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NOVEMBER 10, 2022
Madison County Journal
Merged with The Comer News and The Danielsville Monitor, 2006
MadisonJoumaITODAY.com
Vol. 39 No. 40 • Publication No. 1074-987 • Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. • 16 Pages, 2 Sections Plus Supplements
$1.00
EDUCATION
Schools
receive
grant for
safety
By Hannah Barron
hannah@mainstreetnews.com
The Madison County
School System has been
awarded a $50,000 grant
for school safety improve
ments.
The Georgia Depart
ment of Education recent
ly awarded $3.1 million in
grants to 66 rural school
districts.
At the Board of Edu
cation's Nov. 8 meeting,
superintendent Michael
Williams and assistant
superintendent of busi
ness operations Amanda
Wommack said plans for
the grant include digital
floor-mapping to pro
vide information to first
responders and cameras
for areas such as park
ing lots, with additional
servers considered for the
cameras.
The BOE also discussed
QBE items as requested by
the Georgia Association of
See ‘BOE’ on 7A
IN HONOR
Veterans Day
ceremony
set for Friday
Madison County High
School will hold a Veterans
Day ceremony at 10 a.m., Fri
day, Nov. 11 in the school
gym.
The ceremony is to remem
ber and pay respect to all
who served. A reception will
follow the ceremony.
Veterans planning to attend
are asked to RSVP to Col.
Robert Stuart at rstuart@mad-
ison.kl2.ga.us or call 706-
410-4868.
Index:
News — 1-2 A
Crime — 3A
Opinions — 4-5A
Social — 6A
Church — 7 A
Sports — 1-2B
Classifieds — 3B
Obituaries — 4-5B
Legals — 6-7B
School — 8B
Contact:
Phone: 706-367-5233
Web: MadisonJournal
TODAY.com
News submissions:
zach@
mainstreetnews.com
Pioneer (and Teddy) time
Finley (L) and Hadley Segars, both 4, of Ba are pictured with “Teddy” at the
Madison County Pioneer Harvest Festival at the Comer Fairgrounds Satur
day. See Page 8A for more pictures. Photo by Zach Mitcham
IDA, BOC
Ginn to go?
BOC chairman, commissioner, audience
voice desire for IDA director to be fired
By Zach Mitcham
zach @ mainstreetnews. com
There was no secret about the feelings
of many on hand at the county commis
sioners' meeting Monday night — audi
ence members wanted to see Frank Ginn
ousted as the executive director of the
county industrial authority.
Commissioner Dennis Adams was
met with applause when he made a
motion to ask the industrial authority —
which has hiring and firing power over
the executive director — to terminate
Ginn’s employment.
“I make a motion that we as the BOC
request that the IDA board terminate the
executive director of the IDA and install
Rodney Shubert as the day-to-day oper
ations manager there until such time as
the committee determines the future of
the water and sewer department in this
county,” said Adams.
His motion followed an impassioned
plea from commission chairman Todd
Higdon for the IDA to get rid of Ginn.
He said Ginn is acting outside of the
authority’s control in ways that are dam
aging to its finances.
“With overwhelming evidence, I think
it’s fair to say that our executive direc
tor of the IDBA has run amok,” said
Higdon. “That’s the best way I can put
it.”
But the motion died for a lack of
a second. Only three board members
were on hand Monday. Commissioner
Terry Chandler responded to an audi
ence member who asked why he and
commissioner Derek Doster wouldn’t
second Adams’ motion.
“I will not be part of the tone of this
conversation going on here tonight,”
said commissioner Chandler. “There is
an appropriate way to handle this type
of business and when you let emotions
get in front of you, there’s nothing good
to be said about it.
Ginn was not at Monday night’s board
meeting. Outgoing IDA chairman Josh
Chandler, who will leave his position
with the authority at the end of the year,
told commissioners he asked the execu
tive director not to attend.
But Ginn indicated Tuesday morning
that he is open to leaving the position.
“I want to do what’s the best thing for
the authority,” he said. “And obviously
there’s a couple of commissioners that
don’t want me there, and I don’t want
to be the lightning rod for the authority.
So I would suggest if I need to move
on. let’s make a plan for how to do that
and make that transaction occur. I don’t
want to have the carpet jerked out from
under me. At the same token, nobody
wants to see chaos. So I want to make
sure it works in the best interest of the
people in Madison County.”
Monday’s three-hour meeting includ
ed considerable talk about the industrial
authority and Ginn’s role as executive
director.
Frank Ginn, who serves as execu
tive director of the county industri
al authority and State Senator for
District 47, is pictured at a recent
meeting.
MIZE ROAD PROJECT
The board opened the IDA issues dis
cussing the project to connect the Mize
Road water system, currently served by
Commerce, to the county’s main sys
tem, which will improve the water qual
ity for the Mize Road area and provide
another Madison County tie-in to the
Commerce system. The county received
a $530,000 Community Development
Block Grant (CDGB) for the project,
but due to a sharp rise in the cost of
materials due to inflation, the project
has exceeded original budget projec
tions by $398,000, putting the project,
which is scheduled to start this month,
at over $930,000.
