Gilligan, Barrett square off at the Conference Center
Featured Stories, News June 16, 2022
FORSYTH COUNTY Ga. — Incumbent District 24 State Representative Sheri Gilligan and challenger Carter Barrett participated in the Forsyth County Republican Party Runoff Candidate Forum at the Conference Center Wednesday.
Both candidates threw a few sharp elbows early. Some landed, and some didn’t. But no blood was shed and there was no knockout punch. Like the 90+ degree heat outside the conference center, things eventually cooled down.
First, though, both said they would like to clear the air regarding a few salvos fired at them during a campaign that both described as “rancorous.”
Gilligan said one of the lies told about her by the Barrett campaign is that “I don’t support veterans.” She pointed out she and her husband are veterans, her daughters are veterans and their sons-in-law are veterans who graduated from the Air Force Academy.
Barrett accused the Gilligan campaign of distributing fliers that claim he supports high-density development . “I am not the king of high density development,” he said. “I have never developed a neighborhood in my entire life. I have never financed a neighborhood in my entire life.”
Asked what they would do to stop high-density development, Barrett didn’t offer a solution but did say, “I don’t want this to be a community you come to educate your children and make a pot full of money then retire somewhere else.”
He added that he does not support high-density development. “I want this to be a truly great community where you wouldn’t even consider retiring somewhere else.” He pointed out that he helped lead the Envision 2020 comprehensive plan 15 years ago and is today working on the comprehensive plan for the future.
Gilligan said high-density development has “Caused our taxes to increase, our roads to erode and has driven local government into debt. But seven years in the legislature have taught her that there is little state government can do to stop it. “That is the job of our county commissioners,” she said.
She questioned Barrett’s claim that he opposes high-density housing since he has been endorsed by County Commissioners Todd Levent and Cindy Mills, who she said have voted for the most high-density development of any of the five commissioners. They are at this moment expanding high-density housing. Do you disavow their support?”
The candidates found common ground when asked if there was fraud the 2020 election. Barrett said, “There is no question in my mind whatsoever there was fraud in that election. There was rampant fraud.” He also said he watched the film “2,000 Mules” by Dinesh D’Souza which appears to depict massive evidence of fraud and called it “compelling.”
Gilligan said, “We have evidence of people casting a vote in another state and still voting here in Georgia. We have ballots that were illegally harvested and stuffed into ballot boxes. I signed onto a petition for a special session so we could assess what was going on.”
There was also common ground on their opposition to masked mandates and the need for school choice.
The candidates were asked if they could only get one piece of legislation passed, what would it be.
Gilligan has made school choice her mantra for her seven years in office so she emphatically stated, “If I could only get one piece of legislation passed, it would be school choice. We need school choice. Right now there are thousands of Georgia children stuck in failing schools. It is unconscionable. For the economy to thrive, you need an educated work force. You need educated students to break the cycle of poverty by getting them out of these failing schools and state dollars need to follow them.”
Barrett considered several important pieces of legislation, he would like to get passed, including term limits, school choice and the state income tax. “That is a tough one,” he said before stating, “I would agree with Sheri 100 percent that school choice is paramount.
The winner will face Democrat Sydney Walker in the November General Election.
Commercial sewer could produce millions of dollars in new revenue for Forsyth County
News October 15, 2021
Kevin Tanner
FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. – County Manager Kevin Tanner recommended that the Board of Commissioners use $17-$19 million of the $47.37 million the county will receive under the American Recovery Act to construct targeted commercial sewer that could generate many times the investment in new tax revenue.
Tanner, a former state representative, made the recommendation at Tuesday’s Board of Commissioners meeting after he met with members of county’s Planning, Water and Sewer and Economic Development departments and the Forsyth County Chamber of Commerce.
The dollars would be spent primarily in north Forsyth where Tanner said “significant commercial, industrial businesses” have expressed an interest but where there is no sewer availability. “These are places we feel like we can have the highest return on investment,” he said. “We want to spend these dollars where 20 years from now citizens in Forsyth County are going to know where their tax dollars went.”
Laura Semanson
One sewer line Tanner recommend is located along Hwy. 20 and across Yellow Creek Road where it crosses Aaron Sosebee Road.
