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THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. MARCH 12, 2009 — PAGE 7A Appraiser .cont’dfrom 1A our citizens.” Board of assessor (BOA) chair man David Ragland told com missioners Monday that the BOA had no one to recommend to the post and he asked the BOC to offer more direction on what the county is willing to pay for a chief appraiser. “We have looked and re-looked at our application pool,” said Ragland. “.. .Right now. we have no one who is ready to be brought forward to the board of commis sioners. But we are looking and trying to recruit. Unfortunately, we're not receiving many applica tions.” Pethel said he felt the BOA missed out on qualified appraisers who were willing to do the job for less than $75,000. “We had at least two applicants with revaluation experience who requested $60,000 to $65,000,” said Pethel. “I don’t know what happened to those applicants and why they weren't brought to the board.” But other commissioners said saving a few thousand dollars on a chief appraiser’s salary isn’t worth continuing a nearly decade long trend of late digests. Those tardy digests have led to tax levying entities in the county having to borrow money to keep the gov ernment operating, while paying interest on those loans. There have also been questions about the uni formity of values in the county — whether people with similar properties are taxed similarly. The chief appraiser oversees the assessment of property values in the county. That person not only determines whether individual properties are appropriately val ued, he or she also oversees the establishment of a county digest (or overall county property value), which is the first step in the county property tax revenue process. "This person has an awesome responsibility,” said Commissioner Stanley Thomas. “...Other coun ties don’t pay $80,000 to $100,000 (for a chief appraiser) for no rea son.” Thomas noted that $75,000 is a lot of money but pointed out that salaries for other skilled posi tions in the county are comparable in pay. He said a qualified chief appraiser could eliminate late digests, improve the uniformity in values and perform an in-house revaluation. These things would ultimately save the county far more money than what is spent on a greater salary, he said. Madison County plans to revalue all prop erties in the county, a process that could cost several hundred thousand dollars if performed by an outside agency. "We have to have the values more in order and get the digests out on time," said Thomas. Someone in the audience moaned when the $75,000 figure was first discussed. But commissioners Bruce Scogin and Mike Youngblood agreed with Thomas, saying the $75,000 salary will be worthwhile if the county can attract a qualified appraiser who brings some stabil ity to county assessments. Scogin addressed the moaner. "I know how it hurts," he said of increasing the salary. “But every day is putting us farther behind.” Dove said the BOA needs to act quickly to get a recommendation for a chief appraiser to the com missioners. The board wants to avoid a late digest in 2009, which could lead to more borrowed money in 2010 if tax revenues lag behind schedule. Ragland said he felt the 2009 digest can still be completed on schedule, despite the difficulties finding a chief appraiser. Bill ..cont’dfrom 1A Nadya Suleman happening in Georgia,” said Hudgens, refer ring to the widely publicized case of a California single moth er of six who gave birth to octu- plets with the help of in vitro fertilization. Many were outraged that Suleman will likely require government assistance to raise her children and that doctors implanted so many embryos in a single mother of six. Hudgens’ legislation was criti cized as over-reaching, possibly reducing the chances of some women to have just one child. "The criticism I got is that it’s more restrictive than the American Society of Reproductive Medicine guide lines and I'm willing to accept those guidelines,” said Hudgens Friday. “So I think that will defang that argument.” Hudgens also said Friday that "it’s too early to play taps" on SB 169 this legislative session, noting that a committee meeting Monday morning could give the bill new life. After that meeting Monday, Hudgens said the committee agreed to eliminate language regarding in vitro fertilization. "That’s something we will study more and consider at a later date," he said. However, the amended bill will address embryonic stem cell research in Georgia, prohibiting the creation of new embryonic stem cell lines in the state. The senator said this legislation, if passed, would prohibit scientists from taking a fertilized human egg and killing it for research purposes. The bill declares that: "A liv ing in vitro human embryo is a biological human being who is not the property of any person or entity.” "This will not limit, retard or restrict stem cell research in Georgia,” said Hudgens. "It just restricts the creation of new stem cell lines in Georgia.” Hudgens said stem cell lines created in other states could still be used for research in Georgia. The District 47 senator said the bill also prohibits cloning and research involving human- animal hybrids. "I think it was the right thing to do,” said Hudgens of Monday’s amendments. “It's my bill and if I didn’t think it was right, then I could let it die.” Critics of the bill say that it will hurt medical progress in Georgia. "Should that bill become law, it will halt the embryonic stem cell research in Georgia that offers the promise of curing Alzheimer's and repairing spinal cord injuries,” wrote The Atlanta Journal Constitution's Maureen Downey in a March 10 editorial. Rock .cont’dfrom 1A said Jones, who has created three-dimensional art ever since childhood. As a resident of Carlton, Jones lives just miles from Elberton, the "Granite Capital of the World.” Noticing the rock quarry trucks that often passed by his house, Jones became inspired. "I just really like the idea of carving local, indigenous rock that was pulled out of the ground last week,” he said. “There’s real ly something cool about that.” The difference