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
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