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PAGE 2A FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Thursday, February 12,2004 Gravitt urges voters to wait on approval for justice center By Todd Truelove Staff Writer Mayor H. Ford Gravitt says county voters should deny the county government bonds that would fund con struction of new justice center facilities and instead defer the funding to capital projects in a 2008 referendum to extend the county’s 1 percent sales tax. “We don’t need another tax increase,” Gravitt said during a town hall meeting sponsored by the Forsyth County Republican Party. Gravitt was referring to a two mill property tax increase the county board of commis sioners approved last year to support the 2004 budget. Tuesday’s Town Hall meet- TOWERS from 1A He said he had asked the board to allow enough time for Motorola advisors to find an alternative to the Molly View Point site. At the meeting, Chuck Bethea, systems engineer from Motorola, said there are four or five existing facilities that could be considered as an alternative to the Molly View Point site. Bethea said Pritchett's alternative of four antennas had not been considered to keep the system within budg etary constraints leaving enough money to cover unforeseen costs. “[Pritchett's alternative] is Deaths Eva Frost Eva Frost of Alpharetta died Feb. 7, 2004. Survivors include her daughter, Marie F. Stewart of Suwanee; granddaughter, Deborah Holder Babbitt and her husband Michael Babbitt Jr. of Wilmington, Del.; grand son, Gregory P. Holder of Atlanta; great-grandson, Robert Daniel Quartarone of Wilmington, Del. A memorial service will be Thursday, Feb. 12, at 4 p.m. in , the funeral home chapel with a ►reception to follow. * Contributions may be made to Portsbridge Hospice, 400 Buford Hwy., Suite D-2, Sugar Hill, GA 30518 or Fireman's Relief Assoc. Fund, 16th Avenue Fire Station, Haverhill, Mass., 01830 c/o Richard Beaudoin. McDonald and Son Funeral Home was in charge of the arrangements. Forsyth County News February 12, 2004 •A — : dJj® ST Ki] T 1H 711! ~.. ’w : Fibromyalgia? If you suffer from reveals how to get relief chronic fibromyalgia as fast as humanly pos pain, a free report is sible without drugs, available that reveals shots or surgery, call ’ what your doctor may toll-free 24-hour • not know. To get your recorded message at ’ free copy by mail that 1-888-895-7484. •O MOVIES 400 • ; mhb Friday 2/6/04 - Thursday 2/12/04 MIRACLE (PG)12:55,3:45, 6:50,9:45 \ CATCHTHATK)O(PG)(FRI-SUN 12:10) 2:20,4:35,7:00,9:05 BMBa , ; ; BARBERSHOP 2 (PGI3) (FRI-SUN 12:10) 2:30,5:00, 7:35,10:00 ! ALONG CAME POLLY (PGI3) 1:10. 3:20, 5:30, 7:40, 9:50 ■■■ CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN (PG) (FRI-SUN 12:05)2:25,4:50,7:20,9:40 BUTTERFLY EFFECT (R)2:00,4:40, 7:15,9:50 ’ , "’“ COLD MOUNTAIN (R) 1:05,4:20,7:45 THE PERFECT SCORE (PGI3) (FRI-SUN 12:20)2:35,4:45,7:05,9:35 BIG FISH (PG13)1:20,4:10,7:00,9:45 BM ; LORD OFTHE RINGS: Retumof the King (PGI3) (FRI-SUN 12:05)4:00,9:00 THE BIG BOUNCE (PGI3) 2:40,9:55 ——. DATE WITH TAD HAMILTON (PGI3) (FRI-SUN 12:25) 4:55,7:30', ; SOMETHING'S GOTTA OWE (PGI3) 6:55, 9:40 " 1 ; an ; peter pan (pg) : bBBE ! TEACHER S PET (PG) (FRI-SUN 12:00) I ■ Ml ! “•TICKETS FOR “PASSION OF CHRIST" ON SALE NOW* Mi IB DOWNTOWN CUMMING ■ ■ TICKETS ON SALE UP TO 7 DAYS IN ADVANCE ■■■ ADULTS 17.50 CHILDZSR 55.50 ALL SEATS BEFORE 6:00 PM $5.00 ■ Seethemovies.com 678-513-4400 or 770-844-1101, #llOB ■ ing was conducted at Cumming City Hall. The meetings, part of an occasion al series the county GOP sponsors, were originally con ducted in the auditorium at the County Administration Building but the board last year stopped allowing outside groups to use the facility. The mayor said while there is no question the new judicial facilities are needed, it is a better alternative to fund the projects which include a new jail, courthouse and park ing deck with a five-year sales tax rather than property taxes. “This city hall was paid for when it was built,” Gravitt said, adding the Cumming City Council planned for the slightly better in coverage,” Bethea said, “and it is more in cost.” Motorola’s original pro posal totaled $11.7 million; negotiations with the county reduced it to $11.4 million. Pritchett’s estimate totaled $11.9 million. Chairman Jack Conway said he made his decision to build the towers at the cunent locations because of the advice from Motorola’s engi neers, who will be providing the system. “I have no desire to put this tower in one place over another,” Conway said. The chairman said after Ruby Heard Proctor Mrs. Ruby Heard Proctor, 90, of Cumming died Monday, Feb. 9, 2004. Mrs. Proctor was saved at Corinth Baptist Church when she was 13 years old, then joined Beaver Ruin Baptist Church in 1934 and retained her membership there for 69 years. She attended Haw Creek School and began Heard’s Florist in 1957 and retired in 1983. She was pre ceded in death by her parents, James “Jim” and Lou Nichols; and her first husband, Louis Clifton