Slade Gulledge, vice president of economic development for the Chamber said there has been a lot of interest from commercial, industrial developers in the area of Settingdown Road and Bottoms Road. “These two sites have a potential for 1.4 million square feet of industrial development. An initial analysis on that very conservatively would yield $14.3 million over a 10 year span. If you do nothing, it will get you $600,000 over those years.”
Commissioner Molly Cooper did not attend Tuesday’s meeting. Commissioners Todd Levent, Cindy Mills, Laura Semanson and Alfred John viewed the proposal favorably but wanted safeguards built in to prevent property zoned commercial for industrial projects from becoming high-density residential if the projects are not completed.
“My biggest concern is to make sure we are framing this in a manner that is legally defensible to reserve that capacity and simply for commercial use,” said Semanson. “Until it is developed, we are at risk. It could pay off huge but it could bite us in the butt as well.”
John said, “All of us know that any time sewer goes in, high-density residential follows.” He added that he too wants safeguards.
Cindy Mills
Mills said, “If we sit on our hands and let the past repeat itself, all of this land in my district will wind up being residential.”
Tanner suggested that staff be authorized to move forward with design and right-of-way easement acquisition but not construct anything until there is a commitment from a commercial development to locate there. “That is the difficult part of this,” he said. “That may take us two years.”
Ultimately, the Board agreed to allow staff to move forward, but do no construction until the county attorneys can draft the safeguards commissioners feel necessary and the issue comes back before the Board for final approval.
Board objects to Gateway to Lanier plan to annex into the City of Cumming
Featured Stories, News September 22, 2021
Chairwoman Cindy Mills
FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. – The Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to forward a letter of objection to the City of Cumming regarding a Gateway to Lanier LLC request for 54.223 acres along Bald Ridge Marina Road to be annexed into the City.
Gateway plans to build 30,000 square feet of commercial space along with 312 multi-family units, 77 single-family units and 51 townhomes with a density of 8.24 units per acre. The County maximum density is 6 units per acre.
The letter, however may be just a formality. Commission Chairwoman Cindy Mills said she talked with Cumming Mayor Troy Brumbalow. Earlier in the day and he indicated the developers are expected to withdraw their request.
The Board did approve a request for annexation into the City of Cumming for parcel C01-008 on Hwy. near the proposed City Center for an existing real estate office.
The Board also approved:
- An award of $25,000 to help fund the Lake Lanier Association. Counties bordering the lake contribute annually to assist the association with research and cleaning up the lake and adjacent public land.
- The list of items as surplus with authorization for the Department of Procurement to dispose of accordingly;
- Board consideration and approval to award RFP 21-78-1510 for Architectural/Engineering Services for the Forsyth County Administration Building to Jericho Design Group LLC in the amount of $2,469,500;
- Proposed changes to Civil Service Policy 3 – Probationary and Regular Status – to allow for probationary extensions for employees to complete required training and certification;
- The 2022 Employee Medical Benefit Plans at a cost of $28,208,157, approximately $1.6 million less than the 2021 plan;
- Modifications to the Comprehensive Plan’s Community Character Map and Height Performance Standards within the Unified Development Code to go to a public hearing;
- The appointment of Commissioner Arnold John to the Comprehensive Plan update steering committee;
- Approval of a Budget Resolution to provide funding for Capital Projects Management and ADA Coordinator positions. No new positions and no additional funding is required. The request moves certain budgeted items to the Capital Project Management Department;
- Ratification of Ford Parts Agreement that provides awards and incentives for the county to purchase OEM parts for the county fleet of vehicles;
- A temporary construction easement from CC WINDERMERE, LLC, a Nevada limited liability company, regarding stormwater-related improvements at Daves Creek near the Windermere subdivision;
- A request by Christopher Light for a county-initiated zoning change for parcels 193-016 and 193-491 from A1 (single-family) to CBD Commercial Business District for the purpose of opening a Boys and Girls Club.
Developers lack of interest in Tree Ordinance draws fire from County Commissioners
News May 9, 2021Chairwoman Cindy Mills
FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. – Forsyth County Chairwoman Cindy Mills scolded commercial developers for their lack of participation in stakeholder meetings and Commissioner Alfred John issued a stern warning regarding their “eleventh hour” request for modifications to the Tree Ordinance adopted at Thursday’s Board of Commissioners meeting.
