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Forsyth Count J Your "Hometown Paper" Since 19C *i§ R^B G^ wspSE * E * R *^ D 306 Vol. 94, No. 208 Christmas Day: Not a holiday for everyone r ri a r’ sc®. ** " , 'jL i . ! . B MOW I JS Sj. t //” ■£’ : t \ | ■BEM|Er jt BHBHHSF z -'' Photo/Audra Perry Cumming Police communications officer Chuck Pettyjohn takes a routine call. Christmas Eve wreck kills one By Steven HL Pollak Staff Writer A 22-year-old Forsyth County man died in a Christmas Eve wreck on Spot Road near McCoy Circle. The victim. Mateo Miguel Gasper, of Friendship Circle in west Forsyth, was traveling westbound on Spot Road near McCoy Circle when his 1995 Hyundai Sonata apparently crossed the center line and collided with an eastbound delivery truck at approximately 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday. According to a report released by the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office, Gasper was killed instantly. County Coroner Lauren W. McDonald 111 said the victim suf fered “massive trauma to the head and chest.” An EMS crew transported the driver of the delivery truck, Jose Israel Galvan of Gainesville, to Northside Hospital Forsyth where he was treated and released. Traffic specialists with the sher iff’s office will be investigating the wreck in an attempt to determine what caused Gasper to cross the cen ter line. In addition, the sheriff’s office report said, “It is not known at this See FATAL, Page 2A Corps raises security level at Buford Dam twice in a week By Steven H. Pollak Staff Writer The Department of Defense raised the threat level at Lake Lanier’s Buford Dam on Tuesday. The dam falls under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers which follows threat level guidelines set by the Department of Defense as opposed to the Department of Homeland Security. Tuesday’s rise in the threat level was the second such elevation by the Department of Defense since Dec. 21. Mark Williams, chief park ranger with the Corps of Engineers at Lake Lanier, said the directive applies to all U.S. Army civilian installations throughout the country, not just Buford Dam. Williams said the military order means all public facilities adjacent to Buford Dam will remain closed until the Department of Defense lowers the threat level. The closed areas include Overlook Park, Lower Pool Park, the parking lot on top of Buford Dam, Upper Overlook Park, Lower Missed paper policy: For a replacement paper, call 8 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and 9 a.m. -1 p.m. on Sunday - (770) 887-3126. Copyright C 2003 Forsyth County New* 0 90994 04000 7 By Harris Blackwood and Colby Jones Staff Writers Christmas is a definite day off for employ ees at most businesses, but some lines of work must remain open 365 days a year. Emergency dispatchers work in one of those fields. For 12 hours on Christmas Day, Chuck Pettyjohn provided the link between residents of Cumming and their police department. Pettyjohn, a communications officer for the Cumming Police Department, had the misfor tune of his shift falling on Christmas Day. But it is not the first time. “It’s happened to me four or five times,” said Pettyjohn, who has worked with the police department off and on since 1992. “Christmas is usually the quiet holiday,” said Pettyjohn in contrasting the level of police business on Christmas and New Year’s. “New Year’s is the really busy day.” At the Forsyth County E-911 Center, which I W w « m ft I «■ M |y jj Pj., - Mill Photo/David McGregor So this is winter? The calendar may show winter is officially here, but you would never have known it last week as unseasonably warm weather drew lots of young children to the county’s playgrounds. Eight-year old Julianne Cain gives sister Ivy, 3, an extra push on the swing set at Central Park. Overlook Park and the Laurel Ridge Trail. Williams noted that West Bank Park will stay open at the current threat level. Buford Dam Road will remain open to traffic but vehicles may not stop as they cross over the dam and pedestrians are forbidden from walking on the roadway. The Corps of Engineers increased surveil lance of the dam after the Dec. 21 threat level elevation and any suspicious activity will elicit a response from law enforcement, Williams said. Buford Dam sits at the south end of Lake Lanier straddling Forsyth and Gwinnett coun ties. In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the facility became the focus of local law enforcement aiming to prevent similar disasters here. According to a Corps of Engineers report, the main dam is 192 feet high and 2,360 feet long. The Corps of Engineers’ powerhouse complex, located on the Forsyth side of the main dam, produces electricity for a power See THREAT, Page 2A INDEX Abby BA Births 4B Classifieds 3C Death5............................... ...2A Forsyth Life IB Horoscope 8A Opinion lOA Sports 1C SUNDAY December 28,2003 