From Times-Courier archives
April 2011
•At least 60 homes aredamaged as an estimatedfour tornadoes rip
through Gilmer Countythe evening of Monday,April 4. Other damagedproperties included sev-eral chicken houses,buildings and fencing at
Ellijay Wildlife Rehabili-tation Sancutary and themain barn at Build anArk Animal Rescue. Thecounty does not qualifyfor state or federal aid toassist with the cleanupalong area roads.
•The county beginscharging citizens $1 forevery 32-gallon bag ofhousehold garbage theydispose of at compactorsites throughout the com-munity.
•Since the Board ofEducation voted March 8to close Oakland Elemen-tary School at the end ofthe 2010-2011 schoolyear, a group of concernedcitizens begins a petitionto reopen the facility as acharter school.
•Gilmer County dodgesthe bullet as anotherstrong storm sweepsthrough the area April11. While this system didresult in a number ofdowned trees and powerpoles, it lacked the fear-some tornadoesunleashed by its prede-cessor.
•Gilmer County FireChief Tony Pritchettinforms the Times-Couri-
er that the InsuranceServices Office (ISO)would be dropping thecountywide ISO ratingfrom 9 and 10 to 7.
•New Horizons Bank is
2011 in review
Your Hometown Newspaper Devoted To The Progress Of Gilmer County
In this issue...National/State Roundup ......2A
Editorial................................3A
GAHA Classes.......................5A
Church News/People........6–7A
Gilmer Living ........................1B
TV Guide...............................3B
Health & Fitness ..............4–6B
Legals...................................7B
Sports...............................1–3C
Focus on Education ..............4C
Obituaries.............................5C
Arrests..................................6C
Better Hometown .................7C
Dixie Divas............................8C
Around Town .........................1D
Calendar/Puzzles/Movies ....2D
Extension News ....................4D
Classifieds........................5–8D
2011 – The yearin events andfeatures, pt. 2
See Gilmer Living 1B
Subregion basketballbegins Friday
See Sports 1C
Ellijay’s firstfemale cop reminisces See Around Town 1D
VOL. 137 • NO. 1 • U.S.P.S. NO. 630-280 January 5, 2012 EST. 1875 • CONSOLIDATED 1916 • 50 CENTS
Special to the
Times-Courier
Members of the ZellMiller Mountain ParkwayDrug Task Force (DTF)had a busy month duringDecember 2011, makingseven arrests and recover-ing drugs, money andfirearms.
Commander of the DTF,Brandon Owens, releasedthe following to the Times-
Courier: Task force agents,with assistance fromGilmer Co. Sheriff’s Officedeputies, executed threesearch warrants duringthe month of December2011. These warrants tar-geted street level metham-phetamine and marijuana
dealers.The first warrant was
served Friday, Dec. 2, at abusiness/residence combi-nation off of Roy Road.Approximately 1.5 gramsof methamphetaminewere seized along with 14firearms. James Adams,age 54, along with his son,Jesse Adams, age 36, wereboth arrested for posses-sion of methamphetamine.
The second warrant wasserved Tuesday, Dec. 20, ata residence off of DogwoodRoad. During the search,approximately 20 grams ofmarijuana and a residualamount of methampheta-mine was located and over$1,000 in drug money wasseized. Mitchell Farist, 45,was arrested and charged
with possession of mari-juana with the intent todistribute, and possessionof methamphetamine.
The third warrant wasexecuted Wednesday, Dec.21, at a residence off ofRobs Road. During thesearch, seven marijuanaplants were located alongwith 14 grams of marijua-na and 56 oxycodonetablets. Four firearmswere also seized.
Bryan Farist, 38, wascharged with manufactur-ing marijuana, possessionof a Schedule II drug, andpossession of a firearmduring the commission ofa felony. Russell Scoggins,41, was arrested andcharged with possession ofmethamphetamine, pos-
session with the intent todistribute marijuana, andpossession of a firearmduring the commission ofa felony.
Katie Pastuszka, 19, andCassidi Thomas, 18, werealso arrested and chargedwith possession of mari-juana with the intent todistribute.
Approximately $10,000in drugs were seized alongwith 18 firearms taken offthe street.
The DTF is supportedby the Gilmer CountySheriff ’s Office and theoffice of the district attor-ney. If you have any infor-mation involving drugactivity, call 1-800-920-6384. All calls are treatedas being anonymous.
Drug task force has busy December – seven arrested
by Ryan R Rees
The Gilmer CountyBoard of Commissionersapproved a $16,371,134fiscal budget for 2012 atits final 2011 meetinglast Thursday.
The budget was quick-ly approved with littlediscussion at the meet-ing after several monthsof talks and cost-cuttingof several departmentbudgets.
The 2012 general fundbudget is nearly $1 mil-lion more than the $15.5fiscal budget for 2011.
The general fundbudget includes $8.1million for public safety,which includes the sher-iff ’s office and fire
department. Hotel/motel taxes are
expected to bring in$210,000, E-911 services$375,000 and bond taxrevenue (debt service)$1 million to bring thetotal budget to$17,995,134.
In earlier BOC meet-ings, Chairman JC San-ford explained that sev-eral departments arestill over budget butoverall, the budget isbalanced barring anyunforeseen emergenciesor expenses.
The 2011 budget wastrimmed nearly $1.5million from the 2009budget after several cutswere made, mostlythrough personnel cutsand reduced spending.
BOC OKs $16.4Mbudget for 2012
by Michael Andrews
The Ellijay-GilmerCounty Water and Sewer-age Authority (EGCWSA)will move forward with itsprovision of water to theWalnut Mountain livingcommunity after selectinga contractor for watertank construction at acalled meeting Fridaymorning, Dec. 30.
Upon a recommenda-tion by EGCWSA Direc-
tor Emory DeBord, boardmembers Mack Wood,Greg Teague, Mike Gibbs,Tony Whitaker and BillyRowe chose the CromC o r p o r a t i o n , o fGainesville, Fla., to con-struct a concrete waterstorage tank that willserve the Walnut Moun-tain development.
The Crom group sub-mitted a bid of $186,775for project costs. PowderSprings’ Willow Construc-tion, the only Georgia
firm to submit a bid,asked $184,400 to con-struct a carbon steel tank.Another Florida group,Precon Construction, andCaldwell Tanks Inc, ofKentucky, both submittedbids of over $200,000 forthe project.
DeBord told boardmembers that the Cromgroup will need 90 days tocomplete the work, whilethe other three contrac-tors would take 120 days.
Originally, the authori-
ty wished to construct a50,000 gallon tank to pro-vide water to the develop-ment, which will discon-tinue use of its privatewater system followingthe service switchover.Upon consultation withauthority engineers, itwas decided that a115,000 gallon tankwould be needed to pro-vide sufficient water stor-age and fire preventioncapabilities for the moun-tain development.
Water authority to move forward with Walnut Mountain project
Ellijay Lions Blood DriveThursday, Jan. 12
12–6pmEllijay Lions Club
1729 South Main St. • Ellijay, GA
See Review page 4A
Times-Courier Archives
Times-Courier reporters Mike Andrews and Whitney Crouch display their awards
won at the annual Georgia Press Association convention in June.
Times-Courier Archives
A man surveys the damage done to a barn at the Coosawattee River Resort after
a tornado touched down in the area in April.
Times-Courier Archives
A Gilmer County firefighter clears debris after a fire
struck Cornerstone Baptist Church in June.
