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Index Inside News 2,3,5,7 Obituaries 3 Opinion 4 Around the County 6 Calendar 8 Legals 9 Sheriff's Report 9 Sports 10-11 The Oglethorpe Echo Oglethorpe County run ning back Quentin Nash cuts up field in the Patri ots'season-opening loss to East Jackson. They will play Banks County in the home opener at 7:30 p.m. Friday. ... Page 10 To start your subscription or to donate to The Oglethorpe Echo, see Page 5. Volume 149, Number 47 August 24, 2023 ■ Oglethorpe County, Georgia $1 OK p £ SUBMITTED PHOTO The Oglethorpe County Sheriff's Office displays bags of drugs, including cocaine and fake Adderall, guns and about $8,000 in cash from a raid on a house on Collins Avenue in Lexington last Friday. Drugs found in bust Sheriff’s Office confiscates various narcotics, cash in Lexington raid By AvniTrivedi The Oglethorpe Echo The Oglethorpe County Sheriff’s Of fice busted a drug manufacturing ring in Lexington and arrested three individuals this past weekend, Sheriff David Gabriel told The Oglethorpe Echo. In addition to the arrests, law en forcement officials confiscated 675 grams of cocaine, 1,700 grams of meth, 250 grams of crack, 5-6 pounds of marijuana and thousands of fraud ulent pills, including fake Adderall, from a house on Collins Avenue on Friday morning. They also found two glock handguns, one Draco AK-style pistol and about $8,000 in cash, Gabriel said. Authorities confiscated three pill press es and plates used to make fraudulent pills. “You very rarely see that outside of Mexico,” Gabriel said. “So, the fact that they were making their own pills is kind of a big deal.” Drug Bust on Collins Avenue The Oglethorpe County Sheriff's Office, the Athens-Clarke County Drug Task Force and the Doraville Police Department made two arrests and confiscated a variety of drugs and weapons during a drug bust in Lexington on Friday morning. S \ vc, 'tP Oglethorpe County Primary School^ 1 # . Oglethorpe County Elementary School Collins Avenue & -V G,, % 1000 feet X ®/fOAD ® OpenStreetMap contributors Map The Oglethorpe Echo • Source: Oglethorpe County Sheriffs Office • Created with Datawrapper See DRUGS, Page 5 MORGAN HARDY/THE OGLETHORPE ECHO School officials: Car rider changes work By McCain Bracewell The Oglethorpe Echo The revised car rider line implemented at Oglethorpe County Elementary School last Wednesday has been successful in solving traffic congestion, school officials said. The plan directed afternoon car riders off Fairground Road and around the trans portation department building. Director of Operations Paul Thiel said most of the car riders were pulled off Com er Road and Fairground Road, which allevi ated congestion points. “The traffic level is the same, but is better because it is flowing,” Thiel said. “It’s not getting bogged down.” Thiel said the school would keep the plan in place for now. He is looking to speed up bus dismissal time, and plans to evaluate that soon. The school system was scheduled to meet with Oglethorpe County Sheriff David Ga briel this week to discuss traffic around the schools. Director of Transportation Zachary Holtzclaw said traffic is better, but sever al areas still need work. He said the new plan helped greatly by directing car riders off the roads and on to property the school owns. Holtzclaw also said the traffic plan exe cuted at Oglethorpe County Middle School by Principal Mack Baldwin worked well to direct traffic off of Buddy Faust Road and into the parking lot. See RIDER, Page 3 Zachary Holtzclaw County budget increases for 2024 By Garrett Kicklighter The Oglethorpe Echo The Oglethorpe County Board of Commissioners approved the county’s 2024 operating budget of $9.55 million at Monday’s called meeting. The total is $755,000 more than this year’s operating budget of near ly $8.8 million, an 8.6% increase from 2023. “We try to oper ate lean and still pro vide quality service,” Commission Chair Jay Paul said. “It’s hard to hold (the) riv er back all the time though, but we’re doing the best we can.” The commission vote was 4-0 in the meeting that lasted 3 minutes. District 2 Commissioner Andy Saxon was absent. Like last year, the Sheriff’s Office is the biggest expenditure item at $1.77 million, an increase from $1.67 million from 2023. Emergency Medical Servic es is next at $1.37 million, followed by the jail at $1.31 million. Public works is at $675,000, a de crease of $25,000 from the 2023 bud get, and the board of commissioners is at $625,000, an increase of $21,000 from this year’s $604,000. The largest source of county revenue comes from property tax at a project ed $3.7 million. Other revenue sources include the local option sales tax ($1.1 million), insurance premium tax ($1 million) and the title ad valorem tax ($900,000). There was also a surplus of $369,423 from 2021-22. The board approved the millage rate levied by the board of commissioners at 5.896 mills for the incorporated areas of the county and 5.516 for the unincorpo rated areas. Those numbers are a decrease from 2023, which was set at 7.029 mills for the incorporated areas of the county and 6.363 for the unincorporated portions. The millage rate was 8.410 mills (in corporated) and 7.22 (unincorporated) in 2022. Jay Paul Budget Highlights Oglethorpe County's 2024 pro- jected budget of $9.55 million includes the following depart- ments and expenditures. Department Budget Sheriff's Office $1.77 million EMS $1.37 million Jail $1.31 million Commissioners $625,000 Public Works $675,000 E-911 $464,000 Senior services $310,000 Selected others Planning $267,000 Parks and rec $225,000 Board of health $94,000 Library $87,000 Animal shelter $43,563 A DIVISION OF UNITED COUNTRY REAL ESTATE UM ,.HJV >- I Has a sign like this I affected your hunting season this year? Call Us! t We're here to help! £ j '■mrfrt TTTTT reunited Mfr Country Rea f Estate Southern Select Properties RANCH UNITED COUNTRY SOUTHERN SOUTHERN SELECT PROPERTIES SELECT PROPERTIES mzz.