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(S^citeps
A BAAAAAAD IDEA?
Sorry; couldn't resist. Even if you live in a
subdivision, you can now get your own living,
breathing lawnmower.
The Athens-Clarke County Commission
approved on Tuesday, June 3 a new law allow
ing people to rent sheep and goats to get rid
of invasive plants like kudzu and privet on
their property. Sounds like a great idea, right?
More environmentally friendly than herbicides
or a bush hog.
Not everyone thinks so. Behind the scenes,
the "invasive plant community," as they call
themselves, was lobbying the commission to
reject the proposal.
"While we understand the aesthetic and
emotional appeal of prescribed grazing???goats
and sheep are definitely warm and fuzzy???we
have found no scientific evidence in support
of their effectiveness for long-term invasive
plant control in the southeastern U.S.," the
Memorial Park Weed Warriors???Linda Chafin,
Ed and Sue Wilde, Gary Crider and
Dorothy O'Niell???wrote to the mayor
and commission. Critics also raised
concerns about noise, disturbed soil
and manure running off into creeks.
Kingswood resident Richard Alpaugh
told the commission that his dog
cornered and bit a sheep in 2010; the
dog was later accused of attacking four
other sheep, and Animal Control gave
him two tickets. "It's really bringing
farm animals into an area where dogs
are not used to having them."
The "prescribed grazing" law
was initiated by the ACC Planning
Department several months ago in
response to citizens who wanted to use
livestock to clear brush but couldn't,
because keeping the animals on their
property overnight would count as
agriculture, which is illegal in residen
tial neighborhoods.
Supporters said the concerns were
unfounded. Lawyer and environmental
ist Mikey Salter, who researched pre
scribed grazing while a student at the
University of Georgia, said grazing by
goats does not appear to contaminate
water. UGA has used its "Chew Crew"
to munch through invasive plants on stream
banks since 2012, and College of Public Health
students are conducting research on the effect
on Tanyard Creek.
"Sheep are quiet," said Jennif Chandler,
a Madison County rancher who rents out her
sheep and goats for prescribed grazing. "They
do not stay long enough to create a manure
problem."
The commission eventually approved the
law by a 6-4 vote, with commissioners Jared
Bailey, Jerry NeSmith, Doug Lowry and George
Maxwell opposing it. "I'm concerned about
unintended consequences that we really didn't
bring in the experts to discuss with us,"
NeSmith said.
Commissioner Andy Herod said planners did
"a tremendous amount of research," and he
he sees the law being seldom used, mainly on
steep terrain where a bush hog can't go.
Commissioner Allison Wright also noted
that sheep, goats and dogs must all be fenced
in (or, in dogs' cases, leashed) by law, putting
two layers of protection between them.
Prescribed grazing requires a permit from
the planning department. A 24-hour emer
gency contact is also required. One sheep or
goat per 2,500 square feet of property being
cleared, and they can stay for up to 30 days.
But you still can't have a chicken.
TACKLE FOOTBALL: It was a Tuesday, which
meant somebody was mad at Leisure Services,
of course. This time, it was coaches with the
Northeast Georgia Youth Football League, who
said the department is denying them access to
county-run fields.
According to longtime coach Melvin Hayes,
Leisure Services told the league that it can't
use Sandy Creek Park for its opening day
ceremony Aug. 23 because of a triath
lon scheduled for the following day.
Although the league generally has use
of fields at Holland, Satterfield, Lay,
East Athens and Southeast Clarke parks
from July through November, all other parks
have already been reserved for soccer and
Little League that day, ACC Recreation Division
Administrator Myla Neal said. Leisure Services
offered two dates earlier in the month, but
they are too early to make preparations for the
season to begin, Hayes said.
Coaches are also unhappy with what they
said is a new policy requiring background
checks not only for coaches, but for other vol
unteers and parents as well. (Given the rough
neighborhoods many of the players come from,
it's not uncommon for parents to have records,
and the man point of the program is to keep
kids from repeating those mistakes.)
"It's not the background checks [for
coaches], because we've been doing that for
years," Hayes said. "It's the additional stuff
they are asking us to provide," such as train
ing in preventing concussions. USA Football,
a national organization the Athens league is
affiliated with, provides such training, but
Hayes said coaches have been given no help
in deciphering whether that training fulfills
ACC's requirement.
Background checks are only required for
coaches, defined as people giving instruc
tions on the field, Neal said. "A mom bringing
snacks is not considered a coach," she said,
adding that the concussion policy has been in
place for a couple of years.
Disputes between youth sports leagues
and Leisure Services have flared up from time
to time over the years, creating a general
atmosphere of distrust. Whether it's a simple
misunderstanding or something more, the
tension is real. "I hate to say it, but I'm
disgusted by the fact that there's such a
disconnect between the people who con
trol the facilities and the people who want
to use the facilities," Christian Norton told
commissioners.
There is also a racial component. "Since
[African American former assistant manager
Richard White] left, we have not had anybody
to turn to," Mike Willis told commissioners.