Heard. Survivors include her hus band, J.D. Proctor; children, Virginia and Bob Berger, Herman and Marjorie Heard, all of Cumming; six grandchil dren; 13 great-grandchildren; sister-in-law, Louise Nichols; stepdaughters and sons-in-law, Tommy and Gail Russell, Judy Proctor, all of Cumming, J.C. and Cheryl Nix of Dawsonville; several nieces, nephews and other relatives also survive. Funeral services were Wednesday, Feb. 11, at the Ingram Funeral Home Chapel with the Revs. Dan Henderson. Roger Shadburn and Danny Orr officiating. Interment followed in the Sawnee View Memorial Gardens. Ingram Funeral Home was in charge of the arrangements. Forsyth County News February 12, 2004 $5 million facility for 10 years before constructing it. Bonds for the proposed justice center facilities total $65 million. That amount does not include interest property taxpayers will be paying on the bonds through the next 20 years. Questions were posed from an audience of about 60 to 70 people to various county offi cials who agreed to appear at the meeting including County Commissioner Charles Laughinghouse, Sheriff Ted Paxton, Clerk of Court Doug Sorrells and Solicitor Leslie Abernathy. The main topic of many of the questions covered the actual cost of the facilities. It’s anticipated that $65 hearing the scenario that he hadn’t heard anything new and motioned to not reconsider changing the tower locations. Commissioner Charlie Laughinghouse, who repre sents portions of central and west Forsyth County, said he could not support the alterna tive due to the increase in cost LIST from 1A date from May 1989. The posted delinquent business accounts range between $134,088 and $2.3 million. The posted delinquent accounts are a small portion of the more than 420,000 delin quent accounts that owe approximately $1.6 billion. During the 2003 session, the Georgia General Assembly passed legislation giving the revenue department authority to publish on the Internet the names of individuals and busi nesses that have a delinquent tax account. Each individual and busi- Cumming resident dies in crash on 400 From staff reports Clarence R. Morton Jr., 44, of Cumming died Tuesday after his vehicle crashed and burned on Ga. 400 southbound in Alpharetta, police said. At about 4:45 a.m., Morton’s Ford Explorer Sport Track veered off the road and careened into a bridge support at Old Milton Parkway, according to Alpharetta police Sgt. Chris Lagerbloom. Police are not sure why the vehicle left the roadway. There was only one witness to the acci- Q" ( fJA & L Antiques litca qJUX 2 w and J |r r j. 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Commissioners continue negotiating with the property owners of Goodson’s pharma cy and Wachovia bank where the courthouse is set to be built, but a final agreement has not been reached. Laughinghouse said it will cost more than anticipat ed to buy the property because the public was noti fied of the interest in the land before negotiations began taking place. He said county reserves will most likely be used to purchase the proper ty- The commissioner initial- and additional time it will take to implement the change. “This alternative does pro vide slightly increased cover age,” Laughinghouse said, “but in order to do that it comes at a substantial cost penalty and a substantial increase in time.” The alternative would extend the amount of time until ness on the list has a recorded tax lien filed against them in the county superior court where the individual resided or where the business was located at the time of record ing. The largest outstanding tax debt from Forsyth County is from American Millwork, a company whose officers include William Marrett, a developer who has held other interests within the county. The company is listed with a combined total of $675,645.66 in payroll withholding taxes. These funds are deducted dent. “We will do a test on car to see if there was a mechanical failure,” Lagerbloom said. Ga. 400 was closed in both directions for approximately 10 minutes until the Department of Transportation determined that the bridge was structurally sound. Then north bound lanes opened and police routed southbound traffic off the Old Milton Parkway exit and back onto the highway. All lanes were completely open by 7 a.m. ly supported separating the bond referendums one for the courthouse and one for the jail along with Commissioner A.J. Pritchett. When that motion failed, he said he voted for the sin gle referendum in a 4-1 vote to give county voters the opportunity to choose whether to fund the projects through bonds. Pritchett cast the dissent ing vote. Commissioners were act ing on a recommendation from a grand jury task force that studied the project and recommended commissioners approve the bond referen dum. Roger Crow, the chairman of the Let’s Build It commit- the project is completed by sev eral months to investigate Molly View Point locations alternatives and obtain permis sion from the owners of the existing facilities. Commissioner Eddie Taylor