Newspaper Page Text
Page 4C
sReporter
April 26, 2023
Emami unveils $500 RV tax at High Falls meeting
By Steve Reece
stevereece'-gmail.com
Monroe County commis
sioner George Emami told
25 members of the High
Falls community at a Town
Hall on Thursday, April 13
that the county will start
imposing a fee on people
who live in RVs.
The April 13 meeting
was held at the American
Legion Hall on Towaliga
South Road. District 3 com
missioner John Ambrose
and Sheriff Brad Freeman
were also in attendance
and the Town Hall covered
many subjects of interest to
High Falls residents.
Emami started off the
meeting by saying he ap
preciated that Ambrose
had shown up and had
been his wingman on more
than one occasion. He then
introduced Sheriff Freeman
saying Monroe County was
very fortunate to have one
of the best law enforcement
groups in existence. Both
men received spontaneous
applause.
Emami noted that many
people have wanted an up
date on the Lakeshore proj
ect. He said Monroe County
Road Superintendent Kim
Stokes said the repair cost a
quarter of a million dol
lars and was a big health
concern and hazard because
engineers explained that
the dam could blow. They
had to get legal opinions
about who was responsible
and is not a quick patch. He
said the contract that was
signed was for 120 days, but
Emami assured the group
that it wouldn’t be that long.
He said it was possible that
it could be completed by
the end of the month. He
knows it has been a pain
and has had several folks
texted him about it.
Emami also noted the
county commission is get
ting ready to pass a uniform
development ordinance
(UDO) and has had several
people text message him
about affordable housing.
He said after deliberation
and feedback from the com
munity it has been decided
that there would not be a
TRANSFERS
Continued from 1C
Forsyth, to Christopher
David Sundeen, 3281 Hwy
42 N, Forsyth, 224 Logwall
Church Road, Forsyth, a
portion of map 051, parcel
002,12 acres, $273,000
March 17
•Janet Hencely, 1645
Dames Ferry Road, For
syth, to Land Rare Man
agement, Forsyth, portion
of map 078, parcel 034,
$89,000
•Donald McKinney,
10518 Zebulon Road,
Forsyth, to Hinson Hays,
Macon, 107 Hawks Nest
Drive, Macon, Monroe
County, map 108F, parcels
029, 030,031, $485,000
•Michael S. Jones, 6851
Hwy. 87, Juliette, John
Jones, Juliette, 7138 Hwy.
87, Juliette, map 112A, par
cel 027,2.3 acres, $175,000
•David N. Ponce, Hous
ton, Texas, to Kelvin L.
Walls, Oxford, Boxankle
Road, Monroe County,
map 013, parcel 003V,
$23,000
March 20
•Bhavna Patel, Canton,
to Maher Abdulla, Cen
terville, 25 Chase Way,
Monroe County, map
092B, parcel 043,1.98
acres, $45,5000
March 21
•Edgar Hughston Builder,
Inc., Fortson, to Kenneth
Waddell, Jr., Forsyth, 5020
Tybalt Rim, Forsyth, map
053D, parcel 383, $364,900
High Falls residents came out to discuss community issues on Thursday, April 1 3. At right, sheriff Brad Freeman discussed
progress his office is making on the law enforcement front. (Photos/Steve Reece)
minimum square footage
requirement for the county.
He said that most people
don’t realize we’ve never had
one. The state requires that
the county conforms to the
International Residential
Code, which are construc
tion guidelines that the
county has adopted. There
is a minimum square foot
age between 150 and 200
square feet based on having
to build a bathroom and a
livable space but as far as the
county is concerned, they
aren’t restricting that.
Emami also spoke about
the RV situation, saying that
several different groups had
an interest in the problem
and that the commis
sion has tried to listen to
everyone. They have agreed
to let people use RVs for
permanent living under
certain circumstances in
particular zones. There will
be requirements for upkeep
and blighted property won’t
be allowed.
There will be a fee or a
tax for these homes which
will help fund the county
government’s requirements
for services. One of the
issues with the RVs is that
even if it is registered, which
a lot of them aren’t, only $ 1
goes into county coffers.
