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o o AUGUST 31, 2023 Merged with The Corner News and The Daniclsvillc Monitor, 2006 4 MadisonJoumalTODAY.com Vol. 40 No. 30* Publication No. 1074-987* Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. *16 Pages, 2 Sections Plus Supplements $1.00 CHAMBER DFCS Scarecrows coming to cities By Alison Smith In its latest initiative in the county, the Madison County Chamber of Com merce recently announced a new event called “Scare crows in the Cities.” The goal of the event is to engage the community, showcase local businesses and add fall decor to the county’s cities. The Chamber has orga nized the new celebration in coordination with the Pi oneer Harvest Festival be ing held on Saturday, Oct. 21, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Madison County Fairgrounds in Comer. To participate in the Scarecrows in the Cit ies event, the Chamber invites local and nearby businesses to register for a scarecrow that they will construct and decorate in an agriculture or Pioneer Harvest theme. Businesses can include their logos and signs near their scarecrows for advertisement. A spokesperson from the City of Comer said “[the city] is excited to collab orate with the Chamber in this endeavor to promote local businesses.” Officials are encouraging all local businesses to participate. The Chamber requests that the community partic ipate in multiple ways. The Chamber will host a scarecrow decorating con test on Facebook where community members can view each entry and vote for the favorite with the most likes. The business that builds the scarecrow with the most likes will re ceive a prize. In addition, the Cham ber will host a one-day See Scarecrows, page 2A Index News —1-3A.7A Opinions — 4A Crime — 6A Socials — 3 and 5A, 3B Schools — 7-8A Churches — 3B Obituaries — 4-5B Sports — 1-2B and 8B Classifieds — 6B Legals — 7B Contact Phone: 706-367-5233 Email: hannah@mainstreet news.com Web: MadisonJoumalTODAYcom MAILING LABEL DFCS director out after presentation to BOC By Alison Smith Kristy Daniels has accepted a new role within the Department of Family and Children’s Services and will step down as DFCS direc tor for Madison County. Daniels has worked in Madison County for 10 years. The move comes after the Madi son County Board of Commission ers invited the former director to stand before the board at its meet ing on Aug. 7 to address ongoing issues with the county DFCS ser vice. In the past few years, DFCS divi sions state-wide have faced multiple budget cuts and staffing issues. In a May 2020 article Daniels reported a 14% budget cut in 2020 and 6% cut in 2019 that were mandated at the state level. In that same article, Daniels told a reporter, “our numbers (child abuse/neglect) have gone down.” “With school being out, teachers ar en’t seeing kids to tell them what’s going on at home. They’re seeing them on the computer. But the cases we’ve been getting have been more severe.” At that time, the county DFCS employed 23 staff to serve 18 fos ter families and 20 foster children in addition to serving families who utilize federal and state assistance programs and the investigation of other family issues. Since the reopening of in-person school days, the DFCS office has maintained a two-day per week schedule and the school system has had issues with communicating with the office for reporting, refer rals and meetings. The office hours are dictated by the state office. Superintendent Michael Williams said local families need a physical place to go for help. He said that the system realized internet and technology issues with COVID See DFCS, page 2A EXTENSION COMER Photo submitted Travis Tankersley Travis Tankersley named new Extension coordinator By Hannah Barron hannah@mainstreetnews. com Travis Tankersley will be the new Madison County Extension Office coordina tor, effective Sept. 1. Tankersley has been the Agriculture and Natural Resources agent since July, with his work mainly fo cusing on weed/insect iden tification and management. The transition to the coordi nator position will include more responsibilities such as interpreting and commu nicating policy, preparing budgets, organizing and allocating resources and maintaining relationships. In transitioning to be coordinator, he says he has attended a variety of meetings in the county to meet new people and get involved. He also has job training over the next few months to prepare for the role. “I am excited to take on the responsibilities of coun ty extension coordinator,” he says. “I look forward to finding new ways to reach more people in the county to make a greater impact. I want to make sure that our office is efficient and effec tive in what we do.” Tankersley adds that the University of Georgia Coop erative Extension has been a resource of free, reliable and research-based informa tion to citizens for over 100 years. He wants to continue to serve the community by being that resource for Mad ison County as an agent and coordinator. When not sharing Exten sion resources, Tankersley is a “jack of all trades” and en joys learning new skills and working with his hands to build or fix things. He says he has dabbled in everything from remodeling a house to doing a complete rebuild on a Duramax engine. In cluded in his trade knowl edge is experience in animal science with a bachelor’s