Newspaper Page Text
The
www.MadisonJournalTODAY.com
APRIL 9, 2009
Merged with The Comer News and The Danielsville Monitor, 2006
Vol. 24 No. 15 • Publication No. 1074-987 • Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. • 22 Pages, 2 Sections Plus Supplements
CRIME
TAXES
Alleged
thefts totaled
nearly 200K
BOC lays out reasons
for removing assessors
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews. com
Former Danielsville City
Clerk Michelle Dills alleg
edly took close to $200,000
from the city during a six-
year span.
According to the Georgia
Bureau of Investigation, a
review of audits from fiscal
years 2003 to 2008 revealed
that Dills allegedly took “in
excess of $196,000’’ in city
funds.
Dills, 37, currently faces
one felony charge of theft
by taking. However, more
charges could be added.
“When the case is pre
sented to the Grand Jury,
the district attorney has the
option of indicting her on
additional charges,’’ said
GBI Special Agent Jim
Fullington, whose office
turned over results of its
investigation to District
Attorney Bob Lavender
Wednesday.
The next Madison County
Grand Jury is scheduled to
convene April 20.
Fullington said he does
not have a count on how
many alleged theft inci
dents there were between
2003-2008, but he said the
investigation revealed a
consistent pattern of tak-
Michelle
Dills
ing funds from the city by
Dills. He declined to elabo
rate on how the money was
taken, but said she took city
funds in “more than one
way.” Fullington said he did
not know what she alleg
edly did with the money or
whether she might have any
of it to return.
The investigation revealed
no evidence of involvement
by anyone other than Dills
in the thefts.
The GBI launched the
investigation into Dills’
alleged thefts after a 2006
audit revealed that the city
clerk had apparently taken
about $56,000 in city funds
that year.
Dills was a bonded city
employee, meaning that the
city may be able to recoup
the lost money through its
bonding agency.
FEDERAL FUNDS
DOT stimulus
money won’t help
Hwy. 72 expansion
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
The Georgia Department of Transportation has
over $300 million worth of federal stimulus money
to spend on road projects — none of which will
impact the stalled widening of Hwy. 72 in Madison
County.
The federal money must go toward “shovel-ready
projects,” and the next phase to widen Hwy. 72 is
far from that, according to a DOT spokeswoman.
“So (projects) that were ready to start construc
tion, that’s where the money went — not neces
sarily to the projects that was most important for
MACORTS (Madison Athens-Clarke Oglethorpe
Regional Transportation Study),” Teri Pope said.
The DOT widened Hwy. 72 to four lines from
the Clarke County line all the way through Colbert
— See ‘Stimulus’ on 2A
— See entire termination letter, Page 6A
— BOC to consider chief appraiser
recommendation Thursday, Page 3A
Dismissed assessors vow
to continue working
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
Madison County commis
sioners spelled out tire reasons
Monday for booting the county
board of assessors (BOA).
County attorney Mike Pruett
presented each commissioner
with a thick stack of allegations
against the assessors. The BOC
met in closed session for about 30
minutes to review the document,
then approved a four-page letter
summarizing the charges against
four assessor board members who
are being removed from their
posts: chairman David Ragland,
vice-chairman Samantha Garland,
Larry Stewart and Jim Escoe.
The BOC says the assessors
...The BOC could not
IN GOOD CONSCIENCE
ALLOW THE CHIEF AP
PRAISER VACANCY TO
CONTINUE DRAGGING ON,
AND IT CANNOT IN GOOD
CONSCIENCE THROW AN
OTHER CHIEF APPRAISER
INTO A SITUATION OF
UNTENABLE CONFLICT
WITH THE BOA.”
— From BOC’s termination
letter to the BOA
have failed to submit tax digests by
deadline, that they failed to secure
a chief appraiser, that there has
— See ‘Letter’ on 2A
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
County assessor board members
showed up Thursday for their reg
ular meeting, vowing to continue
with business as usual until they are
officially let go and all appeals are
exhausted.
