Newspaper Page Text
April 20, 2022
Page 7A
^Reporter
JUST THE WAY IT IS by Sloan Oliver
Does growth mean good-bye Mayberry?
G ood-bye May
berry, Hello
Marietta (or
McDonough)
- exactly what will hap
pen to Monroe County if
a requested rezoning takes
place in the northern part
of the county TJ
Heath, a developer
from Jones County,
bought 800+ acres
along Hwy 41 and
Zellner Road, and
wants to con
vert prime
agriculture
land into an
industrial
park - like the ones all over
Atlanta. Warehouses, fac
tories, distribution centers,
noise, excess lighting, con
crete, asphalt, water runoff,
thousands of additional
cars and 18-wheelers (dai
ly), long railroad delays,
and greatly increased crime
are coming to our county
Simply put, if this rezoning
request goes through, in 10
years, the Monroe County
we know, and love, will be
gone. If the land is rezoned,
it opens the entire northern
part of the county to the
same type development.
We 11 be exactly like Henry
County and all the other
“hugemango” traffic coun
ties in ATL metro.
I LIVE in Bolingbroke,
Smarr, Culloden, or For
syth so the industrial park
wont affect me. Oh, yes it
will. For starters, there will
be extreme traffic gridlock
in Forsyth (It’s bad now
with the trucks, then add
hundreds more and think
of the delays.), crime will
increase, large popula
tion increase, schools
will greatly expand, and
endless road construction
to accommodate the new
development and increased
traffic. Most people in
Monroe County (MC)
left places like Macon and
southern ATL because they
didn’t like the never ending
growth and what it did to
their neighborhood, com
munity, or county. If that
describes you - then you
better fight this planned
rezoning effort. This must
be a county wide battle,
all hands on deck with full
participation.
HOW? RECALL
several years ago, a de
veloper wanted to bring
low-income, Section-8
apartments to south MC.
If that apartment develop
ment had gone through,
Bolingbroke would have
become a crime extension
of Macon. Local residents
knew that, so they
hired an attorney
and fought the
rezoning attempt.
Hundreds showed
up at the Planning
& Zoning Meeting
and hundreds
attended the
County Com
missioners
Meeting. P&Z and com
missioners got the mes
sage and voted down that
rezoning. MC residents
MUST do that again.
SHOW UP at the P&Z
Public Hearing, Tuesday,
April 25th, 5:30pm, County
Administrative Bldg (3rd
Floor), 38 West Main
Street. Let them know
that you don’t want MC
to become an extension of
Atlanta. Then, attend the
County Commissioners
Meeting (same location
as P&Z), Tuesday, May
3, 6:00pm. Speak by your
presence. If nobody shows,
we’re telling the county to
go ahead, develop that land
and make Monroe County
just like ATL. If hundreds
show, you’re saying the
exact opposite - restrict in
dustrial development to the
current industrial parks.
(Note - There are hundreds
of unused acres in the
current industrial parks
that are just waiting for a
developer like TJ Heath to
build something.)
THERE’S A big brouha
ha over the county’s sale of
103 acres for $103,000 last
summer. This newspaper
and local gadflies are ac
cusing the county commis
sioners of breaking the law
and of nefarious activities
surrounding the sale. The
commissioners admit
mistakes were made (i.e.
- the 14-day advertising
requirement wasn’t met)
but claim the sale was valid
and benefitted the county.
Who’s correct? Let’s exam
some of the details.
IN 2006, the Develop
ment Authority (DA)
bought 203 acres (or so)
in Juliette for $1.7 million.
(Land that had been the
site of a textile mill with a
defunct water treatment
plant and retention ponds.)
Two years later, the DA
sold 100 acres, and some
buildings, for $1.1 million.
Then, in 2009, the DA gave
the remaining 103 acres
(with the defunct water
plant and retention ponds)
to the county.
QUESTIONS: why did
the DA buy the land in
2006? What was going to
be developed? Were they
pressured (by someone) to
buy? Was the land actually
worth $1.7 million? Why
did the county accept the
103 acres in 2009? What
did the county plan to do
with an inoperable H20
plant?
IN LAST week’s Report
er, former commissioner
Mike Bilderback implied
that the water treatment
plant was operational, only
minor repairs were needed,
crank it up and “wha-la”
- all the water we need. If
that were true, what did the
county do with the land
and the treatment plant
after receiving it? Answer
- Nothing, absolutely
nothing. Bilderback was a
county commissioner (for
4 x years); then chairman
(for another four) yet did
nothing to get the H20
plant operational. Why?
Because the plant was
defunct and would have
cost multiple millions to
bring it on-line. Addition
ally, the water retention
ponds posed potential,
environmental liabilities for
the county. Why? Because
unknown pollutants might
be present (in the ponds),
and if found, would require
millions more to mitigate.
(Note - The county never
conducted an environ
mental assessment because
nobody wanted to find out
if we had a multi-million
dollar environmental
clean-up on our hands.)
So, past commissioners did
nothing with the land but
are now screaming that the
county lost money on the
sale.
OVER THE past week,
I’ve talked to three current
commissioners. They said
the county tried to have
the land appraised but
two appraisers refused the
job because the appraisers
were unable to assess the
potential liabilities as
sociated with the possible
pollutants. Additionally,
much of the remaining
land is “wet lands” and
unbuildable. Finally, as for
John Martin’s allegations,
he wasn’t at the closing. His
accusations are hearsay.
