Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2A-THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. JANUARY 16, 2020
Dam
continued from 1A
since found that only one
home would be affected.
Several meetings were held
in recent months with lake
property owners and with the
homeowner of the endangered
home to discuss the IDAs op
tions.
Ginn said the board’s pri
mary objective now is to mit
igate the hazard at the least
expense to taxpayers. That
option seems to be to repair
the dam at a cost of about
$25,000, which would make
the dam a Category n under
the state’s Georgia Safe Dams
regulations, with no further
action necessary, according to
Ginn and the engineers.
Other options include low
ering the dam, which would
take the 29-acre lake down
to 10 acres or less, purchase
and demolish the home in the
breach zone, or remove the
dam completely, essential
ly destroying the Seagraves
Lake.
Ginn said according to au
ditors, the county has already
spent over $400,000 on the
dam since taking ownership
of it.
Ahead of the meeting, lake
property owners sent a letter
to the IDA and board of com
missioners requesting that the
IDA make a “sincere effort
to do the right thing to honor
the original contract with the
Seagraves family,’’ which in
cluded saving the lake: that
a total breach of the dam not
be done; that the IDA make
a “sincere effort” to purchase
the downstream home by ne
gotiating with the homeowner
for a price for the home and to
declare the flood area a hazard
zone to prevent any other hab
itable structures from being
placed there.
There were also discus
sions about the history of the
lake and what it means to the
community in terms of recre
ation and as a means of water
supply for the volunteer fire
departments.
GRP
continued from 2A
to discuss the issues Dec. 4.
They discussed pictures and
videos received from GRP
neighbors.
“Since that meeting, ad
ditional fugitive emissions
complaints have been re
ported,” wrote Taylor. “The
company stated that a chute
will be ordered and installed
on the fuel conveyor system.
The Division alleges that the
company violated condi
tions of the permit by failing
to maintain and operate the
facility in a manner consis
tent with good air pollution
control practice for mini
mizing fugitive emissions.”
GRP was ordered to re
spond to the violation no
tice within 30 days with a
written program on how
fugitive emissions will be
Rates
continued from 1A
corporate limits of Dan-
ielsville are comprised of
approximately 46 percent
of exempt/non-taxable real
property — that’s almost
half. While it is strategic to
locate government facili
ties and educational institu
tions as such, the burden of
infrastructure can’t be sole
ly placed on the residential
citizens of Danielsville.”
Payne said that city offi
cials reached out to county
and school officials “for
possible solutions to reduc
ing debt obligations and
to seek additional funding
from the 2020 SPLOST
( Special Purpose Local Op
tion Sales Tax) agreement,
which failed after several
months of discussion.”
Payne said the new rates
“allow for a more accurate
reflection of the use and
availability of services to
these types of facilities.”
“By using this type of
rate structure, the residen
tial citizens are not forced
to carry the burden of ser
vicing the institutional fa
cilities served by Daniels-
ville’s infrastructure,” she
said. “Every user will see
an increase on their bill;
however, the average resi
dential citizen will see the
least increase and the insti
tutional facilities will see
the larger increase.”
Payne said the city has
made infrastructure im
provements in recent years
and plans to make more.
“By way of SPLOST.
the City of Danielsville
has made improvements
in both the water and sew
er infrastructure over the
past several years,” wrote
Payne. “With the new
Hwy. 29/Hwy. 98 round
about, new, larger-sized
water lines were installed,
which provided for better
fire protection, and water
pressure, in general, for our
citizens along that corridor.
The city has also been able
to make its first step in im
provement to its wastewa
ter pond by installing a new
diffused air system just
this past November. The
new diffused air system is
showing improvements in
the wastewater pond, but
the city has a way to go in
order to continue growth
within its city limits.”
Madison County School
Superintendent Michael
Williams and county com
mission chairman John
Scarborough were not
pleased with the new rates.