between Jones and many artists is that he found a way make his craft pay. Today, Jones is one of few with the job title, “professional granite sculp tor.” After carving his first gran ite pieces from Tiny Town rock, Jones set out in his vehicle seek ing employment, not fully know ing where he was going. "I just sort of said a prayer, looking for guidance ... I didn’t know where I was going,” he said. “I left my house and drove straight over here.” "Here” would be Century Granite Company Elberton, where he’s carved since Dec. 6. Carving granite monuments is something of a lost art in the United States since most every one places their orders with China, where the work is done so cheaply. Cemeteries have also become more corporate, Jones said, preferring the lower main tenance flat headstones over ornate granite monuments. On this particular Saturday in his work shed in Elberton, Jones, armed with gloves and a protective mask to keep the toxins out of his lungs, fash ions what was once a 1,500-lb. hunk of solid granite into what will eventually be an angel. The sculptures of Mike Jones will be on display in Carlton this week end. When he’s done with that, anoth er 1,500-lb. block awaits Jones. “It’s kind of intimidating,'’ he said. He has to sculpt two angels. Both will be sent to a cemetery in Alabama. Jones likes the idea that the art he creates is being sent all over the country. He has a bid for a project for New Orleans’ famed Metairie Cemetery. But he is interested in carving for someone locally, too. He notes a U.S. tradition of local carvers, pointing out that there are 300-year-old monu ments in Massachusetts for which they still know the carver. “It’d be really nice to have something local, too,” Jones said. PAINFUL WORK Jones — who has also carved wood, standstone and limestone — compares his work with granite to one his other artistic endeavors. “I’m a saxophone player,” said Jones, who now plays with a band called Athens A-train. “With saxophone, you really don’t play solo ... The good thing about this is that it’s just really solo. You don’t have to worry about whether anybody else can do it. I can just come over here and get lost in my own little trance.” On a good day Jones will carve 12 hours. On a bad day, maybe 7-8 hours. There’s just one problem. “It gets painful,” said Jones, who says he suffers from arthri tis. “That’s the one drawback about it ... You know these Opus Dei guys that like whip themselves, like you see in the Da Vinci Code. I feel like those guys when I’m in here carving a Virgin Mary or Jesus. I have to stop. Ah, man, my back is screaming.” But through the pain, Jones feels he’s found his calling artis tically — and professionally. “I’ve done a lot of crazy stuff over the years — private eye, tile setter, saxophone repairman — but I like this the best,” he said. REWARDING, BUT Cf ^ Fareha Rahim, MD”S Internal Medicine < w We are now located at our new office at 613 Hospital Road Commerce, Georgia 30529 7 Commerce Medical Center 706-335-9411 MCR, MCD, BC/BS, CIGNA (HMO/PPO) AMERIGROUP, AARP, UHC l County received 8.1” of snow says weather expert By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews.com The numbers are in, and the winter storm of 2009 officially dropped 8.1 inches of snow on Madison County, according to a local weather gum. Paired with the rainfall that pre ceded the heavy snow, the county received the liquid equivalent of 5.13 inches of precipitation. “So it was a real boon for the short term,” said Mark Jenkins, the coun ty’s cooperative weather observer. “Long term, it’s debatable how the pattern sets up.” Jenkins said the heavy snow and rainfall was largely localized to Madison County and the Athens area, noting that the north Georgia mountains received substantially less. “That’s where it really needs to fall — north of Atlanta and Athens, and particularly from north of Gainesville to Toccoa,” he said. “That’s the headwaters of all the big lakes ... But it was good for our area, absolutely.” The snowstorm of 2009 was per haps the biggest in the county in nearly 70 years. A winter snowstorm in Jan. 1940 likely takes tops honors for the most snow accumulation ever in Madison County. Jenkins said his father told him that the Athens area received 11 inches back then. “That’s the biggest storm that we've had,” Jenkins said. The storm of 2009 compares similarly to a March 24,1983 snow storm that blitzed Athens area. Athens received 8.7 inches of snow in that year and Jenkins mea sured 8 inches in Madison County. “I wasn’t really official back then," Jenkins said. "I didn't have a snowboard to put out like I did this time. But I just rank this one probably a little bit heavier than that one.” As far as disruption, the storm of 2009 ranks closely with a Feb. 1979 winter system that brought a combination of sleet, snow and then ice to Madison County. Some county citizens went with out power for eight days. "That was, I think, in many ways was worse than this one,” Jenkins said. Jenkins, who resides in Danielsville, has lived in the county nearly all his fife and has studied weather ever since tornadoes hit the Athens area in 1973 when he was 12. "That was kind of the beginning of my interest in it,” he said. Today, Jenkins is part of a volun teer program across the nation that monitors local weather. "Basically you just keep the records,” he said. "My training has just been self-trained, reading and studying about it." Founder’s Corner by Buhl Cummings EAGLES MOVE ON ...After winning the Region 8-A championship, the Eagles moved on in the State playoffs by winning over North Georgia Cobb Christian School on Wednesday evening in the 'Sweet Sixteen’ game, 77-68. They now move on to the ‘Elite Eight’. The next opponent will be Greenforest Academy from Region 7-A, on Saturday (March 7) at Marietta High School. The Eagles, under Head Coach Ron Link, have had a great season and are now 27-2. The boys have worked very hard and the hard work has paid off. In our academic, athletic, and fine arts programs at ACS, the students learn the “work ethic”, so important to future success in life. 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