Police Scanner

10:10pm Reckless driver I-20 Westbound passing Hwy 5.  Weaving.
10:19pm 10-28
10:20pm 10-28

10:25pm Possible hit and run.
10:26pm Business alarm.

10:27pm 911 hang-up

10:27pm Someone’s been arrested.

10:28pm Person on drugs driving—they don’t know where the vehicle is.  BOLO.

10:29pm Domestic problem, BOLO for a vehicle.

10:31pm Someone locked their keys in their vehicle.

10:31pm 10-28 (Anneewakee)

10:33pm 10-27

10:35pm Officer now responding to 10:26pm business alarm.

10:37pm Earlier there was a broken window on a trailer.  Domestic related.

10:38pm A gas station on Anneewakee  is code 10 (safe).

10:44pm 10-28

10:45pm Mt. Carmel Elementary code 10.

10:45pm The 10:44pm 10-28 might be the 10:10pm reckless driver.

10:46pm Business from 10:26pm business alarm is secure.

10:50pm 10-28

10:51pm There is at least one FIND vehicle on I-20.

10:59pm Fraud reported.

11:00pm Accident on I-20 between Hwy 92 & Lee Road.  Dispatcher says vehicle hit a gator (gater?).  Maybe a tailgater?

11:02pm 10-28

11:03pm Three males near Jolly Wally’s.  Officer wants assistance.

11:04pm Officer with 11:03pm not responding.  Other officer turned on his siren and is going to scene.

11:05pm Officer is fine.

11:08pm Three by number.

11:10pm Someone ringing someone’s doorbell.

11:14pm Dispatcher says the city is backed up.

11:16pm At least two FIND vehicles on I-20.

11:17pm An officer’s camera is malfunctioning.

11:18pm I-20 EB 10-28 (this is a regular officer)

11:19pm Jolly Wally’s is code 10.

11:19pm I-20 10-28 (this is a FIND vehicle—we now have at least three on I-20)

11:22pm I’ve counted 17 Douglas County officers patrolling right now.

11:23pm BOLO a vehicle leaving Fitzgerald, GA.  Drugs somehow involved.

11:24pm Officer to pick prisoner up from another police dept.

11:25pm 10-28

11:25pm I haven’t heard any Douglasville scanner traffic.  Can anyone shed light on this?

11:27pm 10-28

11:28pm Shoppes at Chapel Hill code 10.

11:29pm 10-28

11:30pm An officer pulled over another officer (must be an undercover officer).  LOL!

11:31pm At least two people on a carport screaming at each other.

Resorts In Douglas County? Surely You Jest

This was in the AJC today:

Developer seeks comeback with 6,300 homes in rural projects

By KEVIN DUFFY
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 05/06/08

Twenty years ago, W. Harrison Merrill was taking on risky redevelopment projects when redevelopment was not so chic.

His company, Landmark American, refurbished Marietta Station and the Kennesaw House in Marietta, the Buggy Works in East Point and the Odd Fellows Building on Auburn Avenue.










Landmark American went bankrupt in 1990, but Merrill bounced back as the head of Resort Hotels, Vanguard Properties, and Merrill Trust Communities and Resorts.

Now the 64-year-old Atlanta native is pitching his two most ambitious local projects on 2,400 rural acres in Palmetto and Douglas County.

Representatives of Merrill Trust met Monday with the Atlanta Regional Commission and the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority to lay out the company's proposals. Regional approval could come this summer; after that, local governments will have to sign off on the plans.

In Palmetto in south Fulton County, Merrill Trust proposes building 5,400 residences and 1.1 million square feet of commercial space on 1,300 acres. The project would take 20 years to complete.

Merrill's 12-year project in Douglas would have 910 resort residences and up to 2.3 million square feet of commercial space on 1,100 acres.

Consultants hired by Merrill Trust estimate the Palmetto project, called Foxhall Village, would add 30,000 vehicle trips a day to that area when finished in about 2028. The Douglas project, dubbed Foxhall Resort and Sporting Club, would add about 20,000 trips, they say.

The Foxhall Resort site is in the southeast corner of Douglas, bounded by the Chattahoochee River and Capps Ferry Road, which becomes South Fulton Parkway in Fulton County. Access would be restricted to resort guests and residents.

To the east, the Foxhall Village land is in the northwest area of Palmetto, bisected by Cochran Mill Road. That area is designated for village development in the Chattahoochee Hill Country master plan for south Fulton, which calls for clustered development to protect big swaths of green space.

Foxhall Village would have 330,000 square feet of retail space, 770,000 square feet of office space, 1,909 detached homes, 1,231 apartments and 2,232 townhouses and condominiums.

Merrill was out of town Monday and not available to discuss the projects. Two representatives of Merrill Trust met with the ARC and GRTA.