He said there needs to be
a reasonable amount paid
for services rendered. The
amount for the fee will be
somewhere around $500 a
year. He thinks that is a fair
number and it allows some
money to flow through the
county.
Ambrose stated that one
of his pet peeves was that
if you have a guy who has
four acres and on those
four acres, he’s renting out
12 spots. His tax on those
four acres is about $210.
He’s not paying anything for
the rentals. Ambrose said,
“The owners don’t live there
and rent out these places
from two to four hundred a
month. Some of the places
have kids going to public
schools. So, the school
hurts. The county hurts.”
Ambrose continued,
“With fire, police, ambu
lance, road department, and
sheriff’s office services, the
county is losing. And all
over the county, they look
like third-world dumps.
And we’re using the UDO
to try to get a handle on
that because it’s bringing in
some undesirable people
that are going to keep our
sheriff busy all the time, but
were working on it.”
Emami said unfortunately
this issue was not discussed
for many, many years. It
has been illegal to live in
a camper for 35 years. At
some point that law got
lax and so now we have a
push. People go to him and
the sheriff wondering why
they aren’t enforcing the
law. And now it’s come to
a head. Emami added that
unfortunately it happened
on his watch. But now we
must deal with it.
Emami said that if the
county finds out someone
is improperly disposing of
human waste, they will be
shut down immediately. He
said you can’t rim the waste
downhill into the woods
and that will be dealt with.
Ambrose added, “We
have residential areas and
agricultural areas where
businesses are popping up
overnight. These Airbnb’s,
or whatever you want to call
them, campgrounds and
things like that pop up in
a residential area. I’ve tried
for years to require a busi
ness license, even if were
only charging five bucks,
so we know what’s going
on. If you live in a subdivi
sion, you can’t suddenly
charge somebody to camp
out in your yard. We need
to know. The sheriff needs
to know. We might have
someone making explo
sives, bombs, and stuff in
there. This happens all the
time. They blow up. The fire
department needs to know’’
Ambrose also emphasized
he wanted to keep Monroe
County rural.
A gentleman in the audi
ence asked, “Why does the
Buck Creek launching area
that the state park controls
belong to the county?”
Emami admitted that it
was a good question, and
that the area may have been
given to the county at one
point. He said he remem
bered looking at that for a
possibility for a community
area or something along
those lines and he couldn’t
remember why it wasn’t do
able. He thinks there might
be an overlying easement
with Georgia Power.
A lady mentioned that the
High Falls area has so many
woods that people can
come in and do whatever
they want, right now, and
nobody knows what’s going
on a quarter mile down the
road. She said the attitude
of many people who have
lived there for many years
is that you can do whatever
you want on your property.
She said that was fine except
now very nice houses are
coming in, a lot of build
ings, and like you say people
don’t want to live next door
to a place that might blow
up.
Emami responded that he
has heard many people tell
him, “’It’s my property and
I can do what I want with it.’
But then, when something
comes up for a rezone, these
are the same people who
show up with the pitchforks.
Every day is a balancing
act.”
Sheriff Freeman took the
floor and updated the group
about the recently solved
34-year-old murder case
involving 23-year-old Mary
Louicile Willfong whose
body was found dumped
along the side of Johnston-
ville Road in 1989. Reverse
DNA was performed, and
possible suspects were
narrowed down to three
brothers. One of the broth
ers, Larry Padgett, now 59,
was located working for a
trucking company in Indi
ana on March 1 and he was
found to be a perfect match.
He was extradited to the
Monroe County Jail with a
warrant for murder.
He also brought up a
recent incident involving
the Cross Creek squatters
who were removed from a
$500,000 home by depu
ties last month. Instead of
eviction, Freeman said
Travis and Johnnella Randle
were arrested on charges
of breaking into the home.
They had moved in with
their two children. Freeman
added that squatters have
become a huge problem
across the U.S
The sheriff also spoke
about the requirements for
sex offenders in the area
saying that once an of
fender moves into Monroe
County they must immedi
ately register. He reminded
the group that if they tell
the sheriff’s department
something, they will act. He
emphasized, “You gotta let
us know’’
RAFF, INC.
