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THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. DECEMBER 17. 2009 — PAGE 3A
County budget to drop 5.4%
County commissioners will officially approve numbers Thurs.
Tax breakdown:
So you’ve paid $1,000 in property
taxes.
Where does that money go?
State $8
Elections $.42
Streets and roads $30.47
Schools $572
Registrar $2.15
Health dept. $.45
IDA $30
Tax commissioner $8.59
DFACS $.79
County gov’t $390
Tax assessor $8.29
Senior center $7.40
Buildings/grounds $4.25
Board of education $.90
County gov’t
Superior Court $6.51
Extension office $.42
distribution
Clerk of Superior Court $9.30
Recreation $17.14
General gov’t $18.77
District attorney $.97
Madison County Library
Contingency $10.08
Magistrate court $5.61
$4.76
Governing body $4.40
Probate court $6.08
Forestry resources $.10
District 1 $.05
Juvenile $2.86
Building inspection $4.31
District 2 $.05
Sheriff $43.33
Planning and zoning commis-
District 3 $.05
Jail $34.66
sion $.47
District 4 $.11
CHAMPS $1.62
Planning/zoning administra-
District 5 $.05
Emergency management
tion $2.75
Chairman $.16
$19.56
Code enforcement $2.80
Administration $6.71
Coroner $.90
Chamber of Commerce $.29
Finance $5.11
Animal shelter $2.13
Solid waste $18.18
IT $5.74
Vehicle R/M $14.44
E911 $24.34
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
Madison County’s budget will be
down 5.4 percent in 2010.
It’s the second straight year com
missioners have whittled down the
budget, with operating costs at $15
million in 2008, $14.48 million in
2009 and down to $13.69 million
in 2010 — a nine percent drop
between 2008-2010.
BOC members will officially
approve next year’s budget Thursday
(today) at 6:30 p.m. The group spent
months discussing 2010 budget
numbers, reviewing line items to
look for potential cuts.
Commissioners agreed to cut holi
day employee pay in half for county
employees in 2010, but the board
avoided layoffs and kept the tax rate
steady.
The BOC held a public hearing
on the budget Dec. 10, but no citi
zens spoke on the matter. The board
received a handout that night from
the county finance office that offers
a breakdown of how $1,000 of tax
money is distributed in the county.
(See box for the list.)
Commissioners praised the job
that new chairman Anthony Dove
and the finance staff did in preparing
the 2010 budget.
‘Tve been on the board 10 years
and not one time have we had this
kind of smooth budget process," said
Commissioner Bruce Scogin.
Commissioner John Pethel said
the board has never had the kind of
financial information it had during
this year’s budget planning.
Commissioner Mike Youngblood
agreed, saying that he considered not
running during the past election.
“I’m glad I jumped back in this
thing,” said Youngblood.
Dove said preparing the 2010
budget was “a team effort."
"But we’re not out of this thing
yet," said Dove of the hard times
financially.
Comer flip flops on zoning amendment
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews .com
Comer leaders rejected a pro
posed zoning ordinance amend
ment 3-0 Dec. 7 after two citizens
spoke in opposition. Later that
night, after the opponents left, the
council unanimously approved
the amendment.
The zoning change pertains to
guidelines on haunted houses and
special events. Two years ago, the
city of Comer and developer Tim
Seymour battled in the Georgia
Supreme Court over a 1999 zon
ing code that the city argued
prevented special events in resi
dential areas.
Seymour opened a haunted
house in the city in 2007 near
Halloween, drawing a crowd of
400 and raising just under $2,500
the first weekend.
The state Supreme Court ulti
mately ruled months later that the
argument over whether Seymour
could operate the haunted house
was a moot point because
Halloween had passed.
However two justices on the
Supreme Court dissented from
the majority ruling, saying the
matter was not a moot point.
"Halloween occurs every year,"
the dissent said. “And if Seymour
decides to have another haunted
house at the same location as his
2007 haunted house, any attempt
by the city to enjoin Seymour’s
efforts would be barred ... in light
of the trial court’s prior ruling...”
