Newspaper Page Text
The ADVANCE, August 25, 2021 /Page 4A (Ttie Afruance
Vidalia Council Recognizes Recently
Promoted Public Safety Employees
Photo by Makaylee Randolph
PROMOTED — City Manager Nick Overstreet, right, congratulates Matthew Bell, left,
and Micheal Howell, center, on their promotions within the Department of Public Ser
vice and thanked the men for their dedication and work in the city. Not pictured is
Lieutenant Timothy Coursey.
By Makaylee Randolph
Contributing Writer
The Vidalia City
Council, during its month
ly meeting on August 16,
honored three recently-
promoted public safety of
ficers. The City congrat
ulated Timothy Coursey,
who was promoted from
sergeant to lieutenant, and
Matthew Bell and Micheal
Howell who both rose
from corporal to sergeant.
“These men work hard to
ensure safety in our com
munity, and I hope they
know how truly apprecia
tive we all are,” City Man
ager Nick Overstreet said.
Housing Authority
During the meeting,
the Council also voted to
approve the reappoint
ments of two Housing
Authority members for
five-year terms: Brandon
Boston, until August 2026,
and Darren McClellan, un
til August 2024. The Coun
cil also approved the ap
pointment of Fred Godbee
to fill the unexpired term of
the late Hughes Threlkeld
until August 2022.
Housing Authority Ex
ecutive Director Josh Beck
praised Godbee’s abilities.
“Fred has great leadership
skills. He is community-
oriented and has a servant's
heart.” Beck added that
Godbee has served on nu
merous boards throughout
the community, and he has
a special desire to help the
area's low to moderate in
come citizens. “His lead
ership qualities will be a
huge asset for our Author
ity and our community as a
whole.”
Beck also shared his
thoughts on Threlkeld.
“Mr. Threlkeld was instru
mental in turning this Au
thority around from a trou
bled Authority in the early
1990s to what it is today.”
Onion Festival
Committee
The Council also ap
proved the addition of a
new Vidalia Onion Festi
val Committee chairper
sons and members. These
individuals are: Chairman
Andy Woodruff Past Chair
Josh Giles, Chair-Elect
Jake Cleghorn, Member-
at-Large Greg Hudgins,
Advisor Dustin Booth,
Convention and Visitors
Bureau-Marketing and
Advertising Alexa Brit
ton, Vidalia City Manager
Nick Overstreet, Finan
cial Director Amy Murray,
Entertainment Director
Tim Jones, Chair of Events
Flora Torres, Chair of
Merchandising Liza New,
Chair of Operations Billy
Goodwin, Chair of Ven
dors Kaitlyn Macker, and
Chair of Airport Opera
tions Billy Ragan.
The Chair of Enter
tainment position remains
vacant; also, several sub
committees will be formed
in the future.
Walking Events
Two events were ap
proved during the meet
ing: the 9/11 Patriot Walk
and Memorial Service at
the City Park and the Big
Boy Walk/Run on October
1. The 9/11 Patriot Walk
and Memorial Service will
begin at 8 a.m. on Sep
tember 11. Durden Street
and Jackson Street will be
closed between Highway
280 East and West from
7:30 to 10:30 that morn
ing. The location of the
Big Boy Walk/Run has not
been disclosed and will be
shared closer to the event.
Resurfacing Streets
City Manager Over-
street presented the list
of streets to be resurfaced
with the 2022 Georgia
Department of Trans
portation Local Mainte
nance Improvement Grant
(LMIG). This list of streets
must be provided to the
GDOT now that they are
approved by the Council to
initiate the road work.
These resurfaced ar
eas include: the entirety
of Hannah Circle; Old
Vidalia/Lyons Road from
Highway 292 to Rigsbee;
Linda Lane from Highway
292 to Sharon Drive; Es
telle Drive from Hwy 292
to Jerry Street; Washing
ton Street Extension from
North Street East to the
Dead End; and Brice Drive
from Hwy 280 to Highway
292.
City Projects
Overstreet provided
the Council with an up
date on several ongoing
city projects. The roof re
pair at the Pal Theatre has
been completed by Hollis
Construction; the Ladson
Library repair will be com
pleted September 2. Work
will begin on the reno
vation of the Municipal
Annex in October or No
vember depending on the
availability of supplies.
