Newspaper Page Text
March 8, 2023
Page 5A
ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN by Don Daniel
Subdivisions replace
county's cow pastures
I ran out of space in last weeks column and had to
cut “commissioners’ unattributed comments”, so
I am starting this column with those comments:
“Father God”; “Let’s get down to business”; “We
had a little bit of confusion”; “That’s right”; “I’ll be
honest with you”; “I put the olive branch out there”;
“Well be praying”; “I’m playing devil’s advocate”;
“This is kinda where I was going”; “Just a little devil’s
advocate”; “That’s how we think”; “what I am think
ing about”; “You got your
marching orders”; “That’s
where I am at”; “To be honest
with you”; “A small addition to
what you were saying”; “We are
just a pass thru”.
The commissioners were at
their first of the month meeting
last night. They were to make
appointments to the Central
Georgia Joint Development
Authority and to the Devel
opment Authority of Monroe
County.
Also on the county agenda was to approve subdivi
sion plats for Deer Creek Manor, Bolingbroke Estates
and Dyas Farms. Subdivisions are replacing cow
pastures and new homes are replacing cow patties
and mushrooms.
Just possible a decision will have been made to pro
ceed with the demolition of the falling-down former
Fallsview Restaurant that the county wants to turn
into a fire station.
If you are going into the Monroe County Court
house or cavort in the halls, the cameras in the court
house were on the agenda to be discussed upgrading.
I am sure there will be complete coverage of the city
and county’s meetings.
WONDER if while in Italy Forsyth’s Mayor put
together a deal to transport Forsyth’s dirty water to
the Italians. Wonder what the mayors of Rome, Flor
ence, Venice and Lake Cuomo thought of the mayor’s
suggestion. I’ve been to those towns plus many more,
and I don’t think the Italians want their water and
more polluted.
Hey, maybe the mayor worked a deal to swap For
syth’s water for Italian vino.
Over at Monday nights’ Forsyth City Council meet
ing there was supposed to be a vote approval and
acceptance of roads and infrastructure for Manor at
Montpelier Phase two.
The council and mayor having raised the hotel/
motel tax up to 7 percent, the Convention and Visitor
Bureau is on the agenda to present the quarterly re
port assuming where the money is going to be spent
to attract visitors to Forsyth’s hotels and motels. The
council has to approve the appointment of Sam Pate;
to CVB board.
Most interesting is that three of Forsyth’s hotels/
motel have been late paying their hotel /motel tax:
Comfort Suites, LaQuinta Inn and Clarion Pointe.
There are penalties added to the tax bills and each of
the three indicated they would pay immediately.
On approval by the council, are two invoices were
paid: Davis Plumbing $28,111 and Macon Tractor
$90,850.
There are several other items on the agenda that will
make headlines. Maybe front page.
THE first correct answer to “The Question” came
from Marcia Linton identifying 1988 as the year
Spanky Beck opened Monroe County Memorial
Chapel. Marcia receives a certificate for dairy Queen
Blizzard, car wash at Big Peach, Whistle Stop fried
green tomato appetizer, dozen Dunkin Donuts, slice
of Shoney’s strawberry pie, Dairy Queen Blizzard and
a single dip at Scoops.
Here’s The Question for this week: This year is the
th Forsythia Festival? First correct answer after 12
noon on Thursday gets the goodie certificate.
THIS past Saturday kicked off The Forsythia
Festival with the food truck frenzy and the car show.
Crowds were great obviously anticipating this week
ends’ full-blown festival. This week’s Reporter has
a complete section on the Forsythia Festival, what’s
going on downtown all around the square Friday,
Saturday and Sunday. Shaping up to be the biggest
Forsythia Festival ever.
THERE IS A rumor going around that the Monroe
County Cattlemen’s Association is going to be on the
square selling their famous, super thin rib-eye steak
sandwiches.
ON THE: lighter side from George Carlin: “I finally
figured out what e-mail for. It’s for communicating
with people you’d rather not talk to.” One more from
George: “Cigarette companies market heavily to
young people. They need young customers because
their product kills the older ones. It is the only prod
uct that, if used as intended, kills the consumer.”
GOT a printable comment, want to answer The
Question? Contact Donald Jackson Daniel at media-
dr@bellsouth.net
IF YOU have the desire to make a printable com
ment about anything in this newspaper or about this
column, email Donald Jackson Daniel at mediadr@
bellsouth.net.
'Reporter
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Juliette club opposes city wastewater
A MERRY HEART by Merry Harris
SKqNOR , NO l
"EVERYWHERE \ GfO ,
IT FOLLOWS ME 1
I CAN'T GfET RID OF IT !
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Welcome +o
VENICE
To the Editor:
embers of the Juliette
River Club strongly
oppose the City of
Forsyths proposal to
empty its wastewater in the Oc-
mulgee River near Juliette at Plant
Camellia. The Juliette River Club
was established in 1976 with the
purpose of cleaning up the river and
protecting the fish and wildlife. The
idea of emptying wastewater into the
river that we should ALL (city and
county residents) be trying to protect
goes against everything we stand for.
The river is one of Monroe counties
most valuable natural resources that
should be protected for generations
to come. As residents of Forsyth
and Monroe County we all have a
responsibility to be good stewards of
this precious resource.
The wastewater discharge pipeline
seems to be a temporary solution
to a long-term problem. As the city
of Forsyth grows how long will this
last, we are now seeing continuous
growth as families are fleeing the
surrounding areas seeking a better
hfe here. Our community strives to
have the best schools, low crime, and
a peaceful family environment. How
much better of a hfe is it if we con
taminate our river and are so careless
with our natural resources? Alternate
plans to the wastewater discharge
pipeline maybe more expensive;
however, it is better to build a per
manent solution today rather than
waste tax dollars on a temporary
solution that will cause irreparable
damage to our river.
