Newspaper Page Text
Tuesday, May 17,2022
barnesville.com
Barnesville,
THE
TO BE
: A FORCE
ONED WITH /4A
Ga. 30204
HERE’S THE
SCOOP
Community
awards
Thursday
The 38th annual com
munity awards celebra
tion will be held May 19
at the Fine Arts Center.
The evening will begin
with fellowship and
heavy hors d’oeuvres at
5:30 p.m. with the cer
emony, emceed by Ryran
Traylor, beginning at 6:15
p.m.
Mayor Peter Banks
will give the welcome
which will be followed by
a presentation from the
board of the Boys & Girls
Club of Barnesville which
is seeking further finan
cial support.
The Career Woman of
the Year award, spon
sored by the Rotary
Club, will be presented
by Linda Olivier. Traylor
will then present the
STAR Student and Teach
er awards on behalf of
the Kiwanis Club.
Kathryn Knapp will
present the Law Enforce
ment Officer of the Year
awards and Douglas Mat
thews will bestow the
Britton Cauthen Firefight
er of the Year Award.
Traylor will present
the final four awards of
the evening. They are
Volunteer of the Year,
Businessperson of the
Year, Healthcare Hero
and Outstanding Citizen.
Tickets are $20 and
available at the chamber
office. For more informa
tion, call 770.358.5884.
Subscribe. Your name goes
on the label in this box
96852
78853
New zoning ordinance likely to be
tabled tonight after town hall pushback
WALTER GEIGER
news@barnesville.com
The implementa
tion of Lamar County’s
new zoning ordinance,
which was expected
to be approved after
a public hearing to
night, seems likely to
be tabled after push-
back from citizens at
an informal town hall
meeting May 10.
The county currently
has a moratorium in
place on new applica
tions for major subdivi
sions that was imple
mented last November.
The county has distrib
uted a draft map and
is considering limiting
new subdivisions with
one-acre lots to certain
areas and banning them
completely in the Eady
Creek watershed.
Thirty-seven citizens
attended the meet
ing. Also present were
commission chairman
Charles Glass, commis
sioners Bob Heiney and
Nancy Thrash and zon
ing administrator Anita
Buice.
There was discussion
of how the proposed
ordinance followed the
comprehensive plan
that was done in 2014.
Melissa Cline and Bill
Daniel, who served on
the comprehensive plan
committee, were pres
ent. “At that time, the
zoning ordinance had
just been redone and
now it is being redone
again,” Cline said.
That planning pro
cess divided the county
in 14-16 districts for
zoning purposes.
“The (comprehen
sive) land use plan is
a guide.
It is not
in the
code,”
Buice
noted.
“When
we were
drawing
up the plan, we thought
it had a lot more teeth
in it than what we are
hearing now,” Cline
countered.
One issue was the
circles on the map
showing radii around
Barnesville and Milner
in which one-acre lot
subdivisions would be
allowed. Those pres
ent felt those areas
would be overrun with
such developments if
the current proposal is
adopted.
Buice explained the
situation the county is
dealing with in regard
to high-density subdivi
sions. “Now, if you have
water, you can apply
for one-acre lots. At
present, that is the only
qualification,” she said.
Many present urged
a two-acre lot minimum
countywide to deter
shoddy work by build
ers and developers.
Melissa Warren sug
gested taking a hard
look at lot sizes, in
creasing square footage
minimums and higher
standards for roads,
curb and gutter, set
backs fencing, etc. “You
need to look at quality
of development and
quality of construction.
There are a lot of things
you can put in place to
slow these developers
down,” Warren said.
“You need to set the
standards for the peo
ple who live here not
to benefit those mov
ing here from Henry
County. If they don’t
like it, they can move to
Monroe County,” realtor
and former commission
chairman Kent Kings
ley said. He and others
also suggested impact
fees be put in place on
developers and their
projects.
Kingsley and Ashley
Gilles suggested the
commission keep the
moratorium in place
until a once-delayed,
proposed ballot ques
tion on maintaining the
county’s rural nature is
placed on a ballot and
voted on.
In closing the meet
ing, Glass expressed a
willingness to hold off
for a time while more
input is received but
said the matter will
remain on the agenda
for tonight.
“This
is the
kind of
turnout
and feed
back we
need. We
pi *qq want to
GLASS g e t this
right. We want to get
the best possible prod
uct out of this process,”
Glass concluded.
