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Optimist club announces annual scholarship
From staff reports
The Forsyth-Cumming Optimist Club
has announced that it is currently taking
applications for college and tech school
scholarships that it will provide in 2018.
According to a news release from the
organization, a total of 12 SI,OOO schol
arships will be presented to Forsyth
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trol for those living in the area, particu
larly in zoning.
“Sharon Springs encompasses about
40 percent of the residential property
taxes, yet we're only 25 percent of the
people,” said speaker Brian Francis.
“One of the problems we see in particu
lar is zoning. The tax base in Forsyth
County ... is very skewed against com
mercial.”
Those opposed to the creation of the
new city felt it would have a negative
impact on the rest of the county and
could lead to higher taxes. ,
“I really don’t see these issues as
problems. I see these issues and this
community coming together tonight as
an opportunity,” said Eric Duncan. “But
I think that we can do that without
another layer of government, without
bureaucracy that is going to possibly
take away from the attractiveness of
‘Forsyth County.” e ;
Some speakers said they were
opposed to the creation of a new city but
would still like to see a change in the
form of consolidation between the city
of Cumming and Forsyth County.
“The best that we do for the planning
for the development and the strategic
development... is to have one organiza
tion,” said Paul Flood. “So, I'm actually
in favor of combining the city of
Cumming and Forsyth County into
one.”
Consolidation came up in county dis
“cussions earlier this year but did not
have the support of the city.
At a recent work session, Forsyth
County Commissioners discussed con
versations they had with members of the
county’s legislative delegation looking
to take other avenues for dealing with
concerns in the area of the proposed
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borhoods checking each car to find
unlocked vehicles.
“These are teens or young adults in
the area who aren’t going to make a lot
of noise and are just looking for
unlocked cars,” Rainwater said.
Reports said that three handguns, as
well as laptop computers, Bluetoot
speakers, knives, cash, wallets and sun
glasses were taken from some of the
vehicles.
Rainwater said cases of car break-ins
tend to increase as the weather gets bet
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County students in the coming year. The
release stated all home schooled, private
and public high school students are eli
gible for the scholarship. :
Since 1985, the Forsyth-Cumming
Optimists have provided almost
$170,000 in scholarships to students in
Forsyth County. :
“All these years the scholarship
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city. :
Among the topics were expanding the
number of commissioners, creating an
organization to deal with zonings in the
area whose recommendation could only
be defeated by a four-fifths vote, the
area having its own distinction without
being a city — similar to Buckhead —
and other options. ;
Some of the options were similar to
those discussed by commissioners but
ultimately never sent to members of the
delegation in 2015.
Those proposals were brought up by
several speakers at Tuesday’s meeting,
‘who referred to the proposals as the
“five pillars.”
“[Those] would be areas ... that if the
county and Rep. [Todd] Jones work
together, then perhaps there would be no
need for the city,” County Attorney Ken
Jarrard said.
In October, a 12-member committee
ter, and those who leave their car doors
unlocked or valuables in plain view can
often become victims.
“If you are going to the Greenway,
leave your valuables at home or hidden
out of sight,” Rainwater said.
He also said that the fact that hand
guns were stolen was disturbing.
“That’s a big problem for us,”
Rainwater said. “You may not realize
that if you leave your gun in the car or
under the seat, it might end up in the
hands-of-an-18-year-old-someday——
Rainwater said the incidents are cur
rently under investigation by the Forsyth
County Sheriff’s Office, but the agency
is working on “promising leads” in
some of the cases.
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money has been made possible from
generous contributions to the Optimist
Club from various fundraisers to help
with ‘bringing out the best in our youth
and community,” the release stated.
The release stated that the scholarship
program has also been funded for the
past several years by the Forsyth-
Cumming Optimists Avenue of Flags
made up of representatives from across
the county recommended allowing vot
ers living in the area of the proposed
city to vote on cityhood.
Only voters in the area of the pro
posed city will be able to vote, and the
committee recommended the referen
dum must have the support of 57.5 per
cent — a compromise between a simple
majority and two-thirds majority — of
voters.
Before reaching voters, the bill will
need to be approved by the Georgia
General Assembly and signed by Gov.
Nathan Deal. If passed, a referendum
‘would likely be heldimMay.
Recently, House Bill 626, which pro
vides the process for creating the city,
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ForsythNews.com | FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS
Presented by:
: bl Growe. Sucand.
~
CUMMING-FORSYTH COUNTY
Watch on
ForsythNews.com/
Studio
program.
All prospective scholarship applica
tions must be submitted to the Forsyth-
Cumming Optimist Club by March 22,
2018.
More information on the Forsyth-
Cumming Optimist Club and how to
apply for a scholarship can be found at
www.FCOptimists.org.
passed the Georgia House of
Representatives by a vote of 159-3, with
12 members not voting and six excused.
All members of the Forsyth County del
egation voted in favor of the bill.
The bill was introduced by District 25
state House Rep. Todd Jones, who
spoke at Tuesday’s meeting, in 2017.
“This is not a simple issue. The fact of
the matter is the pro side and the con
side have very viable issues,” Jones
said. “To suggest if you're a con that the
pros have no viable issues or if youre a
pro and the cons have none, come on,
we’re all old enough to know everything
mainly is in the gray. It's-always been
about what we can do in order to ensure
we do not tear ourselves apart.”
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