By Stephanie Johns
Staff Writer

The Downtown Development Authority (DDA) of Madison heard an update regarding its request for surplus property from the City of Madison: city council approved that request during that group’s April meeting.
DDA Executive Director Monica Callahan reminded those present that the DDA had asked for surplus property in the West Washington Street Gateway and in the Second Street area.
Parcels asked for and received include land by the McDowell Grocery Warehouse, by the Richter Cottage, and by Walker Rose.
Chair Shandon Land commented on the outcome.
“This is really a win-win for us and for the city,” she said, adding that the city will receive tax money from the properties once the DDA sells it and it is developed.
Callahan shared that previous surplus properties requested by the DDA and the subsequent development of those properties have made healthy returns for the city.
“When you did Walker Rose the city had paid $55,000 for the property,” she said. “It went on the tax rolls for about $1.4 million when the project was completed.”
Another project had similar results, she said.
“Jefferson Square Parkside: the city had paid $123,000 for the land, it was in two parcels,” she said. “The resulting development was on the tax rolls for $5.5 million.”

Printed in the May 2, 2013 edition.

By Stephanie Johns
Staff Writer

Madison Finance Officer Karen Guinn shared the monthly financial reports from July 2012 through March 2013 during the city council’s work session last Friday.
During the meeting she noted that the budget amounts do not reflect the budget amendment, which council approved during its meeting last Monday.
About 75 percent of the way through the year the general fund stands at 62.8 percent for expenses, she said. Revenue stands at 74.9 percent for that fund.
She noted that the water and sewer fund is in pretty good shape with revenue at 74 percent with expenses at about 50 percent while the gas fund stands at 74.7 percent for revenue and 59.8 percent for expenses.
City Manager David Nunn explained that water is a cyclical sale; he expects water sales to increase in the coming months.
Sanitation stands at 79.3 percent for revenue, which Guinn called “steady,” while expenses are at 56 percent.
She noted that the city’s sales taxes have increased since February. According to documents she provided, the city received $49,758.67 in February while it received $68,114.09 in March.
In other news:
• Councilman Joe DiLetto asked the other councilmen to consider a letter of support for the Parallel Housing/Woda Group project on Bethany Road.
Councilman Michael Naples voiced his concern about the appearance of approval such a letter might give.
City Attorney Joe Reitman suggested a carefully worded letter indicating that city staff will fully support and work with the developers.
• Reitman said a court date has been set for July 12 in the Morgan County Courthouse. He explained that the arbitration regarding the city’s Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) funds likely will last all day.

Printed in the May 2, 2013 edition.

By Stephanie Johns
Staff Writer

Members of the Morgan County Board of Elections and Registration continued their discussion of precinct consolidation during their April meeting.

Consolidating from the county’s current 11 down to five precincts could save $18,000-plus during a presidential election year and $13,000-plus during mid-term election years, as shared by Morgan County Elections Supervisor Bobby Howington during previous meetings.

Following the March meeting Hownginton and one board member, David Moore, visited the Georgia Reapportionment Services Office in Atlanta.

Based on data they gathered there Moore created a spreadsheet showing the breakdown of whether voters in each of the current precincts would be farther, closer, or have no change in distance to the proposed precinct locations.
He determined that 63 percent of voters would be closer or would have no change.
“It’s not a bad situation,” he said. “As many people benefit as are disadvantaged just by distance from the poll.”
Madison City Councilman Michael Naples, who attended the meeting, later pointed out the flipside to this: “That means 37 percent could ostensibly go farther and be inconvenienced.”

“No one complained about the 2012 elections,” he said. “Why mess with success?”
As noted in the data Moore provided, two of the current precincts – Bostwick and Buckhead – would not change.
Board member Avery Jackson said, “No change appears to me to be an advantage.”
He acknowledged that cost is important and added that they also must consider what’s optimum for the voters.

By Kathryn Schiliro
Managing Editor

Six hundred netbooks – small laptop computers – have been implemented at Morgan County Elementary, Middle and High schools as of the systemwide spring break in mid-March.
There are about 60 netbooks per grade level, broken down into carts of 10 each, with 180 each at the elementary and middle schools and 240 sent to the high school.
In total, the netbooks and carts came in underbudget, at about $420,000.
Most classrooms have five computers already, so with the addition of the netbooks – the carts of 10 are checked out by teachers as needed – the ratio of computers to students is about one computer to every two students. There aren't more than 30 students in a classroom, Director of Technology Jay Cawley, who oversaw this initiative, said.
The netbooks are convertible– they can go from being a traditional laptop to touch screen tablets, with or without the use of a stylus. Cawley said this format was chosen over a tablet because the netbooks will eventually need to be used for assessments, which will require writing, in which case a keyboard is most helpful.
"Many of the teachers we talked to wanted students to use the netbooks for writing," Cawley said.
Students log in to these netbooks and work just as they do the computers already in their classrooms. Teachers are being trained on the many uses and functions of the netbooks, Cawley said.
Bids were taken from multiple companies but Cawley elected to go with ByteSpeed out of Minnesota for their price, warranty and customer service.
Cawley is also encouraging a move to allow students to bring their personal devices to the classroom to further enhance learning. With the addition of these devices, the ratio of computers to students will be even closer to 1:1.