We have an obligation to protect
our water and the surrounding wild
life. Water is what makes our planet
so unique and virtually everything
on our planet relies on it. Having
clean water is vital to our individual
health, our collective agricultural
needs, and the needs of our envi
ronment. It is the foundation of all
hfe and important to sanitation,
human rights, urbanization, sus
tainability, economic growth, etc.
Water pollution is a major problem
in todays world. According to the
United States Environmental Pro
tection Agency, 40% of the nations
waterways are suffering from water
quality problems, and 207 of our 397
national parks — 52 percent — have
waterways that do not meet appro
priate water quality standards under
the Clean Water Act. Polluting an
already scarce water supply further
reduces what can be safely used.
Realistically too many cities and
counties are dumping into the river
already. Do we want to be part of the
problem, or can we set the standard
of being part of the solution? We
seem to continue to kick the can
down the road, but it will create a
bigger problem that will not correct
itself. Have there been any discus
sions with other counties south of
us that utilize this river for their
drinking water? Oh Wait!! The river
we will dump into is the same river
Macon water authority pulls water
from to sell back to Monroe Coun
ty for OUR drinking water - think
about that. Once the river becomes
contaminated to the point that it is
no longer safe to drink the water,
where will our future generations’
drinking water come from?
The citizens of Monroe County
deserve better representation on
this issue. We need you to look to
the future for our children and our
grandchildren. Past generations
have sacrificed and endured extreme
expenses so we can enjoy our hfe in
the present day, which is pretty good
here. We need to do the same for
future generations.
Juliette River Club
JUST THE WAY IT IS by Sloan Oliver
Yes, your government lied to you
T o the surprise of
nobody
with any
common
sense, last week
the world defi
nitely learned that
the China
Virus/WuF-
lu/Covid-19
pandemic
was created
in a laboratory in Wuhan,
China. If you recall, as
early as April 2020,
President Trump
made the lab leak
claim. For mak
ing such a claim,
Trump was scorned,
ridiculed,
belittled, called
a conspiracy
theorist, oh, and
called a racist.
Well, this newspaper and
I agreed with Trump and
have been making the lab
claim as well. Let’s do a
quick review.
THREE YEARS ago,
China released the deadly
Covid-19 virus onto the
world. It originated in
Wuhan. The China com
munist party told us that
Covid, being a coro-
navirus, came from an
exotic animal such as a bat
or pangolin that was sold
in a local “wet market”
(a market that sells live
animals). Wuhan does
have wet markets. It also
has the Wuhan Institute of
Virology (WIV). The WIV
is China’s only level-4 bio
laboratory. The People’s
Republic of China’s own
See SLOAN Page 6A
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
Georgia Legislative Report
By Rep. Dale Washburn
dale.washbunWhouse. ga.gov
Recently, we passed the Amended Budget which
are adjustments in The State Budget for the remainder
of this Budget Year. Some highlights from the Amended
Budget are:
• 1 Billion Dollars in property tax relief
that will give $500 in property tax relief
to each homeowner
• $1 28 million to the Department of
Education for a midterm adjustment due to
an increase of 1 3,000 students
• $35.7 million for a rural workforce
housing fund
I am particularly pleased with the
property tax relief to our homeowners.
Local property taxes are growing across
Georgia and it is good to see this effort to
give some relief.
I am very concerned about the real estate taxation
system and the need for study of it with an eye on some
potential reform. The system has been in place for
decades and is unfair to homeowners who own homes
that are assessed at higher values which results in those
homeowners paying much higher taxes that those
homeowners who own homes that are assessed at much
lower values resulting in much lower property taxes.
The fact is that those who pay much higher property
taxes place no more demand on the service delivery
than those who pay much less. The system is badly
outdated, unfair and needs to be studied.
The item concerning 1 3,000 additional students in
the state are indicative of the situation in our state now
as we continue to grow. The growth presents many
problems with which to deal. Education, healthcare and
transportation and housing are all challenges.
The last item of money for work force housing is due
to the problem we have in a shortage of housing units
across the state. This funding is designed to help fund
housing development in rural areas. The housing
shortage in Georgia is real and is in the news more
and more.
There is a workforce housing shortage which
includes a shortage of affordable housing for first time
home buyers.
I introduced two bills this session, HB 51 4 and HB
51 7. Both are designed to help make the
development and construction of housing
easier and more affordable.
The Atlanta Journal and Constitution
reported that Stuart Countess, President
and CEO of KIA Georgia, issued a
statement in support of both bills. Obvious
ly, I am pleased that someone of his
standing endorsed these bills.
These bills were also endorsed by The
Georgia Chamber of Commerce, The
Georgia Association of Homebuilders and
The Georgia Association of REALTORS.
HB 51 4 has passed out of committee and I am
working to get it on the floor of The House for a vote.
The Georgia Municipal Association and Association
of County Commissioners of Georgia opposed HB 51 7
and were instrumental in delaying the passage out of
committee. The opposition is misguided and is harmful
to increasing housing stock in Georgia.
I will continue to fight these misguided policies of
over regulation. Too much regulation, whether at the
Federal, State or local level is not good for Georgia.
I am honored to represent you in The Georgia
House of Representatives. Please contact me with your
views on any issue. My email address is dale.wash-
burn'sfiouse.ga.gov
Rep. Dale Washburn
404-656-0152
401 -D Coverdell Legislative Office Bldg.
Atlanta, GA 30334
dale.washburn'sfiouse.ga.gov
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