Newspaper Page Text
The
www.MadisonJournalTODAY.com
AUGUST 6, 2009
Merged with The Comer News and The Danielsville Monitor, 2006
Vol. 24 No. 33 • Publication No. 1074-987 • Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. • 24 Pages, 2 Sections Plus Supplements
Ready for the students
Madison Comity teachers were back in the class
rooms this week, getting ready for the students,
who will start class today (Thursday). (Pictured)
Danielsville Elementary School first grade teacher
Tina Halcomb sets up her classroom Monday.
Zach Mitcham/Staff
COUNTY GOV’T
Judge affirms BOA firings
BOC schedules meeting to officially remove assessors,
‘It is obvious that a poisonous atmo
sphere HAS SURROUNDED THE BOA THAT
TENDS TO TURN ANY ISSUE INTO BITTER CON
TROVERSY AND PARALYZES THE BOA FROM
TAKING EFFECTIVE ACTION.’
— Judge John Bailey
Inside: BOA
members hold final
meeting, Page 2A
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
It's been a long fight, but
the county tax assessors are
now gone.
David Ragland, Larry
Stewart, Jim Escoe and
Samantha Garland have been
removed from the board of
assessors.
A Superior Court Judge
has affirmed the firing of
those four members from the
BOA. County commission
ers voted in April to remove
the four members from their
posts, but the BOA fought
the action, taking the matter
to Judge John Bailey.
And Bailey issued a recom
mendation Monday, which
strongly favors the commis
sioners' position.
“This court can hardly find
that the BOC's stated inten
tion to remove these persons
name new board
from the BOA is hasty or ill-
advised," wrote Bailey in his
Aug. 3 recommendation. “...
It is obvious that a poisonous
atmosphere has surrounded
the BOA that tends to mm
any issue into bitter contro
versy and paralyzes the BOA
from taking effective action."
The judge added that “per
sons outside the BOA itself'
may have contributed to that
climate, but he added that
the BOC's “starting fresh”
— See ‘BOA’ on 2A
ROADS
‘Wait and see’
Hwy. 29 project on the table again, but questions
of ‘if, where, when’ remain unanswered
FINANCES
BOC implements
pay increase freeze
By Margie Richards
margie@mainstreetnews.com
County commissioners agreed
unanimously Monday night
to establish a moratorium on
county employee pay increases
until the end of this year. They
also agreed to limit any educa
tion or certification-based train
ing, unless it is required for an
employee to keep his or her
current position.
Commissioners have been
discussed a freeze on wages for
several weeks as part of an effort
to reduce expenses and avoid
laying off employees in the face
of decreased revenue.
A memo will be sent to coun
ty department heads to stop all
unmandated training until Dec.
31.
In a related matter, chairman
Anthony Dove reported that
LOST (Local Option Sales Tax)
and SPLOST (Special Purpose
Local Option Sales Tax) rev
enues were down almost 25 per
cent in July. Revenues are down
6.7 percent overall to date for
2009. Dove added.
PERSONNEL POLICY
APPROVED
Commissioners also approved
a new personnel policy for
county workers, which makes
county employees “at will" and
abolishes the appeals process
previously in place. Employees
who work under constitutional
officers (such as the probate
court and tax commissioner)
are already “at will” employees
under tire elected official.
Tire new policy retains a pre
viously un-enforced 240-hour
limit on accumulated leave time.
— See‘BOC’on 2A
INSIDE
Index:
News — 1-3A7A
Opinions —4-5A
Crime — 6A
Schools — 8A
Socials — 9-1OA
Churches — 11A
Obituaries — 12-13A
Sports— 1-2B
Legals—3-9B
Classifieds — 10-12B
Contact:
Phone: 706-795-2567
Fax: 706-795-2765
Mail: PO. Box 658,
Danielsville, GA, 30633
Web:
MadisonJoumalTODAY.
com
8 IB 0 4 8 7 9 14144" o
Football
practice begins
The Madison County High
School varsity football
team opened practice this
week, with the season
opener just three weeks
away —Aug. 28 at home
versus Rockdale.
— Page 1B
DOT officials meet
with local residents
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
Property owners studied
red and green lines on super
sized maps last Thursday,
wondering if long-term road
plans will put their homes in
the path of a four-lane high
way one day.
The state DOT proposes
a widening and rerouting of
Hwy. 29, along with a bypass
of Danielsville. Four differ
ent routing options were on
display at the MCHS cafete
ria, drawing several inquisi
tive — and some concerned
— residents.
“Yes, I am somewhat con
cerned,” said Jill Chandler,
whose property on Holman
Autry Road is located near
the path of one bypass option.
“Nobody wants a four-lane
coming through their back
yard.”
The DOT'S possibilities
include one route that goes
west of Danielsville, another
that goes east, and two that
start out east of town and
cut back across Hwy. 29 and
swing west.
Each of the four bypass
options spans at least 11
miles, tying back into Hwy.
29 north of Danielsville near
the intersection of Hwy.
281.
The DOT displayed these
routes on three expansive 5
x 26 satellite image maps at
the MCHS cafeteria and sent
10 officials to field ques
tions.
But Madison County is a
long way from seeing one of
its main arteries expanded.
There are no designs, nor
funding for Hwy. 29 pro
posal, DOT engineer Russell
McMurry explained.
“So really at this point,
there is no plan, no time
table to start actually doing
the finer elements of design
such that you can buy right
of way and eventually build
a project," he said.
Stimulus money wouldn't
— See Hwy. 29* on 2A
Ten Department of Transportation officials were on hand last Thursday in the
Madison County High School cafeteria to answer questions and receive input
from local citizens who viewed large maps of possible Hwy. 29 routes. Ben Munro/
Staff
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