Newspaper Page Text
Tuesday, August 8,2023
barnesville.com
Barnesville, Ga. 30204
HERE’S THE
SCOOP
Schools
cut
millage;
eye break
for
seniors
WALTER GEIGER
news@barnesville.com
The Lamar County
school board is advertis
ing a proposed millage
rate of 14.0 mills, a
decrease from the 15.101
millage rate it imposed
last year. A 14.0 millage
rate will be the lowest in
the history of the school
system.
The rate has to be
advertised as a ‘rate
increase’ because the
system is not taking the
full rollback rate.
Lamar County enjoys
one of the lowest school
millage rates in central
Georgia despite a limited
commercial tax base and
revenue stream in our
county,” school superin
tendent Dr. Jute Wilson
said.
SEE B0E MILLAGE 2A
High Falls
project
protest is
Friday in
Jackson
About 100 people
were on hand at a meet
ing at High Falls State
Park Aug. 3 to discuss
the long simmering
development on approxi
mately 280 acres along
the lake’s shoreline.
Hillwood, a Ross Perot
company based in Dallas,
Texas, is exploring buy
ing the property from the
Butts County IDA.
The IDA has long
sought to attract an
industrial/warehousing
operation to the site, a
portion of which lies in
SEE HIGH FALL 2A
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SWA under scrutiny as payments loom
WALTER GEIGER
news@barnesville.com
The Lamar County
Regional Solid Waste
Authority is coming
under scrutiny as pay
ments on a massive
loan it took out in 2014
for its Waste to Fuels
program loom early
next year. That loan,
approved by the county
commission on Oct.
21,2014, was for $27.5
million.
During that time, the
SWA has built several
buildings, including one
that was heavily dam
aged in an explosion as
equipment was tested.
The SWA has also
purchased the massive
building in the indus
trial park that formerly
housed Enercon and,
prior to that, Evans
Steel Enterprises.
What is hasn’t done
is produce any sub
stantial quantity of the
liquid fuel and other
materials the program
was designed to manu
facture. It does not
even yet have a permit
to locate what is now
known as its materials
recovery, pyrolosis and
leachate evaporation
facility. Site suitability is
still under scrutiny by
Georgia’s Environmen
tal Protection Division
(EPD).
Jim Dunbar of
Barnesville, who is re
tired from the EPD land
fill permitting office,
told the commissioners
at a workshop meeting
Aug. 3 that there is “no
way” the permits will be
issued by the time loan
payments are required
to begin in April 2024.
Commissioner Nancy
Thrash said those pay
ments will be about
$100,000 per month or
$1.2 million per year.
Under questioning
by Dunbar, Thrash
said the authority, of
which she is a member,
has spent somewhere
between $18 million and
$20 million of the loan
funds. She told Dunbar
income from Amwaste,
which now operates the
landfill, will cover the
payments.
Though Amwaste
operates the landfill
here, most, if not all, of
the garbage it collects
in Barnesville-Lamar
County is trucked to a
facility in Cordele.
At least one citizens
group is digging into
the authority’s finances.
There were reports
that, during an execu
tive session following
last week’s workshop,
commissioner Jason
Lovett suggested a
forensic audit of the
authority
Executive sessions
are closed to the public
and the press.
When asked about
the
session,
Lovett
replied
with the
following
e-mailed
state
ment:
“1 am
prohibited by law from
discussing the contents
of an executive session.
As a 30 year veteran of
the waste industry, I’m
an advocate of any
thing that reduces our
reliance on landfills. 1
believe those involved
in Lamar County’s
Waste to Energy project
share this vision. As a
commissioner, 1 have
a fiduciary duty to the
residents of Lamar
County to ensure that
their hard-earned dol
lars are being spent effi
ciently. For the duration
of my term, 1 will
SEE SOLID WASTE 2A
LOVETT
PHOTOS: WALTER GEIGER
Trojans
shine in
scrimmage
The Lamar County Trojans
topped Monticello 34-27 in a scrim
mage Friday night at Trojan Field.
The Trojan starters built a big lead
with the Monticello backups getting
the best of the LC reserves late in
the contest.
