About The Madison County journal. (Hull, Ga.) 1989-current | View Entire Issue (July 2, 2025)
THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2025 - PAGE 3A MOAS continued from 1A Farm Bureau continued from 1A Wednesday through Sat urday from 12 to 5 p.m., or Sunday from 12 to 4 p.m. LOW-COST VACCINE CLINIC Registration is now cur rently open for MOAS’s low-cost vaccine clinic on Sunday, July 20. The vaccine clinic is by appointment only. Reg istrants must choose an available time slot. For more information and vaccine costs, visit www.moaspets.com/vac- cine-clinic were invited to bring their family, friends and county Extension agent or FFA advisor to the GFB Evening of Champions. The event was designed to celebrate the grand champions and their support teams for their accomplishments. Georgia Agricul ture Commissioner Tyler Harper and GFB President Tom McCall spoke at the dinner. “Tonight is a celebration of grit, heart and the agricultural spirit that drives these remarkable young people,” McCall said. “Each of these grand champion exhibitors has spent countless hours feeding, groom ing, walking and practicing with their live stock, often long before sunrise or after a full school day.” BOC continued from 1A MART continued from 1A their management of the concession stands, stating tliat they were not preparing enougli food to last tlirougli the evening on nights witli multiple sporting events, and parents/ kids were frequently left witliout an op portunity to get food and beverages during games. Concession on the Move plans to provide full concession services, including prepara tion, cooking and serving of food and bev erages at events held by the rec. dept. The business will also provide all food, supplies and staff, and will sliare 30% of net profits witli the rec. dept. “In recent history, we’ve liad trouble staffing internally; kids just don’t work at the rec. department anymore,” said District 5 Commissioner Derek Doster. “This is a different approacli at trying to reduce some of the negative and get better service.” Commission Cliairman Todd Higdon raised concerns about how the rec. dept, could get out of the contract if they were to be displeased witli the concessionaire’s services. Rec. Dept. Director Shelley Mc Daniel stated tliat the contract included a clause tliat allowed either party to terminate the contract for any reason witli a 30-day notice. The contract can also be terminated immediately if the provider does not meet certain requirements stated in the contract. Higdon indicated tliat he was comforted knowing the contract contained these claus es. OTHER REC. DEPT. BUSINESS Also on the agenda for the BOC’s June 30 meeting were tliree sets of quotes for vari ous contracted services for the rec. depart ment, involving the provision of uniforms and other atliletic equipment. BOC members raised concerns tliat the bids were not brouglit before the Recre ation Advisory Board for recommendation, stating that there was no point in liaving an advisory board for the department if they weren’t going to be sought for advice on these decisions. Board members added tliat, due to the costs of the quotes, the department could send their recommendations to the Cliair- July 1. Eacli county’s contribution was ne gotiated based on the usage of the services during the previous 12-montli cycle. Madi son County will pay less than Franklin and Hart counties, and more than Elbert and Oglethorpe counties. AMENDMENT TO COUNTY PURCHASES ORDINANCE The board also approved a resolution amending the code of ordinances to change the methods for purcliases made by the county. The amended ordinance requires road work, contracted services and other pur cliases over $250,000 to be made by using a formal sealed bid process. Road work and other purcliases between $10,000 and $250,000 can be made by acquiring at least two written price quotes. Under the previous ordinance, road work over $20,000 and other purchases over $100,000 required a formal sealed bid pro cess. The sealed bid process is a metliod where potential contractors submit offers in a sealed envelope or tlirougli a secure elec tronic system, witli all bids kept confiden tial until a designated time for opening, en suring tliat bidders are not made aware of eacli other’s offers, promoting fairness and competition. The process is frequently used by government agencies for contracting ser vices. OTHER BUSINESS In other business, the board: • postponed action on awarding a sealed bid for the Sanford Water Loop Project to the July 7 meeting to allow time to arrange contracts witli the Rose golf club and the cliosen contractor, and vote on everytliing at once. The project involves the installa tion of over 10,000 linear feet of water line along Sanford Road to provide public water supply to the Rose. • voted to extend a deadline to finalize and amend a proposed agreement for business retention and support services witli the Madison County Cliamber of Commerce until Aug. 31, and to continue witli the current level of finan- MART currently has 60 total members, she explained, many of whom attend monthly meetings at the Madison Coun ty Library. Members include pastors from a number of county churches along with employees of the school system, MedLink, the library and representatives from Project Safe, an Athens-based non profit organization that works to prevent domestic violence. MART is governed by a board of di rectors which is elected by the collabora tive group, according to Deakin. MART also receives a grant from the statewide Family Connection collaborative to fund its services and initiatives, she said. INITIATIVES MART plans its initiatives annually when the group meets to review data from Kids Count. The yearly data review allows MART to determine areas of need in the county. MART’s current initiatives include: •Preventing and reducing the impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). The concept of ACE’s stems from a joint study conducted by the Centers for Dis ease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Kaiser Permanente Foundation in the 1990s. Examples of ACEs include di vorce, loss of a parent or loved one, and other events that can cause trauma for a child. •Increasing positive youth behaviors. •Decreasing the effects of substance misuse SERVICES AND EVENTS How MART works to accomplish these initiatives, Deakin