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Our Second Century Serving the People of Monticello and Jasper County
Official Organ
City of Monticello
And Jasper County
VOLUME 149—NUMBER 1 MONTICELLO, GEORGIA 31064, THURSDAY, JANUARY 4, 2024 PRICE—$1
Deputies Respond To
Various Types of Calls
County
Discusses
Impact Fees
By KATHY MUDD
The Jasper County
Commissioners met for
work session last Friday,
primarily to discuss im
pact fees, but they also
touched on other sub
jects, such as the traffic on
the Square and “no thru
trucks” signage on state
highways leading to coun
ty roads.
For the impact fees,
commissioners agreed
they need to be looked at,
and probably raised, and
they also changed the per
centages given to various
entities. Impact fees are
collected with building
permits, and can be used
to fund services that are
impacted by the growth,
which is almost all.
The commissioners
took percentages from
other departments to fund
a capital fund inside the
fire/rescue budget in an
ticipation of building
out Station 7 in Farrar to
house a third ambulance.
They did not discuss a
timeline for that.
Because it was adver
tised as a work session,
commissioners took no of
ficial action and will vote
on the impact fee changes
at their regular meeting
next Monday, Jan. 8.
They did hear from
County Manager Mike
Benton and Planning and
Zoning Director Doug At-
taway about what other
counties charge for im
pact fees, and Jasper is
low in comparison. Right
now the county collects
$1376.70 in impact fees
on a new home. The im
pact fees were set up some
17 years ago, and have
not been adjusted. The
amount charged, adjusted
for inflation, would be
$2032. Mr. Attaway asked
commissioners whatev
er they do, please use a
round number.
In a previous meeting,
commissioners discussed
placing “no thru trucks”
signs on state highways
before a truck turns onto
the roads designated not
to allow trucks. The De
partment of Transporta
tion (DOT) representa
tive said they cannot be
placed on state highways,
said the county manager.
I lowever, several com
missioners have seen
them on state highways
in other counties. They
discussed contacting their
legislators if necessary.
That discussion led to
talk of the traffic on the
Monticello Square. Dis
trict 4 Commissioner
Asher Gray, who works as
a state patrolman, said he
has seen the DOT plan for
the Square, and it looks
doable to him. Monticello
resident David Thompson
was at the meeting, and he
said the city officials do
not like it because it takes
out some parking places
(which he says are made
up elsewhere).
Commissioner Gray
suggested the county meet
with DOT officials, and
possibly approve the plan,
putting pressure on the
city to adopt the plan as
well.
The Jasper County
Sheriff’s Office (JCSO)
reported a fairly quiet
holiday, with a number
of people arrested, but
no large-scale events re
sulting in arrests, nor any
serious auto accidents, or
other big events.
Deputies did respond to
numerous calls for service
on all types of calls, and
the medics stayed pretty
busy.
All in all it was fairly
quiet both Christmas and
New Year’s, with people
now settling into a rou
tine, and things back to
normal a bit.
Persons who were ar
rested during the last
week, and their charges,
include:
•Robert Dale Drum
mond, 51, Covington—
failure to appear for a fin-
gerprintable charge
•Frederica Leejah
Thomas, 22, Winder—
failure to appear for a fin-
gerprintable charge
•Jerry Moore, 29, Lib
erty, SC—driving without
a valid license
•Freddrickus Deshun
Mckibben, 30, Monticel
lo—hold for Spalding Co
SO
Qualifying for the
Monticello City Council
District 2, Post 1 seat,
left vacant by the death
of Councilman David
Wease, began yesterday
and continues through
Friday. Jan. 5, at 4:30 p.m.
As of 11 a.m. Wednes
day, Zach Middleton was
the only person who had
qualified for the seat, al-
20, Monticello:—willful
obstruction of law en
forcement officers by use
of threats and acts (two
counts); criminal trespass;
public drunkenness; will
ful obstruction of law en
forcement officers
•Charles Lance Cum
mings, 32, Byron—failure
to appear for a fingerprint-
able charge
•Ruby Elizabeth Mat
thews, 30, Elko—simple
battery/family violence
•Justo Jesus Aguilar, 37,
Milledgeville—speeding;
driving without a valid li
cense; suspended vehicle
registration
•Edward Joseph
Damien Fisher, 23, Mon
ticello—possession of
a Schedule I Controlled
Substance
•Keith Cordez Wil
liams, 35, Conyers—pur
chase/possession/manu
facture/distribution/ or
sale of marijuana
•Randy Jacob Castillo,
40, Ellenwood—pur
chase/possession/manu
facture/distribution of sale
of marijuana
•Stephon Demarcus
Williams, 47, Atlanta—
purchase/possession/man
ufacture/distribution or
sale of marijuana
though another individual
also picked up a packet,
showing their interest in
the seat.
The special election
will be held in conjunc
tion with the Presidential
Preference Primary on
March 12. Early voting
will begin February 19 in
the basement of the Jasper
County Courthouse.
