Newspaper Page Text
Forsyth Count
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Vol. 95, No. 13
Lanier Tech expansion cut from budget
By Nicole Green
Staff Writer
The Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget
has left the Forsyth Campus expansion of Lanier
Technical College out of the proposed state budget
for the third year in a row.
The expansion would include 90,000 square
feet of classrooms and laboratories at the campus
on Majors Road. Lanier Tech requested $155,000
from the state for initial engineering and design
work. Construction is estimated to cost sls mil
lion. according to the Georgia Department of
Technical and Adult Education (DTAE).
“Our classrooms and laboratories are full. The
Forsyth Campus is designed to serve north Fulton
and Forsyth. There is a huge population not being
served basically because we do not have any space
to expand our programs and offer the kinds of pro
grams that are needed in the community,” Lanier
Tech President Michael Moye said.
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, Photo/David McGregor
Emotions flow
A Forsyth Central High School basketball player is emotional after a loss to South Forsyth High School
Tuesday night. See game coverage in the Friday edition of the Forsyth County News.
Cumming accepting bids to replace
burned cotton gin at city fairgrounds
By Nicole Green
Staff Writer
Cumming's mayor and City
Council Tuesday authorized the
Cumming Fairgrounds to accept bids
for the construction of a new Cotton
Gin House to replace one that flames
destroyed on opening day of the
annual fair in October.
The old cotton gin burned beyond
repair after a 15-year-old male set
fire to the gin and 20,000 pounds of
cotton. The structure was worth
$400,000, fairgrounds administrator
Dave Horton told council members
during their regular monthly meeting
at Cumming City Hall.
The fairgrounds staff has located
two gins ready to disassemble and
move to Cumming. However, they
first must construct a home for the
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The DTAE annually submits a priority list for
predesign, design and construction projects to the
Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget (OPB).
Lanier Tech was number two on the DTAE’s list
for predesign money in fiscal year 2005, which
begins July 1, 2004. However, Lanier Tech is not
in the planned 2005 budget.
“This being a very lean year, I would not have
been surprised if no predesign money was given
out for any projects at any technical colleges
around the state,” Moye said.
The governor’s office recently announced a 5
percent budget cut for the state.
“I was alerted by Rep. [Jack] Murphy that there
was some predesign money. Apparently the Office
of Planning and Budget’s recommendation
skipped over the first four priorities in the state,
and they picked up the fifth priority,” Moye said.
Southwest Georgia Technical College in
Thomasville is scheduled to receive $860,000 for
predesign and design of an Allied Health Building.
new gin.
Horton submitted to the council
plans for a 100-foot by 50-foot steel
building to house the cotton gin. The
building will feature an 80-foot by
25-foot gin room with a 15-foot
wide, covered viewing area on two
sides. The remaining space may be
used for scales and a cotton wagon.
At the meeting, the North
Georgia Quarter Midget Racing
Association donated SI,OOO to the
rebuilding of the cotton gin house.
Midget racing for children ages 5 to
15 operates out of the fairgrounds.
Contractor bids will determine
the total cost of the building, which
is included in the 2004 budget.
The mayor and council approved
the $10.9-million city budget for the
fiscal year ending Dec. 31, 2004.
INDEX
Abby 3B
Classifieds 2B
Deaths 2A
Government 4A
Horoscope 3B
Kids Page 8A
Opinion 7A
Sports 6A
THURSDAY January 22,2004
Kids
Fun news, entertainment
for younger
readers.
Page 8A
Approximately $4.8 million is
reserved for water and sewer capital
improvements.
Contractor Reynolds Inc. was
awarded the contract to extend sani
tary sewer lines and a pump station
on Buford Dam Road for $1.5 mil
lion. A bid opening was held at City
Hall on Jan. 19.
“There are some people wanting
to buy sewer allocation in this area,
so I think we need to get this done as
quickly as possible,” Mayor H. Ford
Gravitt said at the meeting.
The council approved a sewerline
easement in the city service area to
provide sewer for the new Publix
shopping center at the intersection of
Hwy. 369 and Hwy. 306. The city
will proceed with the condemnation
See CITY, Page 2A
The tentative budget also provides Valdosta
Technical College with sl6 million for design and
new construction of a classroom building.
