Newspaper Page Text
November 28, 2012
■
Reporter
Shoney’s says it will soon re-open
The Forsyth Shoney’s
closed its doors at mid
night on Sunday, but
owner Mack Shalaby
guaranteed that the
restaurant will re-open
in a matter of days.
Shalaby told the
Reporter he had to close
because his liability
insurance, which guards
against customer injury
inside the restaurant,
was cancelled and he
couldn't afford other
insurance premiums he
had been quoted.
Shalaby said an insur
ance company wanted
$9,500 per month to
insure his two stores in
Ac worth and Forsyth,
mostly because of recent
claims at the Forsyth
store involving elderly
customers who have
broken knees or hips.
"It's way high, it's out
rageous," said Shalaby.
"We don't make that."
Shalaby said the cus
tomers have been trav
elers, not locals. Now,
Shalaby said he's nego
tiating to turn the
Forsyth restaurant over
to another franchise
that won't have the
same record of liability.
"We are negotiating
this minute," said
Shalaby. "I hope in a
couple of days we'll have
some good news."
Meanwhile, restaurant
manager Greg King said
the restaurant's 36
employees are waiting
to see what happens.
James Bloodworth of
Bolingbroke and a
friend had come to
Shoney’s on Monday
morning hoping to get
some hot breakfast
after spending the
morning in a deer
stand. He said he's
been coming there more
than 10 years and he'll
come back if they re
open.
"I really like the peo
ple who work there,"
said Bloodworth, who
said he was headed
across the street to
Waffle House instead.
“Closed Temporarily, Opening
Soon” said the sign on the door at
Shoney’s on Monday.
PAGE 7A
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Tuesday - Saturday: 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Closed Sunday and Monday
478-992-9010
640 Indian Springs Drive
Forsyth, GA 31029
Hometown Holidays
parade begins at
7 p.m. on Thursday
This Thursday night, Nov. 29, Forsyth will be transformed
into Toon Town during the annual nighttime Christmas pa
rade that kicks off at 7 p.m. The route will start at the Mon
roe County Board of Education and end at the Ingles’ park
ing lot. Come downtown to see your favorite cartoon char
acters come to life! Who can forget the best part? Seeing
Santa and Mrs. Claus at the end. (File photo)
Tax Year 1 projects for sales tax
(tentative)
• Build New Fine Arts Center
• Add athletic training room to MP field house
• Carpet and paint at Hubbard Elementary and
Banks Stephens campus, including flooring for
the Banks Stephens gym
• Technology upgrades for all schools
• Five school buses and three other vehicles
• Replace/upgrade bleachers in MP gym
$7.5 million
$150,000
$1.1 million
$1.2 million
$500,000
$300,000
continued from the front
million up front, and the
interest on that bond
would be $1.5 million.
Board members must des
ignate which projects to
fund before the request for
the tax can be put on the
ballot.
Pack said the banner
project on the proposed
ELOST list is a $7.5 mil
lion fine arts center to be
built on the Mary Persons
campus next to where the
athletic training building
now stands. The $7.5 mil
lion cost does not factor in
possible savings by using
Department of Corrections
inmate labor for some jobs
like laying block and
brick.
The proposed fine arts
building would seat 1,221
according to the site plan
presented to the board by
assistant superintendent
Jackson Daniel. Board
members were shown a
preliminary design that
architects had drawn but
school officials stressed
that the plans will be
changed and that it’s a
very early sketch.
The school system's cur
rent auditorium seats 360.
Board members at the
meeting, J.P Evans,
Tammy Fletcher, Nolan
Howard, Eva Bilderback,
and Dr. Ray Grant, dis
cussed where to find park
ing for 1,221 people near
the fine arts center.
"Once we build the fine
arts building, then what?"
asked Bilderback. "I just
don't want to see us get
into something and have
to go up on millage."
Pack said the cost of fur
nishing the new auditori
um is included in the $7.5
million cost, but there
would be expenses in
staffing the building.
"We should produce some
revenue [with the fine arts
building]," said Daniel.
"Like at Lamar County.
Groups pay to use the cen
ter."
"The Macon Symphony
should want to come here.
The Atlanta Symphony
would come for a day to
perform and teach stu
dents," said Pack. "I would
like to see us teaching
music [in Monroe County].