GLASS
Woman bitten by rabid fox;
deputy son comes to the rescue
WALTER GEIGER
news@barnesville.com
The arduous rabies treatment regimen has be
gun for two Lamar County residents after they and
one other person were attacked by a rabid fox at a
home near Milner.
Sgt. Patrick Saunders was dispatched to 146
Grape Creek Road at 6:40 p.m. May 11 after a 911
call regarding a 64-year-old female having been bit
ten on the hand by a fox in her driveway. Saunders
was very familiar with the address and arrived to
find the victim, his mother Crystal Saunders, in
her vehicle.
As Sgt. Saunders approached, the fox came out
from under the vehicle and ran toward him. He
opened fire on the fox with his service weapon,
killing it. Saunders and one other unidentified vic
tim are being treated. The third person is ok.
The dead fox was placed in a garbage bag and
then iced down in a cooler. It was picked up the
next day by environmental officers from the De
partment of Health and tested positive for rabies.
VOTE
★ ★★★★
Early
voting
ends Friday
This is the last week to
cast advance ballots in the
May 24 general primary.
Registered voters can cast
early ballots from 9 a.m.
- 5 p.m. through Friday at
the elections board office
in the county annex.
Polls throughout the
county will be open from
7 a.m. - 7 p.m. on election
day for in-person voting.
Several local races will be
decided in the primary..
At press time Monday,
elections superintendent
Anita Reid and her staff
had served 727 early
voters and processed 161
absentee ballots.
Statewide, early voters
are setting records with
over 380,000 having voted
thus far.
Beware
of warrant
scammers
Sheriff
Brad White
is warning
citizens to
beware of a
court scam
on which
his office
has received multiple com
plaints. At least one local
person has succumbed to
the scam.
“This is an old scam but
they keep using it,” White
said.
Victims are contacted
by phone and told they
have an outstanding arrest
warrant. The victims are
then told to pay a fine us
ing a Green Dot card or by
making a deposit into a jail
commissary account.
“No law enforcement
agency or any government
office will ever call you to
advise you of a warrant,”
the sheriff concluded.
Willie Hamm leads tribute for 50 years of track and field at LCHS
School superintendent Dr. Jute Wilson (left) and Willie
Hamm at the awards ceremony. Hamm was a member of the
first track team at LCCHS 50 years ago.
KAV S. PEDR0TTI
kayspedrotti@gmail.com
He was not on the
agenda, but super-
sports-supporter Willie
Hamm was cheered
enthusiastically at last
week’s school board
meeting as he helped
celebrate the 50 years of
track at Lamar County
High School. The meet
ing covered numerous
achievements in sports
categories as well as fine
arts, band and chorus.
Hamm told the board
he was a member of the
first track team “back
in ’72,” and encouraged
board members, coach
es and others to “sign
the granite” on a pedes
tal for displaying the 50-
year trophy. He thanked
all the officials for their
support of student
sports and said, “1 would
most of all like to thank
all the parents for letting
me be a part of the kids’
lives.” At present bat
tling a recurring cancer,
Hamm has rarely missed
a Lamar County school
athletic event, especially
football games.
Recognitions began
with the introduction of
the class of 2022 vale
dictorian, Zeke Smith,
and salutatorian Emily
Danielson. The band
and chorus programs
led by Justin Miller were
recognized for superior
ratings in several compe
titions. Sports recogni
tions included:
Golf, Coach Brent
Thornton: first area golf
championship in school
history; baseball, Mike
Oberg and Tim Jones:
23-7 season record,
region runner-up second
round of playoff, tied for
most wins in school his
tory; soccer girls, Coach
Ricci Jules: back-to-back
region champions, Elite
8; soccer boys, Coach
Ed Jules: back-to-back
region champions, Elite.
Tennis girls and
boys: Lori Green quali
fied for state playoffs
again; track and field,
Coach Toomer: 11 state
qualifiers; weightlifting
team, Coach Pippin:
state champion Denisela
Penn: MS girls soccer,
Coach Kelly Adamson,
second in league; MS
boys soccer, Coach Chaz
Ellerbee, third in league;
MS track - Kelsey Harris:
Girls third in league,
boys second in league.
The board of educa
tion also approved a
consent agenda compris
ing five fundraisers, 11
field trips, two recom
mendations for posi
tions, six resignations,
three retirements and
two medical leaves.
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©2022 THE HERALD GAZETTE, BARNESVILLE, LAMAR COUNTY, GA 30204, 770.358.NEWS