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JULY 6, 2017
Madison County Journal
Merged with The Comer News and The Danielsville Monitor, 2006
MadisonJoumaITODAY.com
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Vol. 34 No. 24 • Publication No. 1074-987 • Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. • 20 Pages, 2 Section Plus Supplements
LITIGATION
Lawsuit
filed over
fertilizer
facility
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews. com
Smith Land and Cattle
Company has filed suit
against the Madison
County government for
not allowing a planned
fertilizer facility on
Hwy. 172.
Jeff Smith and his
brother, Stephen, want
to operate a manure/lit
ter drying facility in a
150’ by 150’ building at
8315 Hwy. 172. They
were recently informed
in a letter by county
commission chairman
John Scarborough that
the property needs to be
zoned for industrial use,
not for agriculture.
Scarborough told the
Smiths that a rezon
ing would be needed,
since the county attor
ney determined that
the facility constituted
“manufacturing” and
wouldn’t be allowed as
currently zoned. The
chairman said more
study has been done on
the proposal and that
the county attorney
is not done review
ing the matter, but he
said this week that the
initial determination
of a needed rezon
ing remains in effect.
Now, the brothers have
— See “Lawsuit”
on 2 A
INSIDE
Index:
News — 1-3A
Opinions — 4-5A
Crime — 6A
Socials — 7-1OA
Obituaries — 11A
Features — 1B
Sports — 2B
Churches — 6B
Classifieds — 4B
Legals — 7B
Contact:
Phone: 800-795-2581
Mail: P.O. Box 658,
Danielsville, Ga. 30633
Web:
MadisonJournalTODAY.
com
Fun Fourth!
Nevaeh Lollie, 3, Colbert, and Terry Lollie are all smiles at the the
annual Colbert Fourth of July Parade Tuesday. See Page IB for more
photos. Photos by Zach Mitcham/staff
Brystal Culberson, 7, and Brenna Culberson, 9, Ba, show off their
flags at the Colbert Fourth of July Parade.
Vietnam veteran Danny White and his wife, Judy, from Winder ride
on a motorcycle in Tuesday’s parade in Colbert.
ROADS
Regional
TSPLOST
lacks support
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
There will be no one-cent regional tax for road improve
ments.
A proposed transportation special purpose local option sales
tax (T-SPLOST) doesn’t have enough support to put on a
November ballot. Leaders in seven of 12 area counties opted
out of a regional tax for roads.
Madison County is included in a region with Athens-Clarke,
Barrow, Elbert, Greene, Jackson, Jasper, Morgan, Newton,
Oconee, Oglethorpe and Walton counties.
Only Madison, Elbert and Oglethorpe county leaders voted
in favor of a T-SPLOST referendum. Two other counties were
considering approval, but a clear majority opposed the move.
County commission chairman John Scarborough said a
one-cent regional tax would have been greatly beneficial for
Madison County.
“It would have been a huge deal,” he said.
Madison County stood to gain considerable revenue for roads
if a regional T-SPLOST was approved. Madison County has
over 600 miles of roads and would stand to receive sales tax
funds from Clarke County and other more commercial areas
in the region.
Had a referendum been approved, there would have been
a collective pass/fail vote by citizens in all involved counties.
Voters in the region, including Madison County, turned down a
T-SPLOST proposal in 2012.
Madison County receives about several hundred thousand
dollars annually in state funds from the Local Maintenance and
Improvement Grant (LMIG) program. The county is required
to match 30-percent of that grant with its own contribution. If
T-SPLOST had been approved, the required match would have
dropped to 10 percent for the county.
COURTS
Man charged with
child molestation,
rape released on bond
A Nicholson man arrested recently on multiple charges
involving alleged child molestation of a family acquaintance
under the age of 16 was released from custody on a $50,000
bond.
Samuel Francisco Fuentes, 39, was charged with child
molestation, two counts of rape, two counts of enticing a
child for indecent purposes and two counts of statutory rape
(felony).
Judge Thomas Hodges ruled that Fuentes could be released.
Prosecutors argued that Fuentes should be held in custody.
According to Captain Jimmy Patton of the Madison
County Sheriff’s Office, investigators began looking into the
case May 2016 after a family member of the victim reported
it.
The case went before the Grand Jury, which handed down
an indictment. Patton said it took some time to find Fuentes,
who had moved several times since the investigation began.
He said the incident involved providing alcohol to the victim
as well as sexual contact.
Doug Martin with the Madison County Sheriff’s Office
said lab testing was done before warrants were issued for
Fuentes. Therefore, there was a lag time between when the
incident occurred and when Fuentes was sought for arrest.
Martin said tracking down Fuentes was no easy task. And
the U.S. Marshal Service helped search for Fuentes, who
was eventually found in a hotel in Gwinnett County. Martin
said the release of the alleged child molestor raises the pos
sibility of another search.
“There is always potential for us to have to employ a fugi
tive investigation,” he said.
Mailing
Label Below
FARMING
Poultry grower shut down after video surfaces
By Margie Richards
margie@mainstreetnews.com
A long time poultry farmer in
Hull has reportedly lost his con
tract with Pilgrim’s Pride, a major
chicken producer in the area after
The Humane Society of the United
States released a secretly recorded
video last week showing alleged
cruelty to some of the birds on
the farm.
But the county sheriff and com
mission chairman say the farmer
has been wrongly targeted.
The video was made by a man
who sought work at the farm,
while secretly representing the
HSUS, according to Sheriff
Michael Moore, who recent
ly received an email and video
about the group’s findings, which
alleged that the farmer had possi
bly violated a state code involving
cruelty to animals.
The video reportedly showed
that “the owner of the farm blud
geoned chickens with a metal rod
to make it easier for him to grab
them,” “sick and injured chickens
had their necks twisted in crude
attempts to kill them,” “thousands
of chickens were aggressively
captured and slammed into cages
to transport for slaughter” and
other violations, according to the
HSUS press release.
“As is the case throughout
the poultry industry, the birds
at Plainview are bred to grow
extremely large, extremely fast.”
the release also noted. “Severe
leg problems resulting from this
rapid unhealthy growth were doc
umented - including birds unable
to walk to reach food and water.”
Sheriff Moore referred the
email and video to the Georgia
Department of Agriculture, who
declined to pursue the matter.
Moore then sent the material
to the Northern Circuit District
Attorney Parks White, who also
declined to prosecute.
Moore said he has known the
farmer and his family for many
years and that they are “good peo
ple.” He said the farmer would not
maliciously harm anyone or any
thing. He said what happened on
that farm is likely no different than
what happens on farms all over
the area and that poultry farmers
routinely cull chickens that cannot
be sold.
“It’s just this group trying to stir
up trouble,” he told The Journal
Monday. “This (HSUS represen
tative) was not a local person, he
was just someone who showed up
looking for a job and the farmer
happened to need someone that
day to help collect the chickens.”
— See “Chickens” on 2A
