Newspaper Page Text
July 20, 2022
Page 5A
ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN by Don Daniel
Killer juice leaves mark
I did something the other day I seldom have done. I
posted a photo on Facebook and many of you have
commented on it. For those of you that have not seen the
photo, I’ll repost it again so that you can come to your
own conclusion. Let me digress for a couple of paragraphs.
Remember about a year ago, when a Forsyth homeowner
pointed out how either the Forsyth Street Department or the
State Highway Department sprayed “killer juice” on the foli
age across the street from his house,
killing all and I mean all growth, first
turning it brown and then a rotten
brown. The killer juice was sprayed
on a main entrance to downtown
Forsyth. Long story short, the dead
foliage was cleaned up.
Well, the Central Georgia EMC and
the state highway department are at
it again, obviously spraying in the
middle of the night so we wouldn’t
see the dastardly act being per
formed.
When I first wrote a couple of
years ago about CGEMC spraying
their right-of-ways with the killer
juice, I wondered if the “juice” was kin to Agent Orange from
the Viet Nam era, Round-Up or DDT. My grandfather used
DDT to spray his cotton fields to kill boll weevils. About the
time he quit using DDT, it was determined the powder was
very hazardous to one’s health and to the environment. I will
always believe he quit spraying DDT because it was becom
ing known just how hazardous DDT was to individuals.
Going back to when I first reported CGEMC spraying killer
juice, the column obviously twerked somebody in CGEMC’s
corporate office because in a couple of days I received deni
als from their PR person with “their” proof the poison they
were using was not hazardous to any living thing except
bushes and small trees. I am sure their corporate office’s
stance is going to be same, refuting with EPA evidence that
their killer juice is not harmful to our environment.
Remember how our government finally admitted it was af
fecting our soldiers and paid through the nose with taxpayer
money to treat our soldiers. Hardly a day goes by that lawyers
do not advertise on TV if your health affected by exposure to
Round Up, “call Shyster, Shyster and Shyster right now”.
Just like last time, I will be inundated with EMC literature,
denials, including their conclusions that can “be verified”
by the EPA. There is also the distinct possibility EMC and
GDOT will ignore the blight they are causing all over the
county.
Here’s my challenge to both the EMC president and the
GDOT state commissioner: I will go get a shovel full of the
dirt right under where the foliage has been sprayed on the
state highways in the county and on the EMC right-of-ways.
Pour the dirt into bottled water, strain the dirt out and then
each of the two each drink the water for a month. Let’s do
it publicly, say at The Reporter office. We can celebrate The
Reporter’s 50th birthday with a toast drinking the water.
HEY, IF you want a job with the City of Forsyth Police
Department and you have body art (tattoos), the-they-
think-they-are-the-fabulous five, no make it the fabulous six
because I need to include the city manager, have passed a
policy for the “standards governing personal appearance in
reference to
In reference to “tattoos, body art, body piercing, branding
for sworn employees while on duty, when representing the
Forsyth Police Department in an official capacity, or when
engaged in a law enforcement detail or secondary employ
ment”.
I guess before you can get hired, you gotta show somebody
in city employment office your tattoos, branding, body pierc
ing, body art or body mutilation. Wonder who’s responsibil
ity it is going to be to inspect the potential employees’ “art” ?
HAVE YOU been aware of all the changes at our two super
markets—grocery stores? First I noticed at Ingles now of
fering “small” grocery cart, a coffee shop (we now have two,
that’s right, TWO Starbucks) and a “Chinese restaurant”. Will
and I tried the Chinese food. Later in the week, I went by my
self to Ingles, not for Chinese and realized the Chinese food
obviously comes from their frozen food section. Same food
served just brought to the restaurant and cooked.
Are we all settled in knowing where everything we need is
at Walmart? One reason I dislike shopping at Wally World is
they have to be known for the rudest and obnoxious shop
pers. I go in, get what I came for and leave. I will admit, the
Walmart employees must have undergone some boot camp
customer service training. They no longer look at you as stu
pid, they will actually accompany you to where the product is
you spent 20 minutes looking for.
THE ANSWER to The Question from two weeks ago:
where did Forsyth’s Mayor, City Manager and council go on
their annual soiree? Down to Savannah for four days at Wes-
tin Resort. I filed an Open Records request for their expense
reports and sure got the reports in the required three days.
