About The Madison County journal. (Hull, Ga.) 1989-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 14, 2010)
The www.MadisonJournalTODAY.com JANUARY 14, 2010 Merged with The Comer News and The Danielsville Monitor, 2006 Vol. 25 No. 2 • Publication No. 1074-987 • Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. • 24 Pages, 2 Sections Plus Supplements EMERGENCY SERVICES Search is on for new EMS head County launches investigation on timesheet discrepancies By Zach Mitcham zach@mainstreetnews.com The search is on for a new county ambulance director after long-time EMS head Dwayne Patton unexpect edly resigned last week. In the meantime, the county government has launched an internal investigation into “timesheet discrepan cies.” “We are going to conduct an internal investigation on some issues that have been brought to our atten tion,” said BOC chairman Anthony Dove. Dove declined to offer much more on the inves tigation, noting that employee interviews will be conducted regarding the timesheet discrepancies. “We have to bring in more employees to ques tion,” he said. Dove said the county will take “appropriate actions” once the investigation is completed. “We’ll move as quickly as possible,” said Dove of the investigation. “We don’t know all the facts yet. If there’s anything to disclose, we’ll disclose it.” Patton, who served as Dwayne Patton “There were some discrepancies with the timesheets that weren’t correct and weren’t right, but there wasn’t any thing done intention ally. We thought we were doing things in the right way to the best of our knowl edge to try and take care of business.” — Dwayne Patton, former EMS director EMS director for the past 10 years, submitted his let ter of resignation to Dove Jan. 7. “It is with a sad heart that I tender my resignation — See “Patton” on 2A High-flyin’ Raiders Madison County’s Trae Burton takes the ball to the hoop in a 67-60 win over Winder-Barrow Tuesday night in Danielsville. The Raiders are now 13-3 on the year. See Page IB for more coverage of Madison County basketball. Ben Munro/staff CRIME Armed robbery reported Two armed men report edly robbed a Hwy. 106 convenience store Saturday, making off with more nearly $900 in cash and a $150 worth of phone cards. According to the inci dent report from the Madison County Sheriff’s Department, Deputy Alan Stratton was dispatched to a robbery in progress at Jai’s Country Comer just before noon. When he arrived, Stratton found the front door of the store locked. When he called out for the clerk, a she came to the door, vis ibly shaken and upset. Two women also pulled up to the store about the same time, saying they were the ones who called 911. The clerk told Stratton that two black males with hoods over their heads had entered the store and grabbed her by the arm. One of them told her to go to the rear of the store. She ran to the back and locked herself in a room, where she heard the suspects going through cabinets and knocking things over. One of the suspects then kicked the door and ordered her to come out or they’d “shoot.” When she did, one of the sub jects allegedly grabbed her around the neck and led — See “Robbery” on 3A EDUCATION AREA NEWS Ila Elem. up for national honor Middle school also receives award By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews.com Ila Elementary School might be in store for some national acclaim. The school is one of just eight schools in Georgia and one of four elemen tary schools statewide to be nominated for National Blue Ribbon School status. Madison County Schools Superintendent Mitch McGhee made the — See “Da” on 2A INSIDE Index: News — 1-3A Opinions — 4-5A Crime —6A Schools — 7-9A Socials — 12A, 12B Sports — 1-2B Churches —3B Obituaries —4B Legals — 5-8B Classifieds — 9-11B Contact: Phone: 706-795-2567 Fax: 706-795-2765 Mail: P.O. Box 658, Danielsville, GA, 30633 Web: MadisonJoumalTODAY. com Foreclosures down in Feb. Foreclosures advertised for February in The Madison County Journal are down significantly from January. — Page 3A BOE considers new schedule for MCHS The Madison County Board of Education is considering a plan to take Madison County High School off block schedul ing, replacing it with a seven-period day. — Page 3A No vote taken on incinerator Proposed facility would burn up to 1,800 tons of garbage a day about 1.25 miles from Madison Co. line Inside: Madison Co. BOC chairman offers thoughts on proposal, Page 2A By Zach Mitcham zach@mainstreetnews.com a d i s o n County’s neighbors to the east are still mulling a proposed trash incinerator/ electricity-generating facil ity about 1.25 miles east of the Madison/Elbert line that could bum up to 1,800 tons of garbage a day. On Monday, a crowd filled all seats in the Elbert County commissioners’ meeting room in Elberton. Some people stood. Some sat on the floor. But per haps as many, if not more people, didn’t even get inside the room. The overflow crow stood outside in the hall in govern ment complex in Elberton, many of them wearing yel low and black “No inciner ator! No Landfill!” stickers on their shirts. Inside the packed meet ing room, Elbert County commissioners heard from numerous citizens con cerned about two sepa rate solid waste proposals in Elbert County: Plant Granite, a potential trash incinerator and landfill off Hwy. 72 at Dove’s Creek Church Road, about three miles inside Elbert County; and Sweet City Landfill, a solid waste landfill pro posed at Stinchcomb Road and Sweet City Road about two miles north of the Plant Granite site. Fourteen people spoke against the proposals, while one spoke in favor. No com missioners spoke about the proposals, though chairman Tommy Lyon offered com ments on procedural mat ters. Madison County resi dents who have attended recent Elbert County meet ings have been particularly outspoken about the pro posed incinerator project, where an estimated 1,500 — See “Incinerator” on 2A So what’s proposed? Information taken from the Northeast Georgia Regional Commission Development or Regional Impact (DRI) report available online at vmw.negplanning.org/dri/ search •Name: Plant Granite, LLC •Proposed by: GreenFirst LLC (will serve as the per mitting company; another firm will operate the plant) •Locale: off Hwy. 72 about 1.25 miles east of Madison County (access to the project is proposed at the existing Dove’s Creek Church Drive). •Completion date: estimated late 2013 •Number of employees: 70 •A description: The renewable energy facility will accept approximately 1,500 to 1,800 tons per day of combined municipal solid waste, construction and demolition (C&D) debris, wood biomass, wastewater treatment sludge and other permitted fuel stock. The fuel stocks will then be mixed and incinerated in a combustion chamber. The heat from the combustion process will convert water to steam, which is sent to a turbine generator(s) where it will produce and estimated 35-50 megawatts of electricity. The residue (ash) is then wetted to prevent dust and will then be hauled via trucks to an on-site waste landfill, which will be designed in accordance with Subtitle D-MSW landfill standards. •Size: The project consists of the construction of a 39-acre solid waste landfill, a 40,000 square-foot renewable energy facility and associated support facili ties on approximately 260 acres. •Project cost: $335 million •Annual estimated tax revenue for Elbert Co.: $350,000 •Traffic estimate: 220 vehicles in and out daily, an estimated 150 trucks •Water use: estimated 400,000 gallons/day •Elbert BOC voting date: unknown