Mills said, “Commissioner (Molly) Cooper and I sat through many, many, many, many hours of meetings. We had lots of input with the residential community but I definitely did not feel we heard from the commercial community. Did they have an opportunity to be there? Yes. Were they there? No.”
Mills said her comments were not reserved for the commercial interests. “I’m talking to Smart Growth. If you really care about trees, you should not want anybody to annex because in Forsyth County, when annexation happens, you lose architectural control. You’re losing your sign ordinance. You are losing mass grading.”
Commissioner Alfred John
The approved Tree Ordinance includes some controversial, last-minute modifications that were proposed at a March 23 meeting with the Planning Commission that stakeholders were not allowed to attend. Those modifications include removal of a specimen tree survey that would have been required at the time of rezoning, removal of the post-development survey and exemption of industrial building footprints larger than 30,000 square feet from site density calculations.
“Kudos to Madam Chairwoman for putting the development community on notice,” Arnold said. “We’ve run a long marathon of 26 miles. At 26.2 miles someone trips you up. I want to hear from all sides but this has become a pattern. I’ve seen three times in the last four months at the eleventh hour, they come in and it’s the Homebuilders Association, Council for Quality Growth and they throw a grenade into this. We want to hear from them from the beginning not at the last minute.”
He added the following warning, “I’ll tell you going forward, if they come in at the last minute, throwing grenades into a process we have worked very hard toward, I’m going to be very unsympathetic to what they say.”
Forsyth County Development Authority will continue to have seven members — for now
Featured Stories April 9, 2021
Laura Semanson
FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. – The Board of Commissioners discussed the future of the Forsyth County Development Authority during Tuesday’s meeting with regard to new appointments and whether the Authority should consist of seven, nine or possibly 11 members.
Commissioner Laura Semanson seemed to favor nine. She said she was disappointed there had been many times the Authority did not meet because they didn’t have anything to discuss. “They should be getting together,” she said. “They should be getting together to discuss how they can assist with big development. By having a different group it would lend itself to them being there and there being a level of enthusiasm. I would like to consider going to nine.”
Chairman Cindy Mills said reaching a quorum with nine members would be very difficult.
Commissioner Todd Levent said he believes the current 7-members is the right number. He said he has talked to commissioners in other counties and they said a nine-member Authority is “a nightmare.”
Todd Levent
Commissioner Alfred John said, “I suggest we start with seven and see what their workload and challenges are like and see if they might like to go to nine in about three of four months, depending on how active their Board chooses to be.”
After the discussion, commissioners unanimously approved the resolution calling for seven members for now and to appoint members at a subsequent work session.
In other decisions, the Board unanimously approved:
- A motion to adopt a resolution that will maintain the makeup of the Development Authority at seven members with nominations to be held at a future work session;
- A list of items as surplus with authorization for the Department of Procurement to dispose of accordingly;
- Bid 21-19-3150 for the reclamation/widening of Chamblee Gap Road to Blount Construction Company Inc. in the amount of $505,605.18, from SPLOST 8 funding, with $100,000.nt00 donation from the developer;
- Bid 21-37-5211 for the purchase of seven new zero turn mowers for the Department of Parks and Recreation to Terry’s Equipment Sales & Rental in the amount of $55,500.00;
- A Change Order with Blount Construction Company, Inc. on the 2020 Road Resurfacing Project in the amount of $270,500;
- A Task Order with CH2MHill (Jacobs) to update the Water Master Plan for the Department of Water and Sewer in the amount of $199,522;
- Temporary staffing needed at the vaccination site for the Emergency Management Agency to Staffing Options, Inc. in the not-to-exceed amount of $105,548.80 with the funding source of FEMA/Vaccine Grant for Professional Services;
- An Encroachment Agreement for Easement with Georgia Transmission Corporation for the installation, operation, and maintenance of a 16″ ductile water main crossing a GTC Easement on Browns Bridge Road;
