Newspaper Page Text
Resident to challenge commission chairman in
By Frank Reddy
Staff Writer
A retired pastor will represent her
self today in a hearing against the
chairman of the Forsyth County
board of commissioners.
Jo Ann Leifeste filed a complaint
against Charles Laughinghouse in
April following a contentious retail
rezoning of some 3 acres on
Castleberry Road.
County Attorney Ken Jarrard will
represent Laughinghouse, who said
he will not be able to attend the hear
ing because of a scheduling conflict
with commission duties.
*
fj
/
:
yitot/*
J
Photo/Jim Dean
Convenience store manager Pankaj Jain stands in front
of the damage caused Monday when a car smashed
through the front of the store.
PLOWS from 1A
big noise.
He said the customer he
was helping suffered a few
scrapes.
Cumming police and the
Forsyth County Fire
Department were called to the
scene.
Officer Derrick Woodson
said the incident occurred
after Jones accelerated instead
of hitting the brakes when she
put the car in gear.
Woodson said Jones
veered left to avoid hitting
tit
m |v . »vt « Ti
Friday, August 15,2008
7:00
Saturday, August 16,2008
7:00
presents
fVtik^ J^rtCS
ELVIS TRIBUTE with local favorites S.R.53
ALL-U-CAN-EAT SEAFOOD & NON SEAFOOD BUFFET
Admission to the party is $35.00 and includes Buffet & Show Only
RS.V.P.not required but highly recommended as this show limited
to 200 guests.
Reserve now 404-798-2445
We are located at the original Lantern Inn
Huy. 369 1/2 mile west of Browns Bridge
‘NOTICE OF PROPERTY TAX INCREASE’
The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners
has tentatively adopted a millage rate that will
require an increase in the Maintenance
and Operation property taxes by 1.70%,
Fire property taxes by 1.67% and
Bond property taxes by 173.68%.
All concerned citizens are invited to the Public
Hearings on this tax increase to be held at the
Forsyth County Administration Building,
110 East Main Street, Suite 220, Cumming,
Georgia, on August 21,2008 at 11:00 a.m.
and 6:30 p.m.
William J. Thomas
Chief Financial Officer
Laughinghouse
declined to com
ment on the matter,
referring all ques- *
tions to Jarrard.
It is the coun
ty’s position that
everything was done
in conformance
with the law,” Jarrad ■
said of the zoning in Leifeste
question.
In order to appeal the commis
sion’s 3-2 decision from April 14,
Leifeste filed a Writ of Certiorari,
which she said was necessary to
appeal a commission vote.
Jain inside.
The store shares a building
with Elegance Cleaners and
Papa John’s Pizza.
Employees of both busi
nesses came out to look at
what had happened.
I didn’t see it,” Papa
John’s employee Anthony Day
said. “We were making pizzas
and then the whole building
shook, ■
E-mail Julie Arrington at
juliearrington@forsythnews.
com.
I hope that no
matter what the out
come is this will be
an encouragement
& to other people to
stand up to the law,
Leifeste said.
The hearing is
scheduled for 9 this
morning in
Laughinghouse Courtroom 1 of the
Forsyth County
Courthouse, with Judge David
Dickinson presiding,
Leifeste brought a complaint
against Laughinghouse to the county
ethics board shortly after the April 14
MELON from 1A
and two 70 pounds come off
one vine.
Not bad for a first time
melon farmer.
Samples’ overall yield
included a small crop of
Kolb’s Gem watermelons
that averaged about 70
pounds each. His largest
Carolina Cross melons
turned out to be two 65
pounders, one 85-pounder
and a 93-pounder that meas¬
ures about 28 inches in
length and 4 feet around.
Both the Kolb and
Carolina varieties of seed
typically yield melons up to
100 pounds.
Still, Samples never
expected his ground would
produce something that
weighs several times more
than his 10-month old son,
Luke.
Not on my first try,” he
said. “This is really the first
year I’ve tried to grow big
"
ones.
The sheer size of
Samples’ melons has been a
source of some good
natured ribbing from his co¬
workers, Tim McGinnis and
Jerry Grizzle.
“Those are some big mel¬
ons,” McGinnis said, grin¬
ning.
Added Grizzle: “I’ve
never seen any that big. '
So far, the watermelons
are the only overgrown pro¬
duce to come from Samples’
garden, which also includes
corn, squash, tomatoes and
other vegetables.
There are watermelons
that you can buy that are
bred to be larger than oth
\ cA//
United Methodist Church
Welcomes You!
August 17
Disciples in
I Song i
Guest Musicians
11 "AM
REV. JOHN L.
CROMARTIE, JR.