“Consequently the Forsyth Campus expansion
of Lanier Tech has been passed over for the third
year in a row,” Moye said.
Murphy, who represents parts of Forsyth,
Dawson and Cherokee counties in District 14, Post
2, met with Gov. Sonny Perdue on Tuesday about
the Forsyth Campus expansion.
Basically, there is little predesign money avail
able to technical colleges in the 2005 budget. To
fast track project completion, the budget groups
$92,000 in predesign money with the rest of the
planning money for Southwest Georgia Tech. A
member of the Thomasville community is provid
ing matching funds for the project, the governor
told Murphy.
See FUNDS, Page 2A
New tree ordinance
hearing is Monday
Revisions would raise minimum numbers
for residential and commercial properties
By Todd Truelove
Staff Writer
An ordinance revision under con
sideration by the Forsyth County
Board of Commissioners will require
developers and builders to have more
trees on building lots if approved.
The revised ordinance does not
restrict individual home owners from
cutting and planting trees on their
property; it would, however, require
developers and builders to retain and
plant trees to meet a set minimum of
tree volume.
Revisions on the tree ordinance
began more than a year ago, accord
ing to Patty Durand, one of five
members appointed by commission
ers to a tree board.
“We changed it from 15 to 20
basal units per acre [for residential
developments].” Durand said.
That doesn’t necessarily mean 20
trees per acre. Instead, the amount of
trees needed would be based on the
size and type of the tree as well as
whether the tree is an existing one, or
one that’s been planted.
In general, a newly planted tree
with a 2-inch diameter would count
as half a basal unit; existing trees
with a diameter of 8 to 9 inches also
count as half a unit.
Commercial properties would be
required to have 15 basil units per
acre. Mandated buffer zones cannot
be counted toward meeting the tree
requirements.
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Photo/Audra Perry
Sudden impact
An emergency worker inspects a tan 2001 Ford Explorer after ft
was struck as it attempted a left turn onto McGinnis Ferry Road
and into the path of a white Ford F 250 that was traveling north on
Hwy. 141 Tuesday. The Explorer driver, Donald Shaw Queen, 18, of
Suwanee, was cited for failure to yield. He received minor injuries
while his passenger, Darrell Williams, 18, suffered serious injuries'
Both were taken to North Fulton Regional Hospital, sheriff’s
deputies say.
Sports
NASCAR steals a
page from NFL
marketing playbook.
Page6A
WNIER
TECHNICAL COLLEGE
There is a huge
population not being
served
basically because
we do not
have any
space... BUS
Lanier Tech
President M
Michael Moye i
If trees do not exist on the proper
ty on which building is taking place,
they must be planted.
Tom Brown, the assistant director
of the Forsyth County Planning
Department, said it was his under
standing that planted trees are given
more unit credits to account for the
cost of buying and planting the tree.
Larger trees that are preserved
can earn credits for developers, but
there also are more penalties in the
new ordinance if they are taken
down.
One of the changes in the ordi
nance that will have a major impact,
Durand said, is requiring builders, in
addition to developers, to meet the
tree ordinance. An inspection would
be needed to ensure compliance with
the tree ordinance before a
Certificate of Occupancy permit
would be issued for a building.
Brown said that’s one of the
issues the board is going to have to
consider because the planning
department does not currently have
the staff necessary to perform the
additional inspections that would be
required.
“We did over 3,000 residential
permits last year,” Brown said. “If we
[had this tree ordinance] last year, it
would have involved over 3,000
additional inspections.”
“Essentially, there’s no way this
year that with the staff that we
See TREES, Page 2A
Sunny
LAKE LANIER LEVELS
Date Level
Jan. 17 1068.13 ft
Jan. 16 1068.04 ft
Jan. 19 1068.01 ft
Jan. 20 1067.91 ft
Full 1071.00 ft
High in the mid-40s.
Low in the mid-20s.
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BUSINESS, 1B
Zaxby's adds new location.