praised Pritchett for investigat ing the issue, but wished more attention had been given to from a worker’s payroll check and are to be remitted to the state on the employee’s behalf. The Secretary of State’s Web site shows that American Millwork Inc. was administra tively dissolved for failing to pay its annual corporate renewal fee. The last such payment came in 2000. The revenue department cautions that the amount may not reflect the entire tax lia biltiy. The taxpayer could have made some payments since the lien was recorded or addi tional interest and penalties could have accrued. The department made multiple attempts to communicate the tax liability with each taxpay- Construction of the NEW Worship Center and classrooms is nearing completion! Bible Study for all ages, Sundays 9:30 a.m. Worship Service, Sundays 10:45 a.m. Currently meeting at Midway Elementary School Friendly Environment £ JR Nursery and Children’s Church Available A i n t During Worshi P Service -LXV. IVlUAtbCly Dynamic Youth Ministry Community Ctwrch, 770-754-1555 • ’ jjl'f Visit our website at www.midwaycc.org ■mww—iwn iw»ii iiimi* n ii i urn in»iurn Mini. Forsyth County News •f Your "Hometown Paper" Since 1908 J USPS 205-540 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Cumming, Georgia 30040 Phone:77o-887-3126 Fax:77o-889-6017 Internet Address: www.forsythnews.com • Publisher DENNIS STOCKTON General Manager NORMAN BAGGS Editor TOM SPIGOLON Advertising Director MARTI BARNES Circulation Director PHIL JONES MEMBER Published Sunday. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday by the Forsyth County News Company, Veterans Memorial Blvd., Cumming, Ga. Second Class Postage paid at Cumming, Ga. and additional offices. Subscription rate for Forsyth County, $52 per year; $35 for six months; other Georgia and out of state subscriptions are SBS per year. Any unused portion of a subscription balance will be gladly refunded. However, all refunds due the subscriber are subject to a processing fee, which will be automatically deducted from the subscription balance refund. Advertising rates and deadlines available upon request. Postmaster: Send address change to Forsyth County News/P.O. Box 210, Cumming, Ga. 30028. A Swartz-Morris Media Inc. publication Miss your paper? Call 887-3126 We deliver replacement papers within Forsyth County. If your newspaper is not delivered by 6:30 a.m., please call the circulation department at 770-887-3126. Service calls will be taken from 8:00 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and on Sunday from 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. If your call is received during these times, a replacement copy will be delivered to your home. Calls received after busi ness hours will be checked the following business day, and credit will be extended to your account. Any changes in publication will be announced in preceding issues. Advertising Deadlines For Sunday's paper retail and classified display ads are due by noon Thursday. For Wednesday's paper retail and classified display ads are due by 5 p.m. Friday. For Thursday's paper retail and classified display ads are due by noon Monday. For Friday’s paper retail and classified display ads are due by noon Tuesday. Classified Line Advertising Deadlines (Help wanted, garage sales, rentals, etc.) For Sunday's paper classified line ads are due by noon Friday. For Wednesday’s paper classified line ads are due by noon Monday. For Thursday’s paper classified line ads are due by noon Tuesday. For Friday’s paper classified line ads are due by noon Wednesday. Legal advertising is due by Friday noon and mns only in Wednesday’s paper. tee that supports the referen dum, said delaying the proj ect will only increase its eventual cost. In addition, Crow said renting court facil ities and paying to house prisoners in other counties because the jail is too full to support them will only cost taxpayers more in the long run. “If we don’t own [the buildings], we’re going to rent them,” Crow said, adding furnishing costs were not included in the commit tee’s proposal because it is now wise to fund short term items over a longer term peri od. Voters will choose whether to grant the bonds March 2. Molly View Point. Pritchett cast the lone dis senting vote. The county government, however, did authorize a letter be sent requesting Motorola move the tower location at Fire Station 10 about 50 to 80 feet further from Ray’s home. er before recording the lien. The notices provided the tax payer with an opportunity to pay the liability or to explain any discrepancies in the department’s information. The notices were mailed to the tax payer at the last address on file with the department. “Our objective in posting delinquent taxpayers names on the Internet is to bring as many taxpayers as possible into compliance with the state’s tax laws and to dis suade individuals who might be considering not to fulfill their tax obligation to take another course of action,” explained Bart Graham, rev enue commissioner.