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Forsyth County News
J Your "Hometown Pbper" Since 1908 J •01 F 006130 12/31/20
Vol 91 No. 98
— ‘
Sheriff hopefuls disagree politely
Working relationships in community,
‘acting ’ ranks key issues at forum
By Gary Tanner
Editor
The contentious tone of the race for
Forsyth County sheriff quieted a bit
Wednesday when the three Republican
candidates sat down together to answer
questions during a political forum at the
county administration building.
Sheriff Denny Hendrix and chal-
Cool fun
in the
summer
heat
I* Ji I
Council reaffirms state’s outdoor watering ban
By Jonathan Hamilton
Staff Writer
With the drought bearing downi on Georgia,
the Cumming city council unanimously reaf
firmed the stated 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. outdoor
watering ban at Tuesday night’s city council.
Doug Mercer, water superintendent for the
city of Cumming, said the city does not have a
water supply problem.
“We don’t have a water supply problem. I
wish we didn’t have this ban. We have more
than enough water to sell,” he said .
The council approved the low bid for a set-
County to study need for fire chief and safety director
By Colby Jones
Staff Writer
A grand jury believes the
Forsyth County fire chief and
public safety director fill the same
shoes and the county commission
should study whether both are
needed.
The panel, which routinely
makes recommendations about.
Your "Hometown Paper" Since 1908
FRIDAY JUNE 23, 2000
lengers Ted Paxton and David “D.T.”
Smith disagreed politely before a crowd
much larger than had turned out for the
first two nights of the forums, sponsored
by the Forsyth County News and
Prestige Vision Channel 4.
The three disagreed on a practice that
is related to a Georgia Bureau of
Investigation probe into payroll practices
within the sheriff’s office.
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tied solids dewatering plant. The dewatering
plant removes silt and other large particles
from treated effluent before the water is chem
ically treated and then released. The winning
bidder was Alcon Inc. at $4.21 million. There
was a $1 million difference between the high
bid and Alcon’s offer.
Gerald Blackbum, city administrator, said
nine companies submitted bids for the project.
The city has worked with Alcon in the past
when the company built the water treatment
plant.
The dewatering plant would replace silt
ponds that are currently being used.
county government at the end of
its term, stated in its June 21 opin
ion that Fire Chief Norris Bennett
and Public Safety Director Miles
Butler perform the same job.
Grand jurors questioned the
need for a public safety safety
director, saying commissioners, in
creating the position, anticipated
the director would eventually
oversee fire, police and ambulance
Aressa Silva of Cumming knows just the right way to stay cool and
keep those breezes coming: Make your own on the swing. Silva and
other children found plenty of things to do at City Park to take full
advantage of another day without burdensome rain, courtesy of the
Cumming Recreation and Parks Department’s Kids Kamp.
Photos/Tom Brooks
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services controlled by the county.
The commission created the posi
tion in January 1998.
According to county officials,
Butler is paid $67,682 per year
while Bennett’s annual salary is
$56,256.
Butler disagreed with the
grand jurors.
“I think there was a misunder
standing. I don’t think they under-
Paxton and Smith said, if elected, they
would discontinue the practice of promot
ing deputies to “acting” ranks in which
they assume more supervisory responsi
bility without a corresponding raise in
pay.
Hendrix said he would continue to use
the system if county commissioners do
not grant him enough money to employ
supervisors at full rank and pay.
“You can’t run any organization with
out the right number of supervisors,” he
said.
Paxton said a sheriff should work within
the budget approved by commissioners and
“do the best he can.”
“Building this plant will prevent silt runoff
from ending up in Sawnee Creek, “ said
Mayor H. Ford Gravitt.
The current system was designed to handle
a load of 2 million gallons per day. The system
is being forced to handle 18 million gallons.
“No money will be borrowed for this pro
ject and no bonds need to be issued,” said
Gravitt.
The estimated time needed to construct the
building is 12 months.
The city also took up three planning and
See WATER, Page 3A
stood the scope of my job,” Butler
said. ”1 don’t think it is a duplica
tion of services.”
Bennett said, “We can work
either way, whatever the commis
sion decides. If they choose not to
have the two positions, we’ve
done that in the past. If they
choose to leave it the same, we
See STUDY, Page 2A
Smith
said depu
ties within
the depart
ment had
confided
to him that
they refer
to the acting supervisor system as “the
actor’s guild of Forsyth County.”
“In my administration there would be
no actors,” Smith said. “You will either
be [a full supervisor] or you won’t.”
Before answering the next question
See FORUM, Page 2A
Panel to
consider
cell tower
requests
By Phillip Hermann
News Editor
In a land where talking on the
phone is a favored pastime,
Forsyth County is continuing to
attract interest from companies
that want to build cellular com
munications towers within its
borders.
Two more firms have applied
to the county’s planning and
zoning department for special
use permits to build towers.
The Forsyth County Planning
Commission will conduct public
hearings Tuesday, June 27, on
applications by Roswell-based
SBA Inc. and Atlanta-based
MCK Communications for sites
on Oak Grove Circle and Hwy. 9
near Matt Road, respectively.
The hearings will begin at
6:30 p.m. in the auditorium on
the second floor of the county
administration building in down
town Cumming.
The applicants and propo
nents of issuing the permits will
be allowed to speak, as will
opponents.
According to county officials,
MCK has asked the planning
commission to postpone making
a recommendation on its appli
cation. *
Despite the request, the com
mission could still choose to
conduct the public hearing and
take action.
SBA is seeking a permit to
place a 150-foot tower on land
in the 4600 block of Oak Grove
Circle, approximately 800 feet
from the road.
The company has informed
the county that up to six wireless
communications firms are inter
ested in using the tower.
One of these, Web Link
Wireless, has submitted a letter
to the county asking for approval
of the permit.
Access to the land would
come from Oak Grove Circle,
the company said.
The site is currently zoned
for industrial or manufacturing
use.
The county’s law governing
placement of cellular towers
requires proof by the applicant
that an existing tower could not
be used to provide coverage to
the same area.
There are also other restric
tions for how close a tower can
be to a residential area, schools
or churches.
The planning commission
can either recommend approval*
or denial of the permits, with the
county commission having the
final say.
The county commission is
expected to consider the permit
at its July 10 meeting beginning
at 5:30 p.m. in the administra
tion building.