I trust Ben Vaughn, the
county’s attorney. He has
an obligation, a duty, to
insure county procedures
and transactions are legal. I
don’t believe that Chairman
Tapley or Attorney Vaughn
would risk their careers
(and potential prison) for
a transaction that had no
personal (or professional)
gain for either.
WHAT IS something
worth? It’s worth what
someone else is willing
to pay. If you buy stock at
$100/share in 2006, is it still
worth $ 100/share in 2021?
Maybe, maybe not. The
land was worth $1.7 mil
lion in 2006 because that’s
what the county paid. And
the 100 acres (sold in 2008)
were worth $1.1 million.
But were the remaining
103-acres worth $600,000?
GIVEN THAT the
county faced huge potential
environmental liabilities,
given an inoperable water
treatment plant costing
millions to fix, and given
that back in 2009, even if
the plant was operational,
the county had no abil
ity to distribute water; I
contend the land was never
worth the $1.7 million
and never should have
been purchased in the first
place. The fact that for 12
years, (from 2009 - 2021)
no commissioner could
figure out what to do with
the land proves just that.
At least now, the land is no
longer an environmental
liability to the county; and
it’s back on the county
tax rolls generating tax
revenues.
Sloan Oliver of Boling
broke is a retired Army of
fice who writes each week in
the Reporter. Email him at
sloanoliver@earthlink.com.
High Falls man
kills himself
in drug raid
By Walter Geiger
news@barnesville.com
A 53-year-old High
Falls man killed himself
as Lamar County deputies
executed a drug raid on a
Barnesville home April 12
According to Lamar
County sheriff Brad White,
his warrant service team
arrived at the home at 112
Perkins Street, which is
owned by Nancy McElreath, to serve a search warrant.
A number of people ran from the home. Seven were
arrested and a quantity of meth was seized along with
firearms and drug paraphernalia. One female was ap
prehended as she ran toward a truck at the rear of the
home.
Deputies heard an explosion that they originally
thought was a flash bang being deployed. When it
became apparent no flash bang had been used, they
returned to the truck to find Joe Larry Brewer, Jr.
inside with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Although a heartbeat was initially detected, he died at
the scene.
Brewer was on federal probation and had cut off his
ankle monitor two days earlier. He was the subject of
federal warrants. “The word on the street was he had
gone to the house to kill the guy who snitched on him
and then he was going to kill himself rather than go
back to prison,” sheriff White said.
Brewer had served three stints in Georgia prisons,
spending five and a half years behind bars from 2003-
2010. He had three convictions for possession of meth,
two for possession of meth with intent to distribute,
one for sale of meth and one for DUI during that
period.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation worked the
scene at the request of sheriff White. “I called them in
due to the fact he shot himself while we were executing
the search warrant. The house had multiple security
cameras and one was pointed right at the truck. The
GBI has that DVR as evidence,” the sheriff said.
Coroner Clay Tillery reported Brewer’s body was
not sent to the crime lab for autopsy. “My informa
tion is the deceased was living in a camper behind
the residence where the warrant was served,” Tillery
concluded.
Reporter debate set for April 28
The Monroe County
Political Debate of the
Year will be held at 6 p.m.
on Thursday, April 28 in
the new chambers of the
Forsyth City Council.
All candidates who face
opposition in the May
24 primary for Monroe
County school board and
commissioner are invited.
DEAL
Continued from Front
ing, listing it with George
Emami of Crowe Century
21. Atrium took bids on the
property and Washburn
was chosen out of about 7
bids. The property closed
on Friday for $1 million.
Washburn, a Macon
realtor who also represents
southern Monroe County
in the legislature, said the
high-profile location will
likely be appealing to a
restaurant. He said they’re
just beginning to market
the property.
“We are excited about
the possibilities of what
will be done with it,” said
Washburn. “It will be a
good thing for Forsyth and
Monroe County)’
Emami said as far as
he can tell it’s the highest
per-acre price ever paid for
land in Monroe County.
He said it was a challenge
juggling 7 bids but said
Washburn did everything
he said he would do.
“I along with all Monroe
Countians eagerly await
seeing something there that
will add to our commu
nity’ said Emami.
Speculation as to what
restaurants the property
might attract has included
several national chains and
even one famously head
quartered in Georgia.
BANK
Continued from Front
deputies were able to approach him from
another direction and tackle him to the
ground and try to arrest him. However
Hambrick put up resistance before they
finally got him handcuffed.
He was taken in handcuffs to the Mon
roe County EMS ambulance, which car
ried him to Atrium where he remained at
press time. Daniels said Hambrick is not
your average 79 year old and put up a good
fight.
“He was in good shape for his age,” said
Daniels.
Daniels said Hambrick has a Forsyth
officer guarding him at the hospital but has
refused to talk about his actions with po
lice. Daniels said they have found no car at
the bank and don’t know how he got to the
bank. Daniels said Hambrick is originally
from the Atlanta area but had recently
moved to Forsyth.
Hambrick is charged with aggravated
assault, false imprisonment and robbery.
It’s thought to be the first bank robbery in
Forsyth since Clifford Terrell robbed the
BB&T on Sept. 5,2017. He then robbed a
State Bank in Macon and was captured on
Sept. 25,2017 in Barnesville.
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