Commissioner Heiskell makes more county property unusable by requiring homes to be built further away from shared driveways. This in addition to existing setbacks from the road, property lines, barns, etc. That land you bought years ago as an investment isn’t going to be worth much if it’s too small under these rules for someone to build on it.

WQCH Radio, 07/27/14: “LAST THURSDAY, COMMISSIONER BEBE HEISKELL ACCEPTED BIDS FOR FIRE DEPARTMENT EQUIPMENT AND HELD A SECOND PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPERTY ‘SETBACKS’.

“THE CHANGE IN SETBACKS ADDS PRIVATE DRIVES TO SETBACK STANDARDS IN THE COUNTY. THE CURRENT DEVELOPMENT STANDARD SAYS THAT A HOUSE MUST BE 60-FEET OR MORE, FROM THE CENTER LINE OF ANY COUNTY ROAD. THE WORDING IS BEING CHANGED TO ALSO INCLUDE PRIVATE DRIVEWAYS, IN THE 60-FOOT SETBACK.

“COMMISSIONER HEISKELL SAID THE PLANNING COMMISSION HAD REQUESTED THE CHANGE TO PREVENT SETBACK PROBLEMS IN THE FUTURE SHOULD A REQUEST BE MADE TO ACCEPT A PRIVATE DRIVE AS A COUNTY ROAD. THE THIRD AND FINAL READING AND ACCEPTANCE OF THE CHANGE IS SCHEDULED FOR THE NEXT COMMISSIONERS MEETING.”

Basically if you need one of those blue road name signs at the end of your driveway, due to more than one residence on the drive, any future houses or structures built will have to be a good distance back from the main driveway. You also have to be a good distance from the road, and you have a legal requirement for setbacks on the property line too. You also have a setback distance from a barn. Fortunately this is only in the unincorporated county, but unless you’ve got over an acre you’re going to be prohibited from doing anything.

The rules won’t be officially changed until the next Commissioner meeting, which will likely be this Thursday afternoon. Residents concerned about the change can attend that meeting and voice their opinions, but Heiskell will still do whatever she wants regardless because that’s how she rolls.   

If that wasn’t enough, here’s a notice reminding how you’ve got no real property rights anyway.

Consider this your final warning..   

Dollar Tree company announces plans to buy out Family Dollar. Deal would keep FD stores open as another brand/market for Dollar Tree. The plan has to be approved by stockholders in both businesses before becoming official.

Rumors a few weeks ago said Family Dollar might merge with Dollar General, which would have resulted in store closures since the two directly compete. This arrangement will keep all three brands alive, at least for now, as Dollar Tree attempts to take on Walmart and Dollar General using Family Dollar.   

Apparently Commissioner Heiskell has gotten calls about a link shared here last week regarding the future of Roper.

The initial story wasn’t made up by LU, it was a report from Bloomberg business news. The story was also picked up with additional details by the Wall Street Journal [registration required]. Per both articles, GE is considering a sale of its entire appliance unit (not just Roper) after another business deal is finished later this year.

A union member at GE Appliance Park in Kentucky says nobody there knows anything about a pending sale but also says anybody who WOULD know is contractually not allowed to say anything. Same situation here: If there WAS somebody at Roper who knew what was going on, they couldn’t admit it without losing their job.

Bebe’s breakroom gossip “contacts” at Roper haven’t heard anything; Meanwhile Bloomberg Business News, which has contacts inside GE corporate HQ, says preliminary sale talks are happening. You can believe whoever you choose on this one.   

More legal trouble for Daniel Alex Snyder.

In addition to “fleeing from police” charges filed last week, Snyder has been connected with three recent vehicle break-ins in West LaFayette.

