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O The www.MadisonJournalTODAY.com MARCH 19, 2009 Merged with The Comer News and The Danielsville Monitor, 2006 Vol. 24 No. 12 • Publication No. 1074-987 • Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. • 38 Pages, 3 Sections Plus Supplements TAXES Dove says BOC must take control of appraiser search Interim chief resigns Mon. By Zach Mitcham zach@mainstreetnews.com T he appraisal office is woe fully short- staffed. The interim head of county appraisals tendered her resignation Monday. And there are no prospects for a chief appraiser. Madison County has long been known for its tax assessment turmoils, but a bad situation is get ting worse. And county commission chairman Anthony Dove said its time for that to change. “We’ve got to quit the blame game and get in here and take control of this,” said Dove. “This has been the biggest prob lem Madison County has had for a long time. I was elected to try to take care of this. And that's what I’m going to do.” The chairman called a commissioners meeting Wednesday to discuss changing county policies, essentially taking the county board of asses sors out of the process of hiring a chief appraiser. (That meeting took place after press time for this week's paper.) Madison County’s tax digest has been late for eight straight years. County assessors are shooting for May to get tax assessment notices out to property own ers. But officials worry that the county could be headed for another tardy digest, considering that it is mid March and the county remains with out a person to head the appraisal department. “Were talking about taking the hiring away from them (the BOA) and getting a consultant to come in here and look at what has been done, — See “Taxes’ on 2A ZONING No inert landfill for Nowhere Road By Margie Richards margie@mainstreetnews.com There will be no inert landfill on Nowhere Road, at least not for the time being. James (Jimbo) and Connie Arnold, of 10315 Nowhere Road, withdrew their request Friday for a conditional use permit for an inert landfill for con crete recycling, according to planning and zoning administrator Linda Fortson. The planning and zoning commission was sched uled to hold the first of two public hearings on the matter on Tuesday, March 17, followed by a second hearing before the board of commissioners Monday, April 6. Fortson said her office has received numerous phone calls about the landfill since the application was filed. “We had a lot of calls and a lot of people came by the office, and they were not in favor of it,” Fortson said. She said that neighboring property owners were concerned about the noise from the “grinder” and about run-off from the property. The Arnolds had requested the permit for a four to five acre portion of a 25.02 acre tract that is cur rently zoned A-l which contains the Arnolds’ home, a horse bam and a shop. 2009 Agriculture Edition Madison Co. Ag Day set for Sat. Special ag insert — Inside this week’s Madison County Journal, “The ABC’s of Agriculture,” a 10-page special section celebrating agriculture education in Madison County. Inside: County ag center plans forge ahead, 3A By Zach Mitcham zach@mainstreetnews.com Madison County citizens will cel ebrate the county’s ag culture and heritage Saturday with the annual “ag day” at the Madison County Freshman Academy. The event will open with the roar of tractor engines, with a 9 a.m. trac tor parade beginning in the school What: Madison County Ag Day When: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday (tractor parade begins at 9 a.m.) Where: The Madison County Freshman Academy (in the old MCMS parking lot) parking lot. Tractors will travel down Madison Street to Hwy. 29, then turn — See ‘Ag Day’ on 2A Stewards of the land Terry Chandler, Danielsville, is pictured at Still Water Farm with his daughter, Kimberly (L), and wife Deborah (C). Governor recognizes Terry Chandler as state’s most environmentally sound farmer By Zach Mitcham zach@mainstreetnews.com T he cows know the drill. It’s time to move. And Terry Chandler opens one of his tri-corner gates, which allows him to easily move the animals from one patch of pasture to another. The rotational grazing practice is one of many efficient systems at Still Water Farm in Danielsville. Take a pickup truck down the main cattle and equipment traf fic lane on the farm, and look out toward the pasture land, and even the novice, the non farmer, can recognize the order in the place, the way cows are kept out of creek water, the way the stormwater funnels to the