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PAGE 2A — THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. JULY 2, 2009
State Politics
Sen. Ralph
Hudgens to run
for state insurance
commissioner
Local State Senator Ralph
Hudgens (R-47) has officially
announced that he will run next
year for Insurance Commissioner
of Georgia.
Hudgens lives in Hull.
Sen. Hudgens, whose district cov
ers Barrow, Oglethorpe, Madison
and parts of Jackson, Clarke and
Elbert counties, has served in the
Senate since 2003.
While in the Senate, Hudgens has
served as chairman of the Insurance
and Labor Committee, vice-
chairman of the Agriculture and
Consumer Affairs Committee, and
vice-chairman of the Banking and
Financial Institution Committee.
Hudgens and his wife Suzanne,
have four children and 12 grand
children. They are members at
Winterville First Baptist Church.
Terminatton Hearing
BOA, BOC hearing set for Wednesday
•Wed., July 8, 9:30 a.m., county commissioners’ meeting room
Can county commissioners
remove all members of the board
of assessors?
Superior Court Judge John Bailey
will hear arguments at 9:30 a.m.,
Wednesday, July 8, in the commis
sioners’ meeting room concerning
the BOC's termination of the board
of assessors.
County commissioners voted in
April to dismiss BOA chairman
David Ragland and assessor board
members Larry Stewart, Samantha
Garland and Jim Escoe.
The commissioners say the
assessors have failed to submit tax
digests by deadline, that they failed
to secure a chief appraiser, that
there has been constant turmoil
among BOA members and that a
2008 Department of Revenue audit
revealed numerous assessment
problems.
Meanwhile, BOA members say
the commissioners have hindered
the assessors’ ability to do their job.
Wednesday’s hearing is open to
the public.
The entire county assessor board is trying to
fend off termination.
Grant Money
Fire
Madison Co. receives $500,000
in funding for sewer project
.. .cont’d from 1A
Though an investigation failed to
show exactly what caused the fire,
Wyatt said the most likely scenario
is that someone dropped a cigarette
on the floor near the entrance to
the building, which was also near
where several containers of old gun
powder were stored, left over from
the building’s former use as a gun
repair shop. The effect was a “flash
fire,” Wyatt said there technically
was no explosion. He also heard
that a string of Christmas lights had
been turned on near the entrance,
but he said they were unable to find
any evidence of that.
Shubert and Payne reportedly
lived in a mobile home next door,
and along with Cotton, had gone
to the block building to store some
yard sale items from a Saturday
yard sale inside in case of rain when
the event occurred.
In fact, Wyatt said his wife had
shopped at the yard sale and a Mend
of his had purchased some book
shelves from Shubert at the sale.
Asked how those at the scene
were holding up, Wyatt said they
had held a meeting after the inci
dent and that he thought everyone
was coping OK but that they had
certainly been shaken by the experi
ence. “Some of these fellows have
been doing this for a long time and
have never had to drag a body out
of a fire before," he said, adding that
the trauma was compounded by
the fact that Shubert was known by
most everyone at the scene,
“She was also my mail carrier,”
Wyatt said.
Wyatt commended all those who
came to the scene that night for
their skill and professionalism. “I
just want to thank my guys, Hull
and Neese-Sanford who came to
assist, Dwayne (Patton) and the
EMS crew, the sheriff and deputies,
first responders, just everyone who
came - it was a great team and com
munity effort,” Wyatt said.
Industrial authority executive director Marvin White holds a
$500,000 grant for the Hull sewage system.
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
It won’t quite fit in the mailbox. But the big
check is here,
Madison County leaders received a long-
awaited $500,000 grant from the OneGeorgia
Authority last week for the Hull-area commer
cial sewer system, which will be constructed
to boost business in the southern end of the
county.
Leaders hope to have that system online by
the end of the year. They say that the system
is crucial in increasing the county’s com
mercial tax base, which will help ease the tax
burden on property owners.
“We’ve worked on this (the OneGeorgia
grant) for quite some time and we finally got
approval," said industrial authority executive
director Marvin White.
The grant will help cover the cost of the
$3.3 million system. The IDA is also pay
ing for the project with a $1.6 million loan
from the Georgia Environmental Facilities
Authority, another $750,000 in sales tax funds
and a $335,000 contribution from Ingles,
whose Hwy. 29 facility will be served by the
sewer system.
Architects for Ingles told White that they
planned to upgrade the facility from 60,000
to 80,000 square feet. Those expansion plans
were mentioned in the governor’s press
release about the grant last week.
