Country Store Finally Gets Rezoning
Fripp Voted
Chairman
By Abigail Adams
The Georgia Post
On January 3rd, the Craw
ford County Commissioners
gathered for their first meeting
of 2013. On the agenda the re
zoning of a piece of property
on Highway 341 was once
again an item for approval,
several board appointments
were made, and CDBG proj
ects are being discussed again
to try to decide what would
be best for the county as a
whole.
Newly elected district four
commissioner John Thomas
took the seat of Gene Hamlin
as his very first meeting be
gan. After the invocation and
approval of the minutes from
the last meeting were made
the time came to vote on the
2013 chairman and vice chair
man. Commissioner and 2012
Vice Chairman Paul Chapman
nominated Dean Fripp to con
tinue as chairman of the board.
The nomination was approved
unanimously and Fripp will
continue as chairman this year.
Chapman will also keep his
title as vice chairman which
was approved unanimously as
well.
Albert Jones has been be
fore a county board a total of
four times now and has finally
gotten the answer he was hop
ing to get. Back in December
Jones brought his request to
rezone a piece of property in
order to open a country store.
His first stop was the Planning
and Zoning board where his
request was denied due to the
close proximity of the build
ing to the highway.
Jones did not give up and
followed the suggestion to take
his request before the board of
commissioners. After lengthy
discussion the commissioners
tabled the decision until after
they had the time to go out and
see for themselves what the is
sue with the property would be
and why Planning and Zoning
had denied the request.
Jones returned to Planning
and Zoning and this time his
request to open a country store
was approved 4 to 1. His next
step was to gain the approval
of the county commission
ers. He came before the board
represented by Fabian Hol
lis and let the commissioners
know that he planned to open
a country store to help serve
the people of the surrounding
neighborhood.
Though Jones must make
sure the property and building
are up to the codes required
by the USDA he must first get
approval for the rezoning be
fore he can move forward. All
of the commissioners were in
agreement that having a new
business come to the county
would be beneficial but some
felt that allowing the rezon
ing may be dangerous given
the distance from the road and
the slope of the shoulder of the
highway.
The building has been in the
past, before zoning laws were
set, a country store. Develop
ment Authority member David
Mathews was in attendance at
the meeting and stated that
most of the neighbors are in
favor of the store opening
again and would like to have
a place closer to home to go
to purchase items they might
need. Jones has no plans to
sell alcohol at the store.
See STORE, Page 8
New Fire Station on Julia Jordan Road
People on the west side of Crawford County now
have more coverage in fire protection with the finish
ing touches being put on the new fire station on Julia
Jordan Road. This new station gives that area a wider
coverage area by bringing the location into the county
almost five more miles from its previous location right
on the county line. The building was assembled on the
site by Pro Construction and was paid for by Public
Safety SPLOST funds. Chief Randy Pate encourages
people to vote for Public Safety SPLOST as the funds
will help to further improve the county’s public safety
system. He has been working to change the locations of each firehouse to county owned property throughout
his time as fire chief, so that further improvements and renovations can be made to keep up with advance
ments in the future. Pate is also hoping to add another station in Musella and volunteer fire fighters will be
out and about collecting donations to help make improvements to the fire station on Marshall Mill Road. The
donations will go to equipping the station with living quarters and bathrooms for the volunteer firemen. Fire
fighters will be out knocking on doors and asking for donations of $40 or more to help them with this proj
ect. Each donation will be rewarded with a free 10 x 13 Family Portrait. “Remember it’s your Volunteer Fire
Department. We just operate and maintain the equipment. It’s through the efforts of people such as yourself
that make this life and property saving service possible.” New station at top, old station at right.
Development Authority Discusses Website, Paint
By Abigail Adams
The Georgia Post
The Crawford County De
velopment Authority’s first
meeting of the year started
out with some sad news.
Chairman Charlie Westberry
informed the board that Jim
Middleton, who was respon
sible for bringing Polywad to
Roberta had passed away be
fore the beginning of the year.
Middleton had done a lot for
the county and Westberry stat
ed that, “he was good guy and
will be missed.”
As the meeting moved for
ward discussions about the
Development Authority’s
website were brought up as
member Giles Ragsdale asked
about the information they are
waiting on about costs. Secre
tary Carol Jackson stated she
had sent out the email with the
authority’s information and
now was just waiting on a re
sponse.
