House Fire Wednesday Night

IT appears a log that rolled out of a residential fireplace may be the cause of a house fire on Stockmar Road in Douglas County Wednesday night. The residents were reportedly inside the home when the fire broke out but were able to escape the burning structure unharmed. The house was completely destroyed by the flames. Emergency responders were able to save a large mobile home parked next to the house along with four wheelers and other items from the home's garage. Carroll County fire officials joined Douglas County fire fighters in the efforts to extinguish the flames.

Police Chase In Douglasville Wednesday

A man is now recovering at Wellstar Douglas Hospital after eluding police officers from Thornton Road to Douglas Boulevard yesterday afternoon. The chase allegedly began when the male attempted to use a forged check and then ran away from police, reportedly stealing a white ford ranger. According to authorities the man wrecked that vehicle and switched into his original vehicle, a black chevy impala. The man continued to elude Douglas County Authorities until Douglas Boulevard where they were then able to pit the impala into the woods. The man was reportedly carrying three fake ID's and two social security cards, authorities say he is being charged with forgery, theft and additional traffic charges.

Man Charged For Placing Cameras In Bathrooms

A 28 year old Villa Rica man is being charged with felony eavesdropping and illegal surveillance after placing video cameras inside of the Conners Road Waffle House he managed. Keith Christman was arrested Tuesday and is facing additional charges in Douglas County, after authorities recovered a camera under the sink. Villa Rica Police Chief Michael Mansour says this kind of crime is not common. Authorities believe a number of other restaurants and victims have been targeted. Christman is being held at the Carroll County Jail.

In Tomorrow's Sentinel

Worker hurt in accident at plant site By Winston Jones

A construction worker was injured Monday night in an accident at the new Douglasville-Douglas County Water and Sewer Authority (WSA) wastewater treatment plant site on Fouts Mill Road. The worker was taken by helicopter to an Atlanta hospital following the 7:30 p.m. accident. Randy Simpkins, vice-president of Sweetgrass, Inc., general contractor for the $80 million project, did not release the employee's name and condition Tuesday, or the nature of the accident. `It's under investigation,` Simpkins told the Sentinel. `We're taking statements from the individuals there.` Michael Wald, spokesman for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), said his agency is investigating the accident.

The 6 million gallon per day (GPD) South Central wastewater treatment plant is due to be completed and brought online in early 2008. Once the new plant is online, the Chapel Hills sewage plant will be closed and the sewer connection moratorium in the south and central parts of the county will be lifted, Pete Frost, WSA executive director, said last October. Frost could not be reached Tuesday for comment.

Water Main Break Monday Night

A water main break near Kings Hwy was the cause of a temporary water outage last night on Kings Hwy and Big A Road.  Crews were dispatched to the scene of the break and worked quickly to restore water.

Accident

Construction accident on Fout's Mill Rd.  One injured; will be lifeflighted.

A Place To Voice Your Opinion

I encourage everyone to write an article on what Douglas County needs most and submit it to this website: http://douglasvilleportal.com/douglasville-ga-local-authors/douglasville-ga-mostpopular.html .  I have already posted an article about the current state of our public libraries.  Registration to submit an article is easy and only requires your email address.  You don't even have to put your full name in the form.  This could be a great place for citizens to voice their opinions on what improvements they think Douglas County should make.

City of Douglasville City Council Meeting TONIGHT

If you do not want a 12 acre subdivision on rural Dorris Road, and in extension, more traffic in Douglas County, show up and voice your opposition to it tonight!  This is one meeting I wish would be televised...

 

CITY OF DOUGLASVILLE CITY COUNCIL

Legislative Meeting

January 11, 2007 7:30 p.m.

REVISED AGENDA

1. Call to Order

2. Invocation

3. Pledge of Allegiance

4. Public Safety Committee/Dennis McLain
Tabled from November 6, 2006:
a. Request for an alcohol beverage license for Nahar Oil Enterprises, Inc., DBA Shell Food Mart for a transfer of license and a change in agent outlet manager for the retail package sale of wine and malt beverage at 6450 Church Street. Application by Nahar Oil Enterprise, Inc.

