Newspaper Page Text
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VOLUME 136 , NUMBER 140
Thursday
July 20, 2006
The Home Journal’s
FRONT
PORCH
INSIDE
■ Warner Robins High
School finished 18th overall in
the Georgia Athletic Directors
Association Dodge Directors Cup,
a measure of the school’s athletic
programs, while Houston County
finished 23rd.
Also, the Warner Robins
American Little League continues
its tradition of winning titles.
- See 1B
IN BRIEF
Lane closure
■ The Georgia Department
of Transportation has closed one
right lane of I-75 through today for
resurfacing. The location of the
closure begins 1.5 miles north of
exit 138 (SR 11 Connector/North
Perry Parkway) in the northbound
lanes. Work is scheduled to begin
each evening at 7 p.m. and end
at 5 a.m.
The DOT is urging all motorists
to '‘exercise extreme caution in
the work areas due to the per
sonnel and equipment on site.”
All necessary signs, barrels, and
cones will be in place to alert
motorists of the construction.
Byron yard sale
Byron Better Hometown is'
sponsoring a community wide
yard sale Aug. 5 from 8 a.m. until
2 p.m. According to a release
from the organization, there is no
charge to set up.
Locations available include By
ron United Methodist Church
parking lot and the parking lots
at the old school on the corner of
Main Street and Moseley Road.
Call 478-956-5555 for more infor
mation.
BIRTHDAYS
Tuesday
■ Lyndie Thomas
Today
■ Mark Kushinka
E-mail your birthdays to:
hhjnews@evansnewspapers.
com or send them to: 1210
Washington St., Perry 31069;
attn: Don Moncrief.
DEATHS
■ Dorothy Nell Eggler
INDEX
LOCAL . . .2 A
WEATHER 3 A
OPINION 4 A
LIFESTYLE....... 1C
SPORTS 1 B
COMICS 4 B
CLASSIFIEDS .... 5 B
PERIODICAL 50$
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GEORGIA NEWSPAPER PROJECT
Main Library
GNIV OF GEORGIA
ATHENS GA 30602-0002
3-DIGIT 306
July 19, 2006
LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY,
city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville
Centerville holds its liquor, taxes, too
Postpones vote on both until 2007
By KIMBERLY CASSEL
PRITCHETT
HHJ Contributing Writer
Centerville residents will have
quite a while to contemplate wheth
er or not seniors age 70 and over
should be exempt from property
taxes and whether or not the sale
of alcohol by the drink should be
allowed on Sundays.
In the regular Tuesday night work
Local voting
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ENI/Gary Harmon
Jane and Skeet Hulbert, along with their son Matthew sign up to vote Tuesday at Perry
Primary School. Assisting them at right is pollworker Catherine Ingram.
Perdue, Collins and Walker pick up wins;
some maverick voting in other races
Editor's Note: For pre
cinct votes in Houston
County see page 108.
By CHARLOTTE PERKINS
Journal Staff Writer
The voter turnout was
nothing to brag about, with
only 19.2 percent of Houston
County’s 55,995 registered
voters turning out, bragging
rights still went to native
son, Gov. Sonny Perdue,
who pulled in 5,722 votes
PY debates impact fees for some
By KRISTY WARREN
Journal Staff Writer
Perry City Council is look
ing into impact fees to offset
the price of development.
At Tuesday night’s work
session, the city council
agreed to seek proposals
from consulting firms to look
at the possibility of charging
fees which would in turn be
used for a new fire station
and park construction.
WWW.HHJNEWS.COM
session, Centerville Council decided
not to hold a special election for the
two referendums pertaining to taxes
and alcohol. Instead, they decided to
put it on the November 2007 ballot.
“This gives us a long time to do
whatever we need to do,” Mayor
Harold M. Edwards Jr. said, adding
that it won’t cost the city any addi
tional funds.
During the discussion of the issue,
locally against challenger
Ray Mcßerry’s 485.
Perdue who had a land
slide statewide against a
long shot opponent, will now
square off against one of his
longstanding adversaries, Lt.
Gov. Mark Taylor, who won
the Democratic Primary.
That decision will be made
by voters in the general elec
tion in November. Perdue
will be in Perry Aug. 5 for
a major rally in the Miller-
According to City Manager
Lee Gilmour, due to the
hefty rules and regulations
associated with impact fees,
these projects were chosen
because they are the easiest
to implement. A state plan
has been established for fire
stations and the master plan
is already in existence for a
park.
“Because of the meth
odology and state law
’This gives us a long
Ume to do whatever we
need to do.'
