Newspaper Page Text
Page 4B
April 13, 2022
BB
Exporter
Monroe County Farm Bureau Art Contest winners are, left to right: Latricia Allen, Topanga Katzer,
Katherine Clay, Alii Smith, Reece Harvil, Isabella Dayton, Sarah Thompson. Not pictured Jhavier
Locus. Pictured right is Thompson's winning drawing.
Farm Bureau
announces
Art Contest
winners
Monroe County Farm Bureau chose
Sarah Thompsons entry in the 2022 Farm
Bureau Art Contest as the first place win
ner. She received a cash prize and an art kit
and will represent Monroe County in the
State contest. lst-4th places received cash
prizes and art kits. Four other participants
received art kits.
The topic for the contest was to represent
the over 42,000 farms, covering over 9
million acres, across Georgia growing and/
or raising the food, fuel and fiber needed
every day. Drawings were judged on how
well they represented the topic and on
artistic merit. There will be 10 district win
ners in the State contest; they will receive
$100 cash with the State winner receiving
an additional $250 and the runner-up
receiving an additional $150. Winners
will be featured in the 2023 Georgia Farm
Bureau Art calendar.
The contest was open to Georgia students
grades 9-12. The finished artwork had to
be on 8.5x11-inch white paper, created
2-lQ-b.
entirely in black, white and gray in a vari
ety of media including graphite, charcoal,
pastel, chalk, colored pencil, pen-and-ink,
ballpoint pen and mixed media appropri
ate for printing.
Forsyth hires Roswell company for financial advice
Advice is to refinance city hall, use crypto money to pay down debt
By Diane Glidewell
news@mymcr.net
Forsyth city council held
a work session on April 4
listening to Doug Gebhardt
of Davenport and Com
pany, a financial advisor
firm based in Virginia,
encouraging the city to
refinance its debt for build
ing the new city hall and to
finance its park improve
ments plan. Gebhardt’s
strategy was to take the
revenue the city is getting
from providing electricity
to the Blockstream bitcoin
operation in Adel and the
revenue from property
taxes it has designated for
special projects and use
them for refinancing.
Gebhardt and city man
ager Janice Hall said they
had been working together
so that Gebhardt knew
details of the city’s finances
and the city’s plans. He
provided printed booklets
to council members with
six scenarios for financing
but declined to share the
booklet with the Reporter,
although he referred to
page numbers in the book
let throughout his presen
tation.
Gebhardt said Davenport
and Company was engaged
by Forsyth at the begin
ning of the year to act as a
financial advisor to the city.
He said his office, based
in Roswell, specializes in
advising municipalities
throughout Georgia.
He said Forsyth has an
outstanding obligation for
its new city hall of $5.1 mil
lion, having obligated $5.7
million through bonds. He
said he thinks that even
though interest rates are
quickly rising Forsyth can
save by re-financing. He
said the parks plan is a
priority for council; so he
has included strategies for
the $9.4 million cost of the
park plan less $4.4 million
in grant funding.
Gebhardt said the city
can use the $1.5 million
Forsyth has reaped from its
electricity sales to Block-
stream to pay off debt. He
said Forsyth has budgeted
for $377,000 interest/year
so that anything less it has
to pay is a gain. He said
the city has $500,000 in a
special project fund [from
designated property tax]
that it can use to lower
acquired debt on the park
project and has enough re
serve funds to service debt.
Hall said Forsyth has
received $1.7 million
from Blockstream. She
said Forsyth has paid the
Municipal Electric Author
ity of Georgia (MEAG) for
electricity it sold to Block-
stream, but she didn’t know
the amount.
Davenport said the only
refinancing immediately
available to the city is an
installment plan through
the Georgia Municipal As
sociation (GMA). He said
average yearly payments to
GMA are limited.
Mayor Eric Wilson asked
if there is an advantage to
combining paying down
debt on city hall with
the park project funds.
Gebhardt said that do
ing the two together as
one financial transaction
could save some. He gave
his scenarios of using or
not using the Blockstream
money, SPLOST money
and property tax/special
project money and paying
for either city hall or the
parks project or both.
“I think it would be nice
if we could be aggressive
in paying off city hall,” said
Wilson.
“What about the water/
sewer fund?” asked council
member Mike Dodd, refer
ring to a $40 million grant
that Forsyth has to upgrade
its water treatment plants,
reservoir and other aspects
of its system. Hall said it is
a requirement of the grant
that water rates cover the
costs. The city has to pay
for the work as it is done
and will be reimbursed by
the grant when the project
is finished.
Hall said Forsyth’s general
operating account is cur
rently at $5 million. This is
the account on which the
city draws to make pay
ments on the water/sewer
project. She said she feels
comfortable that the city
can use $1.5 million and
not need to worry about
having money for the wa
ter/sewer project and other
expenses. She said the city
has already paid engineer
ing fees of $1 million and
some other large expenses
of the project, which will
be reimbursed to the city
when the project is com
plete.
Dodd said he has no
problem using the Block-
stream money to pay off
debt, but other city funds,
like the competitive trust
that is meant to offset
future energy costs, are
earmarked.
“Were far from destitute,”
said Wilson. “We could pay
off city hall, but it would be
tight-”
“We’re notorious for
pushing hard and then
stopping,” said council
member John Howard.