WQCH Radio, 07/26/14: “NOW, SNYDER HAS ALSO BEEN LINKED TO AN ‘ENTERING AUTO’ CASE REPORTED JUST AFTER THE CHASE. AN OFF-DUTY POLICE OFFICER SAID HE SPOTTED SNYDER GOING THROUGH A PICKUP TRUCK SUNDAY EVENING [July 20th]. THE NEXT DAY, THE OWNER REPORTED TO POLICE THAT SOMEONE STOLE A SONY CD-RADIO FROM HIS TRUCK AT 807 MAGNOLIA STREET. THE MAN SAID SNYDER HAD BEEN TO HIS HOUSE FOR A VISIT, BUT HE DIDN’T GIVE HIM PERMISSION TO ENTER HIS TRUCK. TWO OTHER VEHICLES WERE ENTERED IN THE SAME AREA OF TOWN AT AROUND THE SAME TIME.

“SNYDER HAS BEEN CHARGED WITH ONE COUNT OF ENTERING AUTOS, ALONG WITH CHARGES OF FLEEING TO ELUDE AND OBSTRUCTION OF AN OFFICER.”

Mr. Snyder has apparently been apprehended. His arrest might slow the rate of vehicle break-ins, but he’s hardly the only person responsible for those. Residents should still be careful to lock their car doors at night.     

During Thursday’s LaFayette council meeting, results from the city’s fiscal 2013 audit were presented. Thanks to higher rates, the electric, gas, and water departments all made profits during the year, funds that go to run the city instead of taxes.

Unfortunately the golf course and airport still bleed cash that could be used to pave roads, pay police, or lower the utility rates a bit. Neither of those subsidized “business type” activities have made a profit since LU has paid attention.

We’ll concede that the airport is “necessary infrastructure” that has to exist even if it doesn’t make money, despite the fact that it serves less than 1% of the city’s population.

But the golf course, which might benefit 5% of the residents at best, serves no necessary function other than giving the city’s old men somewhere to go when they need to hide from their wives.

It’s clear from the latest audit (and has been for years) where the city’s financial “leaks” are. Now it’s up to the council to decide if they’re politically willing and able to make reforms like cutting out free play for city employees, bringing in outside management, or selling the course outright.

(Don’t hold your breath for any of that to happen.)   

Police are looking for 25-year-old Daniel Alex Snyder, who fled after a vehicle chase through West LaFayette last Friday. He ran off on foot as his abandoned truck rolled into a police car. Pursuit began because he had no license and wasn’t wearing a seatbelt; LPD plans to charge him with reckless driving and running from police.

WQCH Radio, 07/23/14: “WARRANTS HAVE BEEN ISSUED FOR THE ARREST OF 25 YEAR OLD DANIEL ALEX SNYDER. HE WAS OBSERVED DRIVING A NISSAN PICKUP AT AROUND 4:45 FRIDAY AFTERNOON. OFFICERS WERE FAMILIAR WITH THE FACT THAT HE DID NOT HAVE A LICENSE, AND HE WAS ALSO OBSERVED DRIVING WITHOUT A SEATBELT. WHEN THE PATROLMAN’S LIGHTS WENT ON, THE CHASE BEGAN ON DAUGHERTY STREET AND CONTINUED THROUGH A NUMBER OF NEIGHBORHOODS, ENDING ON GILBERT LANE.

“POLICE SAY SNYDER JUMPED FROM THE TRUCK AND FLED ON FOOT. WHILE GIVING CHASE, THE OFFICER HEAD A ‘BANG’ AND LOOKED BACK TO SEE THAT THE PICKUP HAD ROLLED DOWN THE HILL AND INTO HIS PATROL VEHICLE.”

Anyone who knows where Snyder is and refuses to tell police, or helps him hide, could also face charges.   

Tuesday’s primary runoff election featured no local races for Walker County, resulting in a collective yawn from most local voters.

Incumbent GA State Representative John Deffenbaugh won the GA House 1 Republican candidate runoff election with 55% of votes cast; 1,351 vs. 1,103.

