COMMUNITY
SCENE
Eugene McCoy (second from right) was overruled by the judge when he tried to plead guilty to killing three family members. 3
Jazz trumpeter Joey Sommerville and other performers will entertain at STIR – Sounds, Thoughts, Ideas and Rhymes – at the Porter Sanford Center. 5
Guilty plea rejected
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Blending of the arts
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EAST ATLANTA • DECATUR • STONE MOUNTAIN • LITHONIA • AVONDALE ESTATES • CLARKSTON • ELLENWOOD • PINE LAKE • REDAN • SCOTTDALE • TUCKER
Copyright © 2012 CrossRoadsNews, Inc.
February 11, 2012
www.crossroadsnews.com
Volume 17, Number 41
DeKalb legislators fail to approve new School Board map By Jennifer Ffrench Parker
State Rep. Simone Bell (standing) was disappointed that the DeKalb Delegation could not reach a decision on a new School Board map.
sus on the map. Members did approve a map for the DeKalb Board of Commissioners, but the School Board districts were more contentious. In addition to accounting for population shifts from the 2010 Census, members have to reduce the nine-member School Board “to no more than seven members” as mandated by Senate Bill 79, which passed the Legislature last year. On Feb. 6, a redistricting sub committee approved a five-member map that ends the terms of the four board members – Thomas Bowen, Don McChesney, Paul Womack and
Three days from its deadline, the DeKalb House Delegation does not have a new School Board district map. Members were at odds on Thursday about whether the DeKalb School Board should have five districts or seven. They adjourned for a three-day recess without approving the map. State Rep. Simone Bell, who chaired the House redistricting committee, was clearly disappointed. “I am stumped,” she said. “This is not what I anticipated.” Bell said that it had been her hope that the delegation could have come to a consen- Please see SCHOOL BOARD, page 4
Jennifer Ffrench Parker / CrossRoadsNews
Residents pledge to fight plant City of
DeKalb proposed
Compost facility sought at site of Lithonia quarry
By Jennifer Ffrench Parker
By Jennifer Ffrench Parker
South DeKalb residents are on the battlefield again, this time against a composting facility that is being proposed on the grounds of the La Farge Quarry in Lithonia. More than 200 residents showed up at a Feb. 9 meeting at Rock Chapel Elementary School to demonstrate their opposition to Greenco Environmental LLC. “We don’t want it and you are going to get a fight tooth-and-nail through the process,” one speaker said. Greenco, which recycles food waste and yard trimmings into compost, is seeking to relocate from Barnesville, Ga., where it has had a checkered and contentious past. The company, which has been in business for four years, plans to lease a 22-acre site that has been quarried and is now 110 feet below surface level, has a pond to help keep ordors down and is a mile away from homes. Attorney Michelle Battle, who is handling the company’s special land use permit application before the county, said the Lithonia site is ideal for Greenco because it is in the middle of LaFarge’s 1,500-acre property. “The location we have here could not be easily replicated anywhere else,” she said. Thursday’s meeting was attended by Greenco’s president, Tim Lesko, and his wife and business partner, Melia. She said that they are fully aware that people have been on the Internet and are aware of the problems that Greenco had, but she said that it has fixed those problems. “We didn’t come before you to mask the truth. It is what it is,” she said. “We knew coming into it that it would be an uphill climb.” When Maria Bruner from south Snellville
Jennifer Ffrench Parker / CrossRoadsNews
South Snellville resident Maria Bruner wanted to know why Greenco had to close its composting facility in Barnesville, Ga.
asked Lesko what specifically caused him to caused him to be shut down in Barnesville and what he did to fix the situation, he said that he was the first in the state to attempt a food composting plant and made mistakes. “There was not a blueprint we could go to,” he said. Lesko said that doing something on a large scale is different from doing it in a small barn. He said the plant there is located atop a hill, and 500 feet from the closest house. “We made mistakes,” Lesko said, adding that they were not using enough yard trimmings and had to find the right recipe. In Lithonia, Lesko said that LaFarge, his landlord, will be on the site and won’t tolerate a negative image. Please see GREENCO, page 4
Application timeline n Greenco Environmental’s application will go before the Commission District 5 Community Council on Feb. 13 at 6:30 p.m. at the Redan Trotti Library, 1569 Wellborn Rd. in Lithonia. n Greenco is hosting a community meeting on Feb. 28 at 7 p.m at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, 2152 Rock Chapel Road in Lithonia. n The DeKalb Planning Commission will hear the application on March 6, at 6:30 p.m. n The Board of Commissioners will hear the application on March 27 at 6:30 p.m.
A long talked about City of DeKalb is now a bill in the Georgia House of Representatives. Rep. Billy Mitchell (D-Stone Mountain) proposed a city that incorporates all of the unincorporated areas of the county to the DeKalb House Delegation Thursday. Billy Mitchell He said it would the largest city in Georgia, with just under 600,000 residents. “I have unanimous support from all sections of our community that I have talked to,” he said. Mitchell tried to fast-track bill through the DeKalb House delegation, but some of his colleagues said they wanted more information. Rep. Stephanie Stuckey Benfield (DAtlanta) said it would be a seismic change in how the county operates. “I would urge caution,” said Benfield, who has been in office since 1999. “I would ask for some speakers to come in and speak to us.” Rep. Michele Henson said she felt strongly that a meeting is needed. “We do need to have folks come in and tesMichele Henson tify,” she said. “We do need to make DeKalb County aware of what the impact would be.” Henson (D-Stone Mountain) said the Please see CITY BILL, page 6