degree from UGA in that field. He plans to enroll in a master’s degree program in a to-be-determined field in 2024 to expand his skills even more. He also enjoys spending time with his family. He and his wife, Rachel, have iden tical twin girls who are sev en months old. Tankersley can be reached via email at lt73907@uga. edu, or by office phone at 706-795-2281. HULL Hull continues admin moves By Alison Smith Despite multiple issues in the process of re-estab lishing full government function in Hull, the city council made several ac tions to help move it for ward at its meeting last Thursday. City clerk Sandy Pou provided a complete finan cial report for the month of July 2023 and up-to-date balances for each of the city’s accounts. Pou said she typically does not pro vide mid-month balance reports but felt it prudent with the general fund just over $12,000 and several expenses still outstanding. Pou also reported that she had obtained access to the city’s Verizon account, which includes internet and cell service to equipment the city does not have in its possession. Pou said that one cell phone account original ly had a $965 balance that someone outside of the city government paid during the month of July. The cell phone service has been suspended by the city as a precaution to prevent fur ther charges and misuse of city property. In addition, she explained that Veri zon had contacted her on the Wednesday before the meeting because someone had attempted to reinstate or change that service. Without access to the mayor’s phone number, the council briefly discussed purchasing another cell phone for the current mayor John Barber to use in his of ficial capacity. That decision was tabled, as the members See Hull, page 2A TAX: Comer holds millage rate steady By Alison Smith The Comer City Coun cil voted Monday to keep its millage rate for next year at 4 mills. The may or cited increased revenue from rising property as sessments as the primary reason not to increase the rate. The millage rate in the city has been the same since 2017. The increased revenues are helping with sever al infrastructure projects within the city. Utilities superintendent Scott Por ter reported that one of the sewer improvement proj ects to repair 2,800 feet of disintegrated sewer pip ing will begin in the next week. The other project to upgrade the sewer pond is also moving forward. In other infrastruc ture project updates, the mayor announced mul tiple road paving plans. Arnold Park Drive will be paved from Laurel to Clover streets. Several new homes have been constructed along Arnold Park Drive, and the city has been waiting to pave it until the completion of those homes. Hill Street will be repaired from Sunset to the railroad tracks. That street had been damaged by large truck traffic. The may or received a bid from Gar rett Paving in the amount of $88,000 for the paving projects. Garrett is contract ed through the county and will extend a lower rate to the city as part of that agree ment. The next Christmas in Comer planning meeting is scheduled for Sept. 14 at the Travel Museum at 6 p.m. More information on the celebration may be found at https://www.cityofcom- er.com/christmas-in-com- er-2023. ELECTIONS Qualifying results Madison County candi dates tossed their hats in the ring last week for the 2023 general municipal election. Qualifying for local elections ended on Friday, Aug. 25. Here’s a look at who qualified: CARLTON Incumbent Cynthia Hobbs was the only one to qualify for the Carlton mayor seat. Tim Seymour and Amanda Willis will also run unopposed for the respective council member post 1 and post 2 seats. Carlton will have a battle to fill the remainder of the unexpired term for the post 5 seat, which is currently vacant after the resignation of Pete Wagenaar. The two candidates facing off are Ed Soto and Mark Staley. Carlton residents will also have a question up for vote on November’s ballot. Voters will be asked if they support the stopping of the addition of fluoride into the water produced through the city’s water treatment system. COLBERT In Colbert, all three rac es will be uncontested. Incumbent Tim Wyatt was the only one to quali fy for the mayor seat. For the council member post 1 seat, incumbent Roger Fortson was also the lone qualifier. Michelle Cole is slated to run unopposed to fill the council member post 2 seat that was left vacant after the resignation of Jonathan Pou. COMER Comer will see a battle for two positions. Joey Wilbon will face off against incumbent Jim my Yarbrough for Comer mayor. There will also be a race against Henrietta Gantt Browne and Tommy R. Ap pling for the council member district 3 seat. For the council member district 2 seat, incumbent Ron Farren will run unop posed. DANIELSVILLE Danielsville’s election will have a battle for the mayor seat with Michelle Cleveland facing off against incumbent Michael Wideman. Incumbent Nancy Federi co will run uncontested for the council member post 1 seat and Cyle Cox will also ran uncontested for post 2. Danielsville residents will have a question up for vote on the ballot. Voters will be asked if they approve the issuance of licenses for the package sale of distilled spir its. ILA For Ha’s races, only the incumbents qualified. They are: Michael Coile, mayor; Brian Kelly, council mem ber; and Troy Butler, council member.