Page 4B July 25, 2018
a orter
By Richard
forsyth@mymcr.net
Two firms seeking to privatize the
county's payroll payment procedures
made presentations to Monroe County
Commissioners on Tuesday, July 10.
The proposed move comes as a result of
the June firing of Monroe County finance
officer Ashley.Wooley, who was termi-
nated after she failed to pay the county's
federal and state payroll taxes in a timely
manner, resulting in fines and penalties.
Kimberly Anthony and Derek
Whitworth of Macon-based Altera
Payroll & Insurance gave the initial pre-
sentation. Anthony said Altera, which
processes about $2 billion in annual
wages, is a division of State Bank & Trust
and already serves 45 Monroe County
businesses. Anthony, who lives in Monroe
County, would serve as Monroe County's
account manager.
Whitworth, president of Altera, said
the county's cost to contract with Altera
would be $4.75 per employee per pay
period for a total cost of about $51,000
annually with a guaranteed fee structure
for the first three years. He added that
Altera clients have never paid a penalty
for late or missed payments. Whitworth
said the contract would also include a
$4,000 credit as well as a customized pro-
gram to make it easy for county employ-
ees, State Bank employees and State Bank
clients to dedicate their state taxes for
Monroe County Hospital through the
Georgia HEART Program.
When District 4 commissioner George
Emami asked if Altera's system would
prove complex for Monroe County
department heads, Whitworth replied
that Altera's system is designed to do pay-
.roll, human resources and timekeeping,
which should make it easier on county
employees.
Whitworth said, "What we do is com-
plex, but what you do should be very
simple and eas)g'
Jemila Stewart, sales executive for
Alpharetta-based Automatic Data
Processing, Inc. (ADP), gave the second
presentation. Stewart said ADP would
file taxes on the county's behalf as well
as automate timekeeping with an initial
focus on payroll. She said with 1,000
employees in Georgia alone, ADP also
has the capability of managing the coun-
ty's human resources but that aspect was
not included in its initial contract.
Stewart said ADP has over 650,000
clients and one in five Americans are
paid using ADP. She said although ADP
does not have a Middle Georgia office, it
would provide a dedicated account man-
ager for Monroe County.
Stewart said the cost of ADP's proposed
contract is for $29,150 annually and
she estimated a return on investment of
$46,800 due to time county employees
would no longer have to spend manu-
ally managing time sheets and payroll.
She said the "initial cost of implementa-
tion would be $1,850 with a two-week
turnaround to get the system activated. ,
Stewart said ADP would pay the penalty
for any late fees associated with payroll
and admitted that the company had erred
in the past and paid the penalties for its ,
clients.
Monroe County commission chairman ;'
Greg Tapley asked Stewart if ADP could
guarantee the annual fee of $29,150 for ,
the first three years as Altera did. She
answered that she could indeed do that
Z
and said she would lock in that price for :
the first three years. However, Stewart
said ADP contracts out to a outside firm
called Makeshift payroll for shifts that
cover two work days, such as extended ,
shifts logged by fire fighters. She said
4
that would result in an additional cost of
about $1,500 annually.
Monroe County commissioners did not i
select a firm to handle its payroll needs at
the July 10 meeting.
INCIDENTS
Continued from 3B
Woman arrested after
cmslCng two-vehicle
wreck on High Palls Rd.
A 3S-year-old white Jack-
son woman was arrested and
charged with DUI after a two-
vehicle accident on High Falls
Road on June 29. At about 1:58
p.m Dep. Nicholas Ortiz went
to High Falls Road about an ac-
cident. When Ortiz arrived, he
the bottom of a door and threw
it in the yard before smoldng
cigarettes on the back porch.
Rodgers then met with the
resident who said he broke the
lattice on the ramp because he
was angry at how the nurse had
spoken to him. The resident then
said he didn't want to be at the
home and encouraged Rodgers
to take him to jail. The home's
female owner told Rodgers she
wanted to press charges against
the resident. Rodgers then took
the resident to the Monroe
County Jail.
saw the female driver of a black
GMC Truck sitting on the trunk Pregnant resident
of a gold Toyota Rav 4. The punches cousin during
GMC truck drivertold Ortiz she Facebook post feud
traveling eastbound toward
I-Iigh Falls State Park when she A 25-year-old black Ma-
began to feel dizzy and light- con woman was arrested and
headed, losing control of her ve- charged with simple battery after
hide and hitting the Ray 4. Ortiz a fight at a Shady Dale Drive
noticed the GMC driver was home on July 11. At about 10:35
slurring her words and had trou- p.m Cpl. Thomas Haskins and
ble recalling what had happened. Sgt. Kirk Seckinger went to a
The GMC driver told Ortiz she Shady Dale Drive home about
had taken prescribed Clonaz- a domestic dispute. A female
epam before driving. The driver resident said she wrote a nega-
then failed one field sobriety test tive Facebook post about her
and refused to take anymore be- family earlier in the day. The
cause she was out of breath and resident said her female cousin
having trouble balancing. Ortiz then drove to her home and
then arrested the GMC driver confronted her about the post.
