Newspaper Page Text
The
www.MadisonJournalTODAY.com
JULY 30, 2009
Merged with The Comer News and The Danielsville Monitor, 2006
Vol. 24 No. 32 • Publication No. 1074-987 • Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. • 28 Pages, 2 Sections Plus Supplements
FINANCES
Number
crunching
BOC begins budget
talks; Pethel proposes
freeze on pay increases
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
County commissioners met
repeatedly last year, trying to
squeeze blood from a 2009
budget turnip. They're now
hitting the table again, but
the 2010 revenues, well, they
ain’t a turnip — no, they're a
dried up cornstalk.
Money is going to be
extremely tight next year,
with projected county rev
enues down eight to 10 per
cent. Meanwhile, departmen
tal budget requests are up
approximately $2 million.
“As we all know county
revenue and the economy
as a whole has taken a big
plunge,” said Commissioner
John Pethel at Monday’s
BOC meeting. “We've lost the
Homestead Exemption Grant,
which is over $500,000.”
— See ‘Budget’ on 7A
COUNTY GOV’T
Body transport
plan approved
See the agenda for
Monday night’s BOC
meeting, Page 2A
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
Facing a budget crunch,
Madison County commis
sioners are cutting back on
how much they pay to trans
port bodies to the morgue.
The group agreed Monday
night to approve a new body
transport plan. The county
coroner will have five people
on a rotating call list to carry
bodies in a county van to the
morgue in Athens or to the
state crime lab.
The county will pay $50
for short transports to Athens
and $100 for longer trans
ports to the state crime lab.
Those hired for the job
must consent to a back
ground check, drug tests
and have proper licensing.
— See “BOC’on 3A
EDUCATION
Honk, Honk
Here comes school; buses start rolling Aug. 6
Furloughs won’t
affect pre-planning
Days off without pay will come in Oct., Nov.
By Margie Richards
margie@mainstreetnews.com
B ells will ring for the
first day of school
in Madison County
Thursday, Aug. 6.
All five elementary schools
will again offer Afterschool
programs beginning the first
day. Aftershool runs from
2:45 p.m. - 6 p.m. and the
cost is $6 per day, with a $10
registration fee.
Parents can pick up school
registration forms in the front
office.
Student lunch at elementary
schools is $1.50 per day and
breakfast is $1.25. Reduced
lunch is $.40 and reduced
breakfast is $.30 each.
COLBERT
ELEMENTARY
There are 360 students at
Colbert Elementary this year.
School starts at 8 a.m. and the
regular day ends at 2:55 p.m.
A number of improvements
have been made to the school
over the summer, according
to school officials. For start
ers, the lunchroom has been
painted to resemble an outdoor
cafe’. Improvements have
been made to the playground
and security cameras have
been placed throughout the
building. The air conditioning
system has been improved to
promote better air circulation
and a data/conference room
has been added. Teachers will
also note a “fresh look to their
lounge area.”
New faculty this year
include: speech teacher
Kristen Copes and part-time
custodians Judy Bond and
David Freeman.
“We have a bus lane as
well as a car rider lane in the
morning,” assistant principal
Kathy Perry said. “Please use
the car rider lane at all times.
Students who are car riders in
the afternoon, parents must
have a visible card (given by
office personnel) to release
— See “School’ on 2A
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
Madison County teachers
can report to work Monday -
and be paid for it.
The much-discussed fur
lough issue won't affect pre
planning days at Madison
County Schools, which run
Aug. 3-5. Madison County
will instead take its furloughs
(days off without pay) in
October and November.
Most of the state’s 180
school districts are being
forced to enact three-day
employee furlough days as a
result of a cost-cutting mea
sure by the state.
So Madison County is going
forth with the furloughs,
though superintendent Mitch
McGhee has been advised
by the school system’s legal
counsel to substitute the word
“amended calendar” for “fur
lough.”
“The choice is to lay off a lot
of folks or take the three-day
(amended calendar),” he said.
“So we are going to go with
the (amended calendar).”