White's replacement, Robert Hiss, is, well,
white, as are all of the top brass at Leisure
Services. Alvin Sheats, speaking on behalf of
the local NAACP chapter, warned the commis
sion about the lack of diversity last month.
"This is not a reflection on anyone you all just
hired," he said. "However, do keep in mind
you are expected to employ with diversity in
your upper-level management as well as your
general labor force."
Mayor Nancy Denson and commissioners
told Manager Alan Reddish to look into the
football issue. "I can certainly attest to the
fact that it's a strong program that helps peo
ple in our community, and I'm confident we
can reach a positive resolution," Commissioner
Kelly Girtz said.
Combined with Lyndon House Arts Center
brouhaha a few months ago, this is yet
another reason to audit Leisure Services.
OH, YEAH: And the commission also passed
a $126 million budget???although the public
didn't seem nearly as interested in that as
whether their neighbor might get a goat or
they can use a football field.
Commissioner Doug "Dr. No" Lowry voted
against the budget, because that's what he
does, and so did Commissioner Allison Wright.
She took issue with the way ACC spends hotel/
motel tax revenue; six of every seven cents, or
$1.9 million, now goes to the Classic Center
and the Convention and Visitors Bureau.
$500,000 should be transferred to the ACC
Economic Development Department, Wright
said. "We could be using hotel/motel tax for
that and not drain the general fund," she said.
Girtz and Commissioner Jared Bailey said
they agree with Wright, but not enough to
vote against the budget. Girtz proposed a 3-5
year plan to wean the Classic Center off the
hotel/motel tax.
PRESERVATION AWARDS: The Athens-Clarke
Heritage Foundation hosted its 45th Annual
Preservation Awards at the historic Morton
Theatre on Monday, June 2.
The Albert Dobbs Sams Award for outstand
ing achievement in preservation went to Jim
Carter for excellence in decorative arts and
house museums. Carter was instrumental in
developing the Ware-Lyndon House into a
house museum, was a patron of the Church
Waddell Brumby House museum (aka the
Welcome Center) and was also instrumental in
bringing the T.R.R. Cobb House back to Athens
from Atlanta.
Other awards went to Timothy and Anna
Dondero for the rehabilitation of the house
beside Dondero's Kitchen; Normaltown bar Old
Pal's Daniel Ray and Matt McFarron; Creature
Comforts' Adam Beauchamp and David Stein;
Hugh Acheson for the new Five & Ten at the
former Hawthorne House; Lori Bork
Newcomer for homes she designed
on Hendrick Avenue; Larry Dendy
and Erin New for their book on UGA
architecture, Through the Arch; and
Lucy Rowland, Jerry NeSmith, Ron Thomas,
Nat Kuykendall and Marilyn Wolf-Ragatz for
preserving the Beech Haven house, located
in greenspace off Atlanta Highway near the
Middle Oconee River that ACC recently pur
chased. Those are just a few???visit
flagpole.com for the full story. [Stella
Smith]
BREWERY BILL: Sens. Frank Ginn
(R-Danielsville) and Bill Cowsert
(R-Athens) and Reps. Spencer Frye
(D-Athens), Regina Quick (R-Athens)
and Chuck Williams (R-Watkinsville)
got an earful from constituents, par
ticularly on three issues???redistricting,
the minimum wage and immigration.
"I believe I have the most ger
rymandered district in the state of
Georgia," said District 7 Commissioner-
elect Diane Bell, referring to the map
Republicans pushed through in 2012
that turned Clarke County into a jigsaw
puzzle on acid. Legislators offered lit
tle hope that they will replace it with
the simpler commission-drawn map.
Nor would they get behind chang
ing the state law that prohibits cities
from raising their minimum wage. "I
don't think there's anything more local
than your own employer setting your
pay," Ginn said.
And they said they have nothing to
do with the Board of Regents policy
prohibiting undocumented immigrants from
attending UGA.
One issue that lawmakers did say they'd be
willing to work on is the post-Prohibition law
barring craft breweries from selling their prod
ucts directly to consumers. (Creature Comforts
and Terrapin can only offer tastings during
tours; producers can only sell to wholesalers
who turn around and sell to retailers.) "We
lost breweries, craft breweries to Asheville
[NC] not long ago because of the three-tier
system," Quick said.
Alcohol laws aren't always logical, quick
said, noting that a wine store can host a wine
tasting, but a liquor store can't give away
wine samples. "Nobody has ever been able to
tell me how that makes sense," she said.
Williams, who co-sponsored with Frye a
bill allowing beer and wine sales near col
lege campuses that could pave the way for a
downtown grocery store, said he was surprised
that groups like the Christian Coalition sat on
the sidelines. But convenience stores fought it
because they didn't want the competition, he
said. Williams questioned whether the three-
tier system still works, but "people will fight
to the death to keep it," he said.
Blake Aued news@flagpole.com
The University of Georgia???s Chew Crew consumes kudzu and other invasive plants on campus.
???I believe I have the most gerrymandered
district in the state of Georgia.???
4 FLAGP0LE.C0M-JUNE 11, 2014