Deffenbaugh will face Democrat Tom McMahan in November. Deffenbaugh easily defeated McMahan for the same position in 2012 and has done essentially nothing since taking office in January 2013. (House District 1 covers the west side of Walker County and all of Dade.)

The runoff race to determine Republican candidate for Georgia School Superintendent is one of the closest state-wide votes in years. With 397,830 votes cast, Richard Woods came out ahead of Mike Buck by only 718 – about .1% of the total. State law allows a recount if the difference between candidates is less than 1% of total votes; Buck has asked for a second tally which could delay official vote certification by a week or more.

Buck is currently serving as interim school superintendent since his predecessor, John Barge, resigned to run for governor. (Barge was defeated in May.) Buck, who was endorsed by Jeff Mullis and a pile of incumbent state leaders, has been a proponent of Common Core school standards. His opponent and apparent winner of the race, Woods, has opposed Common Core. Neither has been very supportive of charter schools or other school choice options.

On the Democrat side, Valarie Wilson defeated Alisha Morgan for school super. Wilson and Morgan both took positions in favor of Common Core, but Morgan was in favor of charter schools which Wilson rejects. Wilson will oppose Woods (or maybe Buck) in the fall.

Former Dollar General CEO David Perdue was declared winner in the US Senate primary election runoff. His defeated opponent, Jack Kingston, was considered a favorite of current state leadership and Georgia Chamber of Commerce. Perdue will face Democrat candidate Michelle Nunn in November.

Statewide election results.                   

LaFayette’s July council meeting was held Thursday night at 7:30. Meeting was moved from its usual “second monday” slot due to council members having plans to attend meetings out of town.

Agenda for the meeting posted Thursday (Word document) shows several issues, including changing two-way stops in Linwood back to four-ways and selling off surplus equipment. Initial reports from the meeting say both those suggestions were easily approved.

A proposal from June to raise the cap on purchases made without City Council approval was brought back up. Originally the mayor asked to change the old $3,000 limit to $25,000, which seems like an opportunity for abuse.

During Thursday’s meeting council voted to let the City Manager make purchases up to $8,000 without prior permission but required him to immediately notify the mayor and council of anything over $3,000. They also gave the manager an exemption on the cap for fuel purchases. He can buy aviation fuel or gasoline as needed regardless of the amount without seeking approval from the council, in order to take advantage of low prices.       

GE is planning to put its appliance division (including Roper in LaFayette) up for sale, again, after it finishes buying Alstrom.

The massive conglomerate tried to sell the Kentucky-based appliance business six years ago and couldn’t find any takers; since then the global economy has slightly improved, and GE has invested tens of millions into the business – making it a more valuable buyout target.

Selling out wouldn’t necessarily mean Roper’s closure, but would raise the chances of that happening considerably. Roper shutting down would make Blue Bird closing in 2010 look like nothing in comparison; the loss of 1,300+ jobs would throw LaFayette, Walker County, and much of Chattooga County down a proverbial economic toilet.   

If you’re keeping drugs in the car, be sure to also keep a jug of someone else’s warm pee handy in case you’re asked to take a random drug test. Not that it helped THESE guys very much..

WQCH Radio, 07/17/14: “LAFAYETTE POLICE DISCOVERED POT, DRUG PARAPHERNALIA AND STORED URINE AFTER A TRAFFIC STOP LAST WEEK.

“THE STOP WAS MADE FOR A TAIL LIGHT VIOLATION AND BECAUSE THE DRIVER WAS OBSERVED FOLLOWING ANOTHER CAR TOO CLOSELY. WHEN THE CAR WAS STOPPED AT THE FORMER DON LOLO PARKING LOT, THE OFFICER DETECTED THE ODOR OF MARIJUANA AND CONSENT WAS GIVEN FOR A SEARCH.

“THAT TURNED-UP A SMALL QUANTITY OF MARIJUANA, A PIPE AND OTHER ITEMS, PLUS A STORE OF URINE, BEING HEATED WITH HAND-WARMERS.