Now parents take kids to
Macon for strings."
The fine arts center
would impact students at
all six Monroe County
schools, parents, stake
holders, and the entire
community. School offi
cials discussed how the
largest venues in Monroe
County, the Roberts
Chapel at the Department
of Corrections, and the
auditorium at the Georgia
Safety Training Center,
each hold only a little over
400 people. Assistant
principal Dr. Mike
Hickman said a recent
middle school concert held
at Roberts Chapel had an
overflow crowd, and board
member Fletcher com
mented how crowded the
annual Mary Persons hon
ors night program is. The
reason a 1,200 seat audi
torium would make a visit
by the Atlanta Symphony
possible is that students
from all three elementary
schools could attend con
certs in one day.
Pack said there may
have to be some aesthetic
work on the old gym
because it will be next to
the new facility. The road
way that goes out by the
cemetery may be
redesigned, and the fence
by the restrooms will be
changed to alleviate a
traffic bottleneck. He said
that funds saved by using
DOC inmate labor in
building could be used for
grading and creating
parking.
Daniel noted that the
DOC crews are in demand
all over the state so that
scheduling may be a prob
lem. There are some
skilled jobs that the DOC
crews are not certified to
complete.
Pack said his goal is to
start construction at the
end of the 2013 football
season so as not to impact
two football seasons.
Grant and Fletcher
talked of the possibilities
of nearby landowners
donating land or working
with the school board to
create additional parking.
Daniel said the longer he
has looked at the archi
tect's rendering of the fine
arts center with archways,
the better he has come to
like it. He initially expect
ed the building to have
columns.
Daniel told the board the
fine arts center will
include a large lobby area
with exhibit space, a prep
kitchen to be used for
functions, and a dressing
room area. One possible
alternative is to go down
in seating for 1,000 in the
auditorium and add a
meeting room for 150 peo
ple.
"My father was in the
first class to use the audi
torium [built about 80
years ago]," said Grant.
"There were 40 students
in his class and they built
a 360-seat auditorium."
"My purpose is to pres
ent it to you and ask if
you have questions,"
Daniel told the board. "I'd
love to have your emails."
Other projects on the
proposed list for the first
year are the addition of an
athletic training room at
the field house ($150,000);
carpet and paint at
Hubbard Elementary and
the Monroe County
Middle School Banks
Stephens campus, includ
ing flooring for the Banks
Stephens gym ($1.1 mil
lion); technology upgrades
for all schools ($1.2 mil
lion); five school buses and
three other vehicles
($500,000); replacement or
upgrade of bleachers in
the high school gym
($300,000).
"Painting and technology
will have to be done even
if ELOST does not pass,"
said Pack. "We cannot do
some of the technology at
the high school until we
re-do infrastructure."
Hubbard Elementary
and the Banks Stephens
campus have original
paint and carpet.
He said the state now
provides no funding for
technology. The specific
technology projects pro
posed for the first year of
the 2014 ELOST were
wireless infrastructure at
all schools so that stu
dents can use clickers in
the classrooms; electronic
textbooks beginning with
the 1,200 students at
Mary Persons; intercom
systems at Hubbard
Elementary and Banks
Stephens campus; and
security systems at all six
schools.
Pack explained that
there is a dilemma in
upgrading the bleachers
at the Mary Persons gym.
For safety, there is a need
to put railings on the
bleachers, which are 30
years old. Railings would
cost $75,000 and would
take away some seating.
The bleachers currently
serve 1,200 students plus
basketball and volleyball
supporters. Although
adding railings would
make the bleachers safer,
it would put the school
system in a noncompliant
status under the American
Disabilities Act. The
bleachers are now compli
ant because they were
compliant 30 years ago
when they were installed,
but any changes, such as
adding railings, will nulli
fy that compliance. Pack
said the school system
may have to wait until it
can completely replace the
bleachers at an estimated
cost of $300,000. Board
member Evans said that
someone may fall from the
bleachers before they can
be replaced.
"We may need to put on
the bandaid," said Evans.
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Joel Raley &
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Free Consultation • No Fee Unless Approved
1-877-317-5748
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P.O. Box 25 • Bolingbroke, GA
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