- Centerville Mayor Harold Edwards Jr.,
on postponement of a vote on property
taxes on seniors age 70 and above as well
as alcohol sales on Sunday
the idea of putting the referendum
to the public vote in a special elec
tion this November was knocked
Murphy-Howard building
at the Georgia National
Fairgrounds.
Jay Walker, the
only Houston County
Commissioner facing a pri
mary challenge, won his
party’s nomination handily,
with 4,363 votes to Wayne
Overholt’s 1,582. Walker
will now face Democrat
Maurice Braswell in the
general election.
See RACES, page 5A
requirements, the city
wanted experts,” Gilmour
explained.
The regulations take into
consideration benefits for:
New development, time
frame, and the formula for
charging the fee. Impact fees
cannot fund the development
of facilities that exceed cur
rent services, Gilmour said.
“For example,” said
See FEES, page 5A
TWO SECTIONS • 20 PAQES
Below the fold
■ Hospital presents its expansion plans
■ Perry considers impact fees for developers
County says no
Gooch-y coochy
By RAY LIGHTNER
Journal Staff Writer
There will not be a bar at
the old Montessori school
on Dunbar Road.
“The only reason is loca
tion,” Commissioner Tom
McMichael told Charlie
Gooch during the County
Commission meeting
Tuesday. “It’s a poor loca
tion to put it in.”
Gooch, from Taylor
County, had requested a
beer, wine and liquor pour
ing license to put a tavern
at 501 Dunbar Road.
The building was pre
viously the Rainbow
Montessori School and still
has playground equipment.
Gooch said the fenced in
playground area would
have been used for parking
for his tavern.
The commissioners’ con
cern was the proximity
of residences to the site.
McMicheal noted there is a
mobile home park adjacent
to the property with four to
six of the trailers backing
up to the property. “The
real problem is consump
tion next to residences,”
McMichael said.
“People are 10-feet from
the property line,” added
Commissioner Jay Walker.
Walker made the motion
to deny the request, which
McMichael seconded and
the commission unani
mously approved.
Hospital presents
its expansion plan
By RAY LIGHTNER
Journal Staff Writer
Houston Medical
Center’s long-range plans
include more than $250
million in expansion, reno
vation and replacement. It
includes three four-story
bed or office towers and a
new energy plant as well as
expansion of the Women’s
Center and a new entrance
along Watson Boulevard.
Architect Robert Farrow,
senior vice president of
HKS, the firm contracted
to design the project, pre
sented the multi-phase
project to Warner Robins
city officials Tuesday. Phase
1 includes a bed tower and
new energy plant, which is
in the design phase now.
The city council approved
a zoning request for three
parcels of land totaling
down by council. A special elec
tion would cost the city more than
SI,OOO and would require voters to
go to two separate polling places
- one for the vote for governor and
one for the referendum.
“I don’t want to spend money in
a non-election year,” Councilman
Cameron Andrews said, adding that
he thought it would “make people
mad” to have to go to two places to
vote.
Councilman Randall Wright
See HOLDS, page 10A
McMichael told Gooch,
“come back with another
location and I’ll be glad
to make the motion to
approve it.”
The commissioners did,
however, vote unanimously
to approve a package liquor
store in Bonaire. County
Administrator Steve Engle
told the board the request
from Minaxi Patel for beer,
wine and liquor sales at
351 A Highway 247 South,
meets the minimum dis
tance requirements from
schools, churches and resi
dences.
Commissioner Larry
Thomson made the motion
to approve the request,
which McMichael second
ed.
“There’s no consumption
on premises,” McMichael
said, “it’s strictly pack
age.”
The new building under
construction will be called
Bob’s Package Store.
The commission also
approved the purchase of a
second scale at the county
landfill and a canopy to
cover it. “It’s something we
needed and was budgeted
for, McMichael said, “to
avoid a head-on collision.”
He explained that cus
tomers - residents and
haulers - currently have
to go in and out over the
same scale.
See NO, page 5A
1.53 acres along Briarcliff
Road, for part of that on
Monday. That is where the
energy plant will be locat
ed with an underground
tunnel connecting it to the
hospital.
Art Christie from the
Houston Medical Center
noted the energy plant
will replace a lot of older
parts in the hospital. The
existing plant is located in
the basement and will be
decommissioned, once the
new one is in place.
By 2010 most of the old
buildings will have been
demolished, Farrow said.
The 102-bed bed tower
will have four stories and
a basement, with the
mechanical portion in the
basement.
The new lobby and a
See PLAN, page 5A