“This is the first I have
seen of water rate hikes.”
said Williams. “I knew
there had been some dis
cussion about the possi
bility, but I have not been
notified that a 148-percent
increase would be voted on
by the council. A 148-per
cent increase is excessive!
The school system will go
from paying $25,000 a year
in water to $60,000 per year
(10 months). That is exces
sive! We do not get charged
that much for water at our
other schools. I hope to
speak with the mayor and
council soon and hope they
reconsider these rates.”
Scarborough echoed
Williams’ sentiments.
“I hope to speak with
the mayor and city council
as well,” he said. “I would
like to know how this rate
was computed. We are two
weeks into our fiscal year
and this certainly was not
budgeted for.”
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business Jan.
13, the city approved its
2020 budget Monday. Wa
ter expenses are projected
at $292,505 and sewer ex
penses are anticipated at
$231,295. Water revenues
r
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Several members of the
audience questioned why
the dam could not simply
be returned to the Seagraves
family, leaving them with the
burden of repairing it and said
they objected to any more of
their tax money being used to
ward the project.
Ginn pointed out that the
only difference between a Cat
egory I dam and a Category n
dam is that with a Cat n there
is no habitable structure where
there would be an imminent
loss of life. He said officials
realize how important the dam
and the lake is to the commu
nity and that he is working as
both the IDA director and as
a senator to mitigate the situ
ation.
Ginn told the group that he
plans to introduce legislation
to the Georgia legislature this
session that would place the
burden on any property owner
who wants to build or move
a habitable structure into the
breach zone of a Category
handled, including “specif
ic procedures for employee
training, standard operating
procedures, corrective ac
tions and record keeping.”
Corrective actions, such as
modification of processes
and equipment, and a sched
ule for when such actions
will be taken were also re
quired. The EPD also asked
for documentation that the
are projected at $324,200.
Sewer revenues are antici
pated at $197,420.
The council approved a
zoning request by Jay Prid
gen to rezone a five-acre
tract in Sherwood Subdi
vision from agriculture to
residential. Pridgen ex
plained that he has remod
eled two mobile homes on
the property, but that he’s
probably going to remove
a third mobile home that
is in disrepair. He said the
rezoning will give him the
option of placing another
home on the lot without vi
olating current zoning reg
ulations.
The police department
responded to 129 calls in
December, including five
accidents and two assault
or battery cases. The de
partment issued 24 cita
tions and 14 written and
verbal warnings. Projected
fines for December were
$4,489. The department
collected $1,106 in fines
and fees from outstanding
city probation cases.
The city council ap
proved the following city
appointments for 2020:
Rushton and Co., city au
ditors; Robert Sneed, city
judge; Bubba Samuels,
n dam to place upgrades (at
their expense) on that structure
to withstand the potential haz
ard of a dam breach. He said
this would prevent Category II
dams from being placed back
on the Category I “hazardous
dams list” when someone
builds in the breach zone and
would save the taxpayers the
expense of hardening those
dams, which can cost hun
dreds of thousands of dollars
each.
“This (legislation) would
be a tremendous cost savings
to the taxpayers in Georgia,”
Ginn said. He said the state
currently owns 357 dams,
which while they are a tre
mendous cost, are also a tre
mendous public benefit to the
environment and to the public
in the form of recreational op
portunities.
Ginn said the IDA is ex
pected to vote on the next step
with the Seagraves Lake Dam
after this legislative session
is over.
chute for the conveyor sys
tem has been ordered, along
with an estimated time of
arrival and schedule of in
stallation.
“The information provid
ed by the company will be
reviewed by the division
and used to determine if fur
ther enforcement action, in
cluding monetary penalties,
is warranted,” wrote Taylor.
city attorney: B.G. Turnip-
seed Engineering, city en
gineer; Susan Payne, city
clerk; Jonathan Burnette,
police chief; Daniel Turpin,
public works supervisor;
Moore Vault, grave digger;
Madison County Elections,
election superintendent:
Joseph Federico, mayor
pro-tem; and Kayla Ballew,
IT consultant.