He also told the Coun
cil of his findings when
reviewing the 2020 Cen
sus results. He has only
reviewed the preliminary
numbers but has found
that Vidalia’s population
appears to have increased
by 312 people while the
Toombs County Unin
corporated Area’s popula
tion has decreased by 193.
Overstreet plans to appeal
these findings to ensure
validity and accuracy in the
report.
The Council autho
rized the purchase of 21
six-foot holiday scrolls
and hardware for the City.
This purchase is a part of
a series of four purchases
to provide holiday lights
for all 84 light poles in city
limits. With the addition of
21 more scrolls, the proj
ect is halfway completed.
This purchase costs $9,856
and will be paid for using
SPLOST money.
The addition of a game
room to the Pine Gift Store
at 111 Pine Street was ap
proved through the Coun
cil’s issuance of an amuse
ment machine license to
Dilipkumar Patel. The
Police Department, Fire
Department, and Zoning
Board all approved this en
deavor.
Elections
continued from page 3A
cil member. The Ward 2
seat on the Council was
left vacant with the death
on December 5, 2019 of
longtime Councilman Ben
Mitchell.
City of Santa Claus Elec
tion
Two at-large posts are
up for election in Santa
Claus; however, only one
candidate, incumbent Wil
liam Powell, has qualified
as of Monday. The election
has been extended until
Tuesday at 5 p.m. In the
event no one qualifies for
this seat, the city will call
for a special election and
set a new qualifying date,
said Toombs Elections Su
pervisor Carey Alligood.
City of Alamo Election
In Wheeler County,
incumbents in two at-large
Alamo City Council posts
who qualified last week are
unopposed. These seats are
occupied by Bobby Cox
and Patricia Woodard.
Woodard ran for and
won election to the post
held by Tommy Spell in
2020. City Council seats
are four-year terms.
As of Monday morn
ing, incumbent Council
man Harry Lewis had not
qualified and no one else
had qualified to seek his
post; therefore, the quali
fying period for the Coun
cil election was extended
through Tuesday at 5 p.m.,
said Wheeler County
Superintendent of Elec
tions and Registrar Sheila
Cheek.
Cheek explained that
write-in candidates may
seek election, but they
must qualify by August 27.
The write-in candidate’s in
tent to seek election must
be submitted to the Board
of Elections and published
publicly prior to the elec
tion.
The City of Alamo
election ballot will include
a referendum to issue a
license for the sale of al
cohol by the drink, to be
consumed on the premises
only, at any qualifying es
tablishment within the city
limits of Alamo.
Montgomery County
Elections
In Montgomery Coun
ty, posts 1-4 are up for elec
tion in the City of Alley.
The incumbents, L.C. Wil
liams, Post 1; Curtis Smi
ley Post 2; Earl Bell, Post 3;
and Rhett Thompson, Post
4, have no opposition.
In Mount Vernon, the
four qualifying candidates,
William “Bill” Black, Har
old Quarterman, Sr., Craig
Snead, Sr. and Jerry “Hop-
py” Sikes are unopposed.
According to local of
ficials, these municipali
ties do not plan to hold
elections because most
candidates are unopposed
and incumbent; thus, it is
understood that the candi
dates would vote for them
selves to receive the single
vote needed to be elected.
Georgia code was cited in a
notice to cancel these elec
tions.
Sikes's special election
is to fill the unexpired term
of the late John Roller, who
had two years left in his
term.
The City of Uvalda
is holding an election for
the Mayor and three City
Council seats, but at press
time had not provided
further information. The
City of Alston could not be
reached for information.
SIADO KIA Solution ’ page 12A
Fun By The
Numbers
Like puzzles?
Then you'll love
sudoku. This
mind-bending
puzzle will have
you hooked from
the moment you
square off, so
sharpen your
pencil and put
your sudoku
savvy to the test!
Level: Intermediate
Here’s How It Works:
Sudoku puzzles are formatted as a 9x9 grid, broken down into nine
3x3 boxes. To solve a sudoku, the numbers 1 through 9 must fill each
row, column and box. Each number can appear only once in each row,
column and box. You can figure out the order in which the numbers will
appear by using the numeric clues already provided in the boxes. The
more numbers you name, the easier it gets to solve the puzzle!
1
2
5
4
7
8
1
5
9
7
8
9
3
5
4
7
6
9
9
4
8
0
3
4
1
Shaw
continued from page 1A
open.