drainage pond. You quickly get the illusion of easy work, the way a good guitarist makes the fingers glide on a fretboard, making you feel you could just pick it up and do the same, no problem. Yeah, it looks easy. But it ain’t. Chandler and his wife, Deborah, bought the 200-plus acres on Fowler Freeman Road in 1987. There was so much to do. Centuries of row-crop production on the land had wiped out the topsoil. There were collapsing structures, a termite-infested 19 th century farmhouse, a hog finishing floor in shambles, jungles of Chinese privet, severe erosion. There were five old home sites concealed by overgrowth, four abandoned wells, a wooded area “robbed of mature pines” and a “silted-in farm pond whose dam was about to collapse.” “We were almost at a loss wondering where to begin,” said Chandler. “Twenty four thousand hogs, one million pullets, several hundred cows, a few vegetables, 150 acres of fescue and hybrid Bermuda, three college educations and 20 years later, things look a little different.” Madison County Extension Coordinator Carl Vamadoe said the Chandlers’ resto ration of the out-of-shape property into one of the most environmentally friendly family farms around is truly remarkable. And state officials agree. Chandler has been named the winner of the Governor’s Agricultural Environmental Stewardship Award. The Governor announced Tuesday that Chandler was chosen for the award out of five finalists. “Terry’s farm is a point of pride for Madison County agriculture,” said Vamadoe. “He has taken a farm that was literally stripped of all of its resources — See “Chandler’ on 2A “We’re stewards here for just a short period of time. And we feel very strongly that it’s OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO LEAVE THINGS IN BETTER CONDITION THAN WE FOUND THEM.” Terry Chandler, Still Water Farm INSIDE Index: News—1-3A Opinions— 4-5A Crime— 6A Socials — 8-9A, 15A Obituaries— 10-11A Churches— 14A Schools— 16A Sports—1-3B Legate—4-9B Contact: Phone: 706-795-2567 Fax: 706-795-2765 Mail: PO. Box 658, Danielsville, GA, 30633 Web: MadisonJoumaUODAY.com Raider baseball team rolls The Madison County var sity baseball team blasted defending state champion Loganville 12-2 Tuesday. The 6-2 Raiders are now 3-0 in region play. — PagelB EDUCATION Seven Madison Co. teachers face layoffs However, number should decrease, officials say By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews.com Seven Madison County teach ers — six full-time and one half time — face layoffs as school leaders try to cope with less state funding for teaching positions next year. That number should decrease, however, as three positions have recently become available, so these seven teachers will inter view for those slots. “Three of them will be offered a contract,” Madison County School Superintendent Mitch McGhee said. The school system hopes to Inside: Significance of stimulus to schools unclear, 3A avoid layoffs — or reduction in force (RIF) — or limit them as much as possible when contract renewals are due in April. Once faced with cutting 15 teaching positions due to a lack of state funding, Madison County school leaders have gradually reduced that number by moving existing teachers into the slots of those retiring or resigning. Since the school system won’t issue contracts until April, there’s the possibility of more resignations from teachers look ing for jobs elsewhere, which could further save layoffs. “That’s why I keep calling it potential (layoffs), because there’s certainly a decent chance that we won’t have to RIF,” McGhee said. Contracts must be issued by April 15, though a recent legis lative measure might extend the deadline to May 15. If a school system doesn’t notify a teacher by the contract deadline that they don’t have a job, then that teacher’s contract automatically renews. That’s why the school system is addressing layoffs now. Should Madison County have to make cuts in April, there’s still a chance those jobless teachers could be rehired since additional positions tend to open up after the contract deadline. As far as staff positions at the schools, cuts to paraprofessional and clerical workers are on hold since national stimulus package money might save those jobs. Considering layoffs in the education business has been a tough process, McGhee said. “It’s about relationships with children and between the adults,” he said. “It’s not a good thing no matter what the business is, but it seems to be especially tough in education because the rela tionships and the people part of it are so important.”