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The Led County Ledger
Your Hometown Source Of Local News
Hometown Newspaper of Lindsay and Jeffrey Hall
Volume XLV- Number 50
Leesburg, Georgia - - August 16, 2023
Fifty Cents
Special to the Ledger
Written by LCHS Se
nior Christina Tillis
The LCHS Distin
guished Alumni Com
mittee is proud to recog
nize Mrs. DeAnna Pate
Julian, Class of 1991, as
a member of the 2023
Class of Distinguished
Alumni. The purpose of
this program is to recog
nize outstanding alumni
who have maintained a
high standard of excel
lence and distinguished
themselves through their
work, personal accom
plishments, or in the
lives of others. These in
dividuals exemplify the
ideals of the Lee County
School System and the
community it serves, and
thus serve as role models
for current and future
Lee County High School
Students.
DeAnna Pate Julian,
a proud alumna of Lee
County High School,
has dedicated her life
to advocating for the
equitable treatment of
people with disabilities.
She is currently the
Executive Director of
The ARC of Southwest
Georgia where she works
to improve the quali
ty of life for disabled
citizens. Mrs. Julian
frequently collaborates
with state, and recently
federal, legislators to
maintain benefits for
people with disabilities
and to increase salaries
for their caretakers. She
continuously works to
ensure that people with
disabilities are thriving
members of society and
is known by her family
and friends as a passion
ate advocate for equity
and inclusion.
Mrs. Julian has al
ways had a passion for
inclusivity even before
graduating high school.
Having grown up with a
cousin with a disability,
she saw, firsthand, the
inequities people with
disabilities faced on
a regular basis. After
graduating Lee County
High School in 1991,
she worked with adults
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with disabilities at Camp
Will-A-Way in Winder,
Georgia. Those experi
ences led her to devote
her life to tirelessly
working toward im
proving the treatment of
people with disabilities.
Mrs. Julian holds a
Bachelor of Science in
Special Education and
Physical Education from
Georgia Southwestern
State LTniversity as well
as a Master of Science
in Education and Tran
sition Services from the
LTniversity of Kansas.
She continues to use her
degrees in education to
advocate tirelessly for
children and adults.
Prior to being the
Executive Director at the
ARC of Southwest Geor
gia, Mrs. Julian returned
to her roots at Lee
County High School as a
special education teacher
from 1999 to 2009.
She was known for her
kindness and patience,
and even received the
“Teacher of the Year”
award for her hard work
and dedication. She then
became the Transition
Coordinator for the Lee
County Board of Educa-
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Age eligibility is 15-28. Other
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More info can be found at
americanidol.Com/auditions
Idol Across America Virtual Auditions Set
It starts with one audition. Idol
Across America Virtual Audi
tions will be held in Leesburg
September 19 and 20th. The
auditions will be held at Lee
County High School.
AMERICAN IDOL® Audi
tion Producers are looking for
the next singing superstar! Luke
Bryan, Lionel Richie and Katy
Perry will judge the auditions
that will be closed to the public.
American Idol continues to
produce superstar artists and
feature original music! From
idol legends like Kelly Clark
son, Carrie Underwood, Jenni
fer Hudson, and Adam Lam
bert, to recent idol successes
like Gabby Barrett, Alejandro
Aranda aka Scarypoolparty,
Lauren-Spencer Smith, Benson
Boone, and the latest chart- top
ping viral sensation and winner
Master Plan To Be Developed For Recreational Land
During the August
8th county commission
meeting, the commission
ers approved a contract
with Lose Design, from
Lawrence Georgia, o de
velop a recreation facility
master plan for the 100
acre recreational property
on the Leesburg by-pass.
For their services, Lose
Design would be paid
$18,750 that would be
invoiced monthly as a
percentage of completion.
Parks and Recreation
Director Jeremy Morey
told the commissioners
that the company de
signed the park in Dublin
that contains many of
the same activity spac
es desired for the 100
acre recreational land
including ballfields and a
multipurpose building.
To begin the planning
process, Lose Design’s
staff will meet with
elected officials and other
representatives to obtain
ideas for the property
and establish deadlines
for upcoming work. They
will visit the site and
gather available data to
prepare the plan.
Lose Design will
prepare two alternative
layouts of the potential
facilities to a conceptual
level and then meet with
Lee County representa
tives to review the two
concepts, discuss pros
and cons of each, and
receive direction for
revisions.
