Newspaper Page Text
Abreu off ventilator,
out of nursing home
and jailed without bond
WALTER GEIGER
news@barnesville
Former Barnesville
municipal court judge
Henry Abreu was arrest
ed April 23 after checking
himself out of Harbor-
view Nursing Home in
Thomaston. At last re
port, Abreu, no stranger
to law enforcement, had
been on a ventilator and
headed to hospice care
after ingesting a quantity
of meth during a drug
raid at his home at 123
Stafford Ave. in Barnes
ville March 31.
According to Lt. Chad
Payne of the LCSO, Abreu
came off the ventilator
at some point, checked
himself out and was
waiting on a ride when
he was arrested by Dep.
John Thurman. He is now
being held in the Lamar
jail. Bond was denied at a
first appearance hearing
over the weekend.
Abreu is charged
with distribution of
meth within 1,000 feet
of a school, possession
of meth with intent to
distribute, trafficking in
meth, tampering with
evidence, obstruction,
possession of a firearm
during the commission
of a felony, possession of
drug related objects and
possession of marijuana.
Tuesday, April 27,2021 Hgraltr <©a?ett£ 3A
Henry Abreu arrives at the Lamar County jail Friday in the custody of Dep. John Thurman. Abreu was arrested after checking
himself out of a Thomaston nursing home. He is jailed without bond on multiple drug charges.
Silver Dollar Road back in county spotlight
WALTER GEIGER
news@barnesville.com
After a 50-minute
public hearing on a zon
ing variance for a new
driveway off Silver Dollar
Road for an expansion of
Zoe Pediatrics April 20,
the Lamar County com
mission voted to table
the matter for
at least a month
and study safety
issues.
Citizens at the
hearing noted this
was the third or
fourth time such
a driveway has
been proposed
and they had
to fight it. They
noted the road
floods and log
trucks have destroyed
the pavement, creating
multiple hazards.
Dicksie Duval, who
lives at 145 Silver Dollar
Rd., brought up mul
tiple issues, including
the steep grade of the
proposed driveway and
its proximity to a sharp
curve. “Log trucks tore
up our road. The county
can’t get it repaired. This
will just make it worse,”
Duval said.
Deborah Johnston,
who lives at 253 Silver
Dollar Rd., said she
bought her land in 1975
and built there in 1978
when the road was still
dirt. “Once the road was
paved, through
traffic increased.
We need a ‘no
thru trucks’ sign.
We have tractor-
trailers out
there now. That
driveway is going
to be dangerous.
Coming off the
four-lane, people
cross the center
line. Somebody
will get hurt,”
Johnston told the com
mission.
Kristina Peterson, who
lives right across from
the proposed expansion
at 129 Silver Dollar Rd.,
noted James Williams
promised to put up a tree
buffer when he built the
current building which
housed a funeral home in
“Log trucks
tore up
our road.
The county
can’t get it
repaired.
This will
just make it
worse. ”
-Dicksie
Duval
2001.
“There has never been
a buffer. There are visibil
ity issues. The proposed
driveway is near a school
bus stop. People
are constantly
speeding there.
They are always
on the wrong side
of the road. Chil
dren ride bikes
there,” Peterson
said in voicing her
opposition.
Paul Proud, who lives
at 123 Silver Dollar Rd.,
compared the situation
to the now-defunct Fred’s
wanting a driveway onto
Murphey Ave. in Barnes
ville.
“That was never ap
proved. This will be a
blind drive no matter
where he puts it. This is
the third or fourth time
we’ve done this,” Proud
said. He alleged he had
a county official tell him,
“Oh, it’s progress. Deal
with it”.
Tommy Sizemore, who
lives at 149 Silver Dollar
Rd., presented the com
mission with a petition
signed by 31 residents
opposing the driveway.
“We don’t want a
commercial driveway on
a residential road. He is
open 13 hours
a day. That is a
lot of traffic for a
residential road.
This is merely a
convenience for
him. It is not a ne
cessity,” Sizemore
argued.
Richard Adams, pas
tor of a nearby church,
brought up water issues.
“We already have flood
ing on both sides of this.
The culvert is not suffi
cient. The county has the
responsibility to keep the
road safe. If you have to
have the driveway take
care of the water and
make it safe before some
one gets hurt,” Adams
implored.
Daniel Long, who lives
at 199 Silver Dollar Rd.,
questioned the need for
the driveway. “Silver Dol
lar is just a cut through.
None of his patients live
on our road,” he alleged.
Jodi Sizemore told the
commission there are
three active farms still
on the road and she and
others traverse it
pulling livestock
trailers. “This is
a residential/agri
culture road. We
want to stay an
agricultural com
munity,” Sizemore
said.
Larry Walker,
who lives at 256
Silver Dollar Rd.,
said he had lived
on the road longer than
anyone. “When 1 moved
there, it was a good
road. It had a wooden
bridge. Now it is just a
cut through to Hwy. 36.
People don’t want to use
the 36 bypass,” Walker
said.
Dr. Wayne Kong, who
is seeking the variance,
said his office had been
in a portion of the old
funeral home for eight
years and three doc
tors see 60-70 patients
a day. He is building an
additional building to
house a treatment facility
for autistic kids using a
program that has been
successful in his Colum
bus operations.
“1 had no idea
there would be
this much re
sistance to this
simple request.
