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The ADVANCE, October 6, 2021 /Page 17A
Photo by Makaylee Randolph
HEALTHCARE HEROES — The Vidalia City Council honored the staff of Memorial Health
Meadows Hospital with the monthly Sweet Onion Citizen award for September, This is
the first time this award has gone to a group rather than an individual. Shown, from
left, are Human Resources Vice President Hillary Tapley, Chief Nursing Officer Jeffrey
Harden, Chief Executive Officer Matt Hasbrouck, and Vidalia Mayor Doug Roper,
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continued from page 1A
edgement of and compli
ance to each office’s Code
of Ethics.
This new election
agreement is in place for
the 2021, 2022, and 2023
elections. Through this
contract, the Toombs
County Board of Elec
tions Supervisor will be
responsible for oversee
ing the qualifying of can
didates for city elections;
qualification fees will be
split between Vidalia and
Toombs County gov
ernments. As usual, the
Toombs County Election
Superintendent will also
oversee the publication of
election notices.
Also, the county will
file ethics disclosures for
all elected officials within
the City government;
however, the City will be
responsible for legal ser
vices regarding these ac
tions.
Each election will
cost the City $12,000,
which will be paid to the
Toombs County Com
mission for supplies and
compensation for work
ers.
Engineering Firm Ap
proved f
or Water Project
ESG Engineering was
selected by the Council to
conduct all brown water
solutions projects within
the City in the future. City
Manager Nick Overstreet
said details of these proj
ects would be provided
within the next month.
The Council received
a total of three qualifica
tion proposals through
the Georgia Procurement
Registry from the fol
lowing companies: ESG
Engineering, Hofstadter
and Associates, andj. Ben
Turnipseed Engineering.
Of these companies, ESG
Engineering scored the
highest on the Council
and City Manager’s rating
of qualifications.
Widening and Resurfac
ing of Streets
During a called meet
ing on September 17,
the Council awarded the
bid for the resurfacing
and widening of several
streets to Sikes Broth
ers. This project will cost
$960,992.92, which will
be funded through the
Transportation Invest
ment Act funding. This
funding originates from
the one cent sales tax the
city of Vidalia charges
during retail transactions.
Rudell Road and a
portion of Currie Street
will undergo repaving,
while Semco Road, Tru
man Street, and Lowrie
Place all are repaved along
with the gutter and curbs
surrounding them. Pete
Phillips Drive and Brin
son Road will both be re
paved and widened.
The City of Vidalia
tentatively plans for the
Notice to Proceed to be is
sued by October 15; after
this issuance, Sikes Broth
ers will have 210 days to
complete the task.
Purchase of Captain’s
Corner Property
The Council approved
the City’s purchase of the
property at 201 Stockyard
Road, which has been the
location for the Captain’s
Corner restaurant for
many years.
This purchase will oc
cur through the Georgia
Municipal Association
(GMA) Brick and Mortar
Program. Gray Pannell &
Woodward law firm has
overseen the purchase,
and during a public work
shop prior to the official
Council meeting on Sep
tember 13, law firm Asso
ciate Stephen Swinson ex
plained what this program
entails.
According to Swin
son, upon this purchase,
the GMA will become
the owner of the property,
and the title will be placed
in the organization’s
name. With the title in
the GMA’s name, the City
may begin work on the
area. The GMA will sell
the property back to the
City over the time of the
financing, which the City
establishes with a bank.
Council members also
unanimously approved
the project’s financing
with Altamaha Bank and
Trust, which had the best
interest rate bid of 1.21%.
The cost of the property
totals $650,000, but the
additional cost of issuance
and other necessary mea
sures adds $50,000 to this
expense. Payments will
be made quarterly to the
bank for five years before
the City gains full owner
ship. Swinson said the tar
geted closing date is the
week of October 11.
Sweet Onion Citizen
Award
The presentation of
the monthly “Sweet On
ion Citizen” Award had
a unique twist. Rather
than being presented to
a singular individual, the
Council presented the
staff of Memorial Health
Meadows Hospital with
this honor.
Vidalia Mayor Doug
Roper informed Memo
rial Health Meadows
Hospital CEO Matt Has
brouck of the origin and
purpose of the award. “Up
until now, this award has
been presented to a single
individual. The idea is to
shine a light and recognize
those individuals in our
community that are doing
great things.”
Roper continued, “In
light of what we’ve been
experiencing over the last
18 to 24 months, we felt
like it would be the right
thing to do to recognize
your staff. Our desire is
that you would take this
back to the staff at Mead
ows as a thank you for
what they do every single
day,” he explained.
Hasbrouck, along
with Chief Nursing Of
ficer Jeffrey Harden and
Vice President of Human
Resources Hillary Tapley,
accepted the award on be
half of the employees of
the hospital.
“I am so blessed to be
in Toombs County and
Vidalia with these amaz
ing fellow colleagues and
coworkers,” Hasbrouck
said. “We accept this hon
or with great thanks on
behalf of the entire staff at
Memorial Health Mead
ows Hospital. We are
committed to this com
munity and this region, to
our fellow patients, com
munity members, and
loved ones.”
Tapley added, “We
appreciate your support
so much. This community
has been so supportive of
our hospital always, but
even more so over the last
three months throughout
all of this.”