New Business:
b. Request for an alcohol beverage license for T.R.T. Package Store, LLC, DBA T.R.T. Package Store for the retail package sale of wine, malt beverage, and spirituous liquor at 639 Thornton Road. Application by T.R.T. Package Store.

c. Request for a transfer of the alcohol beverage license and for a change in the agent outlet manager for Crab Addison, Inc., DBA Joe's Crab Shack for the on premises consumption of wine, malt beverage, and spirituous liquor at 2868 Chapel Hill Road. Application by Crab Addison, Inc.

d. Request for a transfer of the alcohol beverage license and for a change in the agent outlet manager for Los Corales, Inc., DBA Diana's for the on premises consumption of wine, malt beverage, and spirituous liquor at 2135 Georgia Highway 92, Suites F & G. Application by Los Corales, Inc.

5. Community & Economic Development Committee/John Schildroth

6. Planning & Zoning Committee/Michael Carter
Tabled from December 18, 2006:

a. Request for a change in zoning from R-A (Residential Agriculture District) in unincorporated Douglas County to R-3 (Single Family Detached Residential District) in the City for approximately 12 acres on Dorris Road adjacent to the North Douglas Elementary School. Application by Rough Diamond Investments, LLC.

b. Request for an amendment to the City's Future Land Use Plan from Urban Residential in unincorporated Douglas County to Low Density Single Family Detached in the City for approximately 12 acres on Dorris Road adjacent to the North Douglas Elementary School. Application by Rough Diamond Investments, LLC.

c. Request to annex approximately 12 acres on Dorris Road adjacent to the North Douglas Elementary School. Application by Rough Diamond Investments, LLC.

New Business:
d. Request for a Special Land Use permit for accessory use to a church for a library, elementary school, and a social services center in a CBD (Central Business District) on approximately 1.82 acres at 6754 West Church Street. Application by Clebert Merat.

e. Request a proposed text change in the City's Zoning Code to add libraries and social service centers as accessory uses to a church, to add "church as an accessory use" in the Zoning Use Chart, to limit the relocation of certain non-conforming signs pursuant to a road widening project, and to make other revisions for the purpose of consistency. Application by the City of Douglasville.

f. Adopt a resolution to amend the City's Development Code to eliminate tree credits for trees smaller than 3 inches in diameter and to prohibit locating above-ground stormwater detention facilities in front yards.

g. Adopt a resolution to schedule the first public hearing on possible implementation of impact fees by the City for 6:30 p.m. Monday, February 12, and to provide for a proposed level of impact fees at one-third of the maximum sustainable amount identified by the consulting firm of TischlerBise.

h. Authorize the Mayor to sign an agreement with a consulting firm to assist the City in preparing a planning document to incorporate the City's proposed Capital Improvements Element of its Comprehensive Plan.

i. Appoint Rochelle Robinson to succeed Brenda Head as the City of Douglasville's representative on a citizen review panel regarding intergovernmental annexation disputes between the City of Douglasville and Douglas County.

7. Parks & Recreation Committee/Roy Mims

8. Finance Committee/Henry Mitchell III
a. Adopt an ordinance to amend Subsection 26-24(b)(1) of the City Code to remove the size limitation on indoor flea markets for purpose of consolidated occupation tax reporting.

9. Information Technology Committee/Henry Mitchell III
a. Authorize the Mayor to confirm and consent to assignment of the City's Agreement with Skytel, Inc., for rental of space on the City's 806 Radio Communication tower.

10. Maintenance & Sanitation Committee/Charles Banks

11. Transportation Committee/Michael Carter
a. Adopt a resolution to identify for the Atlanta Regional Commission and the Douglas County Board of Commissioners the worst traffic bottlenecks in the City of Douglasville.

12. Personnel & Organization Committee/Roy Mims
a. Appoint Darren T. Chappuies to the City's Personnel Appeals Board for a six-year term extending to January 16, 2013.

13. Ordinances & Intergovernmental Committee/Callye B. Holmes
a. Adopt a resolution concerning a recommendation to the members of the local State legislative delegation on the City's priorities for the 2007 session of the Georgia General Assembly.