When the officer ex
ited his vehicle to investi
gate, he found Dr. Shaw’s
body in the adjacent ditch.
Chief Walker said there
was no evidence at the
scene to indicate why Dr.
Shaw left her vehicle.
Based on the wounds
on Dr. Shaw’s body, the
investigating officers sus
pected that Dr. Shaw sus
tained fatal bites inflicted
in an animal attack. A pre
liminary report following
an autopsy conducted at
the State Crime Lab con
firmed the cause of death
as multiple bite wounds,
the chief said. Further
testing conclusively deter
mined the cause of death
and that the animals se
cured by law enforcement
were involved, Walker
said.
Three of the four dogs
thought to be responsible
for the death were located
soon after the body was
discovered. Two of the
dogs were wearing collars
with their owner’s name.
The chief confirmed
that the three bulldog mix
dogs are still being held at
the Lyons Animal Control
facility and are considered
Dr. Nancy Shaw
evidence in the case. The
chief said the fourth dog
was shot and killed by a
Lyons resident when it
attempted to break into a
chicken pen at his neigh
bor’s property.
The chief said both the
City of Lyons and Toombs
County have leash laws
that prohibit animals from
roaming. “Animals must
be in a pen or on a leash,”
he said.
He said Dr. Shaw, who
lived alone, died about a
mile from her home on
Skyline Boulevard. A na
tive of Providence, Rhode
Island, Dr. Shaw relocated
to Vidalia after being re
cruited by Meadows Re
gional Medical Center.
She was a member of the
MRMC hospitalist team
from 2012 until her death.
Georgia PSC to put
off deciding who
pays for Plant Vogtle
cost overruns
By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
The state agency that
regulates Georgia utilities
is no longer going to ap
prove incremental costs
associated with the Plant
Vogtle nuclear expansion.
The Georgia Pub
lic Service Commission
(PSC) voted unanimous
ly Tuesday to postpone
further decisions on the
mounting costs of the
long-delayed project and
whether those expenses
can be passed on to cus
tomers until after the
work is completed.
Under a stipula
tion agreement the PSC
staff and Georgia Power
reached late last month,
the commission approved
$670 million the Atlanta-
based utility spent on the
project during the last half
of last year. While the PSC
will continue reviewing
Georgia Power’s spend
ing at the plant south of
Augusta every six months
going forward, it will not
vote on those costs.
Tuesday’s vote came
after it became clear that
Georgia Power’s share of
the project’s capital costs
have exceeded a $7.3 bil
lion cap the commission
set in 2017 when it agreed
to let the utility finish the
project despite massive
delays and cost overruns.
Georgia Power an
nounced last month that
its share of those capital
costs had increased to
$9.2 billion.
The overall price tag
for the Vogtle expansion
being shared by Geor
gia Power and three util
ity partners has nearly
doubled from the original
estimate of $14 billion
approved by the commis
sion in 2009 to about $26
billion.
The first of the two
new reactors originally
was scheduled for comple
tion in 2016, with the sec
ond reactor to go into ser
vice one year later. But the
work has run into signifi
cant delays, partly due to
the bankruptcy of prime
contractor Westinghouse
and, more recently, to
workforce shortages aris
ing from the coronavirus
pandemic.
Under the latest revi
sion to the schedule, the
first new reactor is ex
pected to go into service
in the second quarter of
next year, with the second
to follow in the first quar
ter of 2023.
Tuesday’s vote by the
PSC not to make any de
cisions on the rising costs
of the project until after it
is completed doesn’t take
Georgia Power customers
off the hook for picking up
the bill eventually.
“This stipulation in
no way limits or prohib
its Georgia Power from
bringing expenditures
above $7.3 billion to the
commission for verifi
cation and approval, or
for inclusion in [the cus
tomer] rate base, at a lat
er time,” the agreement
states.
Still, putting off a de
termination on how much
of the cost overruns cus
tomers will have to absorb
is good news, said Kurt
Ebersbach, senior attor
ney for the Atlanta-based
Southern Environmental
Law Center.
“[Georgia Power]
could have come in again
and sought commission
approval for the $9.2
billion,” he said. “[But]
they’ve got quality con
trol issues. ... It was not
a good time for them to
come forward and seek
approval for an additional
$2 billion.”