“We have been challenged and
voted on by the BOC to be removed,”
said BOA chairman David Ragland
to his fellow assessor members. "I
understand there will be a letter forth
coming. We have been asked not to
go down to the (appraisal) office. We
have been told that we are no longer
in charge of the day-to-day operation
of the office — that the chairman
of the board of commissioners is
in charge. The question was asked,
‘how might the board approach this?’
Would anyone care to address this?"
Board member Jim Escoe respond
ed that he will continue to work until
he is removed.
“As long as I sit here I have a job
to do," he said, urging the group
to move forward with review of
approximately 175 conservation use
applications.
BOA member Larry Stewart said
he will also continue working.
“I would agree with that and just
say that we still have a duty to per
form — and I don't exactly know
where this ends up or doesn’t — but
I do know that by law we are still
— See ‘Assessors’ on 2A
Easter in Madison County
Three-year old Ansley Darling pets a baby rabbit owned by Peter
and Sandy Loose at Saturday’s FolkLife in Georgia festival held in
the Madison County Memorial Park in Danielsville. Photo by Charles
Richards
Mario Godfrey, 1, Colbert, and
Lizzi Jo Brewer, 2, picked up plen
ty of eggs at the Madison County
Recreation Department’s annual
Easter egg hunt. Zach Mitcham/Staff
Amber Fowler, 4, Colbert, fills her
basket at the county Easter egg
hunt.
INSIDE
Index:
News — 1-3A.5-6A
Opinions— 4A
Crime— 7A
Obituaries— 8-9A
Churches— 10A
Socials — 11-12A
School —13-14A
Sports—1-2B
Legate— 3-9B
Contact:
Phone: 706-795-2567
Fax: 706-795-2765
Mail: P.O. Box 658,
Danielsville, GA, 30633
Web:
MadisonJoumalTODAY.com
8 ,, 0 4879 14144* 0
Raiders streak
snapped
Madison County’s
12-game win
ning streak was
snapped with a
loss to Heritage
Tuesday.
— Page 1B
CITY NEWS
High costs for few
early ballots in Colbert
Mayor not a fan of
early voting process
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
Smaller cities shouldn’t be subjected to the
same early voting protocol as larger munici
palities since they lure few early votes, Colbert
Mayor John Waggoner says.
“The early voting is something that needs
to be looked at really hard by our representa
tives from the standpoint of the size of the
municipality,” he said.
Colbert is again holding early and advanced
voting since Evelyn Patton Power and Ellyn
Trinrud are vying against one another in a
Tuesday runoff.
Neither garnered a majority of the vote in a
three-way race March 17 for the vacated seat
of councilman Jeff Roberts.
The mayor noted that only six voters cast
their ballots early during that election.
Still, election mles required Colbert to keep
the polls open — and the expense that came
with that — for three business weeks.
Now, the city is paying for the entire pro-
— See ‘Colbert’ on 5A
COUNTY SEAT
Dairy Queen, convenience
store slated for Hwy. 98
By Margie Richards
margie@mainstreetnews.com
Residents will soon have
another place for folks to
grab a meal and fill up their
gas tanks.
The Danielsville City
Council helped pave the way
at its regular council meet
ing Monday night for a new
Dairy Queen restaurant and
full-service convenience store
that plan to locate on a four-
acre parcel next to Smith’s
Transmission on Hwy. 98
East.
Property owner Sam
Basinger was granted approv
al of his request for water and
sewer taps for the proposed
businesses in a unanimous
vote. Basinger has agreed to
pay $6,000 ($3,000 each) in
water and sewer availability
fees.
Mayor Glenn Cross
pointed out several other
ventures for subdivisions and
businesses in town have not
come through as of yet so the
sewer system has the capacity
to accommodate Basinger's
request for service.
— See ‘D’ville’ on 2A
o