- An Encroachment Agreement for Easement with Georgia Transmission Corporation for the installation, operation, and maintenance of a 16″ ductile water main inside a 24″ steel casing pipe crossing a GTC Easement on Keith Bridge Road at Dawson Crossing – Hammonds Crossing;
- Adoption of a Waterline Extension Policy to define a process for extending water service to existing, developed areas that do not currently have access to the Forsyth County public water system;
- Postponed consideration of a revised and updated Intergovernmental Agreement for the Purchase and Sale of Treated Water between Forsyth County and the Etowah Water and Sewer Authority;
- A request to apply for the State of Georgia FY2021 Local Maintenance & Improvement Grant Safety Action Plan (LMIG SAP) for an amount not to exceed $115,000.00 with a required match of up to $34,500 on a time sensitive basis;
- Ratification of the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council Emergency Grant Award to the Forsyth County Adult Felony Drug Court in the amount of $3,500 to support case manager services due to COVID;
- Ratification of the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council Pandemic Relief and Technology Grant Award to the Forsyth County C.A.R.E. Program in the amount of $2,479 to purchase additional technology due to COVID;
- Reappointment of Carla Radzikinas as the Republican Party member to the Forsyth County Board of Registrations and Elections;
- Creation of a Capital Projects Management Director position;
- Acdraft resolution of an Intergovernmental Agreement with the City of Cumming, Georgia for creation of the Forsyth County/City of Cumming Land Bank and appointment of members;
- An emergency moratorium on any units applied for under Res6 Performance Standards that exceed four units per acre;
The Board then recessed into an Executive Session:
Following the Executive Session the Board approved a resolution to condemn property rights in connection with the Coal Mountain Connector Project:
(A) Parcel 10 – 2.024 acres of fee simple right of way and 79,940.12 square feet of temporary easement for construction of slopes (owners: Donald Jerry Gravitt, as Executor of the Estate of Bertie Mae Burgess Gravitt; Mildred Gravitt Williamson, individually and as heir of Rufus Gravitt, by and through Richard Neville, Esq., as her duly appointed Conservator; Donald Jerry Gravitt, individually and as heir of Rufus Gravitt; Charles Dennis Gravitt, individually and as heir of Rufus Gravitt; and Gary Allen Gravitt, individually and as heir of Rufus Gravitt)
(B) Parcel 11 – 0.021 acres of fee simple right of way and 3,185.01 square feet of temporary easement for construction of slopes (owners: Donnie Williamson and Mildred Gravitt Williamson by and through Richard Neville, Esq., as her duly appointed Conservator);
(2) Board consideration of a Resolution to Amend Condemnation of Property Rights in connection with the Ronald Reagan Boulevard Extension, parcel 7: 0.155 acres of fee simple right of way; 2,259.16 square feet of permanent easement for construction and maintenance of slopes; square feet of temporary construction easement; 9,473.11 and two (2) temporary driveway easements (owners: Anson Logistics Assets, LLC and Prudential Insurance Company of America);
(3) Board consideration of an acquisitions contract for the purchase of real estate, between 400 Pilgrim LLC (seller) and Forsyth County, Georgia (buyer), for land located along both sides of Freedom Pkwy, Cumming GA, otherwise known as Forsyth County tax parcel 219-113, comprised of 58.57 acres; but with the acquisition contract being only for acquisition of +/- 42 acres, and with a contingency for acquisition of an additional +/- 10 to 12 acres of the same tax parcel. Staff requests this Item be considered on a “Time Sensitive” basis.
MOU with Toll Bros. is a win for all parties
News January 9, 2021
FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. – County Commissioners put a long-standing issue between the county, Toll Brothers and the Forsyth Water and Sewer Authority behind them by unanimous approval of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) Thursday.
County Attorney Ken Jarrard said the agreement is a win-win-win for all parties. Actually, it could be considered a winX4 since the agreement not only pleases the signatories, but the residents of the nearby subdivision who will get a new park in the bargain.
The county purchased Parkstone Water Reclamation Facility and the 18.2 acres it sits on for $2.5 million — $546,000 for the acreage — and held it in a trust for the Water and Sewer Authority. Toll Brothers held a first right of refusal. Under the MOU, however, Toll Brothers agrees to give up its right so long as the county builds a park and recreation facility on the property. Also, since the facility was held in trust for the Authority, the county agrees to reimburse the Authority for the amount of the land, $546,000.
