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Vol. 92, No. 137
Commission OKs hike in millage rate
By Bill Johnson
Staff Writer
Meeting in special session Monday, the
Forsyth County Board of Commissioners
approved a tentative millage rate of 3.50 mills
for the FY 2002 budget, a 75 percent increase
over the current rate.
Commissioners were under the gun
Monday to approve a tentative millage rate in
time to advertise it in the local media at least
seven days in advance of each of three state
mandated public hearings.
Parents ’ vision yields results
County's first
Montessori
school a labor
of community
By John Tooley
Staff Writer
When World Montessori welcomes its first
class on Sept. 4, the newest school in Forsyth
County will have been built without the assis
tance of any SPLOST funding.
Rather, the small school located on Post
Road will have come into being through a gen
uine grassroots effort, an all-encompassing
labor of love.
“This is something we wanted our kids to
have, a school like this in their own communi
ty,” said Fred Guthrie, one of the four young
parents who have helped convert a run-down
home into a school that offers children an alter
native to traditional education.
“We could have sent our kids to a
Montessori school in Alpharetta, but we felt it
was important for them to be educated in
Forsyth County.”
Guthrie has been joined in the school-rais
ing effort by his wife, Mary, and by Jeff and
Beth Perryman. They are not alone.
As the foursome attempts to create a mod
ern school building from a dilapidated box in
seven short weeks, they have been joined by a
multitude of parents, relatives and friends.
Four weeks into the process, they stand
ready to open the first Montessori-style school
in Forsyth County.
The Montessori style of education is named
for Dr. Maria Montessori, an Italian physician
who founded the first such school in 1907 in
See SCHOOL, Page 3A
Central Park
Grand Opening
set for Aug. 30
By Jessica Bowman
Staff Intern
Play Ball!
Actually, that is just one of the
exciting events scheduled for
Thursday’s 3 p.m. grand opening of
the new $6 million Central Park at
2300 Keith Bridge Rd. (Hwy. 306).
The afternoon and evening’s fes
tivities include activities for all ages.
They range from exhibition games to
hot-air balloon rides to a home run
derby for adults and children.
The county’s newest park is pre
pared and ready for action.
Beyond the entrance, a hill rises
to usher visitors inside. At the sum
mit, one can gaze over the park’s
expanse of 70 acres.
In the center is a playground with
colorful swings, monkey bars, slides
and other playground equipment. A
picnic pavilion adjacent to the play-
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Copyright © 2001 Forsyth County News
(ill
WEDNESDAY August 29,2001
Monday’s vote was 3-1 with District 3
Commissioner Michael Bennett opposed.
District 4 Commissioner Marcie Kreager was
not present for the meeting. Commission
Chairman John Kieffer said Kreager’s mother
was injured in a fall and the commissioner was
home taking care of her.
The board also agreed to meet again at 2
p.m. Wednesday in the commissioner’s confer
ence room to give Finance Director Dick
Russell further instructions on where to make
additional budget cuts.
Russell had prepared a 2002 budget analy-
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In the center of the park is a playground with colorful swings, mon
key bars, slides and other playground equipment.
ground suggests afternoons of fun
and games for families.
Central Park also has eight tennis
courts, five youth baseball and soft
ball fields, four adult softball fields
and three soccer fields with
INDEX
Abby .9B
Classifieds 6B
Deaths 2A
Events 7 A
Horoscope .9B
Legals 3B
Opinion ................8A
Sports IB
bleachers available for fans.
A walking trail disappears into
the trees lining the fields, and rolling
hills extend beyond the tree line. The
See PARK, Page 6A
Inside
sis for Monday’s meeting that called for antici
pated revenues of $55,879,306 and expendi
tures of $61,224,954.
He made several recommendations to the
board that would either increase revenue or
lower expenditures and make another $3.5 mil
lion available to the county.
Russell suggested a 25 percent increase in
the cost of building permits and inspection fees
the county charges builders and developers.
That, he said, would add about $1 million to
total revenue.
Kieffer said he felt the idea would be
Fire department gets
OK to beef up its staff
By Bill Johnson
Staff Writer
Forsyth County’s firefighters
must have been very proud of their
colleague volunteer fireman and
District 2 Commissioner A.J.
Pritchett on Monday.
Following his strong plea on their
behalf, the Forsyth County Board of
Commissioners approved a fire
department request to spend
$273,000 to hire 23 new firemen
before the end of the year.
The money, which will come out
of the fire department’s cunent FY
2001 budget, will help to pay the
salary and benefits for 12 new fire
men, nine lieutenants and two battal
ion chiefs.
The board approved Pritchett’s
motion 4-1 with only District 3
Commissioner Michael Bennett
opposed. Commission Chairman
Jamboree kicks
off youth
football action.
Page IB
rn MAIN LIBRARY-UGA
OU ATHENS GA Jo6oc
Photos/Submitted
5 The corps of vol
-1 unteers remains
World
Montessori’s
strongest asset
as it races toward
a Sept. 4 open
ing, and the
founding four say
new help seems
to arrive every
day.
Possible Ram LAKE LANIER LEVELS
Date Level
Aug. 24 1062.29 ft
Aug. 25 1062.20 ft
Aug. 26 1062.14 ft
/W///7// Aug. 27 1062.06 ft
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High in the mid-80s.
Low in the high 60s.
acceptable to the development community as
long as they knew that impact fees would not
be added on top of the increase.
Russell also suggested phasing in a pro
posed wage and benefit increase for county
employees on a quarterly basis. That, he said,
would save the county another $670,000.
State law allows the final millage rate set by
the board Oct. 8 to be lower than the tentative
rate but not higher.
Russell said the tentative rate of 3.5 mills is
See MILLACE, Page 4A
Landfill
decision
delayed
by board
By Phillip Hermann
News Editor
Facing as many as 100 local residents
opposed to the proposed Buckhorn landfill, the
Forsyth County Board of Commissioners on
Monday night postponed for two weeks a deci
sion about whether to approve the applications
for rezoning of the site and its Conditional Use
Permit.
The dual applications by Buckhorn Ventures
Inc. have been pending board approval since
early July. The company wants to change the
land use on 115.41 acres in the Leland Drive
area to accommodate conversion of an 11 -year
old sand-mining operation into a construction
and debris landfill.
At the request of board Chairman John
Kieffer, County Attorney Ken Jarrard provided
background on the continuing legal entangle
ment between the county and the mining com
pany that dates back to the early 1980 s.
The most significant part of that history in
terms of what is happening today, according to
Jarrard, was a legal agreement entered into by
the county board in 1992 that permanently
zoned the land as Al (agricultural) as it was
defined at that time. In 1992, a landfill was a
conditional use allowed on Al property.
In 1999, Buckhorn Ventures asked the coun
ty for a confirmation letter reaffirming its right
to have the Al zoning. The board of commis
sioners refused, basing its position on legal
counsel’s opinion that the 1992 agreement went
See LANDFILL, Page 2A
News Editor
John Kieffer attached an amendment
to Pritchett’s motion, requiring the
fire department’s volunteer coordina
tor to start advertising in the local
media for volunteer firefighters who
live in Forsyth County but are
employed as firefighters in nearby
counties.
In his plea to the board, Pritchett
said some fire stations have only one
firefighter assigned to them at a time.
That, he said, is a dangerous situa
tion for both firemen and for resi
dents.
“There is no doubt in my mind
that the way the paid firefighters are
staffed right now places them in a
compromising position many times
during the day and night,” he said.
“Not going forward with increas
ing the paid staff puts them at risk,
and I and other members of this
See FIRE, Page 6A