SENIOR MINISTER
770 Canton Hwy
Cumming, GA
I/ For more information, SJ
call (770) 8X7-290(3
NOTICE
The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners does hereby announce that the millage rate will be set at a meeting to be held
at the Commissioners Meeting Room, Suite 220, Forsyth County Administration Bldg., 110 E Main St., Cumming, Ga., 30040
on August 21, 2008 at 6:30PM and pursuant to the requirements of O.C.G.A. Section 48-5-32 does hereby publish the following
presentation of the current year's tax digest and levy, along with the history of the tax digest and levy for the past five years.
CURRENT 2008 TAX DIGEST AND 5 YEAR HISTORY OF LEVY
COUNTY WIDE 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Real & Personal 5,498,507,587 5,968,346,677 6,866,164,249 7,950,913,799 8,924,906,562 . 9,699,132,218
Motor Vehicles 451,456,270 463,753,610 455,836,520 460,976,800 524,449,640 565.960,660
Mobile Homes 16,050,880 16,501,360 16,416,120 16,298,542 15,804,948 14,103,351
Timber -100% 417,757 48,890 112,426 4,500 27,818 28,891
Heavy Duty Equipment 412,195 801,747 1,528,164 1,670,386 760,073
Gross Digest 5,966,432,494 6,449,062,732 7,339,331,064 8,429,721,806 9,466,859,354 10,279,985,193
Less M& 0 Exemptions 813,050,061 834,231,470 943,868,573 1,124,681,990 1,230,277,406 1,389,586,132
Net M & O. Digest 5,153,382,433 5,614,831,262 6,395,465,491 7,305,039,816 8,236,581,946 8,890,399.061,
Gross M&O Millage 7.561 7.282 7.117 6.934 7.108 6.912
Less Rollbacks 3.261 3.098 3117 3.100 3,274 3.078
Net M&O Millage 4.300 4 184 4.000 3.834 3.834 3.834
Total County Taxes Levied $22,159,544 $23,492,454 $25,581,862 $28,007,523 $31,579,056 $34,085,790
Net Taxes $ Increase $7,498,21 C $1,332,910 $2,089,408 $2.425,661 $3,571,533 $2,506,735
Net Taxes % Increase 51.14% 8.89% 9.48% 12.75% 7.94%
decision, but the board voted 5-0 to
dismiss it.
At that time, she contended that
Laughinghouse’s behavior had been
unethical,
She claimed e-mails between
Laughinghouse and developer Sal
Migliore implied the two were work¬
ing together to get the Castleberry
zoning approved.
The board, however, disagreed,
noting that it is not uncommon for
commissioners to have discussions
with developers about pending pro¬
posals.
Leifeste, who led the charge
against the Castleberry zoning pro-
'' -T * "
*
'
J #
i **'
mi-' 4
V
, <r* *-■ r
L
t C
it m . Vl
: A 1
MJL
Photo/Emily Saunders
Luke Samples, 10 months old, sits in front of one of his father’s large watermelons.
Chris Samples grew the melons this year in his north Forsyth garden.
ers, said Jan VandeVelde,
Forsyth County Master
Gardener coordinator.
VandeVelde, part of the
Forsyth County Extension
Service horticulture staff,
said the state’s largest
watermelon grown by 4-H
club members this year was
a 127-pound Carolina
Cross. The second largest
weighed 122 pounds, the
third 95.
According . to the
National Watermelon
CD SPECIAL
4.25% APY • 12 Month CD*
Upgrade your Bank.
Forsyth Community Batik
A Division of The Buckhead Community Bank
1 770 - 888-0063
Sam Story Angela Fubanks
President 1700 Market Place Boulevard | Cumming, GA 30041 Assistant VP/Br anch Manager
www.forsythcommunitybank.com
'Annual Percentage Yield. Interest penalties mil apply lor early mlhdrawls. Mem kef
$500 minimum deposit Interest rales may change mthoul notice. FMC
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS — Wednesday, August 13,2008
posal, cited traffic, safety and other
concerns in her opposition to the
developer’s plans.
In February, the commission
voted 3-2 to deny the developer’s
rezoning request. That vote, however,
was rescinded in M^rch after
Commissioner Linda Ledbetter
changed her mind.
The issue returned before the
commission in April, when it was
approved 3-2, this time with
Laughinghouse, Ledbetter and
Commissioner Jim Harrell supporting
it.
E-mail Frank Reddy at frankred
dy@forsythnews.com.
Promotion Board, Bill
Carson of Arrington, Tenn.,
holds the world record for
the largest watermelon. He
grew a 262-pound 1990. Carolina
Cross in
Samples isn’t interested
in breaking records. He
grew this year’s crop just to
give away.
k. Most of them I gave
away,” he said. “I’ll proba¬
bly give these away, except
one. Matter of fact, I’ve
about got them all gave
PAGE 3A
**
away.
But there’s always next
year, and with a little more
divine intervention and cow
manure, who knows what
his garden will grow?
I might try again,
Samples said. “I’ll put a lit¬
tle more into it next year.”
Staff Photographer Emily
Saunders contributed to this
report.
E-mail Ben Holcombe at
benholcombe @forsyth
news.com.