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MAY 25, 2023
Madison County Journal
Merged with The Comer News and The Danielsville Monitor, 2006
MadisonJoumaITODAY.com
Vol. 40 No. 16* Publication No. 1074-987 • Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. • 16 Pages, 2 Sections Plus Supplements
$1.00
ZONING
Year-long
zoning
moratorium
set to end
By Alison Smith
A year-long Madison
County rezoning morato
rium will expire without
extension at the end of this
month.
Madison County Plan
ning and Zoning Director
Christopher Roach told
county commissioners
Monday that his depart
ment and the planning
commission have assessed,
re-written, and researched
changes to driveway ordi
nances, major subdivisions
and industrial zoning.
Planners have extensively
revised both acreage and
usage definitions for agri
cultural zoning.
“We are open to being
able to handle all rezones,”
Roach told the BOC.
Even with those changes
in place. Roach says the
work is not complete.
“Our zoning ordinance is
30 years old,” he said.
Roach said planners
were advised to seek an
entire rewrite of the ordi
nances at a recent training
session.
“We've done as much as
we can with what we have,
“ he continued.
The director says the
rewrite is paramount in
executing the comprehen
sive plan, which the board
officially adopted later in
the meeting.
Roach said his depart
ment is researching simi
lar counties in the state to
compile a list of possible
firms that may be options
to rewrite the ordinances.
He plans to present that
list at the June 5 BOC
meeting.
In clarifying his com
ments concerning the end
of the moratorium. Roach
See ‘Moratorium’ on 2A
Index:
News — 1-3A
Opinions — 4-5A
Crime — 6A
Social — 7A, 2B
Church — 7 A
School — 1-2B
Sports — 3B
Obituaries — 4B
Legals — 5-7B
Classifieds — 8B
Madison County High School Graduation:
9 a.m., Saturday, Red Raider Football Stadium
Top of the Class
Mary Kincaid (L) is the Madison County High School Salutatorian for the Class
of 2023 and Addie Mitcham (R) is this year’s MCHS Valedictorian.
MCHS Sal, Val talk
future and school memories
COUNTY GOV’T
Time for
a shakeup
Madison Co. economic development
committee suggests structural changes
By Alison Smith
It’s time to make some
changes for the sake of
improved economic devel
opment in Madison Coun
ty-
That was the message
from Rodney Chandler,
spokesman for the coun
ty’s economic development
study committee, which
worked for months evalu
ating county government
structures and the best
way to enhance economic
development in Madison
County.
Chandler told the board
of commissioners that now
is the ideal time to begin
restructuring the develop
ment authority and water
and sewer service. He
noted that the county com
missioners are working
well together and show
ing a willingness to tackle
hard problems and look
long term. He cited events
last year with the industri
al authority that involved
"unnecessary conflicts
with existing industries
regarding infrastructure
planning and placement,”
which were followed by
personnel changes at the
IDA, and he referenced the
completion of the lengthy
comprehensive plan, which
was officially approved by
commissioners Monday.
He said the status quo
regarding economic devel
opment is not OK with
most of the committee.
"Nine out of the 11 of us
did not feel like economic
See ‘Suggestions’ on 2A
— See Page 1B for a MCHS Class of '23 photo
By Zach Mitcham
zach @ mainstreetnews .com
Addie Mitcham and Mary Kincaid top the
Class of 2023 Madison County graduates
who will cross the stage Saturday morning,
receive their diplomas and walk into the
next chapter of life.
Kincaid, this year’s salutatorian, will
attend the University of Georgia in the fall.
“I’m planning on majoring in biology,
but I’m not 100-percent set,” she said. “I’m
going to take a bunch of classes and see
what I like.”
Kincaid, the daughter of Tony and Kelly
Kincaid and sister to Josh, said she’s think
ing about becoming a genetic counselor.
“What I really like about that is it’s
a combination of laboratory science and
psychology,” she said. “I get to work with
people and help them determine their risk
for disorders and then just provide support,
so it’s like a therapist kind of too.”
Kincaid said there’s a lot she'll remember
about her high school days, but particularly
the staff.
“The best part of high school is the staff,
100 percent,” she said. “They make it a
school that people want and love to attend,
and I love school already, but they try real
ly hard and they do their best and they're
always there.”
She also said she has enjoyed her time
NEVER MISSED A DAY
Madison County 2023 honor gradu
ate Emily Adams had perfect atten
dance from kindergarten through
her senior year.
with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes
(FCA).
“Because I was able to spread the word
and God’s a huge part of my life,” said Kin
caid. “I think it’s just such a blessing that we
have that opportunity.”
Kincaid said Maggie Cowne taught her
language arts in the fifth grade and her influ
ence in her life remains.
“I learned so much more from her than
See ‘Graduation’ on 3A
AGRICULTURE
‘It started with a
chicken biscuit’
Madison County’s Ian Heath
takes the helm
By Zach Mitcham
zach @ mainstreetnews.com
It all started with a
chicken biscuit in seventh
grade.
Ian Heath, who will
graduate Saturday from
Madison County High
School, was intrigued
when a classmate walked
into math class with the
savory breakfast item.
Heath found both the
biscuits and a pathway
into the Future Farmers of
America (FFA).
Fast forward to today,
Heath has been elected
president of the Georgia
FFA.
“I asked him (the class-
of Georgia FFA
IAN HEATH
mate) where he got the
chicken biscuit, and he
took me to the ag room,”
said Heath. This seeming-
See ‘Heath’ on 8A
MEMORIAL DAY
Contact:
Phone: 706-367-5233
Web: MadisonJournal
TODAY.com
News submissions:
zach@
mainstreetnews.com
Remembering a forgotten WWI
hero, Private Harry Spratlin
Pvt. Harry Spratlin’s tombstone in Clarke County, Georgia, and
his photo from a death notice that appeared in the paper. (Photos/
Charles Jones; Digital Library of Georgia)
By Charles Jones
The Christian Index
A government-issue tombstone
stands as a silent sentinel over Pvt.
Harry L. Spratlin, a World War I
soldier killed in action on October
15, 1918, only weeks before
the signing of the armistice that
brought an end to the hostilities.
When his closest relatives and
friends passed away, Spratlin was
forgotten, leaving only the slab of
marble in a tiny cemetery in a field
in northeast Georgia.
Who was this young hero?
Public records have provid
ed insights into the soldier's life,
revealing a beloved husband, a
cherished son, and a first-rate base
ball player who kept his teammates
laughing with his wit and humor.
What follows are details pieced
together after a month of rearch
into military records, assorted
government documents including
Census documents, and centu
ry-old newspaper articles.
Harry Linton Spratlin was bom
on a farm in Oglethorpe County
in 1895, the tenth of Pope and
Lizzie Spratlin’s 11 children. The
family moved a few years later to
nearby Madison County. There,
Spratlin received an education typ
ical for the day, attending a small
three-room schoolhouse through
the seventh grade. After finishing
school, he became a farmer, like
his father and grandfathers before
him, raising com and cotton. And,
like his father and grandfathers, he
dreamed of one day raising a fami
ly of his own.
He had at least one other passion
besides farming. It was baseball.
He was the catcher on the Hull
baseball team and scored one of the
mns in a big opening-day win over
rival Winterville in 1916.
People enjoyed being around
Spratlin because he kept them
laughing. At the same time, he was
described as a driven young man
See ‘Spratlin’ on 2A