In other business, the Board elected District 4 Commissioner Cindy Jones Mills as Chairman for 2021. District 1 Commissioner Molly Cooper will serve as vice chairman and District 2 Commissioner Alfred John will serve as secretary.
Commissioners unanimously approved an extension of the Family First Coronavirus Relief Act that expired Dec. 31 until March 2021.
EMA Director Chris Grimes provided an update of the COVID-19 situation. Gov. Brian Kemp extended his executive regarding who may receive the vaccine last week to include those 65 years of age an up as well as firefighters and law enforcement officer.
Grimes said Georgia Public Health Departments began taking appointments but they filled up fast. The problem Gaines added is there are not enough people to administer the vaccine.
“That’s been holding us back,” he said. “We’re looking to help DPH expand their capabilities and we have received approval for our paramedics and fire department to assist in dispensing the vaccine.”
The Board unanimously approved a Finance Department request to make an application to the U.S. Department of Treasury to participate in the federal government’s Rental Assistance Program. If the application is accepted the issue will come back to the Board of Commissioners for final approval.
During the public hearing portion of the meeting, commissioners approved a county-Initiated request to conduct around the clock business hours in warehouses/offices totaling 279,562 sq. ft. in Corporate Court and an amendment to zoning conditions requested ty Eagle Land Group Inc. that a 50 foot buffer be reduced to 40 feet to allow for a backyard pool.
They also held a first public hearing on proposed changes to the alcohol ordinance regarding server permits. Staff recommended an increase in the permit fee from $25 to $50 but, if approved following a second public hearing, servers will only have to renew the permit every two years. In the past anyone convicted of a felony would not be eligible to receive a permit. If the change is adopted, the felony conviction would have to have occurred in the last five years.
BOC nominates three for Development Authority
News November 26, 2020
Laura Semanson
FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. – Three items on the Board of Commissioners work session produced lengthy discussions but none more than the upcoming appointments/reappointments to the Development Authority.
Chairwoman Laura Semanson expressed some frustration with the Authority because many meetings had been canceled due to a lack of business. “To me that says maybe we should meet and talk about why there is nothing going on,” she said.
The seven-member Authority has had no new appointments since 2017. “There are some members who would like to see some fresh blood, some changes,” she said.
Semanson proposed adding two new at-large positions but Commissioner Levent said, he doesn’t see the need to increase the number of members.
Molly Cooper
Four members’ terms will expire in December and three others by April, prompting Commissioner Molly Cooper to say, “We can’t keep kicking this can down the road. Time is up. We need to make a decision.”
Semanson nominated Larry Duckworth for reappointment, Levent nominated Joanne Tolleson and Cooper nominated Justin Hawkins. Those nominations must be ratified by a vote of the full Board.
Commissioner Cindy Mills deferred until the December meeting and Commissioner Dennis Brown who, who leaves the Board at the end of the year said he would prefer that his replacement Alfred Johns make the appointment.
Dennis Brown
In other votes, commissioners unanimously approved:
- An increase in per diem for members of the Equalization Board to $125;
- A memorandum of understanding with the University of Georgia regarding the Extension Service;
- A list of county-owned surplus items to be sold;
- An agreement to into an Inter Sub-Site Interface Connection Agreement with Motorola Solutions Inc. for the Public Safety Radio System to allow for interconnectivity with the Hall County system in the amount of $778,615;
- The Interconnected Public Safety Radio System Intergovernmental Agreement between Forsyth County and Hall County – Director, Emergency Management Agency;
- The reallocation of Tyler Technologies’ current Tyler Field Mobile Licensing Fees to Tyler Smartfile Licensing Fees and to provide professional services to make multiple Smartfile forms available for electronic filing for the Tax Assessors’ Office;
- Award RFP 20-87-3340 for the printing and mailing of Water and Sewer Bills for the Department of Water and Sewer to Pinnacle Data Systems starting in calendar year 2021, budgeted amount $275,000;
- To award Bid 20-121-1620 for Waste Collection Services for Various Forsyth County Buildings to overall low bidder Advanced Disposal Services, LLC in the amount of $110,828.28; 2021;