I am planning on letting you know how much Forsyth
taxpayer money was spent attending convention, including
meals, mileage, bedding down etc.
HERE’S THE Question for this week; who was named the
new director of Camp Kaleo? First correct answer after 12
noon Thursday gets the certificate for Big Peach Car Wash,
Whistle Stop fried green tomato appetizer, Dairy Queen
Blizzard, slice of Jonah’s Pizza, single dip at Scoops, slice of
Shoney’s strawberry pie and a dozen Dunkin Donuts.
A COUPLE of unattributed comments from the last
Forsyth City Council meeting: “I’ve been trying to wrack
my brain”; “How’s the light?”; “Make a suggestion, just my
thoughts”; and “I get what you are saying”.
HOW TO keep your government job, get a raise, get a
better job? Just walkout in the middle of the meeting you are
supposed to be attending.
AND FROM the lighter side by Steven Wright: “I watched
the Indy 500, and I was thinking that if they left earlier they
wouldn’t have to go so fast”.
GOT A printable comment, want to answer The Question?
Contact Donald Jackson Daniel at tullaybear@bellsouth.net
Don Daniel founded the Reporter in 1972. Email him at
tullaybear@bellsouth. net.
^Reporter
EDITOR’S KID by Park Davis
Rainy wreck leaves me thankful
I n last week’s column, I wrote
about me being unfortunate
near Athens Academy. I talked
about my truck breaking down
near it and being towed. Well, it
was fixed! And we drove up to Ath
ens last Wednesday and got it back.
Here is where I turn things
around and talk about how fortu
nate I am. The same day I got the
truck back, I was driving on Hwy.
41 near Shi Road. I came to a dip
in the road where a big puddle was,
and I lost control of the truck. I
hydroplaned into a tree, hitting my
front left end then my back right
end.
While I was
spinning out
of control, all I
could think
about was
“this is where I
die.” Well, I
crashed,
jumped
out of the
car, and
realized
I didn’t even have a scratch. The
Lord literally took the wheel, and
He protected me. I guess He ain’t
done with me yet.
To add to me being in shock,
I had no idea what to do. It was
pouring down rain, so my phone
wasn’t cooperating. But I didn’t
need it because moments after the
wreck, Monroe County deputy
Wade Kendrick pulled around the
corner. God has perfect timing.
Still, as the summer intern for the
Reporter, I was supposed to cover
ing the news, and now I found
myself making it. I still cannot
wrap my head around it all, and I
have “what if” thoughts 24/7. I’ve
had friends, guys my age, die from
hydroplaning. I’m thankful for the
opportunity that God has given
me, and I want to honor Him and
the friends I’ve lost with it.
Wrecks suck. They are unfor
tunate. But vehicles are replace
able, we aren’t. I went to get my
grandma’s car last night, and my
papa told me “Life sucks, then ya
die” to which I replied with “not
today though.” I didn’t fully process
the fact that you could die at any
time until this experience. But I’m
thankful that God has allowed me
to keep going.
A graduate ofFPD heading to the
University of Georgia in August,
Park Davis of Forsyth is the summer
intern for the Reporter.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Evans: No place for waste station
To the Editor:
R iver Forest is, to my
knowledge, the largest
luxury golf oriented gated
community of some 1,500
acres between north of Atlanta and
the Atlantic Ocean.
I am and have been against any
trucking use of Johnstonville Road
to support any economic develop
ment industry east or west of 1-75
along Johnstonville. Mayor Eric
Wilson is aware of my thoughts as
well relative to bringing trucking to
Johnstonville Road. Any industrial
development involving truck traffic
such as the one currently proposed
for English Road should be master
planned so that ingress/egress for
trucking is centered upon the Ga.
