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o O The DECEMBER 19,2019 Madison County Journal Merged with The Comer News and The Danielsville Monitor, 2006 MadisonJoumaITODAY.com $1.00 Vol. 36 No. 44 • Publication No. 1074-987 • Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. # 20 Pages, 2 Section Plus Supplements CHAMBER ANNA STRICKLAND Strickland named new Chamber director By Zach Mitcham zach@mainstreetne ws .com Madison County resi dent Anna Strickland has been named the new exec utive director of the Mad ison County Chamber of Commerce. Prior to accepting the executive director’s posi tion, Strickland worked for the University of Geor gia’s Archway Partnership in Hart County where she served in dual roles as a neutral community facil itator around communi ty-identified needs and as Hart County’s liaison to resources at UGA and oth er organizations. Other community and economic development experiences Strickland has include serving as Direc tor of Events and Member Relations on the Geor gia Agribusiness Council (GAC). a chamber-like group for agriculture-re lated businesses in Geor gia and as a 4-H Extension Agent in Crisp County. Strickland graduated See Chamber, page 2A INSIDE: Index: News: 1-3A Opinions: 4-5A Crime: 6A Socials: 8-9A Obituaries: 10-11A Sports: 1-2B Schools: 3-4B Churches: 4B Classifieds: 5B Legals: 6-7B Contact: Phone: 800-795-2581 Mail: P.O. Box 658, Danielsville, Ga. 30633 Web: MadisonJoumalTODAY.com MAILING LABEL ENVIRONMENT EPD violations for GRP State agency says power plant mishandling wastewater; company says they haven’tfound evidence of violation "Based on our investigations to date, there has been no spill at the plant, nor has there been any evidence that a wastewater discharge has occurred as alleged in the (notice of violation) NOV complaint." — David Groves, manager of GRP power plants in Colbert and Carnesville By Zach Mitcham zach@mainstreetnews.com State environmental officials recently issued water runoff vio lations to power plants in Colbert and Carnesville, while mandating that corrective action be taken. Lewis Hays, manager of the Georgia Environmental Protec tion Division’s (EPD) Watershed Compliance Program, issued let ters Dec. 9 to Georgia Renewable Power ( GRP) plant manager Da vid Groves concerning violations at both of GRP’s local facilities. “The violations (in Colbert) were discovered during complaint investigations, file reviews and site inspections by the Division on Nov. 20 and 22 and Dec. 5.’’ wrote Hays. The EPD official noted that anyone seeking to discharge any pollutant into the waters of the state must obtain a permit from the EPD. Hays said GRP does not have a permit to discharge waste- water into local waters. The letter states that GRP dis charged wastewater for several hours in Colbert Dec. 5 through “Outfall 1,” which is only permit ted for stormwater discharges. He noted that the company was using a pipeline that had not been iden tified to the EPD. “The wastewater entered the stormwater retention pond through an underground pipeline from the fire prevention storage pond (fire pond), where waste- water is collected,” wrote Hays. “This pipeline was not previous ly identified to the Division. The facility has previously discharged wastewater runoff from the fuel (biomass) storage pile and other smaller sources through this same outfall on several occasions." See EPD, page 2A Visiting with Santa Photo by Zach Mitcham Caylon Wideman, 9, Danielsville, visits with Santa Claus Dec. 14 at the Dan ielsville Christmas festival. FINANCES GRP up to date on water billing; property tax bill due By Zach Mitcham zach@mainstreetnews.com County industrial authority director Frank Ginn reported this week that Georgia Renewable Pow er (GRP) is up-to-date on its water payments to the county. The power company is the county’s largest water customer and water payments from GRP are being used by the industrial authority to cover loan pay ments for the extension of a 12-inch water line from Elbert County to the power plant in Colbert off Hwy. 72. “I just received a confirmation email from the bank where GRP brought their water bill current,” said Ginn. “The only issue we are working to resolve is the $1 million escrow account and the line exten sion bill. I am working with all parties to bring that See Billing, page 2A COUNTY GOV’T Citizens ask BOC for help on power plant The Georgia Renewable Power (GRP) plant in Colbert is burning creosote-treated railroad ties. And a number of local citizens are concerned about the potential health effects. By Zach Mitcham zach@mainstreetnews.com Citizens concerned about emissions and noise from the power plant in Colbert once again ap proached Madison Coun ty commissioners Mon day. asking that the group to stand up for those af fected by the business. Krissy King of Comer said her son is a cancer survivor and she fears for his health due to the burn ing of creosote-treated railroad ties at the Geor gia Renewable Power (GRP) plant on Hwy. 72. “I hope you never have to stand in my shoes when it comes to that, but I want you to understand that as a citizen who has a com pany burning creosote that I know for a fact can cause a secondary cancer in my child,” she said, getting choked up. “I live with that fear daily that he’s going to have anoth er cancer. And I want you, our commissioners to stand behind us citizens and See BOC, page 7A PHONES County 911 faces Windstre am phone problems By Zach Mitcham zach@mainstreetnews.com Madison County 911 is facing a 911 phone situa tion of its own. Many callers from Wind- stream land lines in Madi son County can’t reach 911 due to a bad phone con nection. Conversations are often unintelligible due to the static. It’s a Windstream problem, not a county is sue. And it doesn’t occur on cell phones. But the issue could affect citizens in need of emergency help. Mad ison County 911 director Brenan Baird has contacted the Federal Communica tions Commission (FCC) to try and get the issue re solved. “Just know that we real ize it’s a problem, we are addressing the problem, and have solicited the help of the FCC to help find a solution.” said Baird. “In the meantime if you dial 911 and the dispatcher tells you to hang up and let us call you back, we have your information, and we will be calling and you will get the help you need immediate ly” ' Baird describes the situa tion as an ongoing issue, “After several months See 911, page 2A EMPLOYEE PAY Commissioners approve pay increases for county employees By Zach Mitcham zach@mainstreetne ws. com Madison County commissioners gave the green light Monday to a three-per cent cost-of-living wage increase for county employees, while also approving pay adjustments for 30 employees. The commissioners set aside $320,000 in the 2020 budget to address employee pay. The cost-of-living increases total $230,000 and the individual salary ad justments total $90,000. The board has long talked about county employee pay lagging behind pay rates in surrounding counties. And the group has approved raises for specific employees over the past two years to try and narrow the gap with See Pay, page 2A CHRISTMAS Luminaries, Live Nativity set for Dec. 21 The 35th-annual Christmas Luminaries will take place on Moon’s Grove Church Road and Booger Hill Road (outside the City of Danielsville) Saturday. Dec. 21 from 6 to 9 p.m. Organizers say there will be a live nativity scene located in the parking lot of Moon’s Grove Baptist Church. Members of Moon’s Grove will provide hot chocolate and candy canes to visitors who stop by. “Please join us as we share the true meaning of Christ mas, the birth of Christ, with our community,” organiz ers said. There is no rain date. 14 14 4