14. Other Business

15. City Attorney/Joel Dodson

16. Chief Assistant City Attorney/Suzan Littlefield

17. City Manager/Bill Osborne

18. Comments from Citizens and Delegates

January 16 BOC Meeting 10am

WORK SESSION AGENDA JANUARY 11, 2007

9:00 A.M. – BOARD ROOM

CITIZENS' BUSINESS

APPROVAL OF MINUTES
1. Regular Commission Meeting of January 2, 2007.

PLAT APPROVALS – PRELIMINARY PLAT APPROVAL (Cynde)
2. Favors Manor
3. Kingsbrook
4. The Terraces

PLAT APPROVALS – FINAL PLAT ACCEPTANCE
5. The Shoppes at Chapel Hill --Editor's Note--There will be an Ingle's grocery store in this shopping center.

BUSINESS
6. Transfer $8,166 from Aquatic Center Salaries & Benefits to Parks &
Recreation Salaries & Benefits in order to change the current Aquatic
Center's full-time maintenance employee to part time and a current Parks &
Recreation part-time employee to full time.
7. Request to increase the salaries of the two lowest-paid attorneys in the
District Attorney's office to compensate for the necessary restructuring of
court teams to allow the office to function in an efficient manner.
8. Claims for tax credits/refunds per recommendation of Chief Appraiser.
9. Appointment of Vice Chairman to the Board of Commissioners.
10. Appointment to the Board of Assessors.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

COMMISSIONERS' COMMENTS

EXECUTIVE SESSION - Personnel, Litigation, Land Acquisition

December 2006 New Business Licenses

50 State Trans, A&M Computer Services, A World Away LLC, Access Granted Promotions, Affordable Art, Assured Electrical, B&B Electric, B&E Travel, B&J Executive Service, Best Mortgage LLC, Best Signs Plus, Ceramic Sale, Discovered Agency LLC, Donnie's Glass, Elevated Fitness LLC, Every Last Detail, Express Hair Braiding, Fearless Warriors, Garden Variety, GA School Of Perform, Glo-Tech Computers LLC, Great Deals Auto LLC, Harris Professional, J&T Massage Therapists, Jack Adams Homes INC, Kelley Trucking, Linwood Homes Inc, Lucky's Barber Shop, Mark Schell Construction, Melodic Moon, Nice Shots Photo Studio, Office Depot #2397, Dominion Freight Line, Performance Testing Group, Porter's Cleaning Service, Prestige Welding Services, Radiant Skin & Nails, Restoration Protection, Rowan Homes Inc, Salon 33, Top Notch Contractors, Triangle Trucking, Victory Beauty Supply, Weknow Construction

A Victory For Small Towns In GA!! Bill Arp & Fairplay are Back On The Map!!!!!

From the Associated Press:

 

Ga. Communities Erased From Map Are Back
By GREG BLUESTEIN
Associated Press Writer
ATLANTA

Po Biddy Crossroads will be back on the map. So will Hopeulikit and Doctortown, and hundreds of others that were erased.

From Abbottsford to Zetella, the 488 communities wiped from this year's version of the state highway map will be restored, the Georgia Department of Transportation said Wednesday.

The towns were erased from the map after the transportation department decided it wanted a clearer, more legible version of the map to hand out for free at visitors centers and tourism hotspots. But small-town officials were infuriated, and said it was an insult to rural residents.

Vicki Gavalas, the department's spokeswoman, said she regrets that any rural residents felt slighted. "That certainly was not our intent," she said. "Indeed, our only intent was to make the official state map a more easily read resource."

Mapmaking criteria vary by state, and a little housecleaning over time is not unusual. But other states said it is almost unheard of to see hundreds of communities given the boot in a single year. Even Rand McNally, which as North America's biggest commercial mapmaker sells its maps at gas stations and bookstores, said a change of just a dozen place names on its state maps is rare.

Dennis Holt, wholed a community effort to restore the name of western Georgia's small town of Hickory Level, celebrated the decision.

"We're glad that they've seen the light and put it back on there," he said. "Our concern is: Will they do this again? We'll be waiting, we'll be watching."