Westberry mentioned to the
board that the RDC also builds
websites for entities and that
Houston County was among a
few of the counties that have
used them and were happy
with the results. He stated that
the authority would have to
make the request for them to
do it and the cost was between
$500 to $1,000.
Concerns about a painhng
job that was supposed to be
completed when weather per
mitted were brought up. The
air conditioner ducts on the
building need to be painted
before there is damage done
to them due to the outside
conditions. The paint has been
bought but the work has not
been done yet.
County Commissioner Paul
Chapman stated that now
would not be a good hme to
paint due to the temperatures
being under 45 degrees. The
board discussed who they
would like to do the job and
voted to ask Lee Henley to
paint the duct work when the
weather permits. Member
Brenda Carroll then suggested
to ask Robert Tharpe to scrape
See PAINT, Page 8
Elections, LOST Prevalent In 2012
Continuing with our look
back at 2012 in Roberta,
Crawford County taking up
where we left off last week.
May:
-Crawford-Taylor County
Relay for Life raised over
$47,000.
-Crawford County Sher
iff’s Office Investigator
Thomas R. Wallace puts
in his bid for Sheriff in the
election of 2012, while
Chuck Evans begins cam
paigning for the District 2
seat on the Board of Com
missioners.
-The Jugfest takes over
Roberta with family fun
and historical pottery. This
year’s Jugfest is slated to
happen the third weekend
in May this year. Stay tuned
for more info on this annual
historical event.
-Boy Scout Troop 264 and
the ladies of the UDC honor
those who lost their lives at
a special ceremony in David
Bailey Park for Memorial
Day.
June:
-Robin Dunaway was
named interim magistrate
judge after the death of for
mer magistrate judge Donna
Johnson.
-Old service station on the
comer of Highways 341 and
80 is demolished in prepara
tion for a big project that
was announced later in the
year.
-Debates over the pros and
cons of T-SPLOST become
central topic as early elec
tion in July looms.
-Crawford County re
ceives Georgia Work Ready
signs.
-Crawford County High
School comes off the state
list for needs improve
ment and they don’t plan to
stop there. Back in June of
2012 CCHS principal Mike
Campbell informed the
board of education that his
staff are working on ways
to make the school more ef
ficient and to push students
to achieve academic excel
lence.
-Negotiations between the
city of Roberta and County
began in June over the split
of LOST funds. This new
policy to negotiate percent
ages every ten years was
implemented this year and
has caused a lot of hard feel
ings between community en
tities. Roberta and Crawford
County did not escape the
hardship these negotiations
have caused a lot of counties
and cities.
July 2012
Local Musella au-
See 2012, Page 8
2 Arrested
In Stabbing
Tay Cox and Brandon
Searcy were arrested and
charged with aggravated as-
salt/other weapon in con
nection with the stabbing of
Raydarius Lackey of Musella
on December 15, 2012.
Roberta Police responded
to Western Auto after receiv
ing a call someone had been
stabbed and was bleeding
heavily. An ambulance was
called and Lackey was taken
to the Macon Medical Cen
ter. It was determined he had
been stabbed with a knife
several times.
After an intense investiga
tion for several weeks and
being able to talk with the
victim after he was released
from hospital, it was deter
mined two knives were used
in the commission of the
crime. The stabbing was al
legedly over a girl.
Suicide
Under
Investigation
December 30, 2012 at ap
proximately 7:24 p.m. Craw
ford County Sheriff’s depu
ties responded to a suicide
call in the 200 block of Caus
ey Road in Knoxville Geor
gia. Upon the deputies arriv
al they found a male fatally
shot outside his residence.
This is an ongoing inves
tigation by the Crawford
County Sheriff’s Office. The
name is being withheld at
this time until family mem
bers have been notified.
The body was sent to the
GBI Crime Lab for an au
topsy.
Further information will be
provided later.
Flint Energies’
Rates To Rise
Flint Energies will
raise residential rates
from $21 per month to
$22 per month beginning
with the April 1, 2013 bill.
This increase is another
step in executing an equity
management plan to increase
residential base charge by $ 1
a year to $27 a month by the
year 2017.
According to Flint CEO
Bob Ray, these changes al
low the Cooperative to meet
financial needs and continue
to provide reliable electric
service.
In addition to the base rate
increase Flint began impos
ing late fees as of January
1 st and deposits are expected
to rise to $500 as on April 1,
2013. Flint will also, accord
ing to policy, not work with
members on payment ar
rangements once the account
has a “collect” status.