Comer zoning administrator
Jim Baird recently presented a
zoning amendment to the city
council to address special events.
"The proposed amendment will
give the city some solid ground
on which to stand if there are
further flagrantly defiant acts in
connection with haunted house
type events,” wrote Baird in his
memo to the council about the
amendment.
Baird said the change allows
the city to take action in case
a future haunted house is pro
posed.
"Seymour’s defense in court
was to cite numerous examples
of other apparent business opera
tions on residential lots," wrote
Baird in an explanation of the
amendment to The Journal. "I
sought to allow the city to cite
him for operating a special event
without a permit instead of the
more general zoning citation of
business in a res(idential) zone.”
Comer residents Scott Callaway
and Beth McMickle, wife of
mayor-elect David McMickle,
both spoke in opposition of the
zoning amendment Dec. 7.
"I thought the language in the
ordinance was sufficient and it
seemed pointed towards a sin
gle member of the community,”
said Callaway, chairman elect of
the Royal Oaks Homeowners’
Association in Comer. “We as
a community organization had
questions about how this would
affect us, and their response was
unclear. We were told as long
as we didn’t charge an admis
sion fee or invite people into our
homes, we could hold a ‘haunted
house’ in our neighborhood and it
would not be necessary to obtain
a special permit. It would be con
sidered a private party.”
After Callaway and others
spoke, the council voted 3-0 to
deny the amendment. Councilman
Kevin Booth abstained from the
vote.
Booth said the council needed
to stand by Baird's zoning deci
sion.
"The man over our zoning
(Baird) had went through and
made it (the recommendation on
the zoning amendment), and I
think it's only fair if we hire
him to kind of take knowledge
of what he does and be decent
about it," said Booth. “He had
that request to change it that way
and that's the way we done ...
The way we thought about it is,
it's stupid to hire somebody, and
he goes through the zoning and
does something, and then we vote
against him, when I think what he
was doing was legitimate."
Later in the meeting, after the
citizens left, the council decided
to reconsider the matter, though
a second discussion of the zon
ing amendment wasn’t on the
agenda. The group then voted 4-0
to approve the amendment.
"I think on that first vote they
(council members who voted
against the amendment) were
just trying to make a few people
happy," said Booth.
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Royal Oaks residents seek
schedule for debris pickup
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
Scott Callaway of Royal Oaks Subdivision in Comer said he just
wants to know when city workers will be by to pick up leaf and limb
debris in the neighborhood. He doesn't understand why the city council
doesn’t want to set a schedule for the service.
“I just want to know when to put the debris by the curb,’ ’ said Callaway,
the chairman-elect of the Royal Oaks Homeowners Association, add
ing that leaving debris by the road for extended periods creates an
eyesore.
But council members say providing a schedule isn’t so easy.
“It’s very hard to set a schedule when we only have two workers,”
said councilman Kevin Booth. “And if we have a water line that breaks,
a street that’s messed up or anything that happens, we can’t stop to go
pick up limbs.”
Booth said the city picked up debris twice in Royal Oaks in
October.
“And some of the other people had to do without,” said Booth. "The
fair way to be is to start the truck and go down the road. You ain’t got
any out when they go by, you have to wait till the next time. I mean we
can't make special trips.”
Booth said they could schedule a day in the month for debris
pickup.
“We could schedule say a first Tuesday of the month, provided noth
ing else happens, but if something else happens, we won’t go pick up
limbs if something major is going on,” said Booth.
The councilman said there are some people who take advantage of
the debris pickup.
“We picked up a pile the other day was 10 by 10 by 10, a 10-foot high
pile," said Booth. “If you got a few limbs out there, that's no problem,
but some people do abuse it.”
Callaway said the debris pickup issue was presented to the council
about nine months ago. He said he doesn't have a problem with the
council setting a day for pickup and then having workers set the task
aside in the case of an emergency. For instance, if a water line broke in
the city on the day of the debris pickup, those workers should address
that, but then pick up the debris the day after the issue is resolved.
“I don’t live my life in fear of a natural disaster," said Callway. "I
schedule my dentist appointment and if something happens I resched
ule it.”
