About The Madison County journal. (Hull, Ga.) 1989-current | View Entire Issue (April 2, 2025)
THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2, 2025 - PAGE 1A APRIL 2, 2025 Madison County Journal Merged with The Corner News and The Danielsville .Monitor, 2006 < MadisonJoumalTODAY.com Merged with Vol. 42 No. 13" Publication No. 1074-987* Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. ’12 Pages, 1 Section Plus Supplements $1.00 Battle for the Broad Madison County BOC passes resolution to protect Broad River as 178 citizens express support at meeting By Caleb Rollins caleb@mainstreetnews.com The Madison County Board of Commission ers passed a resolution on March 31 asking the Geor gia Environmental Protec tion Division (EPD) to take all necessary actions to pre vent further environmental degradation of the Middle Fork of the Broad River. 178 citizens attended the meeting to express their support of passing the reso lution, asking the county to do what it can to protect the river. The resolution, which is also being voted on by Franklin, Elbert, Lincoln and Wilkes counties’ BOCs, comes in response to a po tential Pilgrim’s Pride chicken rendering plant in tended for Franklin Springs, just upriver of the Madison County border. UNCOVERED EMAILS Franklin Springs Mayor Levy Moore, along with the city’s council members, were asked if there were any plans for a rendering plant in Franklin Springs at a March 11 city council meeting. They declined to respond. Emails retrieved through an open records request with the city of Franklin Springs show exchanges between Mayor Moore and representatives of Pilgrim’s Pride in March of 2024. The email chain contains estimated flow numbers for the existing Pilgrim’s Pride rendering plant located in Douglas County, Georgia. The estimates were done by Wade Tanner, an en gineer, and showed that the Douglas facility was See Broad, page 3A Submitted photo Anna Strickland is pictured alongside her family. Leading the way to a brighter future for MC: A look back at Anna Strickland’s tenure as Chamber President & CEO County votes to increase water rates starting July 1 BOC looking at ways to bolster water supply By Caleb Rollins At its March 31 meeting, the Madison County Board of Commissioners voted to increase county water rates, tap fees and meter fees. The increase, which will take effect July 1, is a step that water department lead ers hope will “push conser vation” of water and help the county deal with its wa ter shortage issues. The increase is also sup posed to bring the county’s rates more in line with those of surrounding counties. RATE INCREASES Base rates are set to in crease from $25 to $28. Up to 3,000 gallons are in cluded in the base bill and Index News — 1A, 3A Opinions — 4A Crime — 6A Socials — 2A, 6A Schools — 5A Churches — 7A Obituaries — 8A-9A Sports — 12A Classifieds — 7A Legals — 10A-11A MAILING LABEL 4879 14144 all additional water will be billed at $7.50 per 1,000 gallons, up from the current rate of $6.50. Tap and meter fees are also set to increase by $100 for %” and 1” meters. According to Water De partment Office Manag er Stephanie Wilson, the new rates are intended to be a minimal increase for residential customers, spe cifically seniors, while in creasing the cost of mass water use, and in turn pro moting conservation. Commission Chairman Todd Higdon expressed that the board would con sider moving to a system in the future where the rates would increase along with the Consumer Price Index (CPI). “I’ve had to deal with this in the past for years and it See Water, page 3A NEGRC announces hearing for regional plan Tire Nortlieast Georgia Regional Commission (NE GRC) will hold a regional hearing for the FY25 annual implementation report on the 12-county Regional Plan. Tire purpose of the re gional hearing is to inform interested parties about the contents of the report and the process by which it will be adopted. Tire report outlines progress made on the Re gional Plan Work Program during the 2025 fiscal year. Tire regional hearing will be held on Tliursday, April 3, at 3 p.m., at the NEGRC of fice at 305 Researcli Drive, Athens. If you have any questions prior to the meeting, contact the Planning and Govern ment Services Division at pgsassist@negrc.org or 706- 369-5650. Tire NEGRC serves Ath- ens-Clarke, Barrow, Elbert, Greene, Jackson, Jasper, Madison, Morgan, Newton, Oconee, Ogletliorpe and Walton counties. ■i Photos by Michael Lafountain Madison County fire recruits experience their first live burn training on March 22 at the fire training facility in Danielsville. Madison County fire recruits take on their first live burn Recruits from Madison County Firefighter One Class held their first live bum evo lutions on Marell 22, putting all the classroom and skills training that they have been working on since January together to face real heat and smoke in the new Daniels ville training center. Eacli of the 16 recruits had to endure heat and smoke while watching the develop ment of fire, from its initial incipient stage, tlirougli the growtli stage, to the fully de veloped stage, and finally to its decaying stage when it was extinguished. Tlie recruits were able to see firsthand how fire and smoke moves tliroughout a room following a path, giving them an idea of what they can expect to en counter in real fire situations. Eacli recruit had