explained, is through the organization of events, classes and training. The group organizes parenting sup port events, including a yearly Back to School Rally which provides free school supplies and backpacks, along with serv ing as a resource fair. In 2024, MART provided backpacks and school supplies to 619 low-income students in Madison County at Back to School Rally. MART also hosts a number of parenting classes throughout the year. The group has also begun hosting pov erty workrooms, in which they help to identify the sources of poverty and gen erate solutions, said Deakin. MART also hosts a substance misuse group. MART’s annual “Block Party” is an other resource fair that the group “clev erly disguises” as a party, said Deakin. Last year’s event saw 180 9th through 12th grade students attend. MART has also partnered with the li brary to provide a number of trainings, including suicide prevention, Narcan training and more. The group has also partnered with Resilient Northeast Georgia, which pro vides them with funding to help bring trauma awareness to the community. Another of MART’s many projects in the community is a partnership with a group of stitchers from Trinity Baptist Church in Danielsville, who help make blankets that MART distributes to all of the counselors at each of the county schools to be given to students who have lost a loved one. Following Deakin’s presentation, Commission Chairman Todd Higdon thanked her for her work in the commu nity. “Thank you for what you do,” he said. “I see you at a lot of meetings; I see you at Chamber events; I see you all over... You always seem to be in the spot to be giving and helpful.” MART’s resources, events and more information can be found on the its web- site at madison.gafcp.org. Deakin can be contacted by email at connect@mad- isoncofc.net or by phone at 706-795- 3565. man and Clerk’s offices and let them pro- cial support. cess the requests, witliout going tlirougli the • responded to questions about the rec. de ¬ BOC. partment’s Splasli Pad liours being cut back Chairman Higdon added that he would to Friday, Saturday and Sunday, explaining like to see the department acquire more tliat the City of Danielsville currently has quotes from different companies, rather a water sliortage issue. Chairman Higdon than relying on the same companies year after year. The BOC ultimately approved a motion to reject all tliree sets of quotes to allow the department to seek new quotes and bring them before the Recreation Advisory Board. INDIGENT DEFENSE AGREEMENT The BOC also approved an Indigent De fense Agreement witli the Public Defender Office of the Northern Judicial Circuit and the governing bodies of Franklin, Hart, El bert and Oglethorpe counties. Under the agreement, the Public De fender Office will provide full time staff for the circuit. Tliis staff will provide rep resentation for indigent defendants. An in digent defendant is someone wlio cannot afford legal representation and is entitled to court-appointed legal counsel. Per the agreement, Madison County agrees to pay $142,801 of the total $603,385 to the Northern Circuit Public Defender Office for the 12-montli period that began explained tliat the state asks local govern ments to conserve water tliis time of year, and witli rainfall amounts being unknown in the coming months, it was decided to re duce the Splasli Pad’s liours. • announced that county mowing crews will be in the area between Ila and Com merce, as well as in the Paoli area. The board asks residents to be careful driving in these areas. • announced tliat road patcliing and Open Graded Interlay (OGI) projects liave been completed on Hudson Rivers Cliurcli Road, Jot Em Down Road, Drake Woods Road and Stone Stewart Road. Patcliing and topping only liave been completed on Duffell Mar tin Road and Collins-Bridges Road. Roads in progress for patcliing and OGI are Dia mond Hill Colbert Road, Johnson-Bridges Road and Hardman Morris Road. Roads still to be completed are Russell Road, Am- berly Drive, Belliaven Lane and Creekwood Drive. Food safety continued from 1A is not a reliable indicator of doneness. Use a food thermometer to ensure foods reach a safe min imum internal tempera ture: •Beef, pork, lamb, and veal steaks, chops and roasts: 145 F • Seafood (fish and shellfish): 145 F • Ground beef, pork, lamb and veal: 160 F •Poultry (whole and ground): 165 F Avoid the Danger Zone: • The bacteria that can cause foodborne illness grow between 40 F and 140 F — also known as the Danger Zone. •If you plan to keep perishable foods on the table for more than two hours (or one hour in temperatures above 90 F), keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold to avoid the Danger Zone. •Keep hot foods heat ed at or above 140 F with chafing dishes, slow cookers or preheated grill. •Keep cold foods chilled at or below 40 F by placing them on bowls of ice or keeping them in side a cooler near the pic ¬ nic table. For more information about food safety, call the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-MPHo- tline (1-888-674-6854) or email MPHotline@usda. gov. News releases and other information can be found at USDA FSIS’ website at www.fsis.usda.gov/ newsroom. FSIS can be followed on X at @usda- foodsafety and USDA on Instagram at @usdagov and Facebook at @usda. BRAY CONSTRUCTION, INC Logic & Accuracy Testing Public Notice To be published in the legal organ of the county, O.C.G.A §21-2-379.25, SEB Rule No. 183-1-12.02(3) (b) l(i) (Election Day) and SEB Rule No. 183-1-14- .02 (2) Notice is hereby given that the logic and accuracy testing and preparation of Voting equipment to be used in the July 15, 2025 Special Election Democratic Runoff for Madison County will be as early as June 30th at 10:00 am (or once Election Files/Database has been received from the SOS office). Testing will continue from day to day from 9AM-4PM until complete and members of the public representatives of the parties and bodies, and news media are entitled to be present during testing, but shall not interfere in any way with such testing. Said testing and preparation will be conducted at the Board of Elections and Registration Office located at 20 Albany Ave., Danielsville, GA 30633 Tracy Dean Chairperson Madison County BOER • New Homes • Remodeling • Vinyl Siding • Masonry Work • Concrete Finishing (706) 789-2313 RHHaPH aHHY Fun By The Numbers