IDA chairman Chandler said com
missioner Adams asked the industrial
authority to request that the BOC cover
the cost of the overage. And Chandler
sat in the front row of the BOC meeting
room to discuss the matter with the
board.
But the conversation between Higdon
and Chandler regarding the project grew
tense, as Higdon made references to
the purchase of over $500,000 worth of
materials for the water line project. The
BOC chairman said Ginn is repeatedly
acting on his own without IDA direc
tion, leaving authority members in the
dark and putting the county in a bind
financially.
“Was the IDBA board made aware
that we went ahead and ordered these
projects?” Higdon asked Chandler.
“Everything that has been done on this
project has been done under the direc
tion of the industrial authority board.”
responded Chandler.
Higdon asked if the IDA ordered the
materials without knowing whether the
BOC would cover the inflated cost of
materials.
“Our discussions in house were to self
fund the balance of the shortfall,” said
Chandler, reiterating that Adams had
asked the authority to seek help from
the BOC.
Higdon repeatedly asked Chandler for
a “yes” or “no” on whether the IDA
had taken a vote on purchasing the
materials.
“Was there a vote?” he asked.
See ‘Ginn’ on 2A
ELECTIONS
Votes
are in
Republicans win in county;
liquor sales referendum passes
By Zach Mitcham
zach @ mainstreetnews.com
Madison County voters made several local decisions
Tuesday, with Republicans favored by wide margins
in all partisan races, while a “liquor-by-the-drink”
referendum passed easily.
Incumbent Republican commissioners Frank May
and Derek Doster held onto their seats, with May
getting 1,608 votes to Democrat Larry Gresham’s
666 (70.7 to 29.3 percent) in District 3 and Doster
receiving 1.752 votes to Democrat Henrietta “Nell”
Browne’s 739 (70.3 to 29.7 percent) in District 5.
Brian Kirk ran without opposition in District 4.
In the State Senate District 47 race, Republican
incumbent Frank Ginn topped Democratic challenger
Conolus Scott in Madison County, 9.215 to 3,000
(75.4 to 24.6 percent).
Tim Wyatt defeated Gregory Magrum in the non-par
tisan race to be Colbert’s new mayor. 157 to 131 (54.5
to 45.5 percent), while Chris Peck defeated Michelle
Bryant Cole 158 to 127 (55.4 to 44.6 percent) to win
the Post 4 council seat in Colbert.
County voters voted 8.527 to 3,686 (69.8 to 30.2
See ‘Elections’ on 2A
PLANNING
BOC hears report
on comp plan
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
Madison County citi
zens have offered input for
months on what they want
in the county’s 20-year
comprehensive plan,
which will set the blue
print for growth for two
decades.
Now, it’s time for county
commissioners to review
what’s been gathered
before they put a tenta
tive plan out to the public
on Dec. 8. An open house
will be held at 6 p.m. that
day at the Old Danielsville
Gym at 91 Albany Avenue
behind the government
complex for citizens to
review what’s proposed.
The commissioners will
then take that input and
potentially make further
revisions before a final
version is presented.
Marilyn Hall and Bobby
Sills of Hall Consulting
out of Watkinsville, the
firm that’s overseeing the
county’s update of its com
prehensive plan, spoke at
the opening of the com
missioners’ three-hour
meeting Monday, offering
a Powerpoint presentation
that addressed a wide array
of planning issues.
Essentially, the commis
sioners were presented
with a significant “to do”
list on a variety of issues
to tackle, based on input
received from county cit
izens.
Hall outlined the top pri
orities for the comprehen
sive plan, including sound
economic development,
strategic infrastructure
to support that develop
ment, protections for envi
ronmental resources, ag
land and improved code
enforcement, affordable
housing and intergovern
mental cooperation. She
presented a “short-term
work program” to address
each of these goals.
Commissioner Dennis
Adams noted that the com
prehensive plan has been
at the direction of citizens,
not the commissioners.
Hall agreed that’s been the
case, but she added that it’s
now time for commission
ers to work on the plan and
then present proposals to
citizens at the Dec. 8 open
house.
Sills presented a col
or-coded map that showed
what citizens have deemed
appropriate “character
areas.” such as where
growth should go and
where land should be
kept rural. Commissioner
Derek Doster said he’d
like to see more potential
growth areas around the
cities.
Sills spoke of several
proposed “character areas”
within the county, includ
ing the “South Madison
County Character Area,”
which is “planned to be a
primarily residential and
commercial retail growth
area of the county.” The
“Hull-Colbert Corridor
Area” is “planned to be
primarily an economic
activity corridor.” with
a mix of industrial and
commercial office-related
uses. The “Paoli Junction
Character Area” contains
the Madico Park industrial
area, the middle school,
a solar farm, a residential
neighborhood and Paoli
Junction convenience
store. It’s “planned to be
primarily an economic
development activity cen
ter,” suitable for manufac
turing. trade, office parks,
medical services and a gro
cery store. The “McGinnis
Cemetery Area” off Hwy.
See ‘BOC’ on 2A