Better Built By Raff
•Southern Oak Develop
ment, LLC, Macon, to Em
mett Yeoman, 851 Orange
Street, Macon, 3391 Hwy.
42 N„ Monroe County,
map 052, parcel 00ID,
$145,000
•GA Land Partners, LLC,
Forsyth, to Travis Wyatt
Wynes, Hwy. 41, Lot 15,
Monroe County, map 029,
parcel 015U, $175,000
•Gregory Paul Tucker,
Forsyth, to Stacy Sanders,
67 Gose Road, Forsyth,
map 080, parcel 007,
$250,000
•Virgil Ray Simms, III,
Jefferson, to Joseph R.
Egloff, Bolingbroke, 14926
Hwy. 74, Monroe County,
map 022, parcel 002C,
$125,000
•William Scott Jones,
Great Falls, Va„ to Traci
Ryan, Forsyth, 110 Chas
tain Drive, Forsyth, map
026H, parcel 047, $970,000
•Crystal H. Bales, For
syth, to John David Sand
lin, Forsyth, 133 Fairway
Run, Forsyth, map 026C,
parcel 036, $700,000
March 22
•Mike Cleveland Hick
man, Forsyth, to Jarrod A.
Evans, Forsyth, 729 Gose
Road, Forsyth, map 079B,
parcel 009,0.44 acres,
$16,320
•Sherroll C. Flanagan,
Forsyth, to Kevin Wayne
Bryant, Covington, 22326
Stokes Store Road, Forsyth,
portion of map 062, parcel
003, 74.35 acres, $435,000
•Glenn D. Hamlin,
Unadilla, to Roy Brooks
Greene, Juliette, 370 Searcy
Drive, Juliette, map 107A,
parcel 033, $212,000
March 23
•MHC of Georgia, LLC,
Bogart, Clifford E. Fedd,
243 Presidents Way, For
syth, Monroe County, map
054B, parcel 140, $349,400
•Liberty Communities,
LLC, Stockbridge, to Doris
Colston-Skinner, 119 Sara
Kay Lane, Macon, Monroe
County, map 103E, parcel
064, $347,000
•Billy Ray Hargrove,
Macon, to Zackary Wil
liams Jordan, 756 Charles
Johnson Road, Forsyth,
Monroe County, map
017, parcel 032D,
$150,000
•Land Holding
Company, LLC, Macon,
to Shelby E. and Raymond
C. Moore, III, 210 Conifer
Drive, Forsyth, Monroe
County, portion of map
043, parcel 002, $136,000
March 24
•The Jireh Real Estate,
LLC, Atlanta, to Steven
Tran, Forsyth, 67 Newton
Street, map F21, parcel 026,
$265,000
•Joshua M. Marsh, 956
Chapman Drive, Macon,
to Charles E. and Carol A.
Hicks, Forsyth, 2599 Las
siter Road, Forsyth, map
073A, parcel Oil, $262,000
•Samuel A. and Whitney
M. Baggarly, 124 Presidents
Way, Forsyth, to Meredith
Homes, Inc., McDonough,
Josey Road, Forsyth, map
056, parcel 003H, $75,000
•Kevin Roy, Thomaston,
Ct„ to Kansas Mechelle
Singleton, Forsyth, 302 In
www.cannonroofingcompany.com f
dian Falls Drive, map 050,
parcel 058, $165,000
•Karen Farr, Kathy
McGrath and Kimberly
Mosely, Eatonton, to
Bolingbroke Business Park,
Bolingbroke, Monroe
County, map 092, parcel
003 8c 004,25.98 acres,
$1,051,590
•Jeff Smith, Byron, to
John Hudson, Byron, Mon
roe County, map 038, par
cel 016 8c 016A, $178,620
March 27
•Jacob D. Johnson, 534
Pioneer Trail, Jackson, to
See TRANSFERS • Page 5C
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jerraff@bellsouth.net
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126 N. Jackson Street
Forsyth, GA 31029
(478) 960-9800