Inside County approves zoning for conservation ‘ subdivision. Page 3A dispatches calls to law enforcement, fire and ambulance services in the county, communica tions officer Rebecca Gayle reported to work at 7 a.m. on Christmas. Her shift was to end at 5 p.m. Dispatchers try to coordinate their shifts to allow those with children to be home in the morning when their children open pres ents. “We celebrate Christmas here and then go home and celebrate with our families,” Gayle said. Although the work environment is strictly business when a bona fide emergency is hap pening, communications officers were remind ed about the holiday when on the job. Garlands adorned the darkened communica tions bunker and a Christmas tree twinkled among the flashing switchboard. Callers heard the standard response when they called 911 but received a warm, holiday greeting when they dialed the non-emergency line. The calls stay “pretty steady” on Christmas with wrecks and domestic disturbances like City, county talk, remain at impasse Nothing gained in meeting of top officials By Nicole Green and Kim Ash Staff Writers The Forsyth County Commission chairman and Cumming mayor have no plans for a future meeting after a session last Tuesday produced noth ing to repair recent discord on the validity of intergovernmental agree ments between the two entities. However, both men also say their “door is always open” if either party would like to meet again. In a telephone interview on Friday, Commission chairman Jack Conway said that no progress was made at the meeting but, if the mayor wants to meet again, he would be open to the idea. “I am sure the commissioners would be willing to talk,” he said. Conway said the disagreement centers around accountability for the city’s spending of sales tax funds. “The mayor doesn’t think he has to provide documentation for the money he spends,” Conway said in a Tuesday press release. “We think it’s our fiscal responsibility to justify the checks we write. It’s that simple.” Cumming Mayor H. Ford Gravitt on Friday said he would meet again with county officials if they want to discuss the issue. “The whole thing is that [the . fl Photo/David McGregor Instant drive-thru The driver and passenger of this Nissan Xterra escaped injury Friday in a wreck in front of the Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse. The driver of an Acura 3.OCL attempted to exit Wal-mart on Marketplace Boulevard and hit the Xterra which careened into a display of storage sheds. The driver of the Acura was charged with failure to yield. Sports Forsyth’s best players recognized on all-county football team. PagelC the other 364 days a year, Gayle said. “It never changes,” Gayle said. At the smaller city police department, a typical Christmas usually involves calls about malfunctioning traffic lights and an occasional traffic mishap. The police department also answers emergency calls for the Cumming Water Department and may get an occasional call about a broken water main. “Some folks actually call and wish us Merry Christmas,” said Pettyjohn. The dispatcher said he also receives a call about every five hours from the Georgia State Patrol seeking an update on traffic numbers. The patrol serves as a statewide clearinghouse for traffic statistics for the holiday weekend, which began at 6 p.m. Tuesday and continues through midnight tonight. He was also in touch with the Forsyth County Sheriffs Office as incoming calls were inadvertently made to the wrong agency. “We quietly pat each other on the back, if things are going well,” Pettyjohn said. county] feels the city doesn’t deserve any SPLOST; it’s not favorable,” he said. The meeting was requested by Gravitt to discuss the city-county agreement on the special purpose local option sales tax as well as agreements on water and sewer serv ice. After withholding the city’s 15 percent portion of SPLOST revenue for September and October, the county requested from the city six years worth of SPLOST expenditure documentation in addition to the one page annual report submitted by the city. Because the county is legally responsible for SPLOST money, it wants a more detailed understanding of where those tax dollars go, county officials say. “The city of Cumming, through its audit report, submits documenta tion to the state of Georgia in that report, as does the Forsyth County government with their portion of SPLOST,” city administrator Gerald Blackbum said Tuesday. City officials were angered by county officials’ unannounced with holding of funds, which eventually were distributed in late October. The county also instructed its attorneys to See TALKS, Page 2A Partly Cloudy High in the upper 50s. Low in the low 40s. 'WBMBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBHBV UFE.IB See the Wild West in Cartersville LAKE LANIER LEVELS Date Level Dea 23 1069.28 ft Dea 24 1069.24 ft Dea 25 4069,23 ft Dea 26 ; 1069.23 ft Full 1071.00 ft