The council will meet at 2 p.m. Monday to discuss the city budget, as
well as the leaf and limb pickup policy. Callaway said that he doesn’t
know if anyone from the subdivision will be able to make that meeting
since it’s being held early on a Monday afternoon.
New Comer mayor to hold reception
Comer’s mayor-elect David McMickle, and his wife Beth, will
host a “Meet Your Mayor” reception from 4-6 p.m. on Sunday,
Jan. 9, at Blue Bell Gallery in Comer.
“I look forward to this opportunity to meet the citizens of
Comer, Mayor-elect McMickle said. “I hope that all our resi
dents will take the time to attend the reception and allow me to
hear their concerns.”
The Madison County Journal
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MCHS working
on proposed
schedule overhaul
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
If approved, a new scheduling system at Madison County High
School would expand students' course loads to seven classes and
shorten instruction periods.
Principal Chad Stone will present a plan for a modified seven-period
schedule to the Madison County Board of Education (BOE) in January.
The school board, which will also hold a Jan. 7 work session to discuss
the proposed change, plans to vote on the schedule in February.
"Our staff is really excited about it," Stone said. “Most of them are.
We've still got a lot of things we’ve got to work out.”
Superintendent Mitch McGhee notified the BOE last week that
MCHS was considering this change.
Madison County High School, which currently operates on a block
schedule (four 90-minute classes a day per semester, then four differ
ent classes the next semester), based these changes on a recent tour of
Morgan County High School, which utilizes a modified, seven-period
schedule.
"We saw what they were doing down there, and they're doing a good
job,” Stone said. "And we took the gist of what they were doing and
spun it into something for us.”
Under the proposal, students would attend seven, 52-minute classes
Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays.
On Tuesday, students would attend their four odd-numbered class
es for 80 minutes and then their three even-numbered classes on
Wednesday for 80 minutes.
"We could change it either way,” Stone said. “We could go even-odd.
We haven’t decided how we want to do it.”
One big change is that students wouldn’t start classes until 8:55 a.m.
on Wednesdays.
The late Wednesday start time allows teachers a collaborative plan
ning period from 7:45 to 8:45 a.m. Parents would still be able to drop
students off the usual start time, however.
Another major difference with the modified seven-period schedule is
a multi-purpose, 50-minute enrichment period on Wednesdays.
That time would allow students behind in their schoolwork to catch
up or students taking advanced placement classes to get ahead.
It could also be used as reward time to allow students passing all their
courses to take non-traditional classes.
"We’re going to do a lot of stuff in enrichment that we normally
wouldn’t do,” Stone said. “We may teach a dance class, just the things
that the kids are interested in.”
Stone added that students could even take online classes indepen
dently that MCHS doesn’t offer.
But the main goal in switching to a seven-period modified schedule
is to increase the graduation rate. Stone said, and seven-period modified
schedules are growing in popularity with graduation rules changing.
One of the major strengths of this format is that it adds 400-500
minutes of instruction time per class throughout the year.
And Stone likes offering classes for an entire year.
"We feel like the year-long classes is going to give us some continu
ity in our classes for our students,” he said.
The students the principal has spoken with about this appear recep
tive to the proposed change.
"They said it would take some getting used to ... But they feel good
about the shorter class periods,” Stone said.
Comer gets approval to
use excess grant money
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
Comer can use excess grant funds to pay off waterline upgrade
costs.
The city sought permission from the state to use approximately
$90,000 in leftover grant funds from the city downtown enhance
ment project, which included an improved stormwater runoff system
and sidewalks.
During the grant-funded project, the city also replaced old water
lines and improved the town’s fire protection, using sales tax funds
to cover the cost of the lines.
City clerk Steve Sorrells said the city has gotten approval from the
state to use the extra $90,000 in grant funds to help cover the cost
of the water improvements. That will free up more money for future
sales tax projects.
In other business, the Comer council will discuss the city's pro
posed 2010 budget Monday at 2 p.m. The proposed budget is down
1.6 percent from this year, from $609,780 to $599,630.
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