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PAGE 2A — THE MADISON COUNTY (GAf JOURNAL. THURSDAY. JANUARY 14. 2021
Chairman .cont’d from 1A
job a little bit easier. It makes the
commissioners more account
able to the hiring and firing pro
cess. In a way it may not be in
their best interest to keep it this
way. but I'm fine with it 100
percent."
EMERGENCY
SERVICES PAY
The new chairman says one
key personnel issue is pay for
emergency employees in tire
county. Madison County pays
less than surrounding coun
ties. And turnover is high. This
hurts those services, while also
putting a strain on the budget,
because when vacancies occur,
those remaining have to cover
those extra hours and be paid
overtime rates.
‘‘Madison County is one of
the lowest-paying EMS services
and safety services period,”
he said. "Our sheriff's office
employees and deputies make
less than surrounding counties.
Our EMTs, paramedics — we
have five openings at EMS,
because they’re going to other
counties that pay more.”
He said this causes the over
time budget to be “astronom
ical.”
"So by giving a raise, if I
give them $75,000 (overall),
it may save $150,000 in over
time, because those positions
are filled and I'm not work
ing the other EMS operators to
death, because they're having
to work double shifts because
there’s nobody to fill in,” said
the chairman.
Higdon said emergency ser
vices are in trouble in this coun
try.
"We’re in a crisis right now,”
he said. "The paramedic, EMT
and the sheriff's office, we re in
a United States crisis. There's a
shortage of everybody. Nobody
wants to be a police officer any
more because of the backlash.
EMTS and paramedics — six
more months of school and they
become an RN for $30,000
more a year. It’s just something
we have to get a handle on if
we re going to survive and be
able to offer services to fire citi
zens. We got to pay these people
more money.”
BUDGETING
Higdon says county budget
ing is made easier by the addi
tion of a major industry, Georgia
Renewable Power (GRP). The
chairman and the county com
missioners will meet at 6 p.m„
Jan. 14 on the 2021 county bud
get.
"GRP has its pros and cons,
but when they pay the tax bill
of $2.3 million, that’s $2.3 mil
lion this county had never seen
before; it was a brand new dol
lar amount that hit,” he said.
"That gives you a little room to
operate... I don't want to say
GRP is the life savings of the
sheriff's department and EMS
and the fire, because they’re not,
but it sure does help, having
that bonus that never existed.
We could not have created that
increase ever stand alone at the
rate we were going. I know that
sounds like I’m pro-GRP and I
am. They just started off on the
wrong foot in a way and done
some things I’m against and
I empathize with some of the
people that live there.”
Higdon said the county needs
to bring in a couple of additional
industries.
“We need two more major
manufacturers,” he said. “I’m
concerned about the housing
boom. I’m pro-growth. But I’m
pro-growth in tire right areas and
the right direction.”
SEWER SERVICES
The chairman said infrastruc
ture improvements are tire key
to bringing in new business.
“There’s properties avail
able for business to conre now
that can access water but not
sewer,” he said. "Some busi
nesses need that. A Kubota, for
instance, has a lot of employees
and bathroom usage and septic
will not work. You have to have
sewer. The corridors we have
in the county have water but
not sewer. This is going to be
a plan that we're going to try to
work on with tire IDA (industri
al development authority) as to
getting that project started.”
The former mayor of
Danielsville noted that the City
of Danielsville has a major
sewer infrastructure expansion
project in the works, which he
said will benefit the county.
“I think they'll have about
three times the capacity, which
is huge, because now we could
technically get business off
Hwy. 98 and have access to
sewer off Hwy. 98," said the
chairman. “Between the jail and
the round-about, there's a lot of
land right there that's not resi
dential that could potentially go
on to sewer."
Higdon said new business
doesn't have to be at the scale
of GRP.
“When we talk about indus
try, it doesn’t have to be great
big industry, it could be five
small industries,” he said.
CHAMBER
OF COMMERCE
The new chairman said he's
urging all local businesses to join
the Madison County Chamber
of Commerce. He envisions a
directory that citizens can use
to access local help and that the
county government can also use
to make sure county projects are
done by county businesses.