• Jiaemiah N’aisha Wise,
NATIONAL DELEGATE TIFE4NI McCLAIN
With State 4-H Leader Melanie Biersmith
See Story, Page 5
City Qualifying Begins
THE NEWS ON VACATION
Oh, no! We have no vaca
tion photos in a stockpile
like we did last summer.
Last week’s submission
came in just in time for
8 "^0 4 8 7 9 3 3 1
3 6
that newspaper, and no more have followed. So, if
you’ve been on vacation, share a photo with us. It’s
winter...everybody is ready to at least daydream
about travel. We’d love to feature you. Are you go
ing on vacation? If so, take a copy of The News with
you, snap a photo, and submit to editor@themonti-
cellonews.com to be featured in a future newspaper.
Include lots of info about the trip or just a little. The
News loves this feature, and so do our readers.
COUNCIL MEMBERS SWORN
Monticello City Council members
Jenny Murphy, District 2, Post 2, Gail
Harrell, District 1, Post 2, and Doug
Currie, Mayor Pro-tem (left to right)
were sworn in for a four-year term
during proceedings Tuesday evening.
Mayor DeAshley Thurman called the
meeting to order, then Rev. Jimmy
Horton offered an invocation. Monti
cello City Attorney Joe Reitman ad
ministered the oath of office. Patricia
Standifer offered a btessing for the re
freshments which many peopte stayed
to enjoy.
Several People Are Sentenced
Aside from Grand Jury,
Jasper Superior Court has
been busy over the past
few weeks settling crimi
nal cases. The following
results are from sessions
handled in December
2023.
On December 19, Ale-
handjro Prescott was sen
tenced to five years with
the first 30 days in Jasper
County jail for driving the
wrong way on a one-way
roadway, driving without
a license, obstruction of
an officer. He was fined
$1,500 and credited with
time served.
Elijah Luke Thompson,
sentenced to three years
with the first 90 days in
jail for three counts of
possession of a schedule
II controlled substance,
possession of marijuana,
and interference with gov
ernment property. Fined
$2,000 and credited with
time served
Justin Phillips, sen
tenced to 48 months with
the first 60 days in jail
for two counts of fleeing
or attempting to elude a
police officer, two counts
of driving while license
suspended, two counts of
possession of marijuana,
two counts of driving on
wrong side of roadway,
two counts of tag light vi
olation, and possession of
drug related object. Fined
$5,000 and credited with
time served.
Lindsey Clayton, sen
tenced to three years of
probation for two counts
of possession of a sched
ule II controlled sub
stance. Fined $3,000 and
credited for time served.
Probation modifications
included:
Tony Bohanon, proba
tion revoked to 60 days
in jail with credit for time
served for a positive drug
test and being terminated
from a substance abuse
program.
Cordaerion Tripp, pro
bation revoked to 60 days
in jail and credited for
time served for relocating
residence without per-
Continued on Page 2
Zachary Middleton
Qualifies for Council
Zachary Ryan Middle-
ton has qualified to be a
candidate for the Mon
ticello City Council in
District II. The election
to fill the term of the late
David Wease will be held
on Tuesday, March 12.
Zack is a 2006 gradu
ate of the University of
Georgia with a degree in
Agricultural Engineering
and a Masters degree in in
Structural Engineering in
2019 from Portland State
University. He is owner
of Middleton Engineering
here in Monticello.
Though a relative new
comer to Monticello,
Zack has been involved
serving on the Monticel
lo Historic Preservation
Commission, the Monti
cello Planning and Zon
ing Board and has been
working on updating the
local ordinances of the
city.
Improving the qual
ity of life in our wonder
ful community is Zack’s
main goal. Three working
items he lists are lowering
local utility rates, devel-
ZACK MIDDLETON
oping a mechanism for
better code enforcement,
and working on bringing
more fiber internet to the
community.
Zack is married to his
wife Rachel and has two
daughters, Dorthy and
Helen.
Interested persons may
reach Zack at trail27@
outlook.com. He looks
forward to discussing the
future of Monticello with
you and hearing your
ideas.
WINNER
Walker Jordan, presi
dent of the Bank of
Monticello, presents a
$200 prize to Scott Mc
Donald, winner of the
Bowl Contest that was
sponsored by the Bank
of Monticello in last
week’s Monticello News.
Mr. McDonald correctly
guessed the winners of
eight of the 10 games list
ed, as did about a half-
dozen players. However,
Mr. McDonald was clos
est on the tie-breaker,
predicting that 64 pionts
would be scored in the
Georgia Bulldogs rout
ing of Florida State, 63-
3. It was a tough contest,
as is noted since not a
single player guessed
the winner of more
than eight bowl games
listed. It will be a differ
ent national champion
ship with Michigan and
Washington squaring
off on January 8. The
Southeastern Confer
ence missed out this
year...but after next
week, the SEC will try
again starting in August.