Using that input, they
will prepare a draft final
master plan and prepare
an opinion of proba
ble cost, with potential
phasing. A meeting will
be held to review the
draft final master plan
and costs, and receive di
rection for revisions and
then the final master plan
will be updated with
probable costs.
8 10499 02456 8
SPLOST VIII Planning Process Begins
During the August
8th county commission
meeting, the commis
sioners discussed the
planning process for
SPLOST VIII. The
Special Purpose Local
Option Sales Tax VII
(SPLOST VII) was ap
proved by the voters in
the May 2018 election
for a period of six years
ending September 30,
2025.
To continue the one
percent sales tax with
out interruption a refer
endum probably will be
scheduled for November
5, 2024 to determine if
the voters would like to
continue SPLOST for
another six years.
Based on the pro
ceeding SPLOST VII
collection trend and
assuming that business
growth will continue on
both Highway 82 and
Highway 19, Lee Coun
ty can expect to receive
approximately $420,483
per month, SS,045,796
per year, or $30,274,776
over the maximum six
year period in SPLOST
VIII revenue. Using
the current SPLOST
VII percentages, the
County would receive
26 563,088 (87.74%), the
City of Leesburg would
receive $3,097,110
(10.23%) and the City
of Smithville would re-
ceive$ 614,578 (2.03%).
The commissioners
approved increasing the
starting pay for a jailer
from $13.57 to $15.50
an hour. All current
employees currently at
$13.57 an hour will be
increased to $15.50 an
hour. All lieutenants
will receive a $1.00
an hour pay increase
and the rest of the jail
staff will receive $1.93
an hour pay increase.
These raises will go into
effect the pay period
that begins August 7,
2023.
It was explained that
Dougherty County’s
starting pay for a jailer
was $18.00 and Sum
ter County was paying
$15.00 an hour.
The total cost for
these pay raises will
be $127,100.00. There
arc currently 23 Jailer
positions, with three
(vacancies.
The commissioners
granted Mr. Jaymin
Patel, the new owner
of Lee Pub, an alcohol
license for consumption
on-premise of distilled
spirits, wine, and malt
beverages. Mr. Patel’s
establishment is located
at 1561 Hwy 19 South
Suite 1.
The commission
ers appointed Aaron
McCulley to serve on
the Lee County utilities
board. The term will
expire January 31, 2024.
Aaron McCulley is the
pastor of Philema Road
Baptist Church
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Getting to Know Our 2023 LCHS Distinguished Alumna
Mrs. DeAnna Pate Julian, Class of 1991
tion from 2009 to 2015
providing necessary
resources and opportuni
ties for over 200 students
with disabilities.
In 2015, Mrs. Julian
transitioned her career
from a school-based
setting to a communi
ty-based setting when
she became the Deputy
Director of the ARC
of Southwest Georgia.
As deputy director, she
oversaw the daily oper
ations of the agency and
ensured that people with
disabilities in the com
munity were supported
and protected. Now,
as Executive Director,
Mrs. Julian collaborates
closely with Georgia
Legislation to improve
the legal rights of people
with disabilities. Over
the course of her career,
she was named “Best
Boss” by the Albany
Herald and received the
“Albany’s Top 40 Under
40” award as well.
DeAnna Julian is a
prominent voice in the
community regarding
inclusivity. She has
always been an advocate
for people with disabil
ities and works with
numerous organizations
in the area in addition to
the ARC of Southwest
Georgia to ensure that
all aspects of society are
adopting more inclu
sive practices. She has
coordinated community
events to bring aware
ness about the inequities
people with disabilities
face, and she will con
tinue to collaborate with
organizations across the
state to improve their
conditions.
While DeAnna Julian
is known for her out
standing work in advoca
cy, she is also known for
being a loving mother,
wife, and friend. Mrs. Ju
lian is known to do any
thing for her family and
friends as well as being
an inspiration to those
around her. She enjoys
outside activities with
her friends and family
and is grateful that she
can make a difference
each day.
Mrs. Julian is a wom
an with unprecedented
kindness and compas
sion. Her coworkers
admire her strong
sentiment for the ad
vancement of people
with disabilities. She
is known to work long
after hours to complete
a project or task and
fearlessly fight for inclu
sivity in congressional
settings. DeAnna Julian
has upheld a standard of
excellence that is seen
throughout her life’s
work for advocacy for
the equitable treatment
for people with dis
abilities. She has made
an impact on everyone
around her with her tire
less ambition and drive,
making her an embod
iment of a Lee County
High School Distin
guished Alumna.