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Vol. 141, No. 47 - Waynesboro, Ga. 30830 Established in 1882 Wednesday, January 12, 2022 - $1.00
Keysville welcoming tiny houses
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
The City of Keysville is adopt
ing a new ordinance that ad
dresses the affordable housing
shortage.
City Attorney Douglas Kidd
drew up a proposed ordinance
adopting regulations for tiny
houses in cottage-like develop
ments.
When it is approved by the
council, the ordinance will pro
vide for single-family detached
residences with a smaller square
footage floor plan to be permit
ted in a clustered development
of similar tiny/cottage dwell
ings oriented around open space
that is pedestrian-friendly and
minimizes visibility of off-street
parking. Each lot must contain a
minimum of 5,000 square feet per
dwelling unit. The homes must
be separated by a minimum of
10 feet.
The intent of the city is to
encourage the utilization of es
tablished pubic infrastructure for
the development of tiny house/
cottage dwelling developments
and discourage the expansion
of public infrastructure to avoid
the naturally occurring additional
cost of new development in un
developed areas.
The new ordinance defines a
tiny house/cottage development
as a planned neighborhood of a
minimum of four tiny homes and
a maximum of 12. It does not
pertain to single tiny homes on
private land.
Each development shall con
tain a centralized common area
that includes usable public use
spaces like lawns, gardens and/
or plazas, in which must be main
tained through the establishment
of either a condo or homeowners
association. Each unit will be re
quired to have an area of private
space that is a minimum of 200
square feet. All the homes must
have front and rear porches.
Before they are built, the city must
review a site plan. The city council
will vote on the proposed ordinance
Feb 14.
Next month, the council will also
vote on a proposed resolution that
approves a parking fee during spe
cial events.
A special event will be defined as
any event that advertises, whether in
print, radio, online or through word-
of-mouth in which more than 150
vehicles can be reasonably expected
to use the city’s streets and rights-of-
way for stopping, standing, driving
and/or parking.
The proposed resolution authoriz
es the hiring of temporary workers
for crowd and parking control. The
fee for parking on the city’s streets
may not exceed more than $20. The
collected fees will be deposited into
the city’s account and the mayor will
give a strict accounting of such at
the following council meeting.
Both documents were tabled dur
ing the Jan. 10 meeting over minor
corrections that needed to be made.
2021 - A Year In Review - Part Three
Compiled by
Roy F. Chalker Jr.
OCT. 20
A cigarette apparently started a fire
which destroyed some records and
hies at the Burke County Sheriff’s
Office. The Burke County EMA and
Fire Department were on the scene
battling the fire the night of Oct. 16,
which was contained in the outdoor
records storage shed.
A citizen noticed the fire and noti
fied the detention center supervisor,
who called 911. Burke County EMA
and BCSO deputies responded and
found the building fully engulfed.
Obituaries included W. Byron
Brown, Sr., Joel Ashley Crenshaw
and Regina Trinette Conner.
OCT. 27
Two days after Acting Mayor
James Chick Jones announced that
accusations of theft concerning un
accounted Municipal Court Funds
were unfounded, Major Gary Jones
received a letter of termination
signed by Waynesboro Police Chief
Willie Burley.
In the October 20 letter, Burley
stated .Jones’ termination was based
upon an investigation that deter
mined that he was the sole source
of misinformation submitted to the
Chief regarding alleged theft in the
Municipal Court.
Obituaries included James E.
“Jimmy” Bennett, Jr., William Rich
ard “Little Richard: Waters, Betty
Lillian Chandler Davis, Farm Rome
Bates and Willie J. Terry.
NOV. 3
A total of 1,061 registered voters
of the 5,487 who could vote in the
particular races showed up, whether
early or on Election Day, to choose
representatives for the county school
system and City of Waynesboro. The
unopposed bid for city council’s
Ward 1, Post 4, held by Richard
Byne, garnered a larger turn out of
voters (29.25 percent) than any of
the other races.
Maurice McBride edged by for
mer councilman Herman Brown
with 11 votes for the Ward 2, Post
5 seat, currently held by Alberta
Anderson. Willie Roy Williams held
on to his Ward 3, Post 6 seat with
129 votes to HerMonica Bennett’s
47, with 15.73 percent of voters
participating. In the special election
for Burke County Board of Educa
tion District 5, Franklin Lane had
67 percent of the vote to claim the
seat formerly held by the late BOE
chairman Johnny Jenkins.
Waynesboro residents also voted
yes to packaged sales of distilled
spirits within the city.
In the Sardis mayoral race, can
didate Roger Lane beat incumbent
Carol Edmunds with 161 votes to her
58 votes. Rolene Oliver retained her
council seat with 152 votes. Terry
Winston also won the city council
race with 108 votes. Leroy Lane won
the special election with 112 votes to
fill the seat vacated by Roger Lane.
