About The Banks County news. (Homer, Banks County, Ga.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (March 26, 2008)
Sports: IB Soccer Leopards clinch berth in area playoffs News: 2A V " i flu Safety check in Baldwin March 26,2008 The Banks County News 504^ Homer, Banks County, Georgia 30547 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. • mainstreetnews.com • 26 Pages, 3 Sections Plus Supplements • Vol. 39 No. 33 Williams gets fine, probation Former ADA charged with misdemeanor instead of felony BY ANGELA GARY The assistant district attorney pulled into a scheme to take money from Banks County pled guilty Tuesday to misdemeanor charges of being party to a crime. Former ADA Brett Williams was fined $500 and given 12 months probation and ordered to complete 50 hours of community service on a mis demeanor charge. The action stems from the theft case made against for mer Piedmont Judicial Circuit District Attorney Tim Madison. Williams was originally arrested on felony charges of theft in connection with the case against Madison. On Tuesday, the felony charges against Williams were dismissed. Meanwhile, a hearing with Madison’s wife, Linn Jones, on related theft charges has been rescheduled to April 18. Jones worked in the DA’s office as well and faces charges related to having falsified payroll documents. She was on both the Banks County and Jackson County payrolls. WILLIAMS The scheme with Madison and Williams involved having Banks County pay a full-time salary for Williams, who was already being paid a full-time salary as ADA by the state. The Banks County salary was paid to Williams, who then passed a por tion of it on to Madison. Madison put the money into a personal checking account and used it for a variety of things, including purchasing a $7,000 motorcycle. At Tuesday’s hearing, David McLaughlin of the Georgia Attorney General’s Office spoke on Williams’ role in the case. “If Mr. Williams didn’t know a deception was being perpetuated on Banks County, he surely should have known,” he said. Williams’ attorney, Nick Litito, said his client was not working with Madison to steal the funds. continued on page 2A f 7 WILLIAMS News - 2-3A •Pedestrian death ruled an accident — page 2A •Development authority holds closed meeting — page 3A Op/Ed • ‘Trip home helps keep life in perspective’ — page 4A Other news •Social News — pages 9-11A •Public Safety — page 6A •Legals — page 5B • Church — page 8A • Obituaries — page 7A State review finds improved conditions 95 percent pass rate reported at Banks County fire department BY ANGELA GARY A state fire organization returned to Banks County last week for a review of state require ments being met and found that 95 percent of all skills checked passed. This was not the case two months ago, when the county only had a 39 percent pass rate. The Georgia Firefighter Standards and Training Council, located in Forsyth, visited Banks County Fire Services on Jan. 3 and again on March 18-20. “On Jan. 3, all stations were in good order and met the requirements for compliance,” according to the written report from David Cummings of the fire training council. “We also checked the train ing records for the continued annual training and core competency checkoffs and we noticed that all records were incomplete. We could not locate the records for the continued annual training and the core competency check off books were not completed. When we rode out to the stations, you had nine personnel on duty that were state certified to spot check on the core competencies. Of the 18 skills done, only seven were passed giving the department a 39 percent pass rate.” The council decided to conduct another site visit March 18-20. The results from that follow up visit, were as follows: “out of the 19 personnel on duty, they performed a total of 57 checkoffs with three failures.. .95 percent of all skills checked were passed. The training records were in excellent order with all recommendations met. I would like to con gratulate you and your staff on a job well done.” FIRST TRIP TO EGG HUNT Thirteen-month-old Maren Hanson, Commerce, celebrates her first trip to the annual Garrison egg hunt, riding in a wagon that her parents made for her. See more photos from the 49th annual event in Homer on page 12A. Photo by Justin Poole Five-member BOC proposal goes before state BY CHRIS BRIDGES If approval is received at the state level, Banks County voters will have the opportunity to change the form of county government when they go to the polls this November. State senator Nancy Schaefer is introducing legis lation to the senate which would give Banks County voters the choice of going from a three-member board of commissioner to a five-member board. If approved in the senate, the bill would then need to be approved by the house before being placed on the ballot. Once approved at the state level, the binding refer- continued on page 2A Maysville to jump police dept. fine income 50% Maysville Budget Income City Court Fines LOST Property Taxes Other General Govt. 2007 $100,000 $254,000 $84,000 $148,163 2008 $150,000 $255,000 $78,800 $151,337 TOTAL INCOME $586,163 $635,137 Expenses Public Safety $266,900 $309,800 General Govt. $190,700 $211,700 Planning $5,000 $4,000 Library $57,300 $52,300 DDA $5,000 $2,500 Public Works $43,000 $36,700 Fire-Intergovernmental $18,200 $18,100 $586,200 $635,137 BY CHRIS BRIDGES With little discussion, the Maysville City Council approved a 2008 budget that is eight percent higher than 2007 during a called meet ing Monday night. The new budget calls for a 50 per cent jump in city police fine income, which suggests the department will be stopping and fining more motorists during the year. The budget calls for municipal court fines to go from $100,000 in 2007 to $150,000 in 2008, a 50 per cent increase. The budget also calls for a 14 percent drop in the town’s tax rate on its Jackson County residents and a slight increase in the Banks County rate. The 2008 Jackson County rate was set at 2.728 mills, down from 3.194 mills last year. The 2008 Banks County rate was set at .81 mills, up from .71 mills in 2007. Together, city property TOTAL EXPENSES tax income is expected to decline by 6 percent. A third public hearing was held on the city budget prior to Monday’s called meeting. No citizens were in atten dance. Councilmember Lynn Villyard inquired about obtaining additional funds for the library, but mayor Jerry Baker said no addi tional money was available. The library budget is cut in the 2008 budget. EXPENSES On the expense side, the city cut most departments’ spending, except for general government and the police continued on page 2A Maysville to vote on Dollar General BY CHRIS BRIDGES The Maysville City Council could decide at its upcoming April 7 meeting on a request from Dollar General to build a store on the Jackson County side of the city. The Maysville Planning Commission voted 2-1 earlier this month to approve Dollar General’s plans for a store off Hwy. 98 and Newton Drive across from the Golden Pantry. The area is currently a vacant lot. The Maysville City Council was going to vote on the matter at its regular meeting earlier this month, but city attorney Gary Freeman said it first had to be presented to them by the city’s newly established plan ning and zoning commission. Freeman also advised city officials that it always is best to abide by the planning and zoning rules, otherwise, everyone making a request would have to be granted a vari ance. The issue is expected to be discussed at the regular April 7 council meeting, sched uled for 7 p.m. in the city library. Rec. dept. plans parade BY CHRIS BRIDGES Another rite of spring will arrive in Banks County Saturday. The Banks County Parks and Recreation Department will host its annual opening day ceremonies, including a parade beginning at 10 a.m. at Banks County Elementary School. Recreation director Philip Cronic said this week the parade will conclude at the first recreation field on Thompson Street. Following the parade, an opening day ceremony will be held where the teams will be introduced along with the season’s ceremonial first pitch, Cronic said. The Banks County Parks and Recreation Department will have 34 continued on page 2A OPENING PERFORMANCE FOR FINE ARTS NIGHT The chorus classes from all the Banks County schools performed an opening piece to an overflowing auditorium at the Banks County Fine Arts Night on Thursday. See page 8B for more photos from the evening. Photo by Justin Poole
