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o o JUNE 29, 2023 Merged with The Comer News and The Daniclsvillc Monitor, 2006 MadisonJoumalTODAY.com Vol. 40 No. 21* Publication No. 1074-987* Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. *12 Pages, 1 Section Plus Supplements $1.00 COUNTY BUDGET HULL County gets first look at budget requests for FY24 By Hannah Barron hannah@mainstreetnews. com The county is looking at what to budget for FY24. The Board of Commis sioners got its first look at budget requests during a work session on Monday, hearing first from the senior center, property valuations department and recreation department. The Madison County Senior Center’s main goal is to purchase two shuttle buses. Director Kelsey Tyner said that two of the cen ter’s three existing buses are 2006 and 2007 models and have a lot of reliability issues. “For a lack of a more professional term, they are trash,” she said. “It’s time to replace those — they are a liability. They do not function properly. They cannot be worked on or re paired.” “There’s a lot of wear and tear. These things are extremely dated, they’re ugly and they don’t repre sent Madison County well when we’re going down the road picking up our se niors.” She emphasized the need for the buses, saying not only are they used for field trips but also the dai ly transportation of seniors to and from the center. Around 30 active members See Budget, page 2A Index News — 1-3A Opinions — 4A Crime — 6A Socials — 3 and 5A Churches — 5A Obituaries — 8-9A Sports — 7A Classifieds— 12A Legals —10-11A Hull government back in operation after swearing in By Alison Smith With the swearing in of four new government offi cials, the city of Hull is able to operate as a fully-func tioning government body. Madison County probate judge Cody Cross attended a special called meeting on Monday to swear in three new council members and the newly elected mayor. New council members in clude Kathy Connell, Cindy Bozeman and Shawn Boz eman. Hull’s new mayor is John L. Barber. The council’s first act of business was to reinstate city clerk Sandra “Sandy” Pou, who had been fired last September by the previous mayor. In addressing the council, Pou asked for back pay to taling $5,125 in compensa tion. Pou said she believes the city’s records are incom plete from the time of her departure and may need to be reconstructed. “I don’t think a whole lot has been done. There’s all kinds of reports that have to be done. I’ve got to de termine if they were done. I’ve got to see what we need to do to get caught up on all that,” she explained with her request. Both Pou and incoming Barber mentioned credit card statements totaling in excess of $6,000 with unex plained charges to the city. The council agreed with Pou’s request and approved her rehire with the back pay. The council also moved forward with plans to re-es- Photo by Alison Smith Pictured from left to right: Cindy Bozeman, Post 4; Shawn Bozeman, Post 2; John L. Barber, Mayor; Mike McElroy, Post 1; and Kathy Connell, Post 3. tablish its Local Option efits on January 1, as it did The LOST funds are Sales Tax (LOST) eligibili- not meet the qualifications about half of the city’s op- ty. The city lost those ben- with city services. See Hull, page 2A COLBERT lllllllHlItlUinilHIIIHIIMIIIII iiiiiiiiiiiiiiimii RED CANNA PARK - C-20 UPDATE: FINAL SITE PLAN FOR RED CANNA PARK Photo submitted COMER Contact Phone: 706-367-5233 Email: hannah@mainstreetnews. com Web: MadisonJoumalTODAYcom MAILING LABEL Comer parks receive bike racks for Scout project By Alison Smith Comer recently had bike racks installed at its city parks as the project for a local Eagle Scout. Owen Hendrix, son of Joah and Tracy Hendrix and grandson of Michael Reese, completed the proj ect this spring after notic ing bikers in the area did not have a place to park bikes when visiting the city’s parks. Hendrix had seen sim ilar bike racks at a state park in South Carolina and modeled the design after those stands. He says he is grateful to his friends and family who helped him complete the project, which cost about $400 to $500 and included about 80 hours of labor. He also is appreciative of the City of Comer. “They were very helpful and I’m appreciative of their kindness,” he said. Owen says his father and grandfather helped most with the construction and his mom helped him with organization and paper work. He has been a member of Troop 377 in Comer since first grade and originally joined the Cub Scouts to spend more time with his friends and outdoors. “I enjoy being outdoors in nature and helping out in the community,” he said. Hendrix completed the project as a natural pro gression of his involve ment in Boy Scouts, but he also sees the significance of his achievement. “It helped me grow as a person and shows I’m will ing to put in the extra work [to complete the project],” he observed. Owen is a high school senior and he will include the award on his college applications. He hopes to attend the University of Georgia and major in chemistry after graduation. Photo submitted Mayor Jimmy Yarbrough and Owen Hendrix dedicate bike racks at the J. Cliff Yarbrough Memorial Park.