“You see it every day on
Facebook, ‘in search of...’ in
search of a plumber, in search
of an electrician, a grader, a sep
tic tank service," he said. "You
know what the answer should
be? Look at the Chamber’s
website. There’s a complete
fist right there: phone numbers,
addresses and where they're
from. That's a huge benefit to
tire septic tank guys, the electri
cians, the homebuilders, who
ever. Who can build my house?
Well, guess what? If you’re a
homebuilder, join tire Chamber
so we can put you on a fist that
tire public can access. It's huge
to utilize and will really help tire
small businesses."
Higdon said Google is an
inadequate tool for finding the
most local help.
"For somebody new to the
county who doesn’t know any
body, if their heating and air
goes out, they go to Google
and it brings up Clarke County
nine times out of 10,” he said.
"You’re going to get a Clarke
County heating and air compa
ny to conre out and service your
heat and air unit, not knowing
that you may have had access to
20 that may five in your area.”
The chairman said he’s
frustrated to see the new
Department of Family and
Children's Services (DFCS)
building being constructed by
out-of-county contractors when
there are many quality contrac
tors within the county.
"I’m looking right now
at the new DFCS and every
buck sitting down there is not
from Madison County, not tire
plumber, not the foundation,
not tire graders, not anybody)'
he said. "That's a problem. We
have grading contractors in this
county. I’nr urging people to
join tire Chamber, so that way
I can suggest to the developer,
hey guys, we’re pro local, so
please look at our list and take
bids from these guys.”
Higdon noted that 96 busi
nesses joined the Chamber in
tire past year and that the orga
nization is doing a great job
helping local businesses.
MEETINGS AND
PUBLIC INPUT
Tire chairman said he wants
commissioners meetings to be
divided into an informal work
session, followed by a business
meeting, in line with how meet
ings were in Danielsville when
he was mayor.
"It (the work session) will be
infomral,” he said. “We re going
to bring up the topics and tire
public can speak freely on any
part of it. We’ll hear them out.
They may have better sugges
tions. It’s not going to be a
voting meeting unless it's urgent
matters or something like that. It
will make everything ran a little
smoother.”
FACILITIES
Higdon said tire county got a
great gift when the Department
of Transportation recently deed
ed five acres at tire intersection
of Hwy. 72 and Hwy. 98 to the
county to be used for public
safety.
"I want to get that EMS sta
tion started pretty quickly,” he
said. "It will give them perma
nent home. It will also be a stag
ing area off to tire side for the
road department to keep gravel
so we don't have to truck it as
far and have such wear and tear
on our vehicles. That location
is ideal. The way they (DOT)
deeded that property, it has to be
used by tire county. I feel like it
will help response time, because
they will have access to that
72 bypass at their front door.
So they can go four directions
instantly.”
The chairman said the
elections office needs atten
tion. Board of Elections and
Registration Chair Tracy Dean
has requested more storage
space.
He also said the food bank
needs an addition.
"Tire food service side of the
food bank is in phenomenal
shape, but tire other side of the
building where she (director
Bobbie Rooker) keeps clothes
and walkers and wheelchairs,
she has no room,” he said. "I'm
looking for an expansion on
that. It’s not very expansive to
add on. The most expensive
thing might be tire concrete.”
Higdon said the addition
would be covered with budget
ed money, not donations.
Tire county recently put
a new roof on the old coun
ty courthouse in tire center of
Danielsville. But Higdon said
the mold there is terrible and the
building is uninhabitable.
"Tire only way to get the
mold out is to gut tire building,”
he said. "You have to get behind
the sheetrock where the water is
in tire studs."
Higdon said restoring the
building would be very costly,
perhaps “half a million just to
get started.”
"So what do you do?” he
asked. “You have a historic
building with a new roof that
wants to be preserved, but it’s
unoccupiable. So do you con
tinue spending money in it? You
already started this process now
and you’re pretty deep on it. I
don’t know that you can back
out of it. You can’t just close it
up. I don’t know. It’s something
you have to sit down with num
bers. It’s in dire straits.”
The chafiman said he doesn’t
want to “kick the can down the
road."
