October 3, 2018
mR porter
Page 5D
By Richard Dumas
forsyfh@mymcr.net
Monroe County Commissioners may
hike user fees at the Monroe County Rec-
reation Department.
Assistant rec director Kim Pierson told
commissioners on Tuesday, Sept. 18 that
Monroe County's flat $30 per-child fee to
participate in rec sports leagues is far be-
low that of surrounding counties (The lone
exception is cheerleading, which is $50 per
child). According to data provided by Pier-
son, Butts County's fees range from $60 to
$95 per child depending on the sport. She
said Lamar County's fees range from $65
to $100 per child depending on the sport
while Jones County's fees range from $80
to $125 per child depending on the sport.
Pierson said the $30 per-child fee is not
sufficient in some sports to off-set the
per-child cost incurred. While the cost per
child for soccer is only $18.25, the cost per
child for basketball, football and baseball/
softball exceeds the $30 fee. For basketball,
the cost per child is $37, for football, the
cost per child is $41.75, and for baseball/
softball, the cost per child is $43.75. For
cheerleading, the cost per child also ex-
ceeds the $50 per-child fee at $63 per child.
Pierson also provided enrollment figures
for the rec department leagues for 2017-18,
saying there were 1,144 total participants
last year. Of those 1,144, 87 participants
were deemed to be below the threshold
of being able to pay the $30 fee by the
Monroe County Department of Family
and Children Services (DFCS) and were
therefore exempt from user fees.
Commissioners also discussed charg'mg
home school families a fee to enroll their
kids in the rec department's weekly home
school program.
Pierson said the program, provided free
of charge for three hours every Thursday
afternoon during the school year, cost
an estimated $8,942 to provide last year.
Pierson said that figure only includes the
cost of supplies and does not factor in the
necessary personnel and planning time for
the program. She said during the 2017-18
school year, 111 total kids from 41 dif-
ferent families attended the home school
program.
District 4 commissioner George Emami
said he wants to approach Monroe County
Schools about contributing funds for the
home school program since participating
families pay school taxes despite not using
the school system. Emami said he thinks
participants should at least pay enough to
off-set the cost of program supplies.
"Some of the best families and nicest
people that I know in our county have
their kids in that home school program"
Emami said. "I definitely think it's a great
thing. I'm glad the county can help. They're
partially paying for this, so I don't think it l
be fair for them to have to pay for it twice.
But then again, I think sometimes we un-
derestimate the cost of the county's labor
and when you add the benefits back in."
After nearly 30 minutes of discussion,
no action was taken on increasing fees for
either rec sports participants or the home
school program.
INCIDENTS
Continued from 4D
High Fulls Rd. resident
reports ex-boyfriend,
broke in, stolen hatd
; A 27-year-old black Macon
man was arrested and charged
with first degree burglary after he
allegedly stole a gun and a hatchet
from his ex-girlfriend's High Fails
Road home on Sept. 25. At about
9:57 p.m a female High Falls
Road resident told Dep. Tyler
Rodgers that she left her home at
about 7 a.m. that morning and
,returned at about 6 p.m. that
night. The resident said she found
her bedroom and living room
lights had been turned on but
.did not realize until later that her
tepfather's Smith and Wesson
422 handgun and her hatchet
, were missing. The resident said
: he then received a phone call
;;from her ex-boyfriend asking
:her to pick him up on Blount
'.Road. The resident said her ex-
"boyfriend was breathing heavily
on the phone and told her he was
about to die. She said she then
asked him if he was the one who
stole the gun and hatchet, and he
said he would explain later. She
said he then hung up the phone
on her. The resident told Rodg-
ers she believed her ex-boyfriend
had entered her home through a
bedroom window. While Rodg-
ers searched Blount Road for the
ex-boyfriend, dispatchers noti-
fied him that the ex-boyfriend
had once again broken into the
residents home. Rodgers entered
the home while pointing his
gun and found the ex-boyfriend
sitting on the toilet, saying he
couldn't breathe. Rodgers found
in the ex-boyfTiend's front right
pants pocket a pipe with white
residue, which he said was used
for smoking marijuana. The ex-
boyfriend said he had found the
pipe on the bathroom sink and
said it belonged to the resident.
Rodgers asked the ex-boyfriend
why he was breathing so heav-
ily, and the ex-boyfriend said he
had run from Blount Road to
the residents home to explain
why he took the weapons. The
ex-boyfriend said he had been
hiding in the woods until Rodg-
ers left the home earlier before
entering through an unlocked
back door. The ex-boyfriend said
he took the weapons because he
heard someone in the woods.
He then said he put the gun in
the woods next to the residents
driveway. Rodgers and Dep.
Chris Sherreli then found a green
bag, a flashlight and and the
stolen gun lying on the ground in
the woods. The gun was loaded
with nine .22 caliber rounds in
the magazine. On top of the gun
was a pipe containing a small bag
of suspected methamphetamine.
Inside of the green bag was the
stolen black hatchet with a green
handle, a black hat, duct tape and
other items. The ex-boyfriend
first denied the bag was his before
later confirming it was indeed
his. The resident told Rodgers
she was sitting in her living room
after the deputy had left when she
heard her ex-boyfriend inside of
her bedroom, displaying a crazy
look in his eyes. The resident said
she then ran to a neighbor's house
and called 9-1-1. The resident
then confirmed the recovered
hatchet and gun were the ones
stolen from her home. Rodgers
then took the ex-boyfriend to the
Monroe County Jail, where he
was also charged with possession
of drug related objects and pos-
session of methamphetamine.
Deputies arrest wanted
suspect after syringe
f x,nd in
A 29-year-old Forsyth man was
arrested and charged with ob-
struction after he ran from depu-
ties in north Monroe County on
Sept. 25. At about 5:37 p.m Sgt.
Jarrod Duncan and Sgt. Gregg
Phillips saw a man wanted on a
probation warrant walking on
Ruby Road. When deputies got
out of then" patrol car to arrest the
man, who was wearing a red tank
top, black shorts, black boots and
carrying a dark colored backpack,
he took off running. After a brief
chase, deputies arrested the man
in the yard of a Lakeshore Drive
home. Deputies later found the
backpack about 20 yards away in
the woods. Inside the backpack
deputies found a syringe used
to inject methamphetamine.
The man was then taken to the
Monroe County Jail, where he
was also charged with possession
of drug related objects.
Atlanta driver charged
with trafficking meth
after 1-75 South stop
A 27-year-old black Adanta
woman was arrested and charged
with trafficking methamphet-
amine after a traffic stop on
1-75 South on Sept. 25. At about
12:59 a.m Dep. Tyler Rodgers
saw a black 2017 Nissan Altima
traveling on 1-75 South near
mile marker 187. Dispatchers
notified Rodgers that the car's
female driver was wanted out of
Clayton County. Rodgers then
inventoried the car and found on
the front seat a Reebok shoe box
containing a dear, vacuum-sealed
bagbf-smt ted methamphet-
amine.The driver told Rodgers
the drugs did not belong to her
and instead belonged to a man
who had borrowed her car. Rodg-
ers then took the drugs, which
weighed 998 grams, and the
driver's cell phone into evidence,
The driver was also taken to the
Monroe County Jail.
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Water heater safety
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety
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Incomplete combustion of any fuel
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According to the Federal
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It is important that you have
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If you smell: gas;
LISTEN fo
gas appliance or line.
dis'
any timeyou detect egen a small amount of this
odor in the air. "
If you suspect a natural gas leak,
do the following:
LEAVE area: immediately and move- safe
indicate t
ha~ a ;
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