In Rabun County near North Carolina, Merrill Trust owns the Sky Valley Resort and Country Club, where mountain homes and home sites are for sale.

Near Phoenix, "the Trust and affiliated entities have acquired ... over 25,000 acres which has been zoned for over 120,000 lots, making the Trust by far the largest single owner of entitled lots in Arizona," according to Harrison Merrill's biography on the Web site Ugandan American Partnership Organization. Merrill is a board member for the organization, founded by his daughter.

Merrill graduated from the Westminster Schools, the University of North Carolina and Emory University Law School. He practiced law for about three years before starting Vanguard Properties.

He is a member of the Westminster sports hall of fame because of his swimming prowess. He funded the school's natatorium, which opened eight years ago.

Tonight's Planning & Zoning Meeting

Two interesting pieces of news came from tonight's meeting.  First of all, we have the first chain restaurant coming to the Bill Arp community--a Subway will be in the strip mall across from the old Bill Arp Elementary School.  The board members said they thought the sign said the strip mall was just going to be offices and the owner corrected them, saying offices/retail.  It will be interesting to see just how much more traffic the community will get because of this strip mall.

The owner (who was trying to get a sign approved) also mentioned the sign at Prays Mill.  The board members agreed that this sign is extremely distracting because it is a full-color sign and shows text as well as pictures and changes too frequently.  The sign is on 24/7.  Does anyone else think this sign is distracting?  The owner also mentioned the five-way stop in this area--is there anywhere else in the county where there is a five way stop?  It seems like it would be a dangerous intersection, especially if one person is not paying attention.  It's not really a five way stop, though, because traffic on Hwy 5 doesn't stop, only the traffic on Dorsett, Banks Mill, and Pool Road stops.

A BOC member also estimated that it would probably be fifty years until Hwy 5 was widened in the Bill Arp community.

Police Scanner

12:16pm 911 hang-up.
12:19pm child was playing on phone.
12:20pm I-20 Westbound near Post Rd—a pole with a tarp (came off a pickup truck) was in the middle lane.  Officer requests this be given to the FIND unit to pick up.
12:24pm six high school students walking in the road.
12:28pm Report written.
12:31pm Someone took someone else’s car.
12:32pm 10-28

12:32pm 10-28

12:33pm Officer giving someone a ride to a gas station to get gas.
12:34pm One by name and DOB.

12:34pm Gas station requesting assistance for an intoxicated person. Maxham Road area.
12:35pm 10-28
12:36pm Someone locked their keys in their vehicle at a gas station.
12:46pm Someone has invalid insurance and their registration is suspended.

12:37pm Complaint in a subdivision.

12:37pm 10-28
12:39pm 10-28 for a mechanical breakdown at Sweetwater Bluff.
12:41pm 10-28

12:43pm 10-28

BOC Meeting Agenda Added

I've added this morning's BOC Meeting Agenda.  Why, you ask, did I add it after the meeting?  The county did not add it to their website until this morning.  They apparently didn't realize it wasn't on the website.

New Business Licenses April

Armin Mechanical, 3318 Hwy 5 Ste 442 (Plumbing, Heating, AC)
Automotek Transmissions, 3867 Bankhead Hwy (Automotive Repairs and Maintenance)
Bran New Developments LLC, 3318 Hwy 5 Ste 221 (Lawncare & Landscaping)
Forever Antiques (No address listed)
A new restaurant on Marsh Avenue in Lithia Springs (name not listed)
Pressey Lawncare Service
Rainwater Homes (Residential Remodelers)
a Hatian Church
The Crab Cake Factory of Georgia (they've already been in business--don't they already have a license?)

I think this is the first time in months there hasn't been a business license approved that has a Chapel Hill Road address.  Hard to believe.

New Republican Candidate for BOC Chairman

His name is Igor Malanchuk.  You can find his website at http://www.igor2008.com.  He'll be running against Tom Worthan in the July 16 Republican Primary.  Some of the issues he brings up on his website (these are direct quotes):

"I wil end the 'good ol' boy' system that still exists in Douglas County.  I will represent the citizens not Special Interest."

"I will make sure that our existing parks and recreational facilities are provided the funding needed to bring these facilities up to community standards before we continue expanding to new facilities."

"I pledge to never seek a tax increase and will find ways to better utilize your tax dollars."

And here's the clincher for those who hate SPLOST:

"I will not support placing another SPLOST tax vote on the ballot.  We must pay as we go and avoid the expense of another long term debt."

"I will not support massive borrow and spend projects such as a YMCA, Horse and Dog Parks, or other special interest projects that waste our limited tax dollars and competes with privately owned businesses."

"I support tax incentives for local small businesses that are impacted by the competition of 'big box' companies so they have a fair chance of economic survival."

"I will work to find low cost solution to jail overcrowding while ensuring our citizens are protected."