Obituaries included Edna Ruth
Stroud, Hampton Edward Johnson,
Agnes Herrington Kitchens and
Rutherford “Bob Rooster” Rouse.
NOV. 10
No arrests have been made and
few details have been released about
a fatal shooting incident that took
place over the weekend.
The Waynesboro Police Depart
ment and the Burke County Sheriff’s
Office responded to a report of shots
bred at 708 Dowell Avenue at 1:30
a.m. November 7.
The incident resulted in the death
of one man, 31-year- old Marquel
“Bean” Tarber from Millen. Jason
Cuyler and Johnathan “Dip” Hughes
were also injured. Kenneth Eason
suffered minor injuries. Hughes’
injuries are considered to be life
threatening and he is currently
undergoing medical treatment at
Augusta University Hospital.
Obituaries included William “Lit
tle Chris” Long, Jackie B. Lovett,
Rev. Earl Thomas Saxon, Marquel
Demetria Tarber, Jackie Williams,
Moses Flournoy, Jr. and Leroy El
lison.
NOV. 17
Inve s t i g a -
tors with the SEE
Waynesboro Po- YEAR IN REVIEW.
lice Department 3
Making history
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
The first Black mayor of Sardis
steps into his new role with an en
thusiastic vision for his hometown.
Roger Lane, 63, was sworn in
Jan. 4. Growing up in the small city
of approximately 995 people, Lane
never imagined he would make his
tory in the town where he was bom
and raised.
“It’s a new chal
lenge,” he said. “I
never thought about
getting into politics.”
It is Lane’s life ex
periences that have
shaped his character.
He began his adult
life as a factory work
er and attended some
college courses. He
moved up within the
company which em
ployed him first as
a laborer and later
as director of qual
ity. After leaving the
firm, he answered the
call to the ministry.
As a full- time min- Roger Lane took the oath of office as mayor of
ister, he traveled Sardis Jan. 4.
the world.
Lane’s passion for local govern
ment ignited quickly. He served on
the city council for less than two
years before mnning for the mayoral
position. Lane gives the impression
that his joy in winning the recent
election stems from his
sincere desire to make a
difference.
“It is something to be
proud of, to be a servant to
SEE
LANE
14
Omicron hits hard locally
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
As area students headed back to
school, Omicron made its way to
the classroom as well.
The Burke County Public
Schools system reported a sig
nificant increase in the number
of new cases since last week.
Seventy-eight cases exist among
its student population and 40
among the teachers/staff. This is
up from only two cases reported
among its faculty/staff and none
within the student population the
week of January 3.
The Georgia Department of
Public Health reports 146 new
cases throughout the county for
the 2-week period prior to Janu
ary 10. The number of new cases
more than double what the agency
reported for the previous 2-week
period. The county’s vaccination
rate remains at 49% fully vacci
nated and 54% having received at
least one dose. The percentage of
fully vaccinated residents receiv
ing a booster rose slightly from
32% to 34%.
The Georgia Coordinating Cen
ter listed Augusta University
Health’s, Doctors Hospital’s and
University Hospital’s regional
patient distribution as severe as
of Jan. 11. Burke Medical Cen
ter’s patient distribution remained
at normal.
Sheriff Alfonzo SEE
Williams reported no OMICRON,
current cases of the 7
Local historic group
continues MLK tribute
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
The Burke County Improvement
Association, founded in 1961, is
still going strong with a member
ship of approximately 25 people.
The main purpose of the association
is to focus on improving the social,
economic and political environment
in the county, according to President
Emanuel Larkin Jr.
Annually, the group presents its
African American Heritage Awards
in February. Recently, the members
participated in Archway Partnership
listening sessions. Additionally, with
the inaction of so many new voter
laws, the group helps disseminate
information via teleconferences.
They are planning to participate in a
future identification workshop col
laboration with the Burke County
Voter Project.
“We are involved in the political
aspect of voter registration laws,”
Larkin said. “We make sure that we
get people registered to vote.”
The late county commissioners
and civil rights veterans Herman
Lodge and Woodrow Harvey were
founding fathers of the group.
The association’s most significant
achievement forever etched a bit of
African American history locally.
Lodge, along with other black citi
zens, hied a suit in 1976 in the United
States District Court for the Southern
District of Georgia. The suit was
brought on behalf of all black citi
zens in Burke County with the hopes
of having the County Commission
election system declared invalid.
The decision of both the District
Court and the Supreme Court sided
with Lodge and his counterparts.
The result was the di
vision of the county into g^g
districts for purposes of
electing commissioners. ’