About The Madison County journal. (Hull, Ga.) 1989-current | View Entire Issue (July 9, 2025)
THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL, WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 2025 - PAGE 3A BOC continued from 1A at the meeting to oppose the pro- posal. In the interest of time, four community members spoke on behalf of the opposition, includ ing Shiloh Volunteer Fire Depart ment Chief Butch McDuffie. He explained that he was not there to speak as fire chief, but as a mem ber of the Shiloh community. McDuffie started off by stating that a neighboring family he is friends with, who’s property di rectly borders the proposed site, could not be at the meeting but wished to express that they were “adamantly opposed” to the re quest. The family, who have lived at their home for 20 years, felt the proposed store would “complete ly change the quality of life they have at their house,” according to McDuffie. He also cited the county’s com prehensive plan, which states that the area of the proposed store is zoned for rural conservation. “This proposal does not fit the character of our community,” he said. “The Shiloh community is a very agricultural area; it’s one of the most predominately agricul tural areas in this county.” McDuffie also stated that, as someone who has responded to wrecks at the intersection of Highway 29 and Old Wildcat Bridge Road, it would be a dan gerous location for a store and could increase traffic hazards. He also expressed concern that the proposed store would hurt the success of other local businesses, such as the Country Superette, located a few miles north of the proposed site on Highway 29. Another community member who spoke against the request pointed out that there were al ready other Dollar General loca tions nearby, including one a few miles south in Danielsville. Although the new store would have provided grocery options, unlike the other nearby locations, the speaker said that she visited other Dollar Generals that had produce sections and was unim pressed with their offerings. She added that Danielsville also al ready has its own locally owned grocery store: the Marketplace. “It (Marketplace) had every thing Dollar General offered and more; fresh vegetables, a full meat selection, friendly employ ees and neighbors talking with neighbors,” she said. “It provides jobs, resources and a sense of be longing. We already have what we need.” She also worried the new Dol lar General would hurt the Mar ketplace’s success, create traffic hazards and overall be a detri ment to the community. A third speaker further ex plained that, once the bridge on Highway 29 reopens next month, the intended site of the new store is a 10-minute drive or less from three different Dollar General lo cations. “We don’t need a fourth Dollar General store,” he said. He also expressed concerns that the proposed store would lower property values for those who live near the site. The final speaker expressed concerns that the runoff from the proposed store would contami nate the wells of himself and oth er nearby property owners. He also added that the store would not fit the character of the area he chose to live in. “I bought 14 acres in the coun try to live in the country,” he said. “We got some great neighbors back there; we got our own gar den. I’m totally opposed (to the request).” BOC REMARKS Commission Chairman Todd Higdon addressed Fritz prior to the board taking its vote. He explained that he had previ ously worked with Fritz on a sim ilar matter while he was serving as mayor of Danielsville. At the time, Fritz and his development team were working on the Dol lar General location at the inter section of Hanley Road/Moons Grove Church Road and High way 106 in Hull. “I remember the opposition to that store,” Higdon said. “I stood behind Dollar General on that store because I thought it was the right thing to do and the right location, on a state highway with high density around it.” “Since then, I’ve appreciated what Dollar General has done for this county and the tax reve nue we have here,” he continued. “And that’s about all the good I have to say about it.” He read a handout that Fritz had passed around to the board, which stated, “At Dollar General we are committed to providing a clean and pleasant environment for the employees and customers. When we learn of maintenance or repairs in and around our stores, we take action directly or in part nership with landlord partners, addressing concerns in a timely manner.” “Obviously the owner of the buildings has never been in his buildings,” Higdon said. He explained that Daniels ville’s Marketplace grocery store is the “cleanest, neatest store you’ve ever seen,” and that it takes several employees to oper ate and maintain the store. “I