to take control of the nozzle for their turn to extinguisli a fire in the two burned chambers for tliree different scenarios: above grade, below grade and at grade. The above grade scenario involved a fire on the second floor where the use of climb ing steps to get to the seat of the fire is necessary, while the below grade scenario in volved a basement fire. Tlie at grade training in volved a single-story house scenario, where crew mem bers assisted witli moving hose lines into position. “It is really impressive to see how these guys who just met in January work together as a crew to get the job done,” said their instructor, Matt Robinson. “I am very proud of how well these guys have done these past tliree months. They just finished their state hazardous material awareness class and are one step closer to becoming state certified firefighters.” The recruits will continue their training witli a veliicle fire class on Marell 29, us ing a prop from the state fire training Academy. Next, they will have a pres surized container class on April 5. This class will teacli them how to handle fires that occur from propane tanks, like the ones found on many properties in the communities they will help protect. All of this training leads up to the recruits’ final day of skills testing and the written final exam, whicli will both be conducted by Georgia Fire Standards and Training Acad emy on April 19 and 21. Madison County fire re cruits experience their first live burn training on March 22 at the fire training facili ty in Danielsville. By Caleb Rollins Anna Strickland, a well- known figure by county business owners and com munity members alike, recently announced her upcoming resignation as President and CEO of the Madison County Chamber of Commerce, effective April 30. In an announcement to Chamber leadership, Strickland said that “after several months of careful prayer and consideration”, she came to the decision to resign and become a full- time mom. “This was an incredi bly difficult decision,” she said. “While this job has been, and will always be, the greatest joy of my pro fessional career, it has be come abundantly apparent that my top priority in this season of life needs to be my family.” Strickland thanked the Chamber’s Board of Di rectors for their support throughout her tenure, add ing that she believes that, with their leadership, the Chamber will continue to thrive in the years to come. “The Chamber’s best days are ahead,” she said. “What’s most reassuring to me is the fact that my hus band and I get to raise two children in a community that you all pour into each day.” THE DIFFERENCE A LEADER MAKES When Strickland was hired as President and CEO in 2020, the Chamber had 67 total members. As of 2024, the Chamber had ex panded to 375 total mem bers. In 2024 alone, the Cham ber added 89 new members, gave out $1,500 in student scholarships, hosted 195 meetings and events, and promoted 232 different events for Chamber mem bers. The Chamber also found a new home in 2024, as Tripp Strickland, a local business owner, donated the R.G. Strickland House to serve as the Chamber’s new headquarters. Strickland’s tenure also oversaw the formation of the Chamber’s Youth Ad visory Board, which helps high school students to get involved in community fo cused events and projects. Within just the last four years, the Chamber has grown in ways that many could not have foreseen, a testament to the hard work and leadership of its Presi dent and CEO. “Anna Strickland is one of the best things that ever happened to Madison County,” said Tripp Strick land. “Her enthusiasm and ability to inspire has taken our chamber to places un imaginable in years past. She will be greatly missed.” 2022 JEAN HARRIS AWARD Back in 2022, Jean Mullis presented Strickland with the Jean Harris award on behalf of the Madison County Rotary Club. This award, named after the wife of Rotary International founder Paul Harris, honors a non-Rotarian woman who has made significant contri butions to the development and progress of others in their communities. In her speech, Mullis credited Strickland’s building-up of community events, such as the Pioneer Harvest Festival and Taste of Madison County. She also gave credit to Strickland for working with the school system to bring work-based learning into the forefront of the business segment, which has led to more opportunities for stu dents to develop valuable skills before graduating. Mullis also applauded what she called “one of the most successful projects”, the MadiCo Made Brand, a logo that can now be found all across the county. “Anna used her con nections and resources to build this program from the ground up and it has taken off,” said Mullis in her award presentation speech. “Anna works to see her community, Mad ison County, that she and Tyson and little Harper Ann now call their home, thrive. Anna is the epitome of someone making signif icant contributions to the development and progress of others in their commu nities.” JILL PARHAM LOOKS BACK Jill Parham was serving as the Chair of the Cham ber’s Board of Directors in 2020, and was responsible for hiring a new President and CEO at that time. Parham looks back fond ly on her decision to hire Strickland: “For anyone who didn’t live in Madison County prior to 2020, it would be hard to imagine the Mad ison County Chamber of See Strickland, page 5A