“Not only that,” Hard
en commented, “but be
cause we have partnered
with HCA, we have amaz
ing leadership like Matt,
and have been able to re
trieve any resources we
need. All I have had to
do is call and within 24
hours, whatever I have
needed has been sitting
on the back dock. I cannot
tell you how much that
means to me compared to
the last surge, where I did
not know if we were going
to have everything that we
needed.”
He concluded, “Those
provisions by the HCA
and the support from the
community have truly giv
en us everything we need
ed to get through this.”
City Updates
Vidalia Police De
partment Captain James
Jermon shared a message
of encouragement and
excitement regarding sev
eral new potential hires
for the department during
the regular meeting. “We
had interviews this morn
ing (September 13), and I
truly believe we are going
to get at least three out
of the four that we inter
viewed this morning.”
He informed the
Council that the selec
tion procedure for the
police department is a 14-
step process to aid in the
search for the “best officer
that [they] can put on the
street.”
City Marshal Shaun
Oliver said that a few
new permits have been
obtained throughout the
previous months, includ
ing permits for a building
renovation, duplex, and
triplex.
The Ladson Library
roof has been repaired
completely and has passed
inspection.
Community Events
The Savor Vidalia
event that was scheduled
to be held at The Pal on
October 7 has been can
celled and is expected to
be rescheduled in Febru
ary.
The Greater Vidalia
Chamber REACH pro
gram is underway until
November 20.
Downtown Vidalia
Association (DVA) Ex
ecutive Director Tonya
Parker said that this year’s
theme for the Vidalia
Christmas Parade will
be “Inside Santa’s Work
shop.” Also, this year, the
parade entry will feature a
$20 entrance fee and a $40
late entrance fee to ensure
participants remain ambi
tious to accomplish the
theme and/or create a
memorable experience for
attendees.
Alcohol and Game
Room License
Alcohol and game
room licenses were
awarded to Kokilaben Ut-
tambha Patel for the Lotto
Mart Lottery Junction
115 LLC, which is located
at 115 West Pine Street.
Councilman Thompson
abstained from voting on
the alcohol license, but
the game room license was
unanimously approved.
Georgia cops, firefighters,
other first responders
getting $1,000 bonuses
STUDENTS OF THE MONTH — J. D, Dickerson Primary School has announced Students
of the Month for September. (L to R): Top row: Alejandro Ramirez-Rojas, Corey McLin,
Haiden Allen, Tyson Spell, Jeniya Phillips, Third row: Saige Johnson, Jaxson Cameron,
Sabastian Hernandez, Benzli Butler, Durham Roper, Second row: Payson Wickstrom,
Jordan Lawson, Riley Hill, Laney Martin, Front row: John Hayes, Jackson Register, Wyatt
Shirley, and Hailee McCallum. Not pictured: Denitra Legrant.
By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
Gov. Brian Kemp and
Georgia House Speaker
David Ralston Monday
announced the next step
in state Republican lead
ership’s commitment to
prioritize public safety.
The state will offer
one-time $1,000 bonuses
to nearly 81,000 police of
ficers, firefighters and oth
er emergency respond
ers throughout Georgia,
Kemp said during a news
conference inside the
state Capitol. The $100
million initiative comes
in addition to $25 million
in bonuses Ralston pro
posed in July for a smaller
group of sworn law en
forcement officers.
The governor and
speaker said Georgia’s
first responders have
weathered tremendous
hardships in the last 18
months dealing with the
coronavirus pandemic
and a loss of respect for
law enforcement that ac
companied the national
“defund the police” move
ment sparked by some
street protesters last sum
mer.
“We know it’s never
been harder to wear a
badge,” said Ralston, R-
Blue Ridge. “We want to
ensure our officers know
we appreciate their ser
vice and sacrifice.”
Kemp said police and
fire departments and oth
er emergency response
agencies will be able to
apply to the Governor’s
Office of Planning and
Budget for grants that will
pay for the bonuses be
tween Oct. 1 and the end
of the year. The funds will
come from Georgia’s $4.8
billion share of federal
COVID-19 relief.
The money will go to
all eligible public safety
officers and first respond
ers, including police and
sheriff’s department em
ployees, parole and pro
bation officers, prison and
jail guards, emergency-
medical technicians and
paramedics, criminal in
vestigators, court bailiffs,
fish and game wardens,
911 dispatchers and evi
dence processors with the
Georgia Bureau of Inves
tigation.
The $25 million in
law enforcement raises
Ralston proposed during
the summer is part of a
$75 million allocation the
speaker is requesting to
bolster public safety and
mental health services in
Georgia.
Ralston acted to make
public safety a priority in
the aftermath of a crime
wave that has driven up
murder rates and other
violent crime in Atlanta,
other Georgia cities and
across the nation. State
House and Senate com
mittees have been hold
ing hearings to examine
the reasons for the uptick
in crime and what can be
done to address it.
Kemp announced in
July that he planned to
add crime legislation to
this year’s special legisla
tive session being held
primarily to redraw Geor
gia’s congressional and
legislative district lines.
But crime did not ap
pear on the agenda last
week when Kemp called
for the special session to
start Nov. 3. Lawmakers
instead are expected to
consider the governor’s
proposals during the
2022 regular session be
ginning in January.
The General Assem
bly approved one-time
$1,000 bonuses earlier
this year for teachers and
state employees who earn
less than $80,000 per year.