don’t know that I can go in a Dollar General in Madison County and find more than one employee on any given day,” he went on. “I can’t walk in a Dollar General in Madison County, oth er than one location, that don’t look like a hand grenade has ex ploded.” He also stated that the retention ponds at the various county Dol lar General locations have not been well maintained. “I personally don’t need an other Dollar General,” he said. “To add another, in the shape that they’re in today - I would be embarrassed if Dollar Gener al walked into one of their own stores and didn’t shut it down.” Following Higdon’s remarks, the board voted unanimously to deny the rezoning request. District 4 Commissioner Brian Kirk, who represents the district of the proposed site, stated that the problem was not with the de velopers, who he has heard posi tive reviews of, but with the Dol lar General corporation and its issues with maintaining its stores. He also said that he was pro-business and believed that the area along Highway 29 could be suitable to some other types of businesses, however he did not think Dollar General was a good fit for the area. Kirk said that he had one per son contact him in favor of the store, while several reached out to express their opposition. District 2 Commissioner Ter ry Chandler stated that, for him, the question was, “Is this an ap propriate location for a business zone?” With the way zoning works, he explained, once the lot is zoned for business, any business is al lowed to move onto the lot. It was his opinion that the lot in question was not appropriate for a business zoning, but he agreed with Kirk that there is opportu nity for businesses at other loca tions along Highway 29. 2026 SPLOST PROJECT LIST At Monday night’s meeting, the board also approved a pro posed project list for the 2026 SPLOST, in preparation of a call to election for the SPLOST, which if approved will be in the ballot this November. Proposed projects on the list included: • Ila: water improvements and extension, building rehabilitation and street improvements. • Carlton: water systems im provements and construction, maintenance and improvements to city roads, streets, bridges and stormwater infrastructure. • Hull: construction, mainte nance and improvements to city buildings, property, roads, streets and sidewalks. • Danielsville: water and sew er maintenance, new wells and water lines, new roads and side- walks, repaving of existing roads and sidewalks, maintenance equipment, police department equipment, building improve ments and the acquisition of new infrastructure. • Comer: improvements to city water and sewer system. The county and the City of Colbert are still preparing their project lists, which will also need to be approved prior to the call for election. OTHER BUSINESS In other business, the board: • awarded a sealed bid for the Sanford Water Loop Project, which will expand water lines to provide water to the Rose golf club, to A Vintage Soul LLC. The estimated cost of the project, including labor and materials, is $888,243, which will be paid for by the Rose. The board approved a contract between the IDBA and the Rose in the same motion for the Rose to provide payment for the project. • awarded a sealed bid and ap proved a contract with Suncoast Restoration and Waterproofing, LLC, in the amount of $348,467 for the LRA Bridge Repair Proj ect, which involves performing repairs to the piling cases under three county bridges. Bridges planned for repair are a bridge on Rogers Mill Road, and two bridges on Colbert-Danielsville Road. • approved a contract renewal with GA Food Services of Pi nellas County to provide food services for the Madison County Senior Center. OTHER ZONING MATTERS In other zoning matters, the board: • approved a request to rezone 25.38 acres at 1216 Diamond Hill Colbert Road, Colbert, owned by Pridgen Enterprise, Inc., from R1 with conditions to AR with con ditions. • approved a request for a dual rezoning of 25.48 acres on Wildcat Bridge Rd., Daniels ville, where a 12.74-acre portion would be rezoned from Al to AR to allow it to be split into 4-acre and 8.74-acre tracts, and the re maining 12.74 acres would be rezoned from Al to A2 to bring it into zoning compliance. • approved a request to rezone 6.8 acres at 1045 Crawford W. Long St., Danielsville, from AR to B to allow the operation of a small-scale, outdoor-only event venue. • approved requests for the re- zoning of two adjoining tracts on Moons Grove Church Rd., Col bert — 3.89 acres at 2304 Moons Grove Church Rd. and 10.16 acres at 2435 Moons Grove Church Rd. — from Al to A2 to allow the properties to be com bined for tax purposes. • approved a request to rezone 7.79 acres at 585 Loop Rd., Com merce, from AR to R1 to allow the tract to