and took her to Monroe County She said her cousin called her
Hospital for a blood test before a "crackhead" which upset her.
going to the Monroe County Jail. She said she then grabbed her
Meanwhile, the female Rav 4 cousin by the neck, choked her
driver told Ortiz she was headed and then pushed her down into
westbound on High Falls Road the fireplace at which point she
when the GMC truck headed punched her cousin several
the opposite way began to merge times in the face. The resident,
into her lane. The Rav 4 driver who was nearly eight months
said she tried to avoid colliding pregnant, said her cousin
with the GMC truck but was un- grabbed hold of her arm in an
able to do so because it contin- effort to stop the punches, and
ued in her direction. A female Haskins saw several scratches on
witness said she was traveling the residents arm. Haskins then
behind the GMC truck on 1-75 met with the residents cousin,
and had called 9-1-1 because the who said she came over to the
truck was driving recklessly. The home to visit her grandmother,
witness said she then followed who informed her about the
the GMC truck onto High Falls residents Facebook post. The
Road and saw the truck cross cousin said when she confronted
into the oncoming lane and hit the resident, the resident im-
the Ray 4 head on even though mediately became hostile and
the Ray 4 had swerved onto began cursing and arguing with
the grass in an attempt to avoid her. The cousin said the resident
a wreck. Sgt. Chad Beck then repeatedly got in her face but
searched the GMC truck and said she wasn't going to fight the
found a half bottle of Clonaze- resident because she was preg;
pare and Carisoprodol inside the nant. The cousin said she then
GMC truck driver's purse, called the resident a "crack-
head" at which point the resi-
Whispering Pines dent grabbed her by the neck,
home resident ar- choked her, pushed her down
rested after tearing into the fireplace/rod hit her
several times in the head with
lattice trim her fist. The cousin told Haskins
she never hit the resident but
A 63-year-old black Macon did take hold of her arm. The
man was arrested and charged grandmother, who recorded
with criminal trespass after an the fight, then showed Haskins
incident at the Whispering Pines the video, w.hich depicted the
Personal Care Home on July 11. resident cursing at her cousin
At about 5 p.m Dep. Tyler Rod- and then fighting her as the two
gers went to .Whispering Pines each described. Haskins then
Personal Care Home on Hwy. 41 took the resident to the Monroe
South where a female nurse said County Jail.
a male resident was yelling and
threatening her as well as other
residents. The nurse said the
resident went to the wheelchair
ramp and tore lattice trim down
with his hands. She said he then
ripped the metal threshold from
man was arrested and charged
with fleeing/attempting to elude
a police officer after a high-
speed chase in south Monroe
County on July 13. At about
1:12 a.m Cpl. Thomas Haskins
saw a black 2009 Honda Ac-
cord stopped at the stop sign at
Popes Ferry Road and Hwy. 87
for an extended period of time.
Haskins, who believed the male
driver was possibly asleep at the
wheel, saw the car then pull onto
Hwy. 87 where it continued at 92
mph in a 55 mph zone entering
into Bibb County. Haskins then
saw the car pass two vehicles
on a double yellow line and
notified Bibb County deputies
that he was in a chase. Haskins
saw the car drive on the wrong
side of the road on Arkwright
Road, where it eventually drove
into the woods and stopped.
The driver jumped out of the
car and tried to run, but he fell
on the ground at which point
Haskins pointed his gun at the
driver. The driver then put his
hands behind his back and was
handcuffed. When Haskins tried
to talk with a female passenger,
the driver then jumped up and.
ran into the woods. When the
driver tripped yet again, Haskins
then tackled the driver before
taking him to his patrol car. The
driver refused to give Haskins
his name and date of birth.
However, the passenger told
Haskins she was the car's owner
and told him the identity of the
driver. The passenger, who said
the driver told her to pick him
up at the river, said she told the
driver to stop but said he refused
because he had arrest warrants.
Dispatchers determined the
driver had warrants out of Bibb
and Jones counties and also had
a suspended license. Hasklns
then searched the car and found
in the cupholder an unregis-
tered black Millennium 9 ram.
handgun with one bullet in the
chamber. Haskins then took the
driver to the Monroe County
Jail, where he was also charged
with possession of a firearm
during the commission of a
felony, possession of a firearm by
a convicted felon, driving while
license suspended, speeding and
driving on the wrong side of the
road.
