About The Madison County journal. (Hull, Ga.) 1989-current | View Entire Issue (March 5, 2025)
THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5, 2025 - PAGE 3A Water continued from 1A us,” specifically when it comes to “big picture” ideas for growing the water department. WATER SUPPLY ISSUES The BOC also heard from Eric Nease, an engineer with Carter & Sloope, who is conducting a wa ter feasibility study in the coun ty as a part of an ARC grant the county received. Nease’s study showed that in the last couple years, the county used roughly a million gallons of water per day. Prior to the purchase of the second James Holcomb well in 2023, the coun ty was only producing roughly 300,000 gallons per day. The acquisition of the well roughly doubled the county’s production, equating to now producing about 60% of the water being used. The remainder has been be ing purchased from surrounding counties and municipalities. Nease expects that by 2030, the county’s water demand will increase to 1.2 - 1.3 million gal lons per day. Depending on growth, that number could be even higher. “You are at a very fast growth pace right now,” Nease said, citing the Rose Golf Club and roughly 200 other approved lots that will be coming to the coun ty in the near future. “1.2 to 1.3 might be low,” he said. Nease also warned that acquir ing water from surrounding areas may not be feasible for much lon ger, especially with the county’s growth. Surrounding counties like Banks and Franklin are or have previously been relied on for water by Madison County, but Nease warned that they are also currently looking for water, and likely can’t be relied on to pro vide enough going forward. Nease said that Madison Coun ty has been highly reliant on Elbert County, which has been “gracious” in sharing its excess water with Madison County. Nease warns that this excess could eventually not be able to keep up with growing demand, and that if Elbert County began making other deals to sell its wa ter, it could put Madison Coun ty’s water supply in jeopardy. SOLUTIONS With a growing demand and in creasing regional water scarcity, the county could face long-term water supply issues, according to Nease. “You’ve got water for today, short-term, but you need to start looking long-term,” he said. Nease’s suggestion: surface water. The county is currently using ground water systems, or wells, to generate water. Due to wells running the risk of suddenly go ing dry, Nease believes that re lying on these in the long-term future is not viable. He suggests the county should look into investing in a surface water plant. “That is a seven-to- ten-year process, minimum,” said Nease, who added that a plant would also be highly expensive. He recommended looking for opportunities with a neighboring county that also has water supply issues, to help spread the cost of a surface water plant. In the short term, Nease recom mended pinpointing locations for more wells, due to a plant requir ing 10-15 years to start produc ing water even if the county were to start the process on one right now. Chairman Higdon said that the county is close to working out a deal to start purchasing water from the city of Commerce, and that the county has identified five more sites for wells, which they will be pursuing to help manage the county’s water needs. “We have options,” said both Nease and Higdon, who agreed that the county can manage its water situation and keep up with the growth the county is seeing, so long as the county continues to make plans with the future in mind. BOC continued from 1A suiveys did not show any with in the three-mile radius. Rotenstreich also cited the fact that the zoning request meets all conditions of the county’s ordinances and that there are already 18 telecom munication towers in the coun ty, some of which are taller than 286 feet. Five Carlton residents spoke in opposition of the tower at the meeting, some of whom claimed that there is in fact a telecommunications tower within the three-mile radius that was missed in T-Mobile’s surveys. One resident who came for- ward said that the existing tow er is on his property, and that it must have been overlooked. Other residents agreed that there is already a tower, claim ing that it would be impossible to drive through Carlton with out seeing it. Some opposition speakers also cited potential health con cerns and night-sky visibility as reasons for not wanting the tow er. Another mentioned that there is already another tower 3.1 miles outside of town, claiming that the three-mile radius was a cherry-picked number. Other opposers cited con cerns with the owner of the property not living in Madi son County, and therefore not having to deal with the “con sequences” of living near the structure. The BOC settled on a deci sion to postpone the matter in order to give T-Mobile time to re-evaluate if there is already a tower in the area that they could use. OTHER BUSINESS In other business, the BOC: • awarded a sealed bid and approved a contract with Gar rett Paving Company Inc., for the 2025 Local Maintenance & Improvement Grant (LMIG) Project. The approved bid was for $2,320,184.99 and was the lowest of eight bids received. • approved a resolution to submit a Community Devel opment Block Grant applica tion for the purpose of funding the expansion of the county’s water system along sections of Griffeth Road, Shady Lane and Northwoods Circle. The approved resolution also appro priates a minimum of $147,099 as local leverage for the project. • approved a change to the 2025 Summer Day Camp’s reg- istration policies to return to an older system that allowed par ents to register their kids for the entire six weeks. OTHER ZONING MATTERS In other zoning business, the BOC: • approved a request to re- zone five acres from A2 to R1 at 1822 Shoal Creek Rd., Colbert, to split the property into three equal tracts containing approx imately 1.66 acres each for sale. • approved a request to re zone 8.53 acres from Al to AR at 2587 Moons Grove Church Rd, Colbert, to split the prop erty into two equal tracts of approximately 4.26 acres each and bring it into compliance with zoning regulations. • denied a request to rezone a 12-acre portion of an 83.80- acre property from Al to AR at 0 Hwy 98 W, Danielsville, to split the property into three 4-acre tracts, while the remain ing 71.80 acres will remain in the Al zone. Two members of the public spoke in opposition of the request, citing concerns about the owner’s intentions with the property. One came to speak in favor of the request. The BOC ultimately voted to deny the request, citing con cerns that the owner was look ing to skirt subdivision regula tions. • approved a request to re- zone 1.60 acres of a 77.03-acre