Rather than use valuable
pre-planning days, Madison
County School leaders agreed
to use an Oct. 9 teacher work
day and two instruction days
before Thanksgiving break as
furloughs. So neither teachers
nor students will report on
Nov. 23 and 24.
Unlike other schools sys
tems, Madison County didn't
have many pre-planning days
to spare. McGhee predicted
that had the system enacted
furloughs during pre-plan
ning, many teachers would
have come to work those days
anyway.
School system leaders want
ed to avoid that scenario, he
said.
“They’re taking a three-day
hit in pay,” McGhee said. “We
want to make it as painless as
we possibly can.”
Technically, the state board
of education hasn’t mandated
these furloughs — it can't
without a meeting of the gen
eral assembly — but it did
wave the rule requiring that
teachers must work 190 days.
And it is cutting each school
district's funding by the sum
of those salaries. That leaves
school districts little choice.
— See ‘Furloughs’ on 2A
POPULATION
Preparations
under way
for 2010
Census
By Margie Richards
margie@mainstreetnews.com
U.S. Census workers and
volunteers are busy gearing
up for the 2010 census nation
ally, and on the local level.
Sandra Webb, who is head
ing up Census preparation
efforts in Madison County,
along with county commis
sion chair Anthony Dove,
met with U.S. Census 2010
partnership specialists Verdale
Thompson and Tony Flores
last week about the upcoming
census.
Thompson said she and
Flores are working with local
governments in an eight-coun
ty area to build awareness on
behalf of the Census by work
ing with those governments,
as well as schools, civic, faith-
based organizations, and oth
ers.
“We want to increase the
response rate for a more accu
rate count,” Thompson said,
noting that Georgia's response
rate was 67 percent in the
2000 Census.
CompleteCountCommittees
will be formed locally to
focus primarily on the “hard
to count” populations, such
as the homeless, immigrants,
those on public assistance and
those living in mobile home
communities. Thompson
noted that these folks are not
only often hard to locate, but
are leery of the government.
Webb said a concern of hers
is that “one hand doesn’t seem
to know what the other hand is
doing” referring to recent calls
she has received about Census
workers who have been visit
ing properties in the county
recently with GPS devices to
document residential areas.
“The county was not made
aware of (federal) people
coming in with GPS systems,”
Webb said, adding that she
had received calls from con
cerned citizens.
She also noted that a least
one resident has received a
Census packet already, which
asked for detailed informa
tion, including Social Security
numbers.
Thompson said the packet
— See “Census’ on 10A
INSIDE
PROFIT .E
Index:
News — 1-3A7A10A
Opinions — 4-5A
Crime — 6A
Obituaries — 8-9A
Socials — 11-12A
Sports— 1-2B
Schools — 3-4B
Churches — 5B
Classifieds — 8-10B
Legals—1-7C
Contact:
Phone: 706-795-2567
Fax: 706-795-2765
Mail: PO. Box 658,
Danielsville, GA, 30633
Web:
MadisonJoumalTODAY.
com
On those fields of dreams
Rec. director reflects on 30 years of
watching kids excel at county facilities
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
T here is the solid ping of an
Easton bat meeting the ball,
followed by the shouts of
“run, Justin” or “good hit, Shelly.” The
cleats kick up the dirt. “Safe!”
Then there is the high five and the
smile.
This is kids' play. And the focus is
fun.
But beneath that youthful joy comes
the work of adults: the headaches of
budgeting, of maintenance, of coordi
nating programs, of long-term plan
ning. For instance, the issue of grass
maintenance must be tackled before the
youth association linebacker introduces
his tailback buddy to the turf.
Madison County’s recreation depart
ment was created in 1974. And Dick
Perpall has spent most of that time
with the department overseeing the
behind-the-scenes preparation for fun.
He joined the staff 30 years ago and
has served as the director since 1982.
County commissioners recently pre-
— See ‘Perpall’ on 10A
1—1—1
Dick Perpall joined the county recreation department 30
years ago and has served as its director since 1982.