Newspaper Page Text
FLEET FEET!
Pike County Middle School
XC teams hit full speed.
See page 3A
Pike County High School’s varsity
softball picks up three region wins.
See page 1B
PIKE COUNTY
REPORTER
ONE DOLLAR
www.pikecountygeorgia.com
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2023
Movie in Park,
pumpkin
carving
Join the fun on Fri
day Oct. 13th as Pike
Parks and Recreation
hosts the annual Fall
Festival and Movie in
the Park. The event
starts at 5 p.m. with
Coffee-A-Go-Go, food
trucks, vendors,
crafts and inflatables.
The movie Hocus Po-
cus will begin at 7.
“Join us for a fun
evening at the lower
football field at the
rec complex,” said
Victoria Bryan. “If
you are interested
in participating in
our annual pumpkin
carving contest or
becoming a vendor
for this event, please
email me at vbryan@
pikecoga.com.”
Oct. 13 is PACT
ACT event for
veterans
The Pike County VA
and Atlanta VA Health
Care System will host
the PACT ACT event at
Christ Chapel Friday,
Oct. 13 from 10 a.m. to
1 p.m. The event is free
and open to the public
and will include info on
the PACT Act - Promise
to Address Compre
hensive Toxics. VA
staff will be on site to
help veterans apply
for benefits, complete
toxic exposure screen
ings and enroll in VA
health care.
“Even if they don’t
need this care today,
veterans might need it
tomorrow, or the next
day, or 30 years from
now,” said Gregory
Kendall. “And once
approved, veterans
have access for life.”
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Each week, the news
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and voting; local gov
ernment decisions;
new and annual events
and celebrations; local
citizens who have earned
recognition for various
achievements; athletes
and school teams; and
even fun tidbits, such
as the pig gone wild on
page 2A of last week’s
paper. There are also
editorials that share
people’s opinions of what
is going on in our com
munity as well as photos
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munity.
PHOTOS BY LAURA DOUGLAS
The Pike County High School Pirate Regiment earned top honors in their first band competi
tion of the season. The Pirate Regiment will host their fifth annual March the Plank competition
on Saturday, Oct. 28, bringing band students and their families from all over the state.
IN TUNE: Band takes top honors
During a recent competition (l-r), Abby Lamb plays clarinet,
Brooks Keiser plays trombone, Ollie Booker plays flute, Kay-
lee Richard plays trombone and Ben Venus plays trumpet.
County extends
moratorium until code
changes are approved
BY RACHEL McDANIEL
news@pikecountygeorgia.com
The Pike County High
School Pirate Regiment
recently traveled Berrien
High School in Nash
ville, GA to compete and
earned top honors. The
band, percussion and
drum major received su
perior ratings. The color
guard received a rating of
excellent and drum ma
jor Brendon Weaver tied
for second best overall
for the event.
“1 am very proud of
our Reggies as they trav
eled about seven hours
round trip to compete in
their first competition of
the season,” said direc
tor of bands Lee Ewing.
“The band, percussion
and drum major received
Superior ratings and the
color guard received a
rating of Excellent! Drum
major Brendon Weaver
tied for second best
overall for the event!
The group out scored
an ensemble larger than
them! The Pirate Regi
ment received best in
class for all captions!
Congratulations, Pirate
Regiment!”
The Pirate Regiment’s
next competition was
Sept. 30 in Franklin
County, GA. The final
band competition of the
season will be Nov. 4 at
Newnan High School.
Pike County High
School will host the fifth
annual March the Plank
band competition on
Saturday, Oct. 28.
See BAND page 3A
BY RACHEL McDANIEL
news@pikecountygeorgia.com
Pike County com
missioners heard from
county manager Bran
don Rogers at their
Sept. 26 meeting that
all the discussions from
UDC (Unified Develop
ment Code) workshops
are currently being
compiled to update
the county’s code. He
said the county’s
moratorium
needs to be
extended to
allow
for the
first
and
second
readings
and final
adoption.
“We
just wrapped up all
the UDC workshops
and we are working
on compiling all the
changes,” said Rogers.
“We plan to present the
proposed changes to
planning and zoning at
their Oct. 9 meeting for
the first public hear
ing. Their comments
will be compiled into
an updated copy of the
code and presented to
you [board of commis
sioners] for the second
public hearing on Nov.
8. We won’t accept the
UDC that night, but will
make any BOC changes
and consider input from
others before final ap
proval. We are looking
at Dec. 17 for actual
adoption.”
Commissioner Jason
Proctor made a motion
to extend the morato
rium to the end of the
year or as soon as the
UDC is adopted, which
ever is first and the
motion passed unani
mously.
“1 really hate to
extend it but 1 think it’s
something needed be
cause we are definitely
not ready to approve
anything yet,”
said commis
sioner Tim
Guy.
The
moratorium
delays zon
ing and land
use decisions
such as major
subdivisions,
rezonings,
zoning applications,
variances and special
exceptions but does
not stop administrative
acts such as plat review
or minor subdivisions.
Commissioners origi
nally voted May 10 to
place a 90-day moratori
um and it was extended
60 days from Aug. 9 at a
subsequent meeting.
County manager
Rogers also noted that
the county may have
to schedule a special
called meeting to dis
cuss the county’s digest
and what the millage
rate needs to be set at
for the calculation of
property taxes.
See MORATORIUM page 2A
Zebulon native serves aboard amphibious assault ship
Fire Controlman
2nd Class Lucas M.
Ribeiro, a native of
Zebulon, recently
took part in a live-fire
exercise on the fan
tail aboard USS Boxer
(LHD 4).
Boxer is a Wasp-
class amphibious
assault ship currently
underway in the U.S.
3rd Fleet area of op
erations.
Boxer is the sixth
U.S. ship to bear the
name of the original
HMS Boxer, which
was captured from
the British during the
War of 1812.
U.S. NAVY PHOTO BY
MASS COMMUNICATION
SPECIALIST 2ND CLASS
CONNOR BURNS
At right, fire Control-
man 2nd Class Lucas
M. Ribeiro of Zebulon
uses a sound-powered
phone during a live-fire
exercise on the fan tail
aboard USS Boxer (LHD
4), Sept. 19, 2023.
