Newspaper Page Text
♦ THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2006
6A
COUNTY
From page iA
with what we originally
approved,” Commission
Chairman Ned Sanders
added of the R-4 request.
At the city level, the
request was tabled and
deferred last week by the
Warner Robins Planning
and Zoning Commission to
its next meeting on Oct. 10
meeting at developer Donald
Faith's request as he was not
able to attend the meeting.
About 20 residents had
turned out to speak against
it and outside City Hall after
the meeting, they said the
rezoning would negatively
affect them with addition
al and unacceptable traf
fic in the Lake Joy Road
area including Highway 96,
Scarlett Drive, Twelve Oaks
Drive and Lovorn Circle.
They were not at the
County Commission meet
ing on Tuesday, however.
The Centerville request
was initially to rezone 46.261
acres off Dunbar road from
R-l (single family residen
tial three-quarter acre lots)
to R-3.
In a letter dated Sept. 14
to Centerville Mayor Harold
Edwards, Sanders said the
7,500 square-foot lot size
was not in keeping with the
residential character of the
surrounding neighborhood’s
R-l to 5-acre lots.
- At the beginning of the
meeting Commissioner Jay
FACILITY
From page iA
contract to a Flint Energies
member, International City
Builders of Warner Robins,”
said Ray. “It will take about
18 months to complete the
construction project.”
The project has a total cost
of $lO million, with land
scaping and furnishings,
said Jimmy Autry, senior
vice president of Member
and Community Relations
for Flint Energies.
Autry noted the two-story
building would include five
drive-thru lanes and house
50 Flint employees, including
all of those from the Elberta
Road building, as well as
some, including Autry from
the Ga. 96 facility.
There will also be two
human resources adminis
trators moving over from
Reynolds, Autry said.
The new facility will be the
member and customer ser
vice site. Once it’s open, the
drive-up window at the Ga.
96 site will be closed, Autry
said, and site will be for ser
vice and maintenance as it
was originally intended.
“This new building will
allow us to realize planning
that has been at least six
years in the making and will
facilitate better service to
our members in Houston
County, replacing the
PROJECTS
Front page iA
to discuss the county’s posi
tion that the plan involved
too high a density of popula
tion for the area, but that
the county, which legally
had seven days to ask for an
arbitrator, with a deadline
of July 27, did not make the
written request until Friday
Following Walker’s opin
ion that the vote would be
legal, the council members
present voted in favor of
approving the requests.
Council members James
Moore and Phyllis Bynum-
Grace were not present at
the meetings.
The Council also approved
requests from Jerry A. Davis
to rezone and annex 7.57
acres on Langston Road.
While Council Chambers
have been packed before
with Langston Road hom
eowners and others object
ing to the developments,
there was a small crowd on
Tuesday night.
Dee Allison spoke brief
ly at the beginning of the
meeting, asking the coun-
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Walker said the request had
changed from to R-2 (10,000-
square-foot lots). “It appears
to be a step in the right
direction,” Sanders said.
Walker asked that the
request be tabled for the
county staff to review the
request. It was unanimously
tabled.
The commissioners also
objected to both the annex
ation and the rezoning by
Perry of two tracts - the
first, 100 feet by 1,424.6 feet
along Ga. 127 to the corner
of Talton and Bear Branch
roads - and an adjacent
223.789 tract at the north
east corner of the intersec
tion.
The county questioned
whether the annexation of
the 100-foot wide tract met
state annexation statutes or
Perry building lot require
ments, as well as being
opposed to the R-3 rezoning
from R-AG.
The county noted if the
100-foor strip does not meet
the state requirements, then
the other parcel cannot be
annexed since it is not then
contiguous to Perry city lim
its.
The county recommended
approval of the annexation
of the strip along Ga. 127
was increased to 200 feet
wide.
The vote was almost
unanimous, with Walker
abstaining from the vote, as
he owns property on Bear
Branch Road.
Elberta Road building which
has exceeded its useful life,”
said Ray.
Autry said the Elberta
Road building was built in
1971.
The Flint Energies Board
of Directors began looking
for a site in 1999 and pur
chased the 38 acres in 2000,
Autry said. In 2002, the
board began setting aside a
limited amount of restricted
funds each month to pay for
the Flint Appliance Center
and this new facility.
“Money continues to
accrue into this restricted
use account to build the
new office, but additional
revenues from the Board’s
wise development strategy
will reimburse the coopera
tive and its membership for
the investment, as well as
generate new investment
revenues,” Ray added.
“Upon the sale of the por
tion of land not used by
Flint,” Ray said, “the 38.3-
acre project will provide
income for the members,
will not impact our mem
ber rates, and will assist us
in our cost-cutting by mak
ing us more efficient at a
full-service facility to serve
the members in Houston
County.”
“It is the members money
and it will be their build
ing,” Autry said.
“In the final result, Flint
expects to sell other lots
cil if they were aware of
the County Commissioners’
objections and also suggest
ing that a large subdivision
proposal off Hill Road in
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City spending SIIO,OOO
on building demolition
By RAYLIGHTNER
Journal Staff Writer
Warner Robins is spend
ing SIIO,OOO to tear down
the old Barker’s Furniture
Store.
