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Forsyth CountvNews Vol. 94, No. 198 - • . Jraljg l| — —JI T" - ** 'i’^ *' jEt! ,A| Hliß IfeWW Mk ’/• Photos/Audra Perry A statue of county namesake John Forsyth was unveiled by artist Greg Johnson Tuesday morning on the grounds of the county courthouse on the square in Cumming. The coun ty development authority and private donors provided fund ing for the bronze artwork, which memorializes the former congressman, senator, Georgia governor and U.S. Secretary of State under two presidents. See additional pho tos, page 4A. Chamber of Commerce earns 4-star recognition By Kim Ash Staff Writer The Cumming-Forsyth County Chamber of Commerce has been accredited with a four-star rating by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, earning the second highest honor, from the national organization in the local Chamber's first effort at gaining accreditation. The Forsyth chamber's top officer says the award speaks highly of the organization’s programs and servic es. “We're so excited.” said Joni Owens, president and CEO of the chamber. “Chamber members and my staff worked very hard to help the chamber get to this level.” According to Gretchen Welch, ■'fl wRHb. Photos/Davia McGregor Standing, Joanne Tolleson, Stevie Mills, Mary Helen McGruder, Charles Laughinghouse, Michael Moye, Dennis Stockton, Joni Owens, Debbi Dlugolenski; (seated) Mayor H. Ford Gravitt, James Harrington and E.H Reid all pose after the special recognition of Harrington at Lanier Tech. Photo at right, bench and plaque dedicated to Harringtont Missed paper policy: For a replacement paper, cal! 8 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and 9 a.m. -1 p.m. on Sunday - (770) 887-3126. Copyright 0 2003 Forsyth County News 1 9l 9>4 mi •/ Your "Hometown Paper" Since 1908 J Unveiling of Forsyth w WWilfiWT^* 1 1' IL »' JaM -w'-JPA’ ■ : .|L w « P/■ •f. • 11. ■ I* ■ : t J* ' li. .’ . j it M|l '*'' 1 11" 1 iifr • ' ■ 9 bflH x ' pF L_ j manager of program development of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the local chamber is one of two in Georgia to receive the high rating. The Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce in Duluth received the other sons-star rating. • According to Welch, the U.S. chamber, received more than 40 applications from chambers all over the United States during its latest accreditation period, and of those 22 received some level of accreditation. This was the local chamber’s first time to apply for accreditation, Owens said. Chambers can apply tw ice a year, in November and June, said Welch. See CHAMBER, Page 2A INDEX Abby 5B Classifieds 2B Deaths 2A Government 4A Horoscope 5B Kids Page ............................7A Opinion 11A Sports .......................6A THURSDAY December 11,2003 Impact fees face another delay. Page2A * JnM r no ■ h ' KT -Jib' Photo/Harris Blackwood Cumming-Forsyth County Chamber of Commerce board chairman Tim Perry holds the certificate com memorating the Forsyth chamber’s four-star accredita tion by the U.S Chamber of Commerce. He is flanked by chairman-c 'ark Hamilton and president Joni Owens. Lanier Tech honors Harrington By Nicole Green Staff Writer Lanier Technical College presented former Forsyth County commissioner James C. Harrington Jr. with an award on Tuesday commemorating his role in founding the Forsyth campus of the college. “I don’t think I deserve all this recognition, but I thank you for it,” Harrington said. Lanier Tech President Mike Moye and board mem bers Mary Helen McGruder and Dennis Stockton pre sented Harrington with a plaque for himself and with two benches to stay in the atrium of the Forsyth campus. “These benches are placed here to honor James C. Harrington Jr. in recognition of his dedication to techni cal education in Georgia and his perseverance in the cre ation of the Forsyth Campus of Lanier Technical College,” is engraved on gold plaques on the benches. Harrington was one of the original members of the State Board of Technical and Adult Education appointed ;rI!M T^ SEORGIfI MflIN LIBR _1 A I wuiauj city tax records to include more By Nicole Green Staff Writer Though Cumming Mayor H. Ford Gravitt presented the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners on Monday with five boxes containing five years of SPLOST IV spending documentation, county officials say they were disap pointed with the early “Christmas pres ent.” City Administrator Gerald Black burn originally had estimated that 5,000 pages of receipts, invoices and bank statements would need to be copied to fulfill the county’s Oct. 30 Open Records Act Request for proof of the city’s special purpose local option sales tax spending from 1998-2002. However, the cardboard boxes topped with a red bow Gravitt deliv ered were filled with nine tliree-ring binders containing about 1,750 pages. The box marked 1998 contained one binder with 17 pages. The 1999, 2000 and 2001 boxes contained two full binders each, and there was one binder in the 2002 box. “The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners is speechless,” District 1 Commissioner Charlie Laughing house said Tuesday of the relatively small volume of documents. County information officer Bill Johnson caused a brief controversy Tuesday when he reported, apparently in jest, that the boxes delivered by the city were in fact empty. City officials found the comment less than humor ous and county officials quickly cor rected that the boxes did indeed con tain copies of city records. Covenant Christian basketball bounces back Page GA County employee’s slap on the wrist taken before judge By Steven H. Pollak Staff Writer A Forsyth County employee who said she’d been slapped on the hand and manhandled by a supervisor in the Tax Assessor’s Office came to Magistrate Court on Tuesday in a bid to put the supervisor behind bars. Betty Tinsley told Chief Magistrate Barbara A. Cole that she initiated the request for a criminal charge of simple battery because she wasn’t satis fied with the way county officials decided to pun ish the supervisor. After admitting to her role in the incident to the county’s Human Resources department, the super visor, Trassa Quarles, received an “employee warning report” and had to attend two workshops, by former governor Joe Frank Harris. It was announced this year that Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue would not reappoint Harrington, an active partici pant in Democratic politics, after 19 years on the board. “Citizens all over our state have been affected by his kindness and generosity,” Moye said. Immediately after his appointment in 1984, Harrington began his campaign for a technical school in south Forsyth County. He lobbied the governor, the state Legislature, and the Cumming and Forsyth County governments for their financial support. Harrington’s perseverance earned him the nickname "the Sunny LAKE LANIER LEVELS Date Level Dec 6 1069.31 ft .fey Dec 7 1069.28 ft Decß 1069.20 ft Dec 9 1069.23 ft Full 1071.00 ft High in the mid-50s. Low in the high 20s. . • SINESS, 1B >ve for antiques In one of the binders, the city included a letter that the county took to be an explanation for the smaller than anticipated number of pages. “SPLOST projects are paid for with General Fund checks and reim bursed by the SPLOST account,” the letter said. Also, canceled checks for SPLOST expenses were not included because BB&T, the bank with which the city has a SPLOST account, does not return canceled paper checks with monthly bank statements, the city explained. For the next step in the SPLOST spending verification process, the county auditor will go through each page and add up the city’s expenses, County Administrator Stevie Mills said. Mills estimated the city’s cost of copying the documents at $3,000, including 160 hours of labor for one full-time and two part-time employees. On Monday, the mayor returned a check for $3,598.66 to the county, which the county had allotted the city for copy costs. Tlie mayor said the city provides public information free of charge so it would not charge the coun ty for the copies. The city also provided two Forsyth County newspapers with copies of SPLOST receipts for 1997-2002, and challenged the county to do the same for its receipts. As of Nov. 30, the balance in the city’s SPLOST bank account was $2,572,304, the mayor said in a letter dated Dec. 8 to Commission Chair man Jack Conway. See SLAP, Page 2A jb’i / mEI See HONOR, Page 2A