"That’s one of the things
about me, I won’t never kick
the can twice,” he said. “You
can pay now, or you can pay
double later. Pay it now. Fix it so
it doesn't cost nre double later.
That's nry motto period. It’s on
my plate now, so we’ll figure
out how to make it work.”
BOE ..cont’d from 1A
breaks will be worked out
between Williams and the
school administrators, but
he said it may include hav
ing break time by rows. Tire
intent is not to have all stu
dents with their masks off
at once.
Tire board also plans to
conduct a survey of school
personnel to get their input on
masks. That may happen later
next week with the school
leaders asking for input on
tire policy change implement
ed when students return.
Williams reported that as
of Tuesday there were 31
staff members with COVID-
19 with 59 quarantined. A
COVID-19 report is released
each Wednesday on the
school board website: nradi-
son.kl2.ga.us. There were 22
students and 27 staff mem
bers positive for COVID-19
as of Jan. 6.
The superintendent also
reported that the school sys
tem conducted a survey to
see how many school per
sonnel members are interest
ed in getting a COVID-19
vaccination when it becomes
available for the staff. Wil
liams said 425 out of 748
staff members responded to
file survey, with 54.6 respon
dents saying they want tire
vaccine. He said about 20
percent of the respondents
said they are unsure if they
want the vaccine.
“It’s probably going to be
about half that would take
it,” said Williams. “No date
is set, but we are getting the
paperwork and will pass that
along to those who wish to
sign up.”
Assistant superintendent
Jody Goodroe reported
that tire number of students
signed up for virtual instruc
tion has dropped from 770 at
the beginning of the year to
271 now, or about six percent
of the school population.
Assistant superintendent
Mandy Wommack reported
that the school transporta
tion and nutrition staffs have
done an exemplary job get
ting meals to students during
distance learning. She said
893 meals were delivered
Monday.
The board agreed to extend
emergency sick leave for
school staff, which helps
them not use up sick leave
time for COVID quaran
tines. Federal money for that
expired at the end of 2020,
but tire schools anticipate get
ting money for that.
Cindy Nash was re-elected
by the BOE as tire school
board’s vice chairperson.
The board learned that
“option 1” of tire school cal
endar choices for 2021-22
had the majority of votes in
a recent survey “by a slim
margin." The board will vote
on the calendar at its next
meeting.
PERSONNEL
Tire group approved the
following personnel recom
mendations from the super
intendent:
•Corner: hire Barrett Bind
er as an after school worker to
replace B. Dougherty.
•Danielsville: hire Ashley
Berryman as a parapro to
replace R. Watson, replace W.
Seagraves as a teacher with
Merrye Davis, move Roxie
Watson from a parapro to a
teacher to replace M. Davis.
•Ila: approve Louise Cheek
as a long-term substitute for
C. Sapp, hire Jennifer Cul
berson as a paraprofessional,
replacing J. Elrod.
•Transportation: hire Sarah
Anderson as a full-time bus
driver, hire Ashley Elliott as a
full-time bus driver to replace
J. Mills, hire Linda Wages as
a bus monitor to replace K.
Hilgeman.
•The board was informed
of the resignation of Beth-
Ann Dougherty as an after
school worker at Comer, the
resignation of Kristin Hilge
man as a bus monitor, the
resignation of Janice Mills
as a bus driver and the retire
ment of Wendy Seagraves as
a teacher at Danielsville.
Purpose, Passion, and a Paycheck
Registered Nurse
If you’re interested in an excellent job prospect to
utilize your nursing expertise, look no further.
We are looking to hire caring and compassionate
nurses who possess the following skills:
• Good time management
• Able to work autonomously
• Critical thinker
• Proactive patient care
• Team player
For more information, please contact
PruittHealth Hospice Athens at 706-552-1699
or you can forward your resume to
lgreen @ pruitthealth.com
Kmoss @ pruitthealth.com
PruittHealth
Committed to Caring
STAY
SAFE
WATCH
Vaccine .cont’d from 1A
worked in concert to donate the parking area, tents and office space
necessary for the testing and vaccination facility.