“Everyone on council
wants to be known for
doing something great.
There was a time when the
city was broke, but we were
always better off than the
county’
Wilson polled the council
members, all of whom
were present except Greg
Goolsby, and they all
agreed they want to both
pay off city hall and get
started on the park project.
“I don’t care how we get
it [the park project] done,
I just want it done,” said
council member Julius
Stroud.”We’ve kicked it
around so long. If we can’t
do it right, don’t do it at all.
I’m sick of it.”
Wilson told Gebhardt to
only work with scenarios
that get both projects done.
“We’re not supposed to
be in the business of saving
money’ said Wilson.
Hall said the next step
will be for Gebhardt to
send out requests for
proposals for refinanc
ing to banks. He said that
is generally a 45-50 day
process. He said he would
send to his list of banks
and also give local banks
a chance. Wilson asked
Gebhardt how his com
pany gets paid and he said
“from proceeds. Costs are
embedded.”
Council member Chris
Hewett asked what the rate
on the current financing
on city hall is, and Hall said
5.7 percent.
Did you know?
Snapshots from
Monroe County History
aU Nr.
BICENTENNIAL
D id you
know
that
the
first woman
appointed to a
federal tax court
was a native of
Culloden--and is
buried there?
President
Herbert Hoover
appointed tax
lawyer Annabel
Mathews to the
U. S. Board of
Tax Appeals in
1929. As a judge,
she sat on that
court until 1936.
Mathews, a graduate of Brenau College
in Gainesville, went to Washington, D.
C. in 1914, working in a clerical position
in the Internal Revenue Bureau by day
* CELEBRATING 200 YEARS *
EST. 1821
and studying law at George
Washington University at
night. After she was admit
ted to the Washington, D.
C. bar, she worked as an
attorney for the Internal
Revenue Bureau until her
appointment to the court.
She was an adent femi
nist. She fought to get
Federal Judge Florence El-
lingwood Allen nominated
to the United States Su
preme Court when Justice
Brandeis retired in 1939.
Once when she was on
the Board of Tax Appeals
she wrote a male applicant for a position,
"I have not appointed my second legal
assistant, but I expect to select a woman
attorney. In view of this fact, I suggest
that you do not apply."
Annabel Mathews
Notary hears duties of Health Dept.
The speaker at the Forsyth Monroe
County Rotary club for March 17 was
Leighanne Mitchell, who works with the
Monroe County Health Department. She
discussed many of the duties the Health
Department does for the citizens of Mon
roe County:
- WIC (Women Infant Children) pro
gram provides food vouchers, nutrition
education; breastfeeding support, and
Farmers market.
- Clinic - Provides immunizations from
infancy through adulthood; STD pro
gram; Pregnancy and family planning
support, mammograms, well checks, shot
records and COVID relief.
- Food inspections and permits, even the
food trucks for the Forsythia Festival must
pass certain guidelines.
- Environmental health - Rabies con
trol; septic, well inspections and permits,
mosquito control
- Emergency preparedness - works with
EMA, schools, city/county governmental
agencies to ensure a plan is in place.
- School Based Flu Clinics
- Tourist Accommodations - Hotel
inspections, public pool inspections and
permits.
For more information, needs or con
cerns, contact Monroe County Health
Pictured are Dr Mike Hickman, Rebecca
Stone, leighanne Mitchell
Department at 478-992-5082.
STATUE
Continued from Page 1 B
members without identi
fying the artists. Com
mittee members were
unanimous in choosing
Thomas’s design but
repeatedly asked if the
other two designs could
be used at alternate sites
in the city.
Stanbery said one
goal of Forsyth’s CVB
is to create an inspiring
destination, making the
city a place of pride and
beauty. She said pub
lic art is an important
component of that goal,
and she is pleased with
the continuing public
arts projects in the city,
with the unity sculpture
being the latest. Stanbery
sees the success as people
post wedding, prom and
selfie pictures with pieces
of public art, from the
Train Mural, to the art
wrapped utility boxes to
the Fox Hunt statues.
She said the time line
for the unity sculpture
is tight, with a tentative
completion in early June.
Stanbery said the plan
ners were ready to order
the steel Monday night
after council approved
funding.
ARTIST
Continued from Page 1 B
surrounds a column with
forsythia topped by a flame.
There is a 12-inch circular
base that includes more de
tail and makes the sculpture
safer. Thomas said she and
Borders are working with
the Forsyth electrical de
partment to create lighting
effects that add to both the
symbolism of the statue and
its aesthetic appeal.
“I was so nervous,” said
Thomas of presenting her
design to city council on
April 4. “I am honored, in
shock, flattered [that my
design was chosen.]”
She said there is now a fast
time line to take the design
from concept to reality. She
said as soon as the approval
was official, they began
working to get supplies.
Borders is finalizing other
projects to devote the time
needed to the unity sculp
ture.
Although Thomas usually
focuses on painting, she has
experience with sculpture
and said she thinks in a
“3-D way” when paint
ing. She is pleased with the
way Borders has translated
her concept. She envi
sions everyone seeing their
reflections in the steel of the
sculpture and thinking of
their places in the unity of
Forsyth.