Knight
continLied from 1A
Knight attended the Uni
versity of Georgia and re
ceived a Master’s degree in
animal science. She started
her own business providing
ultrasounds for cattle pro
ducers.
“You ultrasound cattle
to take the measurements
that they would normally
take after the animals are
harvested, such as the ri-
beye area, how much fat,
marbling, quality,” she
said. “And we were able to
do that on live animals. So
it was kind of a new tech
nology that was coming out
in the early 2000s when I
graduated. It was fun, just a
lot of road traveling."
Knight took a beef cattle
specialist job in the exten
sion office in Statesboro,
then accepted a county po
sition in 2011.
The new extension agent
said she is excited about the
latest change.
“My husband and I were
looking for a new chal
lenge, a new opportunity
and something more in my
wheelhouse of livestock,”
said Knight, noting that
Bulloch County farming
is heavily row crops. “So
that’s what brought us up
here. Livestock and pas
tures and hay is really my
forte of what I like to do and
where my knowledge base
is. Madison County really
appealed to me and that's
what really drives agricul
ture around here in addition
to the poultry industry, of
course. It was just more em
phasis on the things that I
like to be involved in.”
Knight said agriculture is
important for all, whether
a farmer or not. She wants
to help highlight the role of
agriculture in everyone's
life.
“It’s important for the
public to understand where
their food is coming from
but to also understand the
other great things agricul
ture does as far,” she said.
“Agriculture is really good
for the environment. Who
cares more about the en
vironment than the people
gaining their livelihood
from it? The stewardship
and community it forms
around the people involved,
the love of land, the love
of wildlife, nature and an
imals, and all the things
it encompasses, and how
much passion the people in
volved in it show for what
they do.”
To contact Knight, call
706-795-2281 or email
clh@uga.edu.
Water continLied from 1A
$3.00 per thousand gallons.
Klerk said if the authority
were to agree to sell water
to Madison County, staff
would recommend an as
sessment of a $7,000 min
imum monthly fee to help
offset the cost, estimated
at $225,000, that would be
incurred to run 2,200 feet
of line to make the connec
tion.
Ginn said the expense to
Madison County would be
significantly higher than the
cost to the authority due to
the amount of line needed
to meet the authority con
nection and an agreement
of more than three years
would be needed in order to
recoup that expense.
“I think 30 years is a lot
to ask, particularly since
Braselton, Commerce and
Jefferson are getting three
(years,)” said board mem
ber Pat Bell. “This author
ity, and my job here, is to
protect the water in this
county for the people in this
county.”
No action was taken by
the board on the request.
WIDEMAN SWORN IN AS MAYOR
New Danielsville mayor Michael Wideman (L) and former mayor Todd Higdon
share a laugh after Higdon swore in Wideman to the post Monday, Jan. 13.
QUALIFYING FEES & DATES
Pursuant to O.C.G.A § 21-2-131(a)(l) ; the following qualifying fees were set by the Madison County
Board of Commissioners at their November 25, meeting:
Sheriff
$
1,943.28
Clerk of Superior Court
$
1,591.05
Tax Commissioner
$
1,591.05
Probate Judge
$
1,591.05
Chairman, BOC
$
1,943.28
District 1 & 2 Commissioners, BOC
$
216.00
Board of Education
$
94.62
Coroner
$
351.81
Qualifying for the offices listed above will begin at 9:00 am, Monday, March 2, 2020 and will end at noon
Friday, March 6, 2020. The General Primary/General Election will be held May 19, 2020.
All candidates who wish to qualify for ALL races will qualify at the Board of Elections & Registration
Office, 94 Spring Lake Drive, Danielsville.
For information, please contact the Board of Elections & Registration Office, 706-795-6335, Tracy Dean