On Monday the City
Council awarded the bid
for demolition and asbestos
abatement of the 0.96 acres
at 1100 Watson Boulevard
to Sacal Environmental and
Management Company in
Macon. To pay for it, the
council also approved the
budget transfer of $55,000
from the unobligated natu
ral gas fund. The rest will
come from a Housing and
Urban Development clear
ance and demolition com
munity development block
grant.
At its last meeting the
City Council approved tak
SUPPORT
From page iA
According to a release, in
an effort to permit parents
the opportunity to get back
on track with their monthly
payments, the OCSS distrib
out of the 38 acres, adding
these revenues to the sav
ings account and completely
paying for the new Flint
facilities on the property,”
Ray said.
And because the money
was set aside, Autry said,
Flint Energies, will be able
to pay cash for the facility
when it moves in, with no
mortgage or interest costs
on a facility built for the
next 30 years.
When asked why the set
aside funds were not used
to offset power cost increas
es, Autry said, “those sav
ings might equate to one
month’s power bill for our
members.”
Ray said Flint is “look
ing every day for ways to
cut expenses, redirecting the
funds for 30 days of relief
is not a good exchange for
30 years of improved opera
tions.”
Flint Energies spent most
of 2003 and 2004 trimming
expenses and cutting bud
gets to prepare itself for
increases in the wholesale
costs of power. Those costs,
along with the highly vola
tile costs of generation fuels,
began to increase rapidly
in January of 2005, Autry
said.
Flint’s fuel costs increased
some $25 million from 2004
to 2005 with the coopera
tive’s highest-ever Fuel Cost
Adjustment for members
Perry had been sent back
to the developers because
Councilman Riley Hunt and
City Attorney Walker live on
nearby Tucker Road.
LOCAL
ing $240,000 out of the
unobligated general fund
and transfer it to the city’s
legal department to pay for
the building at the corner
of Watson Boulevard and
Commercial Circle.
The city council also
heard from the ' city
Downtown Development
Authority, which has been
tasked with redevelopment
of Commercial Circle and
the development of the
Town Center on N. Davis
Drive. “We could spend as
much as you’d give us,”
said DDA member Tommy
Batchelor, “just starting on
Commercial Circle.”
The Authority has been
attempting to purchase
buildings along Commercial
Circle to keep the look uni
form. The Catholic church
(Sacred Heart’s Knight
uted approximately 500 let
ters in the Houston County
area. This is an opportunity
for parents to catch up on
their financial obligations.
“Our objective is to ensure
that children receive the
support they need for the
from the fall of 2005. Those
fuel costs continue today,
Autry said, and based on
future projections, rates for
Flint members are likely
to increase in the future.
However, those increases
will be driven by increasing
power costs and fuel costs,
he emphasized, not the costs
of a new building.
“This land project is not
only good for Flint and its
members, but it allows us
to ‘touch’ our market and
be visible to the commu
nity as a whole,” said Ray.
“We will continue to sup
port our neighborhood and
actively demonstrate our
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poor's 13
of Columbus Hall) and
the barbershop have been
working with them on the
appearance of their build
ings, but others have not
been as cooperative namely
the old union hall.
The roof has collapsed
and a tree is growing inside
the building, but they
have refused offers for it.
Batchelor said the Knights
of Columbus offered them
SIO,OOO for it.
If the city condemned the
building, it would have to
tear it down, and it would
lose the historical fagade.
“The DDA has a hard
time when we don’t have
any restrictions on what
they can do,” Councilman
Dean Cowart said, referring
to property owners.
The DDA has put a new
roof and a stucco facade
necessities of life and that
families can remain self-suf
ficient,” said OCSS Director
Cindy Moss. “We want to
work with both parents in a
spirit of cooperation”.
OCSS has nearly 500,000
child support cases and rep
Commitment to Community
as part of the Touchstone
Energy brand.”
Incorporated in 1937,
Flint Energies is an elec
tric membership cooperative
that provides energy services
to residential, commercial,
industrial and agricultural
members in parts of 17 cen
tral Georgia counties.
Flint has 230 employ
ees and serves more than
250,000 Georgians through
more than 77,400 meters.
Flint’s physical plant con
sists of nearly 6,100 miles of
distribution line and 49 sub
stations located within Bibb,
Chattahoochee, Crawford,
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
on its building and have
approved some facade
grants for other sites on
Commercial Circle.
They are also working
with another store, trying
to locate land for a potential
swap. Batchelor described it
as “a local store somewhat
of a blight there, with tires
out front.”
Mayor Donald Walker said
“it will be much more vis
ible once the other building
comes down. It will really
expose that.”
The DDA and the city
are also working to buy the
Tabor Drive apartments,
some of which are burned
out. Walker said the city
“will soon make improve
ments - get them all torn
down.” He said the owner
is currently in foreclosure
proceedings with the bank.
resents over 500,000 chil
dren. Anyone owing child
support who did not receive
a letter and is not already
subject to an enforcement
action is encouraged to call
the office at 478-988-7700
for an appointment.
Dooly, Harris, Houston,
Macon, Marion, Monroe,
Muscogee, Peach, Schley,
Sumter, Taylor, Talbot,
Twiggs and Upson Counties.
The system also includes the
Fort Benning military post.
Flint is the seventh larg
est of Georgia’s 42 EMCs
and the 34th largest of the
nation’s nearly 1,000 rural
electric cooperatives.
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