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THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. OCTOBER 1, 2009 — PAGE 3A Madison Co. BOC to meet Monday The Madison County Board of Commissioners will meet Monday, Oct. 5, at 6:30 p.m. in the county government complex. Agenda items include: •Approval of minutes. •Business involving guests, groups or multiple visitors — consider proclamation for the Rotary Club. •Chairman’s Report (Anthony Dove): consid er inter-local agreement between Madison County B.O.C. and Danielsville Volunteer Fire Department on lease agreement for a new pump truck. PUBLIC HEARINGS •Danny Vaughn for his daughter Toni Vaughn request to rezone 8.49 acres from A-2 to R-R to subdi vide into 2 parcels. The property is located on Map 15 Parcel 102-01 on Planter Gunnell Road in District 1. •Tim Ray is requesting to rezone 8.34 of a 13.35 acre- parcel from A-1 to R-R, the remaining 5 acres will stay A-l. The property is locat ed on Map 1 Parcel 38 on D Williams Road in District 1. •Chairman Wayne Douglas with amendment to sec tions 7.12.7.1(a), 7.12.7.2, 7.12.7.3 and 7.14.4.1 in the zoning ordinance. •Chairman Wayne Douglas with amendments to sec tions 5.6, 6.0, 6.1 through 6.9, 6.2 (12) (e), 6.6 and 11.0 through 11.3 in the subdivision regulations. OLD BUSINESS: •Statements and remarks from citizens on agenda items. •Consider taking bids on Moon Guess Bridge. (Chairman Dove) •Consider HIPPA law pol icy changes. (County attor ney Mike Pruett) •Consider bid for records management contract for sheriff’s department. (Sheriff Kip Thomas) •Consider budget amend ment from 2008 administra tion for sheriff’s department. (Sheriff Thomas) •Consider moving Beth Harmon to a 75-percent employee. (Human resourc es director Donna Sisk) •Consider adopt ing Spratlin Pond Road. (Commissioner Mike Youngblood) •Consider amending county noise ordinance. (Commissioner Pete Bond) •Consider appointment to planning and zoning board for District 1 for next term. •Consider purchasing policy change. (Chairman Dove) •Urgent matters. •Statements and remarks from citizens. •Closed session to discuss land acquisition, personnel matters and/or potential liti gation (if needed). Digest down slightly in 2009 Values still 34.5% more than five years ago By Zach Mitcham zach@mainstreetnews.com For the second straight year, Madison County’s overall property value dipped slightly. The real and personal tax digest — or overall coun ty property value — for Madison County in 2009 is $729.6 million, down less than one half of one percent from $732.8 in 2008. Madison County tax levy ing authorities, such as the county commission, school board and industrial author ity, advertised their five-year tax histories in this week’s paper, a first step toward approving tax rates, which will happen in mid October, with tax bills expected to hit property owners’ mailboxes in November. Both the school board and the commissioners plan to keep their tax rates steady in 2009, while the industrial authority is planning a .013 mill increase, from .926 to .939 mills. That will gen erate roughly the same tax revenue for the IDA in 2009 as in 2008, up $3,029, from $628,226 to $631,255. Though the county digest has dipped slightly over the past two years, the county’s overall property values are still $187 million — or 34.5 percent — more than they were in 2004 — $729.6 mil lion this year versus $542.4 million five years ago. Between 2004-2007, dur ing the housing boom, Madison County property values jumped 35.7 percent from $542 million to a peak of $736 million in 2007. BOC awards bat removal contracts By Zach Mitcham zach@mainstreetnews.com Madison County commis sioners have become famil iar with the word “guano” in recent weeks — too famil iar. Now, they’re hoping that contracts with bat removal companies will help relieve two county structures — the old courthouse and the Strickland House — of bat infestation problems, where guano, or bat droppings, pose potential health risks to people who breathe the fumes. The BOC unanimously approved separate contracts last week to remove bats, cleanup their droppings and seal the buildings so that the critters can’t return. The commissioners hired Adcock’s Rid-A-Critter for $7,895 to remove bats from the upstairs of the old county courthouse in the center of Danielsville. The service will be paid for with special pur pose local option sales tax (SPLOST) funds that were tagged for the renovation of the old courthouse. The removal project is expected to take two to four weeks. The group also agreed to hire Bigfoot Wildlife for $4,300 to remove bats, clean up their droppings and seal bat entrances into the old Strickland House off Hwy. 98 in front of the recreation department. Commissioners worry that kids from the recreation department will venture into the Strickland House, where they could face possible respiratory problems if they encounter the droppings. The bat problem is consid ered particularly bad at the Strickland House and “do not enter” signs are clearly posted on the doors. “My concern is the liability of someone getting in there (the Strickland House),” said BOC chairman Anthony Dove. “It (the guano fumes) can be very harmful if they get it in their lungs. And this is right in front of the rec department.” Commissioner Stanley Thomas agreed that the building must be cleaned. “I don’t think we have a choice,” said Thomas. “Something must be done.” The group discussed pos sibly tearing the walls out inside the Strickland House to remove all bats, which may, in fact, be inside the walls. But the BOC agreed to have the company remove only the guano that is vis ible, which Dove said poses the highest risk to those who enter. The group agreed to seek suggestions from local historic preservation leaders on what should be done with the building. Funding for the cleanup job will likely come from the county buildings and grounds budget. The commissioners agreed that they do not have the funds now to tackle a major renovation project at the Strickland House. Shelter.. • cont’d from 1A Brown Funeral Home closes after 35 years The service is based on these gross income levels: one-person household — $21,660/yearly/$l,805 monthly; two-person household — $29,140 yearly/$2,428 monthly; three-person household — $36,620 yearly/$3,053 monthly; four-person household — $44,100 yearly/$3,675 monthly; five-person household — $51,580 yearly/$4,298 monthly; six-person