Hwy. 42 interchange which should
later be reconstructed for such use
OR A NEW Interchange is con
structed just north of the GDOT
truck weighing stations when the
Ga. Hwy. 42 interchange is over
loaded. Johnstonville Road is “the
Buckhead of Monroe County”
with some existing 500-550 homes
averaging well over $500,000 in
value and some 400-450 existing
lots ready for complementary con
struction. The present $250 million
minimum in residential economic
development along Johnstonville
Road will double in value within 5
years but only if johnstonville Road
is preserved and protected from
any trucking related use as this is
the reason most of these estimated
1,600-1,800 residents moved to
Johnstonville Road. With Plant
Scherer scheduled to close, the
actual capital investment Trilogy
is planning on English Road and a
mere 50-100 jobs is vastly incon
sequential not to mention poten
tial environmental impact when
compared to nurturing another
$250 million plus in new home
construction with another 1,600
minimum new residents.
Finally, trucking related in
dustrial development should be
limited to Ga. Hwys. 42 and 87
east and west of Forsyth where
compatible and the Rumble Road
area along 1-75 plus the west side
of 1-75 at High Falls Road. The
site proposed for use as a “waste
conversion plant” might remotely
be considered as proposed if for say
a large tech center or regional office
facility employing a minimum of
1,000 very high-paying personel
was proposed.
E. Baxter Evans
Forsyth
Long-time Realtor E. Baxter
Evans lives in River Forest and is the
president of the real estate company
Baxter Evans & Co.
County OKs raises
for targeted positions
Some of the information in this story is courtesy of Monroe County
public information officer Richard Dumas.
Along with Kelsey Fortner’s raise, Monroe County Commission
ers approved by a 4-0 vote on Tuesday, July 12 pay raises for 48
other employees in an effort to fill a number of vacancies.
County Manager Jim Hedges said the pay raises will affect 49 dif
ferent employees in 15 positions within the public works, landfill,
recycling and building maintenance departments. He said the total
pay increase for the 15 affected positions is $277,000. For example,
Hedges said under the new pay scale the starting pay for a public
works or landfill truck driver increases from $14.28 to $20.02.
The pay scale increases for the public works, landfill and build
ing maintenance departments were introduced following a nearly
hour-long closed session to discuss personnel and real estate.
Hedges had originally proposed a wider pay increase to bring
other county employees up as commissioners had done for EMS
and deputies, who had already gotten raises in January. But com
missioners decided to try to take a more targeted approach.
FORTNER
Continued from Front
He’s always worked for the
Employees AND represented the
commissioners very well. He is
professional, tactful, intelligent, so
phisticated, wise, and fair. In April
of 2019, Jim believed in me enough
to make me Zoning Officer and
his words to me were, “Show them
what you can do, go get them girl!”
And since then, I have worked very
hard to prove myself. But in the
end, I have worked hard to do a
great job because if reflects on Jim.
And he believed in me; therefore, I
believe in doing a great job for him.
He solves problems, he handles
business, and not once, have I have
felt like he was micromanaging. I
firmly believe that Monroe County
has been in the best shape it has
ever been in as of today’
A month later, at a July 12 meet
ing, Hedges recommended that
Fortner be made the manager over
a new Community Development
Department, which will con
solidate the county’s Planning &
Zoning, Building Permits, Building
Inspections, and Building Code
Enforcement departments.
Hedges said he wants to create a
one-stop shop for P&Z and build
ing permitting matters under the
county’s new Unified Development
Ordinance, which is slated to be
approved within the next several
months. Hedges said he believes
having a manager over the consoli
dated offices will positively impact
the department in terms of leader
ship, communication, accountabil
ity, service delivery, performance,
and measurement.
Fortner agreed, telling the Re
porter that with construction sky
rocketing in Monroe County it will
be good to streamline the process
for builders. She said they were also
working on being able to handle
soil and erosion plans in-house
rather than having to send them to
Athens for approval.
“It’s gonna be really good,” said
Fortner. “I’m real excited.”
As for her response to the criti
cism of Hedges, Fortner told the
Reporter that her feelings were
hurt.
“I got very passionate,” said Fort
ner. “Jim Hedges has done a lot for
Monroe County. I just wanted to
get a feel of‘am I the only one that
feels Jim Hedges has done a great
job?”’
Fortner said she got several
phone calls from county employ
ees saying they agreed Hedges has
done some great things.
Commissioners approved Hedges
recommendation that Fortner’s
salary go from $49,690 as zoning
officer to $53,022 as community
development manager, about a
6 percent increase, according to
county public information officer
Richard Dumas. Commissioners
also raised the pay of 14 other posi
tions to try to retain employees. See
sidebar.