1 did not realize
it would stir up
a hornet’s nest,”
he said.
Kong told
the commission
public works su
pervisor James
Rigdon picked the loca
tion for the driveway.
“1 have been listen
ing carefully. Whatever
decision you make, 1 will
honor it but 1 still desire
the driveway,” Kong said.
Commissioner Nancy
Thrash moved the
county table the issue for
a month and got unani
mous support from her
colleagues.
“This is a dangerous
area. 1 heard things to
night that 1 did not know.
We need to look at the in
tersection as a whole and
solve the safety issues,”
Thrash concluded.
“This is
the third or
fourth time
we’ve done
this. ”
-Paul Proud
“This is a
residential/
agriculture
road. We
want to stay
an agricul
tural commu
nity. ’’
-Jodi
Sizemore
County sees financial
stability on horizon
WALTER GEIGER
news@barnesville.com
The Lamar County
commission voted April
20 to authorize a bank
line of credit, known as
a tax anticipation note
(TAN), for $2 million but
held out hope the funds
won’t be needed.
“This is the latest in
the year we have had to
bring this up. We don’t
need it yet but we may.
We need it in place,”
chairman Charles Glass
said. He noted the TAN
last year was $3.8 million
and the county is mak
ing progress in the right
direction.
“I hope we can get
away from TAN com
pletely next year,” county
administrator Sean
Townsend added.
In other action, the
county:
•Agreed to a change
its phones
over to VOIP
using a com
pany called
Ring Central.
The move
should cut
GLASS the phone
bill from around $3,200
per month to just under
$1,800 per month. The
switch will take some
time to implement.
•Renewed its health
insurance
V policy with
NFP Health
Broker
® though the
premium will
increase by
TOWNSEND 17%.
------
•Appointed Mattie
Drake to replace Mildred
Merchant on the board of
appeals.
•Proclaimed April
Confederate History and
Heritage Month.
•Proclaimed National
Nurses Week.
•Approved its portion
of the Towaliga circuit
court budget. The total
budget is increasing by
about $24,000. These
costs are associated with
superior court, juvenile
court and drug court
operations.
•Okayed the purchase
of an $8,400 sweeper to
attach to existing paving
equipment.
•Approved routine
minutes.
•Approved the first
reading of a financial
policy ordinance.
•Approved the sec
ond reading of a timber
harvest ordinance.
•Accepted the dean
nexation of property
from Milner. The prop
erty is owned by Rudy
Vaughn.
•Heard from com
missioner Thrash who
thanked
those who
expressed
sympathy
following
the recent
death of her
grandchild
but with reservations.
“We have some people
who use social media to
prey on others. It is a sad
situation,” Thrash said of
certain online discussion
pages.
THRASH
Judge Kunst sworn in
SUBMITTED
Paul Kunst (left) was sworn in as Lamar County’s chief magistrate judge April 17 after his special election runoff victory. He
is pictured with his wife Penny (center) and probate judge Kathy Martin.
Milner council discusses Woodall Estates development
WALTER GEIGER
news@barnesville.com
After an inquiry from
new resident David
Stelsad, the Milner city
council spent some time
discussing the Woodall
Estates subdivision at its
regular meeting April 19.
Mayor pro tern George
Weldon presided in the
absence of mayor Andy
Marlowe. Also missing
were former council
member Vickie Smith
who resigned last month
and city administrator
Tausha Grose.
Weldon explained
Woodall Estates was
approved in 2006 and
roads, sewer and water
were put in. Then came
P e. the econom-
f ic collapse
N | and the
1 subdivision
* ~ £ has gone to
/Sjf'V seed since
with only
one resident
calling it
home. A Canadian com
pany has now bought the
development and hopes
WELDON
to resuscitate it, Weldon
added.
“Our new engineer is
studying it and working
with the new company.
We are evaluating it,”
Weldon told Stelsad.
In other action, the
council:
•Discussed committee
appointments. The city
has three committees but
no one wants to serve on
them, the council lament
ed. Several ideas were
bandied about regarding
how to fill those slots.
•Approved the second
reading of its nuisance
and stormwater manage
ment ordinances.
•Approved routine
minutes.
•Briefly discussed
financial reports from the
city and library.
•Approved the police
report. Deputies put in
2503 miles patrolling in
vehicles and made three
arrests, two of them for
felonies, last month. It
was noted that officers
are seeing more and
more drugs in Milner.
t!lip era lb (Dapettr
barnesville.com
Milner will fill empty
council post with vote
in Nov. general election
WALTER GEIGER
news@barnesville.com
The Milner city coun
cil formally accepted the
resignation of council-
woman Vickie Smith at
its regular meeting April
19. Smith resigned due to
a “change in life circum
stances” last month.
The council agreed to
call a special election to
fill her term and have it
coincide with the general
election in November.
COVID-19:
Lamar adds one death
Lamar County had 1,340 confirmed cases of
COVID-19 as of the April 25 update from DPH. That
number is up from 1,326 cases April 18. Lamar has
had 119 coronavirus related hospitalizations.
Lamar added one COVID death, that of a 63-year-
old white male, to run its total to 45.
As of Monday, sheriff Brad White was tracking 33
positive cases at 22 local residences.
Local COVID-19 numbers and those from surround
ing counties are updated daily at barnesville.com.