However, the firm that informed the IDA of
Ingles’ plans no longer works for the organi
zation. And White said he’s not sure how the
expansion plans stand at the moment, particu
larly given the state of the economy.
Nevertheless, White notes that Ingles has
had sewage problems at its Hwy. 29 facility.
And the business is waiting on the completion
of the commercial sewer system, regardless
of its expansion plans. The veterans clinic just
south of Ingles will also tie in to the sewage
system once it is completed.
“It was really good to get this,” said White
of the grant.
Upcoming Issues
BOG
meets
Monday
The Madison County
Board of Commissioners
will hold its regular business
meeting on Monday, July 6,
at 6:30 p.m. at the Madison
County Government
Complex in Danielsville.
Items on the agenda
include:
•approval of minutes of
the May 4, 2009, meeting
•business involving guests,
groups or multiple visitors
•chairman's report
(Anthony Dove)
PUBLIC HEARINGS
•Steve Waller request to
rezone his 5-acre proper
ty from A1 to RR to add
an additional home for his
daughter. The property is
located on Map 95, Parcel
43-05 on Collins Brooks
Road in District 4. (Linda
Fortson)
•Morris Bond request to
rezone 4.25 acres from A1
to RR to subdivide into 2
parcels. The back parcel will
go to the adjoining prop
erty owner. The property is
located on Map 9, Parcel
11 on Bonds Lake Road in
District 1.
OLD BUSINESS
•statements and remarks
from citizens on agenda
items
•consider courthouse secu
rity (Chairman Dove)
•consider per diem on trav
el reimbursement (Chairman
Dove)
•consider transport
of bodies for coro
ner (Commissioner
Youngblood)
NEW BUSINESS
•consider appointment of
Randy J. Archer to the board
of the Department of Family
and Children Services
•roads update (Chairman
Dove)
•urgent matters
•statements and remarks
from citizens
•executive session to dis
cuss land acquisition, per
sonnel matters and/or poten
tial litigation (if needed)
•adjourn
NOTICE
The Madison County
Government will be closed
on Friday, July 3, 2009, in
observance of Independence
Day.
Can
706-795-2567
to subscribe to
The Jour nal
We Buy All
Gold & Silver
r
Madison County
Board of Commissioners
PERSONNEL POLICY
The Madison County Board of Commissioners
is considering changes to the Personnel Policy which
will, among other things, revoke all vested proprietary
rights to employment, and convert all employees, both
current and those hired in the future, to “at will” status.
The Board of Commissioners will hold a work session
on these changes on July 9, 2009, at 5:00 PM, in the
public meeting room of the Madison County
Government Complex. All interested employees as well
as interested members of the public are encouraged to
attend, and all employees who wish to speak on the
changes will be afforded the opportunity to be heard
''I'M
Including:
Class Rings • Wedding Bands
• Coins • Broken Jewelry
• Dental Gold
.Gamesmffe
4
770-532-2592
1020 Jesse Jewell Pkwy. • Gainesville, GA
Mon. - Thurs. 10-6:30 • Fri. - Sat. 10-7
In Loving Memory
BRITTNI
DIANNE GOWAN
4/12/91 ~ 7/4/08
WILLIAM
ERIK PEEPLES
4/12/90 ~ 7/5/08
We love and miss ya'll!
Mama, Daddy, Melissa, Michael,
April, Friends & Family
| ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS §
Leslie M. Pitts, DMD
Pediatric Dentistry
706-335-7793
215 Mercer Place,
P. O. Box 1241
Commerce, GA 30529
Website: drlpitts.com
Email: drlpitts@drlpitts.com
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ROLLING MEADOW FARM
PRODUCE STAND
2143 New Hope Church Road
Comer, GA 30629
706-621-9155
Garden grown vegetables are in.
Come enjoy the farm while
shopping for produce grown by
your local Georgia farmers.
DIRECTIONS:
From Paoli Junction, take Hwy. 172
towards Bowman, right onto Clements
Rd. to stop sign, right onto Holly
Creek Church Rd. to stop sign.
Proceed to fork in road bearing right
then right onto New Hope Church Rd.
The farm is 2/10 mile on the right.
From Highway 72, take Hill Street
(turns into New Hope Church Rd.).
The farm is 2 miles down on left.
Open: Tuesdays - Saturdays
10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Closed Sunday and Monday
HOLIDAY AD
PROOF DEADLINE
Display Ads
12:00 Noon,
Thursday, July 2
for the July 9 publication
The
Madison County Journal
U. S. 29 South • P. 0. Box 658
Danielsville, Ga. 30633
(706) 795-2567 or (706) 367-5233
The office will be closed Friday, July 3.