~~~.~~~»~j6A Kids'Page Outdoors & Rec.-..- ...IB COMING FRIDAY ■i' hi in ?'"■ Entertainment extra Soap Opera Updates, Critics Comer, Jill Jackson's Hollywood, Country Music all in Friday's edition. Missed paper policy: - For a replacement paper, call 8 a.m. - 5:30 pm. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and 9 aun. -1 p.m. on Sunday - (770) 887-3126. Forsvth Coun'j*isi"" ’s - Vol .89, No T 5.0. Cooperation is vital to future, Evans says By Jim Riley Staff Writer The Cumming/Forsyth County Chamber of Commerce Legislative Breakfast was well-attended Tuesday morning, with U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal, State Sens. Billy Ray and Casey Cagle, and State Rep. Mike Evans and Rep.-elect Bobbie Reese speak ing to the crowd. Evans criticized the Forsyth County Commission, saying that with the exception Growth-slowing effort is not sitting well with some in community By Jim Riley Staff Writer The controversy over the 16- month zoning moratorium initiated by the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners is sure to continue, with the development community upset at the growth-slowing mea sure. “We are highly disappointed in the manner in which it was han dled,” said Forsyth Area Board of Realtors President Ronnie Waller. “The moratorium was not the answer to correct the problems.” Forsyth County Chamber of Commerce President Pat Topping said that the water and sewer issues need to be handled quickly in order to keep the right balance of residen tial and non-residential properties. “Without sewer, you are defaulting property to residential,” Topping said. “Businesses contribute a lot more per square foot for property tax.” Topping said he is afraid that if the sewer issues are not Local man is two-time winner Woodworking hobby wins him national acclaim from Wood-Mizer Products By Roxane Campbell Associate Editor Cumming resident John Jennings won honorable mention in Wood-Mizer Products’ semi-annual “Personal Best” woodworking contest for construc tion of his kitchen cabinets, netting him SIOO in prize money. The cabinets were built in his house in Hart County, which he also constructed himself, an endeavor that brought him first place in the South Region as well as North American Grand Champion in the tool manufacturer’s 1996 contest. “I thought I did a real good job on the cabinets,” Jennings said. “It was just a real fun project.” The cabinets, produced using his Wood-Mizer portable band sawmill, were made from red oak lum ber from Jennings’ land. “My wife, Martha, planned out what she wanted, and did the finishing work. I did the cutting and the sawing,” Jennings said of the three-month project. Home heating help may be available to homebounders Low-income homebound, particularly the elderly and disabled, can apply for help paying their home heating bills beginning Dec. 1,1998. The Georgia Department of Human Resources will help pay heating costs for gas, electricity, wood, coal or kerosene. One-time payments averaging $l3O will be made primarily by checks issued to home energy suppliers on behalf of eligi ble households. Eligibility for the program is based on the income of all members of the household. All eligible households must be responsible for their home heating COM*. J Your "Hometown Paper” Since 15 of John Kieffer, commissioners have been unwilling to meet with him. “We need to work together,” Evans said. “If we get into a situation where we are not working togeth er, there will be a real problem.” After the breakfast, Kieffer indicated he was not aware of Evans’ comment before hand, but agreed with his sentiments. “Forsyth County needs to make every effort to work with our local delegation,” Kieffer said. “We need to avoid even the resolved that high-end commercial developments will be eliminated. “Developments such as Johns Creek and the Meadows - without sewer, they just won’t be built.” The zoning moratorium does not apply to anyone having vested property rights as defined under Georgia Law. There has been some confusion over what actually con stitutes a vested property right. 66 The moratorium was not the answer to correct the problems. • 99 “A vested right is a right that cannot be changed or altered by changes in regulation,” said Forsyth County Planning and Development Director Jeff Watkins. Watkins said that if a developer feels that he has See EFFORT, Page 2A Photo/LeAnne T. Bell John Jennings’ handiwork recognized again. Jennings, a machinist by trade who retired from AT&T (now Lucent Technologies) in 1995, said he See WINNER, Page 3A When applying for assistance, per sons must present must proof of income for all household members. This can be a paycheck stub, public assistance check or unemployment check. Applicants must also supply a social security number for each person in the household and a most recent home heating bill or documenta tion. Depending on availability of funds, other households may apply for the regu lar program which will, open to the pub lic on Jan. 4, 1999. To apply for assis tance, contact Ninth District Opportunity, Inc., your local Community Action Agency at (770) 889-9420. THURSDAY DECEMBER 3 1998 Legislator critical of commissioners appearance of a lack of cooperation. I would hope that our board will make an appointment to sit with our delegation in January.” Evans spoke about other issues affecting Forsyth County residents, including crime. “The jails right now are full,” Evans said. He also criticized the lack of personnel in Connecting Forsyth County drivers to proposed reliever roads Pictured, at right, is an initial concept of the Ga. 400 Corridor Connector Roads that are currently being designed by the firm of Moreland Altobelli. The proposed roads on the west side include a connector from Pilgrim Mill Road to Keith Bridge Road (Hwy. 306), and Bald Ridge Marina Road to Pilgrim Mill Road. On the east side of Ga. 400, the proposed connectors are Shiloh Road to Majors Road, Majors Road to Hwy. 141, Hwy. 141 to Hwy. 20 and Buford Dam Road to Bald Ridge Marina Road. As the project is still in the design stages, no timeframe has been set for completion. Ht "PU.JI. 7 . St." ks I ' I Inside The Box' ■ Mount Tabor Baptist Church ■ ■ will present "The Box ' on ■ B Sunday Dec b Sec P.iqe SA ■ I IMrCoMtaKlton - !; S I I I hopmd 400 Acme X" I Cumming T J/\l Integrated computer system experiencing some start-up woes By Colby Jones Staff Writer A computer system linking together the courts and Sheriff’s Office should go on-line soon after Jan. 1, but the transition has contained its fair share of glitch- es. The Software Group, based in Texas, is currently installing the system and training employees from various county departments how to use it. Clerk of Courts Doug Sorrells said -transferring software designed for another municipali ty into the language of Forsyth County has caused some delays. Fines and laws are different in Texas. And they call case num- the state crime lab. While Evans said that he would prefer a Republican in the Governor’s mansion, he did say that it was nice to have a governor that he knew. Evans got to know Barnes dur ing his 20-plus years in state government. See COOPERATION, Page 2A bers cause numbers there. “It didn’t .exactly fit our for mat and we had to make some adjustments,” Sorrells said. “It has caused us a lot of headaches like any system.” The switch put an imaging machine at the Sheriff’s Office indefinitely out of service. Although the new machine is operational, technicians are hav ing problems downloading data from the old system. Mug shots can’t get printed until the prob lem gets fixed. Maj. Ron Casper said hard ware difficulties send documents to the wrong printers. “This is their ball of wax and they need to See COMPUTER, Page 2A 50 Cents