Fannin County EMA Director Robert Graham requested to purchase a turn-out gear washer extractor for $5,441 during a Board of Commissioners meeting Tuesday, October 22.
“Carcinogens for firefighters is becoming a big issue,” Graham said. “We’ve been trying to wash our gear with a regular, standard household washing machine and it does a fair job, but it doesn’t get all the carcinogens out every time and it’s hard to get the turn-out gear spun out properly. There’s special chemicals that we’re supposed to use to clean it with that we can’t use in a residential type washer.”
The board unanimously voted to purchase it, using ACCG Safety Grant and SPLOST funds.
Project Chimps Executive Director Ali Crumpacker requested and was approved to bring 20 new chimpanzees into the sanctuary, bringing the total number at the sanctuary up to 79.
“Earlier this year we finished $1.3 million construction project that allows us to make accommodations for more chimps,” she said. “There’s 59 in residence right now and we’re requesting two more transports this year, which will be 20 more chimps.”
An application for an Alcoholic Beverage License for the Cider House was tabled for the next meeting at the request of County Attorney Lynn Doss.
“There is someone information on this application that I need to talk with the applicant because I don’t think it’s correct,” she said. “I just need to clarify it before. To give all applicants the benefit of the full doubt, I would just rather talk to them about the information that I believe needs clarification.”
In other action, a variance request for Cooper Properties that had been previously tabled due to a lack of proper signage was approved unanimously during the meeting.
Fannin resident Jacqueline Howard spoke to the board, for the second time, during public commentary about the dangers of 5G coming to the county. She said, “Once 5G is put into place, everyone, whether having a cell phone or not, is bound to the Internet of Things. … This is an invasion of our privacy and our rights, our security. It is a mining of date of everyone. Every step we take, everything we purchase, everything we do. All of our information will be sold to third parties for profit.”
Fannin resident Bill Fleming requested that the county stop spraying herbicide because of its negative effect on pollinators. Chairman Stan Helton told Fleming that the county had already ceased use of the product.
Fleming also requested that the board look into glass recycling options in the future.
Fannin resident Jan Eaton told the board that a volunteer was the only administrator on the Fannin County Animal Control Facebook page and that the volunteer had been blocking people from viewing the page.
“As we all know, there’s that pesky old first amendment and with this governmental page, I think you’re going down a very slippery slope,” Eaton said. “Your page, your governmental Fannin County Animal Control Facebook page, is run by a volunteer, so think about that. You’ve got someone who is a volunteer blocking people on Facebook. You’re not going to know whose blocked because you’re not going to have access to it because only that admin has access to that list.”