On the Net: http://www.dot.state.ga.us/

Copyright 2007 by the Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

 

Tonight's BOC/P&Z Meeting

I was very disappointed with the outcome of tonight's meeting, especially regarding Dowda's application to rezone a rural area of the Bill Arp community where there is currently a beautiful pasture and a beautiful house so he can tear it down and relocate the Hair Barn salon there.  The commissioners acted like they were against it at first and then Joe Fowler said, oh, they don't use that much water, oh, they're not going to be open late, oh, it's not going to increase truck traffic, and the commissioners approved it.  One even said he was AGAINST commercial businesses building in rural areas but was going to approve this because he felt like it was all right.  When, I ask you, is it all right to tear down a house that has been there for more than twenty years that has a pasture behind it that has been there for much longer?  There used to be beautiful pastures in Douglas County, but many of them have been converted into subdivisions.  And Joe Fowler tried to tell the commissioners it was okay to build it there because they counted and there were THREE gas stations in the area, sixteen businesses in the area, etc.  One of those gas stations is near where I live and next to land that my cousin owns.  His father owned it before he died.  When the gas station was approved to build there, we didn't even know it was going to be built there until a zoning notice was put up to increase the impervious surface and by then it was already approved.  The entire neighborhood was furious, mainly because they put an entrance to the gas station on our road.  So naturally everyone uses the gas station as a shortcut to our road and it has increased the number of wrecks and near-wrecks.

 

But just you wait.  When they finish building the Hair Barn, traffic WILL increase  How many people go to the hair salon in a day?  There will be five employees.  On average, it takes about an hour for one stylist to cut one person's hair.  If the business is open from 9am-7pm, five stylists could see fifty-five customers.  And most likely these customers will not be carpooling together, so that's fifty-five extra cars going into our community.    Hwy 5 is a TWO lane road there.  It's supposed to be widened to four lanes but I don't think it's going to happen anytime soon because the GA DOT doesn't have the money to do it (see my earlier post about this).  Traffic already increased when Green Acres Preschool opened.  Traffic increased when the gas station opened.  And now I'm afraid someone will want to tear down the community's historic jail, which has most likely been there at least 70+ years, and build another gas station or something that will also further destroy the soul of our small community. 

 

I know some of you are saying grow up, it's going to happen, there's already businesses there.  But despite these businesses invading our small community, we are still a small town.  We have an old jail, a couple of old barns, pastures, houses with huge yards, land on which an elementary school thrived for one hundred years (and then decided it needed to build a new two story school), and neighbors that have lived in the community for over fifty years.  Those neighbors deserve the quiet community I grew up in.  Shouldn't they get to live in the community they grew up living in?  They don't deserve the traffic.  They don't deserve people stealing out of their mailboxes, which is happening more frequently now.  And lastly, their community should not be on the Future Land Use map as a commercial community.  And a Kroger is the LAST thing Bill Arp needs.

2007--Happy New Year!

I'm listening to the police scanner...lots of fireworks reported (since the majority of them are illegal) and reports of drunk drivers, probably the norm for today.  I reported some near where I live because there are a lot of houses around where they're setting them off and a lot of trees as well.  My great uncle's 75+ year old business (located in a former church) was burned to the ground in a horrible fire on New Year's Eve 1997, and the cause was kids shooting off fireworks (and one shot right through the stained glass window), so I know how dangerous they can be.  Thankfully he was able to rebuild the business, though not on the same site.  The only thing left standing after the fire was the entrance to the ladies' restroom.  This was their headquarters, so old records were destroyed, books were burned, and framed posters of some of their books, most of which were autographed, were also destroyed.

 

But does anyone actually get arrested for shooting off fireworks? Yes.  The sale or use of fireworks has a maximum fine of $1,000 and/or a year in jail.  So it is a major offense.  I know it may be fun to go across the state line and buy fireworks, but you have to consider the consequences.  Watch the fireworks on television--it's a lot safer.

 

And there's been a break-in at a business.  If I heard right, one suspect was arrested.

 

There were two or three locations near me that were setting off fireworks...and all is quiet now.  Thanks to the Douglas County Sheriff Department for keeping the peace during a busy night.