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Forsyth J Your "Hometown Count Paper" Since 1908 vNew ^ &
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Vol. 96, No. 191 FRIDAY December 2, 2005 SPORTS, ’Cats IB
sweeps in region opener
Forsyth ranks high on median income list
By Stephen Gurr
Staff Writer
Forsyth County’s reputa
tion as one of the most afflu
ent commuter communities
in the state was affirmed yet
again this week, with new
census data ranking the
county 19th in the nation in
Lanier still
struggling
to make
fiscal cuts
Corps of Engineers must
further reduce spending
by more than $1 million
By Jennifer Sami
Staff Writer
Already expecting a budget reduction,
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had
found a way to reduce Lake Lanier’s
annual budget of almost $9 million down
to $8.6 million. Earlier this month,
Congress delivered a budgetary blow to
the corps, allocating only $7.66 million in
its fiscal year 2006 Energy and Water
Appropriations Bill for Lanier.
Acting Operations Manager for Lanier
Patrick Taylor is still at a loss as to how
they can cut their budget nearly an addi¬
tional $1 million.
“At this point in time, we have to
rethink the entire process and somehow
bring our expenditures down from $8.6
million to $7.6 million,” he said. “We’ve
already done most of the easy things to
do, now we’re down to the tough part.”
So far, the corps has compressed sea¬
sons and schedules, reduced operations
maintenance contractor work, and will
no longer recruit or fill vacant positions.
The operations manager seat will be
one of only three positions to be filled
this year and the final decision should be
made within three weeks, said Taylor. He
said all current and new budget cutting
decisions are pending to include input
from the newly appointed manager.
In spite of the ceased hiring, Taylor
said no employee would be laid off.
However, with more than 460 projects
nationwide, Taylor said some employees
might voluntarily fill out applications to
promote out of Lanier. If this would hap¬
pen, empty positions would not be filled.
See LANIER, Page 2A
Donation for boys' home
V? 1
Photo/Submitted
Jack Allen, center, of Ingram Funeral Home, presents
a $10,000 donation from his family’s Patterson Barclay
Foundation to Charlie Smith, left, and Bud Lang, both
board members of Bald Ridge Lodge Inc., to help
organize the planned boys’ shelter in Cumming.
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Opinion 11A Page4B Page 3 A High in the 071.0(
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Sports_________ IB Low in the high 30s.
I
County second highest in Georgia, 19th in nation
median income,
The median household
income for a family of four in
Forsyth County is $72,945,
second in Georgia only to sim
ilarly suburban Fayette County
at $74,320.
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One of the feline residents of the petting zoo at the Bottoms Christmas Tree Farm is
hoping to get this bird in his Christmas stocking.
The median income is the
midpoint at which half the
incomes are below it and
half are above it. Georgia’s
median household income
stands at $43,000, about the
same as the median income
Cumming named one of 11 host sites
for next spring’s Tour de Georgia
By Jennifer Sami port from that area and with the relationships we have with
Staff Writer them, as well as our understanding and appreciation for that
area as a great backdrop for the tour,” said Chris Aronhalt,
Bike enthusiasts get ready. Tour de Georgia has marketing partner with Medalist Sports.
selected Cumming as one of only 11 host cities for Forsyth County was included in the tour route in
the fourth annual event this spring. ___ 2005 and 2004 — including play¬
The Cumming Fairgrounds will be the A ing host to a “sprint”
Stage Start on April 23, the sixth and A m,. competition in 2005 —
final day of the 605-mile race. The race I but participants did not
begins in Augusta on April 18. stop either year.
Medalist Sports, which chooses par- ■ “We logistically preferred to have the
ticipating cities, said the successful w final stage in that area and
relationship the tour has had with Tour de Georgia. certainly, in taking a look at
Cumming over the past two years played all the attractions, even
a key role in their selection. something like the Taste
“We’ve been coordinating with Cumming and Forsyth See TOUR, Page 2A
County over the past two years, so there’s a pre-existing sup-
for the country.
For University of Georgia
demographer Doug Bachtel,
the latest numbers — based on
2003 data — are not surpris
ing.
“(Forsyth and Fayette) are
tion grew 123 percent between
1990 and 2000, and most of
the population growth was
*T tion, om newcomers opposed - Net births migra- with
as to
in the county, accounted for 85
percent of the county’s growth
between 1990 and 2000.
See LIST, Page 2A
suburban counties in the sec
ond-fastest growing metropoli
tan area in the United States,”
Bachtel said.
Only Los Angeles is grow
ing faster than Atlanta,
Forsyth County’s popula-
Scientific
Games
sued for
$1.9M
Subcontractor
claims owed
for 2004 work
By Stephen Gurr
Staff Writer
Scientific Games Inc., one of Forsyth
County’s largest employers, is being sued
by a Canton subcontractor that claims it is
owed nearly $2 million for work it did for
the company’s lottery operations in
Puerto Rico.
Gibson Technical Services Inc. claims
in the lawsuit filed last week in Forsyth
County Superior Court that it was hired in
2004 for survey, design and installation
work that would link some 1,950 lottery
retailer sites in Puerto Rico via a radio
network.
Between December 2004 and June
2005, Gibson Technical Services received
checks from Scientific Games totaling
$2.6 million, according to court docu¬
ments. But the company is maintaining
that it is still owed approximately $1.9
million for invoices submitted to
Scientific Games between March and
July.
Martin Quirk, an Atlanta attorney rep¬
resenting Gibson, wrote in an Aug. 29 let¬
ter to Scientific Games lawyer Phil Bauer
that he had been given assurances after a
July meeting with Bauer that the contest¬
ed amount would be paid once additional
technical information and invoices were
received. But a month passed after the
information was provided and Gibson
was not paid, according to the suit.
“...it is one thing to withhold payment
on certain invoices when questions arise,
See SUED, Page 2A