household — $59,060 yearly/$4,922 monthly. A W2 or paycheck stub will suffice as proof of income. There’s a two cat per household limit. At $10, the price is well below the shelter’s usual rate for the procedure ($30) and far below what veterinary offices charge. Fomash plans to offer low-cost neutering procedures for dogs at a later date. “We just kind of wanted to start with the cats and see how it went,” she explained. A day for spays is another possibility, but that depends on how much funding MOAS has left from the donation. Fomash described Ann as “a very kind animal lover who wanted to do what she could do to help.” Ann specified that her money go toward spaying and neutering, and Fomash and staff decided the money should aid financially-strapped pet owners. “We want it to reach the people who tmly otherwise couldn’t afford it,” Fornash said. The shelter continues to preach the message that owners spay and neuter their pets to control the over population because the over-population is what MOAS sees dropped off at its doorstep. MOAS has taken in over 1,500 animals this year. Over 600 cats and dogs were housed between June and July. “You can imagine out of that what we could not keep,” Fomash said. “Because there’s no place to put them.” Only about one in three animals ends up finding a new home. While neutering will help control the population, the proce dure means a lot less headaches for pet owners, too, Fomash said. Neutered cats demonstrate less aggression and don’t spray to mark territory. A male cat that’s not intact is also less subject to develop prostate cancer. “They’re healthier cats when they’ve been either spayed or neutered,” Fomash said. There’s still plenty of slots for cat owners who qualify to sign up for “Ann’s Day.” The shelter will take appointments up until the day before “Ann’s Day” — as long as there’s enough time to perform them all safely. “There’s just a million reasons why people should do this,” Fomash said. NOTES Owners may drop cats off for the procedure, but must pick them up that day. Those interested in “Ann’s Day” can call the Madison Oglethorpe Animal Shelter at 706-795-2868. Dr. Jeff Gilliland Veterinarian! Owner (formerly of Commerce Veterinary Hospital and Jefferson Animal Hospital) 706-614-5266 fetch-a-vet@att.net • At Home Veterinarian Care • Small Animal Practice • By Appointment Only For online prescriptions, visit www.fetch-a-vet.com Serving Clarke, Oconee, Madison, Jackson and Oglethorpe Counties Brown Funeral Home By Zach Mitcham zach@mainstreetnews.com Madison County’s old est funeral home has closed its doors. Brown Funeral Home, which was established in 1974, has gone out of business. The building and property at the cor ner of Albany Avenue and Hwy. 29 (near the county government complex) are under foreclosure and will be up for sale at the court house Oct. 6. The sale was advertised in the legals section of The Madison County Journal. Owner Michael Tittle did not return calls from The Journal this past week. The paper was con tacted by funeral home customers about what will happen to those who made arrangements with the business for funerals in the future. And no clar ification on that was avail able as of press time. According to madi- sonpaytaxes.net, Brown Funeral Home has not paid taxes to the coun ty government for four years. The company owes the county government $38,789.24. Woman who wants to care for mother faces zoning issues By Zach Mitcham zach@mainstreetnews.com Teresa Brooks of Hart County wants to move her trailer to Madison County to care for her ailing mother. She received word from the county zoning office that she could do so and she had her trailer cleaned out and dis mantled for the move. Now, she’s learned she’ll have to wait. County com missioners want her to get her wish, but approving the move would violate the county’s zoning ordinance, which prohibits the move of any mobile home older than 12 years into the county. Brooks’ trailer is in good shape, but it’s 13 years old. During Brooks’ first meet ing with zoning officials, the fact that her home was out side of the county wasn’t discussed. It wasn’t until the paperwork was filled out that the zoning code issue was discovered. County commissioners spoke at length with Brooks Monday night about resolv ing the matter. They ulti mately agreed that they will need to amend the zoning ordinance to allow for an exception to the mobile home age rule in medical hardship cases. There is currently no provision in the zoning code that would allow the move. Zoning administrator Linda Fortson said that, in the past, the BOC has allowed two exceptions for homes to be moved into the county despite non compliance with the zoning code. But the BOC members said that they must make an effort to follow the zoning code. “I want to help this lady; I want to help her mama,” said commissioner Bruce Scogin. “But I think we need to do it right.” The matter will go before the zoning board in November, with the BOC considering it again either the last week in November or the first week in December. Scogin said he will fight for Brooks to get the mea sure passed, allowing her to move in and care for her mother. The board also plans — See “Zoning” on 7A‘ IMPORTANT INFORMATION RELATED TO THE 2009 TAX BILLS Homeowners Tax Relief Grant: This savings that you have been receiving in past years will not be granted for 2009. Governor Perdue did not budget this grant due to State revenues being off. This savings amounted to approximately $241.67. Escrow Accounts: If your taxes are paid through an escrow account your escrow will increase if you do not have enough money in your escrow account. Please forward a copy of your tax bill to your mortgage company. Homestead Exemption: Your regular homestead exemption will not be affected and will still be in place. 2009 Property Tax Bills: The 2009 tax bills will be mailed late October or early November. The due date will be 60 days from the mailing date. You will not receive 2 bills before the years end, 2009 only. The bills are being mailed more on time this year than in the past several years. People are under the impression they would be receiving 2 bills due to the previous article in the paper. Louise Watson Madison County Tax Commissioner 41U Plus Filing Fee Free Legal Consultation (706) 546-7131 Adrian Pritchett, LLC • Bogart, Ga. Divorce cases can become complex, so final fees and results cannot be guaranteed.