“The past year has challenged our community, and when we saw
an opportunity to help, we took it,” explained Jon Williams, CEO
of W&A Engineering. “We wanted to be involved in the process of
vaccine distribution and help end the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“We’ve been fortunate to work with many wonderful community
partners. We are grateful to the Athens Area Humane Society for
providing a space for testing for so long, and to the City of Winter-
ville stepping up to ofter us space. The new partnership with W&A
Engineering and Southern Mills Partners on Oneta Street will allow
us to double our capacity, getting the vaccine to more people quick
ly,” explained Nina Cleveland, Emergency Preparedness Director
for the Northeast Health District.
“Vaccination is our number one priority right now, and we are
doing everything we can to get the vaccine to as many people as
possible, as quickly as we can,” added Dr. Stephen Goggans, Dis
trict Health Director. “We’ve all been waiting for this moment, and
we understand how highly anticipated the vaccine is to so many.
Vaccine quantity is still limited, however, and we need everyone to
keep doing their part by practicing social distancing and wearing
masks or cloth face coverings in public as we work to protect our
community.”
Two vaccines have received Emergency Use Authorizations
(EUAs) from the Food and Dmg Administration (FDA) after
undergoing rigorous clinical trials demonstrating their safety and
effectiveness. Both vaccines were approximately 94-95 percent
effective against COVID-19 in these trials, and both had similar
side effects: temporary arm soreness, tiredness, headache, muscle
and joint pain, and fever. Side effects went away on their own and
were more common after the second dose. The vaccines are given
in a two-dose series, several weeks apart.
NEW TERM
Madison County Probate Judge Cody Cross swears
in Byron Lee, Cindy Nash and Brenda Moon to new
terms on the county school board.
Lawsuit .cont’d from 1A
against 10 individuals for
their roles in a conspiracy
to fix prices.”
Four of the 10 charged
are former employees of
Pilgrim’s Pride.
“The government inter
vened in this action order
to protect its interest in
a criminal investigation
from undue interfer
ence by discovery in this
action,” wrote Paul Tor-
zilli, trial attorney for the
DOJ Antitrust Division.
“.. .The deposition should
be stayed until it would
no longer interfere with
the government's crimi
nal matter.”
McKie wrote that a
judge and jury should
draw “adverse infer
ences” from Gay repeat
edly invoking the Fifth
Amendment in his August
deposition.
“The facts of this case
and the Penn prosecu
tion are so ‘intertwined’
that the Court may rest
assured that Gay's invo
cations are legitimate
and that the information
sought is pertinent to this
case,” wrote McKie.
The court has yet to
rule on the “adverse infer
ences” matter. And the
case continues.
Georgia Legal Services
Program offered
Free legal services are available to low-income clients.
Services are based on case type and financial eligibility.
The Georgia Legal Services Program does not handle
criminal cases. For an appointment, call 1-800-745-5717
between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., Monday through Friday.
NOTICE OF PUBLIC
HEARINGS
The Mayor and Council for the City of Hull,
Georgia, will hold public heatings on the adop
tion of the official zoning ordinance and map,
the policies and procedures governing the call
ing and conducting of zoning public hearings,
and on the zoning standards which govern the
exercise of zoning power of the City of Hull.
The public hearing on the policies and proce
dures governing the calling and conducting of
zoning public heatings will be called at 6:00
p.m. on the 28th day of January 21,2021, via a
virtual Zoom room due to the current Covid 19
Pandemic. Please refer to the City Web Site at
hullga.com for login instructions. The public
is invited to comment. Immediately after re
ceiving public comments on the policies and
procedures, the Mayor and Council will hold a
second public hearing at the same location on
the standards governing the exercise of zoning
power, the public is invited to comment. Im
mediately after receiving public comments on
the standards, the Mayor and Council will hold
a third public hearing at the same location on
the adoption of the official zoning ordinance
and the zoning map, the public is invited to
comment. Copies of the proposed policies and
procedures governing the calling and conduct
ing zoning hearings, the standards governing
the exercise of zoning power, and the offi
cial zoning ordinance and map are available
for public inspection via the City Web Site at
hullga.com.
Sandra Pou
Clerk, City of Hull