- To award Bid 20-124-1620 for Building Cleaning Services for Various Forsyth County Buildings for the Calendar Year 2021 for the Department of Public Facilities the low bidder All Bright Janitorial Service in the amount of $194,000.00;
- To award Bid 20-135-1590 to purchase one (1) new 2021 Ford F250 Truck with Animal Body Transport for Code Compliance to Prater Ford, Inc. in the amount of $53,297.20;
- To award Bid 20-136-3120 for providing Installation and Repair of Guardrails as needed for the Forsyth County Department of Engineering Stembridge Custom Metals, Inc. in the not to exceed amount of $50,000.00;
- To award Bid 20-140-5211 for providing Baled Hay Services at Eagles Beak for the Department of Parks and Recreation with no cost to the County;
- To award Bid 20-169-3150 for the emergency replacement of a culvert at Two Mile Creek on Wallace Wood Road to The Dickerson Group in the amount of $384,807.80;
- Ratification of the reappointment of Jerry Bowman as the Neutral Representative to the Forsyth County Civil Service Board to serve a four (4) year term beginning November 12, 2020 to November 11, 2024. Staff Recommendation: ratify the Civil Service Board’s reappointment – Risk and Safety Manager, Department of Risk Management
- A request to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Georgia Department of Transportation to relocate water and sewer infrastructure for the SR 400 at McGinnis Ferry Road Widening and Auxiliary Lanes Project;
- To formally name the area located in Sawnee Mountain Preserve – Phase 4, located north of Tower Road, and the previous location of the Barker House as Barker Overlook;
- A request to apply for the FY 2022 Federal Transit Administration Section 5311 Transit Grant Program to aid in the operation of the Dial-A-Ride Program;
- A BOC Policy that all developer-negotiated zoning conditions must be submitted to County staff no less than 48 hours prior to the Board meeting where final action is to be taken;
- A County-Initiated Conditional Use Permit to conduct around the clock business hours for warehouses/offices on 32.452 acres currently zoned M1;
- Adopt the 2021 Meeting Schedule;
- Authorization for the county attorney to seek reimbursement for County incentives paid to Taubman Devlopment;
- A Memorandum of Understanding with Seefried Industrial Properties, Inc. regarding CP200016 as it relates to design, acquisition, and construction for roundabout at Shiloh Road and Shiloh Road East;
- Partnering with the GA Safe Routes to School Resource Center – County Attorney
Commissioners postponed any decision on the site master plan for Sawnee Mountain Preserve Phase IV.
Fetch Your News is a hyper local news outlet that covers Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Union, Towns and Murray counties as well as Cherokee County in N.C. FYN attracts 300,000+ page views per month, 3.5 million impressions per month and approximately 15,000 viewers per week on FYNTV.com and up to 60,000 Facebook page reach. If you would like to follow up-to-date local events in any of those counties, please visit us at FetchYourNews.com
Board votes to censure Commissioner Levent
News August 21, 2020
Commissioner Todd Levent
FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. – The Board of Commissioners approved a motion of censure against Commissioner Todd Levent Thursday (Aug. 20) by a vote of 3-0. Levent and Commissioner Cindy Mills recused themselves at an earlier meeting.
The censure, which was read by Chairwoman Laura Semanson, read: “The Board does hereby censure Commissioner Todd Levent for accessing Commissioner Cindy Mills county email account without her knowledge and without using Ga. OCGA 50-18-70 Open Records Act and obtaining un-redacted lists of current emails compiled for county business without using the Open Records Act and forwarding them to his campaign email account apparently for his campaign or other non-county business use.”
The Board voted on May 7 to conduct an inquiry into Levent’s actions and on May 11 retained the law firm of Smith, Gambrel and Russell, LLP to investigate. On June 30, the law firm delivered its report to the Board of Commissioners.
Levent did not comment on the Board’s action Thursday, but in the past has called the investigation a “witch hunt.” He also declined to speak to investigators during the inquiry.
For balance to this report, Fetch Your News will attempt to interview Levent today for his comment.
Fetch Your News is a hyper local news outlet that covers Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Union, Towns and Murray counties as well as Cherokee County in N.C. FYN attracts 300,000+ page views per month, 3.5 million impressions per month and approximately 15,000 viewers per week on FYNTV.com and up to 60,000 Facebook page reach. If you would like to follow up-to-date local events in any of those counties, please visit us at FetchYourNews.com