“THOSE ARRESTED WERE BOTH ON PROBATION – AND POLICE BELIEVE THE URINE WAS BEING KEPT IN CASE THEY WERE REQUIRED TO DO A DRUG TEST. 22 YEAR OLD ALEXANDER BROOKS HARDEGREE AND 25 YEAR OLD JOHNSON EUGENE SCHRADER WERE CHARGED WITH POSSESSION OF MARIJUANA.”

Urine passed by drug users can also sometimes be used to make more drugs.   

LU has gotten complaints during the last week about LaFayette aggressively cutting back trees along the roadside. The city has apparently gotten calls from people upset that their trees were trimmed so much.

Seems like LaFayette Public Works has long needed to do more aggressive trimming, because in some places you can’t see how to get in the road for limbs or bushes; anything in the city’s street right-of-way is legally fair game to trim and a liability to the city if someone has an accident.

One reason the trees look so bad this time is because they haven’t been trimmed in a long while. Regularly conducting this kind of maintenance (which is often neglected by the city AND especially county) will keep the damage to a minimum.

Do you think cutting has gone too far or was it something long overdue?   

Catoosa County’s multi-commissioner government reports “financial strength” for the fiscal year, bringing in more money than was spent; Catoosa won’t need to raise taxes this year.

Dade County’s school board announced a positive cash situation during its last meeting and actually lowered property tax there a smidge. Walker Co. Schools has also said no education tax increases here thanks to increasing state support and cost controls.

What about Walker County’s general government? Nine months into the fiscal year (which runs October-September) there’s still no 2014 budget. Commissioner Heiskell claims she doesn’t know how the county is doing financially and – despite saying months ago taxes would be going up – won’t formally admit if she’s raising taxes or not, even though the legal deadline to submit a tax increase to the state is sometime in August.

WQCH Radio, 07/14/14: “THE WALKER COUNTY SCHOOL SYSTEM WILL NOT BE RAISING PROPERTY TAX MILLAGE RATES THIS YEAR: THE NEWS FROM SUPERINTENDENT DAMON RAINES. THIS IS THE FIFTH-STRAIGHT YEAR THAT THE SCHOOL SYSTEM HAS MAINTAINED THE SAME RATE OF TAXATION ON LOCAL PROPERTY OWNERS…

“WQCH ALSO ASKED WALKER COMMISSIONER BEBE HEISKELL WHETHER PROPERTY TAXES WILL BE RAISED FOR THE OPERATION OF COUNTY GOVERNMENT AND SHE SAID THURSDAY, THAT ‘IT’S TOO SOON TO TELL’. THE BUDGET PROCESS HAS STARTED, BUT A NUMBER OF VARIABLES MUST BE TACKED-DOWN BEFORE THE REVENUE NEEDS OF THE COUNTY ARE KNOWN.

“EARLIER THIS YEAR, HEISKELL SAID IT APPEARED THAT A TAX INCREASE OF ‘AT LEAST ONE MILL – AND MAYBE MORE’, WILL BE NEEDED THIS YEAR.”

What’s the difference between Walker County Schools, Dade County Schools, and Walker County’s general government? What’s the difference between Catoosa and Walker leadership? Competence, for one thing. Not having one sole person in charge, for another. Maybe we should try both of those sometime; obviously what we’re doing NOW isn’t working.     

Wednesday evening around 6:30 a van caught fired and burned on Hwy. 136 in Naomi. This is in front of the old lottery/pizza store near York Road.

Vehicle appears to be a Chrysler minivan, no word about the occupant.   

Deputies have determined Chris Brice shot himself, by accident, Monday morning – with a gun he wasn’t legally allowed to have.

Brice hasn’t yet been arrested because he fled during treatment at Erlanger.

Good job Walker County Sheriff’s Office sending him to Erlanger, out of state, for treatment, and letting him leave despite the obvious suspiciousness of what happened.