Monroe rlmont
employee discovers
broken window, blood
left a blood trail from the bro
ken window into the women's
restroom, where blood was all
over the floor and walls. He saw
it appeared the suspect had then
washed his hands inside the re-
stroom and put the paper towels
into the trash can. The employee
also saw an upstairs door to the
club house had been kicked in
but nothing appeared to be miss-
ing. The employee said he was
sure he had secured the door
when he left work the previous
day. The case was then turned
over to Inv. Sam Leggett.
parsyth driver charged
with violations after
ban from Circle K
A 31-year-old Forsyth man
was charged with driving on
a suspended license and tire
violation on Lee Street after
being banned from the Circle
K on July 16. Circle K staff
told Forsyth officer Jacquetta
Newsome that the suspect
was barred from Circle K
because he had groped a female
employee earlier in the day.
The suspect left the store while
Newsome ran his information
through dispatch, which turned
up that his license was sus-
pended for failure to pay child
support. Newsome stopped him
as he drove away at the Shell
station and arrested him for
driving on a suspended license.
The suspect became belliger-
ent, banging his head on a trash
can. He was taken to jail and
continued his irate behavior by
banging the doors of his cell.
Forsyth driver charged
with violations after
ban from Circle K
A 33-year-old Forsyth man
was charged with possession
of cocaine near the Roadway
Inn on Frontage Road on
July 18. The motel night clerk
told Forsyth officer Terrence
Thomas around 11:40 p.m. that
a Hispanic male was wander-
ing around trying to get inside
a motel room. Thomas found
the man on Frontage Road and
he was wanted. He also had
some white substance in his left
pocket that the suspect said was
cocaine. He was charged with
possession of cocaine and taken
to jail.
Deputy locates loaded an earlier arrest that it was a
handgun in car after knocked off. Maples saw ahigh-drug activity area. The
window had been broken and suspect tried to cut through the
high-speed chase blood had spilled on the coun- woods and Kendrick got out to
ter and the surrounding area. pursue him. The suspect con-
A 34-year-old white Macon Maples saw that the suspect had tinued to flee from Kendrick
but he finally stopped walking
and Kendrick approached. As ,
he got doser Kendrick heard :
the sound of glass breaking.
Kendrick saw the suspect had ,
dropped a glass smoking pipe ,
onto the ground as well as a
small bag of meth. The suspect :
said it was his pipe but not his
meth. Kendrick responded with ;
disbelief, "So you got a meth ,
pipe with no meth in it?" The ,
suspect responded that it was ,
full of meth, but he had already ,
smoked it, then added that it ',
wasn't his. The suspect also had
weapons which he was allowed i
to give to "Wolf" at the motel ,
before heading to jail charged
with possession of meth.
Milner man arrested
after making scene
over declined card '
A 41-year-old Milnerman
was charged with failing to
pay for his tab at El Dorado
Mexican Restaurant and
i
public drunkenness on July
21. The server told Forsyth ,
officer Jacquetta Newsome
around 7:44 p.m. that the man
and a female companion had
4
bought two large Margaronas
and cheese dip but then his
card was declined three times ;
and the woman had left. The
I
customer became irate say-
ing there was nothing wrong
with his card and tried to fight ;
a male restaurant employee.
1
Newsome found the customer
smelling of alcohol and talk- ,
ing on speaker phone in the
restaurant and asked him to
turn it off speaker. He said he
didn't have to. Newsome and
Cpl. Kendrick asked him to
step outside to avoid disturb-
ing customers but as they were
walking out the customer began
yelling loudly over his phone ,
that they were trying to shoot ,
him. Police reached the man's ,
girlfriend by phone and she
said the customer knew he
didn't have any money on his
card because she had just paid ,
the rent. While he talked on the
phone, the customer contin-
ued to stumble around and fell
over trying to sit down. He was
arrested and charged with theft
of services and public drunken'
ness. Meanwhile the customer's
girlfriend, a 47-year-old Milner
woman, told police she had
come to the restaurant to get
her boyfriend's truck after he
was arrested and that when she
arrived a 35-year-old Jackson
woman was trying to drive
At about 9 a.m. on July 12, Jackson man charged
Dep. Cody Maples went to the with meth possession
Monroe County Recreation after officer finds pipe away with the car. The Milner
Department about a burglary. A *
woman said she parked in front
male employee said he discov- A 48-year-old Jackson manof the truck to keep the Jackson ]
ered when he arrived at work was charged with possession
that morning that a Northern of meth near the Quality Inn woman from taking the truck.
The Jackson woman denied
concession stand had been on Frontage Road on July 20. driving truck and then said
broken into. The employee said Cp1. Wade Kendrick said he
she di ln t know where the keys
he saw blood and noticed a approached a white male walk- were. Newsome told her to find !
cash register had been opened, ing in the area around 11:30
He also said the door on the p.m. because he knew from the keys but she continued to
Northern club house had been deny knowing where they were. ',
|
Finally she was arrested for i
obstruction and Cp1. Kendrick :
found the keys under the pas- ,
senger seat.