property from Al to R1 at 3661 Diamond Hill Colbert Rd., Hull, to split the property, with the remaining 75.43 acres stay ing in the Al zone and making it eligible for the Conservation Use Program for tax purposes. • approved a request to re- zone four ' acres of a 53.54-acre property from Al to AR at 715 Hudson Rivers Church Rd., Danielsville, to split for inher itance purposes, while the re maining acreage will remain in the Al zone. • approved a request to re- zone 10.35 acres from A2 to AR at 0 Hwy 72 E, Comer, to split the property into two five-acre tracts to gift for homesites. • approved a request to rezone five acres of a 50-acre property from Al to AR at 2620 Colbert Danielsville Rd., Danielsville, to split the property and retain the existing home, while the re maining 45 acres will stay in the Al zone. • approved a request to re- zone 3.41 acres from A2 to R1 at 0 Hwy 106 S, Hull, to split the property into two equal tracts for two homesites. • approved a request to re- zone a 4.377-acre portion of an 86.14-acre property from Al to AR at 9836 Nowhere Rd., Hull, to split and retain the existing home, while the remaining acreage will stay in the Al zone. • approved a request to re- zone a .0566-acre portion of a 12.26-acre property from Al to A2 at 0 Hwy 172, Comer, to absorb it as added road frontage for an adjoining property, while the remaining acreage will be absorbed into a different adjoin ing Al property. • approved a request for a dual rezone of 20.12 acres from Al to AR/A2 at 8217 Hwy 172, Comer. A four-acre portion will be rezoned from Al to AR to split, and a 10.02-acre portion will be rezoned from Al to A2 to split, while the remaining 6.10 acres will be absorbed into an adjoining Al property. Over 60 Georgia Colleges and Universities waiving college applicationfees in March The Georgia Student Finance Com mission (GSFC) has partnered with the University System of Georgia (USG), the Technical College System of Geor gia (TCSG), and private institutions to provide application fee waivers to Geor gia high school seniors through the Find Your MATCH in March initiative. Over 60 Georgia colleges and universities have agreed to waive their application fees for high school seniors from now to March 31. “We are working to let every Geor gian know there is a path to a successful career for them right here in the Peach State, starting at one of our institutions of higher learning,” said Governor Bri an Kemp. “That’s why allowing our prospective students and their families an opportunity to apply to college with no application fee this month is so im portant. It further opens the door to a rewarding career and lets young Geor gians know they can find success right here in their home state.” This is the eighth time the Georgia Student Finance Commission has pro moted application fee waivers since the initiative started in 2022. There is no limit on the number of schools a student may apply to using the application fee waivers. While application fees may vary by institution, the cost savings to high school seniors applying to multiple colleges are significant. “Over 137,000 Georgia high school seniors have an opportunity to apply to college free in March through the GEORGIA MATCH dashboard,” said Georgia Student Finance Commission President Lynne Riley. “The Find Your MATCH in March initiative encourag es seniors to take advantage of college application fee waivers, direct admis sions through GEORGIA MATCH, and over $1 billion in financial aid avail able annually through Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship and other grant and loan programs.” Students who claim their spot at a col lege or university through the GEOR GIA MATCH dashboard will automati cally have their application fees waived. The full list of participating schools and information on how to access the appli cation fee waivers may be found at GA- futures.org. The mission of the Georgia Student Finance Commission is to help students pursue higher education with the least out-of-pocket costs possible. Students interested in learning more about appli cation fee waivers, GEORGIA MATCH, scholarships and grants may connect with their regional GSFC Outreach Rep resentative by visiting GAfutures.org/ Outreach. HB581 continued from 1A State of Georgia City of Colbert, Madison County, Georgia feel was rushed through the state legislature and would ultimately tie their hands for years to come. OPT OUT DEADLINE EXTENSION DISAPPEARS IN STATE LEGISLATURE House Bill 581, which offered a cap for assessed property value at the rate of in flation, was ratified by Georgia voters in November and went into effect on Jan. 1. From there, local governments had just two months, until March 1, to make a decision as to whether they wanted to permanently remain opted-in to the cap or opt out. Local government officials across the state have cited the short timeframe and lack of information about the cap’s long- term effects as primary reasons for choos ing to opt out. State representatives were seemingly aware of these issues, as a new bill that would extend the deadline from March 1, 2025, to March 31, 2029, was proposed in the Georgia House of Representatives. House Bill 92 initially offered a four-year extension, which would have given local governments a longer trial period with the property value cap. However, the bill was then altered several times, with the extension being shortened to March 31, 2025, on one version, to the final version, which offered no extension at all, but rather just clarified some of the lan guage surrounding the floating homestead exemption. This version of House Bill 92 passed the House by a 173-1 vote, but it does not offer any form of extension to the opt-out dead line as it was initially intended to do. Barring further legislation, all local gov ernments that opted out of House Bill 581 prior to the March 1 deadline will not re ceive a new extended deadline. Local governments do, of course, retain the right to pass their own local homestead exemptions if they so choose. -CORRECTION- Public Notice of Qualifying Fees City Council Post #3 $49.93 Currently held by: Ray Thomas City Council Post #4 $49.93 Currently held by: Chris Peck Pursuant to O.C.G.A. §21-2-131(a) Qualifying for the office listed above will be held at Colbert City Hall, 60 W. First Avenue and will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, August 19 through Thursday, August 21, 2025. Qualifying will end each day at 1:00 p.m. The Municipal General Election will be held on Tuesday, November 4, 2025 and City of Colbert registered voters should report to Colbert Baptist Family Life Center. Kerri Lynn Phillips Elections Superintendent, City Clerk City of Colbert
