Newspaper Page Text
The
www.MadisonJournalTODAY.com
FEBRUARY 11, 2010
Merged with The Comer News and The Danielsville Monitor, 2006
Vol. 25 No. 6 • Publication No. 1074-987 • Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. • 24 Pages, 2 Sections Plus Supplements
ROAD SAFETY
New program helps
parents keep tabs
on teenage drivers
A new Madison County
Sheriffs Department pro
gram will help local par
ents keep better tabs on
their teen drivers.
“How many of us were
pulled over and never
told our parents about it
even though it was some
thing we should have told
them?” asked Sheriff Kip
Thomas. “Fortunately for
parents today, there is a
program that will allow
them to know what is
going on with their teen
driver.”
Sheriffs Telling Our
Parents and Promoting
Educated Drivers, also
known as S.T.O.P.P.E.D.,
is a program designed for
that purpose.
Over 3,000 drivers
between the ages of 16 and
21 die in the United States
each year as a result of car
crashes. The S.T.O.P.P.E.D.
mniiii^Vir-,h ~ ■-..flflfrsri-ir
This sticker can be
placed on vehicles driven
by teens, which will lead
to parents being notified
whenever the teen driver
is stopped by deputies.
program is a parental noti
fication system developed
by the Onondaga County
Sheriffs Office in New
York to try and deter
young drivers from mak
ing decisions that could
— See “Drivers” on 2A‘
CITY NEWS
Comer council discusses
weather siren, Census
By Margie Richards
margie@mainstreetnews.com
The Comer City Council
tabled a decision Monday
on whether or not to move,
and/or to upgrade the town's
weather alarm, currently
located on the future travel
museum behind City Hall.
Council members agreed
to consult Danielsville offi
cials on the use and effec
tiveness of their alarm siren.
The council heard from
EMA director Johnny
Bridges that installing the
software to have the siren
operated remotely from the
911 center in Danielsville
would cost approximately
$1,800. Moving the siren
from its current location
would cost extra.
Bridges also pointed out
that residents might be bet
ter served by encouraging
the purchase and use of indi
vidual weather radios.
The council heard from
Census 2010 representative
Verdale Thompson, who
urged council members to
encourage their residents
to participate in the census
and cited examples of how
census counts bring revenue
to an area. She pointed out
that senior citizens, mobile
home park dwellers, those
linguistically-isolated and
undocumented foreigners
are the most likely to be
under-reported in a given
area.
The council agreed to
gravel “the alley” in down
town Comer - an area com
monly used as a driveway
for downtown businesses
— See “Comer” on 3A ‘
INSIDE
Index:
News — 1-3A
Opinions — 4-5A
Crime —6A
Schools — 7-8A
Socials — 9A, 12A
Churches —10A
Obituaries —11A
Sports —1-2B, 12B
Legals — 3-9B
Classifieds —10-11B
Contact:
Phone: 706-795-2567
Fax: 706-795-2765
Mail: PO. Box 658,
Danielsville, GA, 30633
Web:
MadisonJoumalTODAY.
com
Madison County’s boys’
and girls’ basketball
teams are vying for a
state playoff berth this
week.
— Page1B
Boys, girls vie
for state berth
EDUCATION
State cuts hit schools
County schools now must make up $469,000 deficit
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
Continued state funding
cuts have forced Madison
County School leaders to
try to compensate for a near
half-million dollar deficit in
this year's budget without
dipping too far into reserves.
Lost state revenue, which
includes a recent 1.5 percent
QBE reduction, will leave the
school system in a $469,862
hole this year. That shortage
will mean enacting a hiring
freeze, a “soft freeze” on cer
tain expenses and a furlough
day for all 230-day employ
ees, as well as using some
reserve money, in order to
make up the difference.
“That’s the plan to manage
the remainder of this school
year,” Superintendent Mitch
McGhee told the Madison
County Board of Education
(BOE) Tuesday.
The soft freeze on expens
es - mostly regarding items
not imperative for this school
year - is expected to save
around $231,127.
The furlough day (the sys
tem calls them “amended
calendar days”) for 230-day
employees, which the BOE
will be asked to approve
next month, will save around
$50,000. Basically, these
employees will not make
up a snow day from earlier
this year. Employees with a
230-day contract are mostly
administrators and princi
pals, but this does include
some custodians and mainte
nance workers, too.
Meanwhile, it’s uncertain
exactly how much money the
hiring freeze will save the
system.
Madison County school
leaders will then apply
— See “Shortage” on 2A‘
“We cannot
deplete our fund
balance and sur
vive the next two
years.”
— Supt. Mitch
McGhee
ENVIRONMENT
Si
Elbert County commissioners Horace Harper, W.D. Albertson, Frank Eaves, John Hubbard and Jerry
Hewell unanimously approved a trash incinerator 1.25 miles from the Madison County after numerous
people spoke in opposition to the proposal Monday.
Incinerator approved
Estelle Colquitt holds up a cartoon Monday as Elbert County commis
sioners vote for a trash incinerator near the Madison County line. The
cartoon — entitled “Who’s pulling the strings?” — shows a big hand
with five people dangling from each finger. Zach Mitcham/staff
Opponents file petition
calling for referendum;
legal battles loom
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
In the face of passionate opposition,
Madison County's neighbors to the east
have approved a massive trash incin
erator just over a mile from the Elbert/
Madison County line.
The Plant Granite incinerator, which
will take several years to complete,
could bum over one billion pounds of
trash annually.
But the Elbert County Board of
Commissioners will have to fend off
challenges from two angles to make
their vote stick. A group opposing
the incinerator, Citizens for Public
Awareness (CPA), filed a petition
with the Elbert County probate judge
Monday morning, prior to the BOC
vote, which calls for a referendum for
Elbert citizens on the incinerator. That
petition has 3,520 signatures — poten
tially enough to force a referendum if
the petition is validated.
“We want to continue to look at the
petition and our rights to push this to
a referendum,” said CPA spokesman
Kevin Lewis after Monday's meeting.
“That’s going to be one of our first
orders of business. And we want to look
into the Department of Community
Affairs' standards and procedures and
make sure that everything was con
ducted accordingly. We have reason to
believe it wasn’t. And we want to look
further into that.”
Meanwhile, Elbert County commis
sioners have already been sued by
Sweet City Landfill LLC, a company
that proposed a separate landfill in
Elbert County. Sweet City alleges that
the BOC unfairly amended its solid
waste ordinance to favor GreenFirst
LLC, the company proposing the
incinerator, and to hinder Sweet City's
plans.
Georgia Butler, the attorney for Sweet
City, also contended after Monday’s
meeting that the Elbert BOC failed
to follow Department of Community
Affairs guidelines on amending the
solid waste management plan.
“They put the cart before the horse
tonight by actually voting to adopt the
amendment before referring it for eval
uation to the Regional Commission,”
said Butler, who maintained that the
board's actions Monday were “an exer
cise in illegality.” He also contended
that the board had an illegal quorum
in Huntsville, Alabama, when three
commissioners toured an incinerator
facility.
But Bill Daughtry, Elbert County
BOC attorney, disputed claims Monday
that the commissioners had acted
improperly.
“Proper procedures have been fol
lowed,” he told the audience.
A large crowd packed the Elbert
County Superior Courtroom Monday.
Many citizens who tried to attend the
meeting were locked out after the
room was determined to be at capacity.
Several people urged the BOC to allow
more people, saying there was more
room available.
While the overwhelming majority of
people in attendance Monday opposed
the incinerator, four spoke in favor of
— See “Incinerator” on 2A