“We were able to get everybody
on film and evaluated. We did some
really good things and we have
some areas we need to improve on.
I was proud of how we competed.
Our kids came out looking like they
were ready to play,” coach Travis
Ellington said.
Sophomore Kaden Carter (5,
top) had several long runs and a
couple of scores.
Junior Qua Hughley (24, right)
also broke off several nice gains.
Senior quarterback Ty Head also
had a long touchdown run as did
sophomore Kenya Barnes.
Lamar scrimmages Central
Macon this Friday. Kickoff is set for
7:30 p.m. at the Ed DeFore sports
complex in Macon.
Truck drivers lay waste to industrial park roadside
WALTER GEIGER
news@barnesville.com
Truck drivers
headed to the Jordan
Forest Products plant
in the local industrial
park have literally and
figuratively laid waste
to the roadside outside
the mill’s gate, the
Lamar County com
mission heard during
a workshop meeting
Aug. 3.
Commissioner Nancy
Thrash reported that
public works employ
ees have twice
cleaned up the
area. “They
found bags of
feces and cups
of urine. James
Rigdon said it
was one of the
worst things he
has ever seen,” Thrash
said.
“We set aside that
area as a favor to them
to secure their loads
and they are abusing
it,” Thrash continued.
The commissioners
discussed closing off
the lane. Com
missioner Jason
Lovett suggest
ed the drivers
and Jordan be
cited and fined
repeatedly.
There is also a
possibility of
involving public health
officials.
Contacted the day
after the meeting,
Rigdon, the county’s
public works director,
confirmed he and his
workers have cleaned
up the area twice be
fore visits by industrial
prospects arranged by
the IDA.
“I’ve just about
refused to do it again.
It’s mostly the drivers
headed into Jordan.
They (defecate) into
bags and throw it out.
We’ve found dirty
diapers, milk jugs full
of urine. They carry all
that around and, when
they get there, they
clean out their trucks
and just throw it all
on the roadside. It is
nasty,” Rigdon said.
Iamargives.org
LG 365
kickoff is
Thursday
Lamar Gives 365 will
hold its annual kickoff
event Thursday, Aug. 10 at
6 p.m. at the Barnesville
library. LG 365 is celebrat
ing 10 years of giving this
year and its theme is Ignite
the Spark.
Members give $365 per
year or one dollar per day.
Half the annual gifts are
distributed and the other
half is invested through the
Barnesville-Lamar County
Community Foundation.
Members get to vote on
which non-profits are fund
ed and in what amounts.
You can join or donate
at lamargives.org. Checks
can also be mailed to 577
Mulberry St., Suite 1600,
Macon, Ga. 31201.
For more information,
call 770.358.3270.
Adams
among
district
attorneys
seeking to
rein in
oversight
panel
WALTER GEIGER
news@barnesville.com
ADAMS
Legislation
Towaliga Circuit district
attorney Jonathan Adams
is one of four
DAs who
filed suit last
week to rein
in the state’s
new Prose
cuting Attor
neys Quali
fications
Commission,
creating the commission
was passed by the state
legislature, signed into law
by Gov. Brian Kemp and
went into effect July 1.
The commission was
touted by Kemp as a meth
od to sanction prosecutors
who are not enforcing laws
as written. Opponents
see it as a power grab
and some claim it was put
in place to keep Fulton
County district attorney
Fani Willis from pursuing
charges against former
president Donald Trump.
Adams pointed to out-of-
date marijuana laws as an
example in an interview
with the Atlanta Journal-
Constitution. He said pros
ecuting low level marijuana
cases is problematic in
that so many jurors are op
posed to marijuana laws.
Adams told the news
paper that, under the new
law, he could be disci
plined for not pursuing
those cases. He said he is
“bracing for superfluous,
unsubstantial complaints
from constituents”.
“We have a right and a
need to make hard deci
sions regarding what is
appropriate to prosecute.
We may not prosecute
adultery, fornication or
sodomy but they are all
still crimes,” Adams said.
©2023 THE HERALD GAZETTE, BARNESVILLE, LAMAR COUNTY, GA 30204, 770.358.NEWS
