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Deal talks state of the state in Dawson
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More than 200 people turned out for the Dawson County Republican Partys most recent meeting. The unusually large draw could be attributed to the meetings special guest speaker, Gov. Nathan Deal.

The event was a collaboration of the Republican parties of Dawson, Forsyth and Lumpkin counties and the Dawson County Tea Party.

During his nearly 45-minute address last Tuesday night, Deal updated his constituents on the state of the state and some accomplishments of the past year.

The primary achievement he discussed was balancing the states budget without an increase in taxes.

One of the things we did is eliminated 14,000 positions in state government, he said.

He admitted that not all of those 14,000 positions were filled, but said, in order to fill those positions in the future, somebody with a department is going to have to come back and get legislative authorization in order to be able to fill them.

The temporary stability of the states budget is a plus for Deal, but he said his office is constantly looking for areas to improve efficiency. He singled out criminal justice and education as two examples.

It costs us about $18,000 a year to keep somebody in prison, he said. That is a lot of money. Weve come to a point in the states history where we have to decide who were mad at and who were scared of.

Georgia ranks 10th among states for overall population, but fourth in prison population, he said.

We need to lock the ones were scared of up and the ones were just mad at, weve got to figure out a better way to deal with [them], he said.

Deal plans to increase revenue for prison alternatives, such as drug and DUI courts.

Im going to be proposing in this years budget some new revenue to be used for creating accountability courts across our state, he said. These are [programs] where we can deal with these individuals under intense supervision that is much less expensive than [incarcerating] them.

We have the opportunity in this state to really turn our education system around, said Deal, whose wife is a former schoolteacher.

Deal said hed rather see a good teacher with a large classroom population than two poor teachers with small classroom enrollments.

We have to have principals who supervise their teachers, he said, and if theyve got a teacher that is not performing, in the most kind and gentle way possible, suggest that they should consider other employment.

Deal also touched briefly on the future of business around the state, especially as it relates to education. Part of the governors plan calls for the education system to better distribute students to fields where they are best suited.

He talked specifically about dual-enrollment programs and the opportunities such programs can provide students who do not thrive in a typical school environment. Dual-enrollment allows a student to take classes from a technical school or college while still enrolled in high school.

Dual-enrollment can help find out if a child has a particular aptitude and wants to pursue it, he said.

Deal left the largely conservative crowd with a message to continue the fight as the 2012 presidential election approaches.

Community Events
6 variances approved by board
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BOC

The Dawson County Board of Commissioners Thursday said yes to six of seven variances that will bring Dawson Marketplace one step closer to reality.

"Dawson Marketplace wants to vary from the stipulations given to them by the Board of Commissioners in 2007," Rachel Burton, director of planning and zoning for Dawson County said.

Documents indicate Dawson Marketplace approved variances include:

varying the minimum setback from the right-of-way for Georgia 400 to 90 feet from 100 feet; vary the building facade composition from 80 percent to 50 percent; varying the maximum number of off-street parking spaces to one per 50 square feet of gross floor space; varying the number of monument signs from one to five; varying signage for multi-tenant buildings from two to one and allowing for minor signs, and varying the screening of mechanical equipment from the street for only rear facades facing Lumpkin Campground Road.

The board denied the variance for wall signage with the stipulation that it could be addressed at a later date.

Separately, the board approved two agenda items pertaining to the Margie Weaver Senior Center: a request to hold a raffle and an addendum to the FY 2016 Legacy Link contract.

"Dawson County contracts with Legacy Link each year for our meal service for our seniors," Senior Centor Director Dawn Pruett said. "They are our facilitator for funding for state and federal grants. We are in a district with Hall, Lumpkin, Forsyth and a few others. This is an addendum to the contract that was originally approved months ago."

In other county business, the following requests passed by unanimous vote:

Dawson County Emergency Services Director Billy Thurmond was granted approval of the Hazard Mitigation Plan Update Grant. Each county in Georgia is required to update their hazard mitigation plan and have it approved by GEMA and FEMA. By doing so, Dawson would be eligible for federal and state funding in the event of a disaster declaration. The total amount is $24,000 ($18,000 federal, $2,400 state, $3,600 county in-kind).

"The grant allows us to be eligible for funding in the event of an emergency like we had last February with the ice," Thurmond said.

Lori VanSickle and Duane Wallace were appointed to the Dawson County Library Board by the commissioners, replacing Kay Black and Eydie Stegall, respectively. VanSickle brings twenty years of leadership and management experience to the board. Wallace has been a licensed counselor for nearly fifteen years both professionally and in a volunteer capacity.

October has been proclaimed 'Clean Water Month' and Dawson County citizens are encouraged to participate in "Imagine A Day Without Water" Oct. 6-8. Other observances include River Clean-up Oct. 14 and Shore Sweep for Lake Lanier Oct. 27, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at War Hill Park.

Separately, the issue of a new fire station was addressed on behalf of Sandra Bryan, a resident of Rainbow Lake Dr. Bryan's residence received a fire rating of 10 due to its considerable distance from a fire station. The implication for those who receive a rating of 10 is higher insurance costs.

Anybody that is beyond five road miles from any of Dawson County's eight fire stations is classified as a ten, according to Thurmond.

"When and if we build a fire station at the Etowah water tank on Elliott Family Parkway, Ms. Bryan would be within the limits," Thurmond said. "We have property, but we don't have funds."

The Board will meet next on Thursday, Sept. 24 in the Assembly Room of the Dawson Government Center, 25 Justice Way at 4 p.m.