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o O JUNE 22, 2023 Merged with The Comer News and The Daniclsvillc Monitor, 2006 MadisonJoumalTODAY.com Vol. 40 No. 20* Publication No. 1074-987* Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. *12 Pages, 1 Section Plus Supplements $1.00 PUBLIC SAFETY Madison County man charged with burglary, arson Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John F. King announced today that James Tarpkins, 66, of Commerce, has been charged with bur glary and arson. On June 2, investigators from the State Fire Marshal’s Office responded to a fire loss on Minish Rd. at the request of the Madison County Sher iff’s Office. At the time of the fire, the property owner had not resided in the dwell ing for more than a year. The residence was completely destroyed as a result of the incident. “After speaking with wit nesses, investigators learned that Mr. Tarpkins was seen lurking around the home for several days prior to the fire,” said King. “Multiple articles of jewelry and a per sonal sword collection were reported stolen by a visiting family friend on the day of the incident, who also saw the suspect near the property. Additionally, responding fire fighters spotted Mr. Tarpkins’ ATV in the nearby woods, which suspiciously disap peared during the blaze.” In conjunction with infor mation from the Madison County Fire Department and the property owner, Tarpkins was identified as the primary suspect. Tarpkins was taken into custody by the Madison County Sheriff’s Office on June 11. Index News — 1-3A Opinions — 4A Crime — 6A Socials — 3 and 5A Schools — 7A Churches — 5A Obituaries — 8A Sports — 12A Classifieds — 9A Legals —10-11A Contact Phone: 706-367-5233 Web: MadisonJoumalTODAY.com Email: hannah@mainstreenews. com MAILING LABEL COLBERT Final design plans for Red Canna Park presented By Hannah Barron hannah@mainstreetnews.com Red Canna Park, formerly known as Colbert Community Park, is getting revamped after the site has largely become un derused and neglected. The 21-acre site saw its heyday in the 1970s and could use reno vation to be utilized in the best way possible for the area’s grow ing community. The Colbert City Council budgeted to get the project go ing last year and the Red Canna Park Committee, who recently started a 501c3, has been tasked with creating the new vision. The committee has been working with Smith Planning Group out of Watkinsville to redesign the site. In a presentation to the Mad ison County Rotary Club last week, committee president Josh Combs said the revamped park would take full advantage of the site, provide recreation facilities for the Colbert side of the coun ty, give kids a safe place to play away from the busy traffic cor ridor and act as another location for community events. “I would really like to try to take something that’s kind of got a little bit of tradition there but has been neglected by city offi cials over the past 20 years, and really revamp it and turn it into something that the community could use and that the community wants,” he said. The finalized plan includes a pavilion, perimeter walking trail, multi-use field, ADA-accessible playground, fenced-in dog park, skate park, updated restrooms and convertible courts for tennis, basketball and pickleball. According to Combs, the ADA-accessible playground and dog park are key as there aren’t See Park, page 2A SKATE PARK PoriflMtef Forvo OPEN PLAY AREA - ’ . ••• ; Drop Off ft 19/Jdp Tra.j, ... ACTIVE PLAY AREA "Overflow parking area Peometor Fooco DOG PARK AREA PICNIC PAVILION AREA PojjcNy Field locaton <x aleoiate Community Garden PARK ENTRANCE Perimeter Fence 8IKE TRAIL AREA NATURE DISCOVERY TRAIL SMITH PLANNING GROUP <48 ■ ** .7*7*. MISIC i e Woodland Trail CITY OF COLBERT PARK CONCEPTUAL PLAN i ntuwii.PMir • 2022 conceptual plan Photo submitted HULL Barber elected as next Hull mayor after special election John Barber, a for- ment, will be the next mer city councilmem- mayor of Hull, her and current fire- In the unofficial re fighter with the Hull suits from Tuesday’s Volunteer Fire Depart- special election, he defeated Paul Walton next Post 3 coun- 39-9. cilmember after she In other Hull elec- defeated Jerry Wil- tion results, Kathy loughby 38-10. Cindy Connell will be the Bozeman will be the Post 4 councilmem- be the Post 2 coun- ber after defeating cilmember. Marilyn Walton 39-9. 22.75% of regis- Shawn Bozeman, who tered voters in Hull ran unopposed, will cast a ballot. COUNTY Kennel issues take center stage at county meetings By Hannah Barron hannah@mainstreetnews.com Animal kennels recently took center stage at county meetings. During the Board of Com missioner’s June 5 public hearing, property owner Marcia Young requested to rezone her two adjoin ing properties of 6.48 and 7.07 acres from A1 to A2 to combine into one parcel and bring into compliance with zoning regulations. The properties, located at 6274 and 6278 Hwy. 191 in Comer, are currently the site of Little Heart’s Kennel. Young said the request was to help the business maintain its livelihood and that it would not adversely affect the community, but her request was opposed by several neighboring res idents. One item of concern men tioned was the volume of dogs. Planning and Zon ing Commission chairman Conolus Scott noted that the owner reports having around 200 dogs on the property. Residents’ concerns in cluded the possibility for fe cal matter runoff and noise related to the high volume. They were also concerned about the welfare of the dogs at the kennel. “200 dogs is an outrage — nobody can take care of that many dogs,” Meredith Patterson said. “My concern is for the animals, so I want to speak on their behalf and I just hope that we don’t legitimize a puppy mill by giving them permission to continue operating this ken nel.” She noted that the high volume could impact the ability to feed dogs well, properly care for them and give them access to the out side area. Lisa Milot, an Ath- ens-Clarke County resident and professor on animal welfare law, has worked with jurisdictions on animal welfare cases before and spoke about documented issues at Little Heart’s Ken nel. According to Milot, Little See Kennels, page 2A FEATURE Beekeeper club abuzz with activity and helping hands By Alison Smith On the fourth Monday evening of every month, a hive of activity surrounds a large meet ing room in Danielsville. At the center of that event are several men, but Tom Hankins leads the swarm at the moment. The Beekeepers of Madison County meet on those Mondays and Tom is serving as president of the group. The group started with five members in his home about six years ago and has multiplied to over 200 paying members. On a recent Monday meeting, the room contained well over 100 peo ple. Tom says it is one of the biggest in the area. It’s the biggest because of the community Tom and the founding members have built in the past six years. The meetings include an instructional seminar, but the night buzzes with activities. The club’s secretary, Angie Meyers, greets members and guests by name. Tom’s wife, April- la, helps organize a pot-luck supper. The group has so much food, ladies travel from table-to-ta- ble at the end of the night asking participants to “make another plate.” The hottest event of the night is a raffle, where participants bring items from home to give away. Some bring eggs and home baked items. Oth ers have searched through sheds and garages to bring tools and gadgets. But the biggest noise is the constant chatter among the tables. Young and older men, young ladies and older women discuss like old friends, even when many have just met. Tom and the founders have built a true com munity around their love of caring for bees and that is what he says sets it apart from other groups. “I teach about all I know so that when the time comes, [others] can teach someone else,” he ex plains, then admits he sometimes neglects his own bees to help others. Any given day, Tom invites new beekeepers to his house for instruction. He even brings out a model hive and honeycomb to illustrate. A visit to his house will be interrupted with calls from See Beekeeper, page 2A 14 14 4