be split into a 3.347- acre parcel to sell and a 3.474- acre parcel to retain for estate settlement. • approved a request to rezone a 5-acre portion of a 23.06-acre tract at 4768 Hwy 29 S, Col bert, from A2 to AR to allow the parcel to be split and gifted to a family member. The remaining 18.06 acres would remain in the A2 zone. Madison County citizens protest budget bill at Rep. Collins’ office Two Madison County residents were among the speakers who gath ered at Congressman Mike Collins’ office in Monroe on July 1 to protest against the Trump administration’s “Big, Beautiful” budget bill, which they claim would harm them person ally, if it passes Congress. Speakers repeatedly asked, “Do you care, Mr. Collins?” About 50 people showed up at Collins’ Monroe office from across Georgia’s Congressional District 10 to speak publicly about the potential impacts of the Trump administra tion’s budget proposal and to deliv er statements to Collins’ staff. Simi lar protests organized by Indivisible Georgia were held the same day at the offices of Georgia’s congressional representatives across the state. “I can tell you that many of our small-time farmers are not happy with this administration and with this bill that’s in Congress now,” said Dave Ramsey, a Madison County farmer, Vietnam veteran and member of the Chamber of Commerce’s Agri cultural Committee. He proceeded to tell the crowd that the Trump administration had killed a $1 billion program creat ed by the Biden administration that paid small farmers like himself to provide food for school and daycare lunches. “They were going to replace it with extra ftinding,” he continued. “They were going to put $52 billion in the program for commodity sup port. Now, we all know that 90% of commodity support goes to wealthy farmers, absent land owners and cor porations. So who’s getting the deal there?” The cuts to the Supplemental Nu trition Support Program (SNAP), for merly called food stamps, would not only harm the most vulnerable and food insecure people in communities across Georgia, Ramsey said, it also would hurt small farmers, grocers, food packagers and nearly everyone in Georgia’s food production indus tries. Ramsey told the audience that a SNAP study showed that every dollar of SNAP funds spent in a communi ty returned $1.50 to the local econ omy - money that Madison County businesses would lose under Trump’s budget proposal. “So I want to ask you this, Mr. Collins, Ramsey said, “Do you care about this negative im pact on the economy of our district?” Suzie DeGrasse of Ila wrote a letter which was read at the gathering and given to Collins’ staff. In her letter, DeGrasse told Collins she receives Social Security disability and SNAP support because of a lifelong condi tion that rendered her unable to work in 2013 after a 40-year career in the public sector, where she received low wages despite having a Master’s de gree. After using her Medicaid pay ment to cover her Medicare premi um, she said she retains about $100 per month, which recently dropped to $23 after her Medicaid support began to change from month to month for no apparent reason. She said she has been relying on church food pantries for food, which are also losing the federal support they need to operate. In her letter, DeGrasse claimed that her repeated appeals to Collins for help in finding out why her ben efits have changed were first met by his staff with false assertions that she must not be a U.S. citizen, then with claims that the Congressman would not support the Medicaid cuts he later voted for, and finally with silence. “I have worked and paid into the system since I was 16. I did not choose to be disabled. I do not choose this life, and I do have to ask for help. If that help is gone, what will happen to me?” her letter asked. Other speakers at the rally talked about how the sweeping budget cuts in the bill would affect them and their families as the result of reduction in Medicaid support for their dis abled children, cuts in environmen tal protections for clean air and wa ter, support for public libraries, and Pell Grants that help students from low-income families attend college, among other impacts. Collins’ staff was given copies of all of the statements after the gath ering. Collins voted in favor of the budget bill the gathering was protest ing. An amended version of the bill that retains most of the provisions called out by the protestors has been approved by the Senate and has been returned to the House of Representa tives for another vote. SAVE BuCEm Nelving 090.722233937 % Spree are Tat asL acreese axe 2 Photo by Ann Hollifield Madison County farmer Dave Ramsey speaks at the July 1 protest at Rep. Mike Collins’ Monroe office. 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