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' LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY, city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville VOLUME 136, NUMBER 245 BELOW THE FOLD: Commissioners raise legislative concerns ■ Great Christmas Tree Round-up set for January Thursday December 28, 2006 The Home Journal’s FRONT PORCH IN BRIEF Georgia Cares sends out reminder Georgia Cares SNIP volunteers are reminding Medicare benefi ciaries that they are not required to make a co-payment when receiving a flu shot because flu vaccinations are covered under Medicare, Georgia Cares is admin istered through the Department of Human Resources Division of Aging Services. "One of the best ways to pre vent getting the flu is to receive a flu vaccine,' said DAS Director Maria Greene. “Seniors who are on Medicare do not have to pay for the vaccine; Medicare should be billed for it. We encourage all Medicare beneficiaries to call Georgia Cares toll-free at 1-800- 669-8387 if anyone bills Medicare and attempts to charge them for a flu vaccine.” Georgia Cares will forward any complaints to the Office of Inspector General or other appro priate agencies for investigation. High Museum bus trip planned The Fine Art Society of Middle Georgia is planning a trip to the High Museum, Woodruff Arts Center in Atlanta Jan 16. 2007. The bus will leave from Warner Robins Senior Citizens Center at 9 a.m. and return around 6 p.m. The cost is $24 which includes transportation and admission to the museum. To sign up call Pat at 929-2891. Correction: In the Dec. 21 story “Grant hinges on unincorporated fire ser vice” the response times to two fires were wrong. While the 20-minute time were correctly quoted, from the fire chief and the mayor, their state ments were not factually correct according to Houston County Fire Chief Jimmy Williams. Williams said county volunteer firefight ers responded to each fire “in nine minutes, according to 911 records, which is pretty good for volunteers.” And in one incident the house was fully involved when the 911 call was made by Warner Robins firefighters. BIRTHDAYS E-mail your birthdays to: hhj@evansnewspapers.com or donm@evansnewspapers. com or send them to: 1210 Washington St., Perry 31069 attn: Don Moncrief. You can also call him at 987-1823, Ext. 231. PERIODICAL 500 Villi 8 *55108 00001* 4 Award-Winning Better Newspaper Contest !■■))■ Hi mill i!lii l iilill| li,| I i,|| ii ,|| iiii ,! i || iii || COOI * GEORGIA NEWSPAPER PROJECT Main Library UN IV OF GEORGIA ATHENS GA 3G6Q2-GGG2 3-DIGIT 306 December 28, 2006 Serving ffimsrm Cmsty Since 1870 Police seek suspects in robberies By RAY LIGHTNER Journal Staff Writer Warner Robins Police are seeking suspects in three separate armed robberies - one on Dec. 22 and the others Tuesday night. The first robbery took place at the 700 North Davis Drive Citgo. On Dec. 22, officers of the Patrol Division were dispatched about at 9:51 p.m., in reference to an armed robbery. IP* i. H * me /jjl all ' m /AWm® \ Effete. 7 ! j |§k wjtnfe ■ pPBJ<' -vtllpPPs mK tPR BMW lM— — —— HiihliMiiiiiii 1 III! Mil——iliamw—mil/ in i —wo——— ENI/Gary Harmon Members of Perry High School's basketball team receive the first-place trophy for winning the Chick-fil-A Bear Brawl basketball tournament held Wednesday-Saturday at Houston County High School. For more on the annual tourna ment, see 18. Commissioners raise legislative concerns By RATLIGHTNER Journal Staff Writer The Houston County Commissioners, during a meeting this past week, raised several concerns on possible legislation with the local legislative delegation in a meeting that included city officials, who also had concerns. Besides several land use issues - including annexation, infrastruc ture development districts, Oaky Woods - and septage (see previous stories in the Houston Daily Journal), local officials also raised issues including inverse con demnation, wells, tax issues and run-off election costs. Commission Chairman Ned Sanders explained inverse condemnation as: when a government physi cally intrudes or signifi cantly interferes with the use of private property. Both county and city officials were opposed to any effort in the Legislature to broaden the concept. Sanders said some individuals want to expand the concept to include regu latory decisions which will put local zoning ordinanc es, tree ordinances, historic preservation ordinances, erosion and sedimentation controls and stream buf fers at risk. He said changes would impact local budgets with legal fees and court www.hhjnews.com Upon arrival, the cashier report ed three black males entered, one brandishing a pistol and demand ing money. The suspect fled after obtaining an undisclosed amount of money. No one was injured during the incident. The suspects were described as black males about 5-foot,B-inches tall and about 150-160 pounds. The first suspect was wear ing camouflage pants with a black sweatshirt and wasm described as a Bear Brawl champs "It is a lose-lose deal. Developers sue us for denying use of land they can then sell for a premium price. If we approve the rezoning, area residents sue for the Impact and loss of value on their land." - Commissioner Tom McMicbael delays on public projects. “It is a lose-lose deal,” said Commissioner Tom McMichael. “Developers sue us for denying use of land they can then sell for a pre mium price. If we approve the rezoning, area residents sue for the impact and loss of value on their land.” Centerville City manager Patrick Eidson said such lawsuits “would cripple the city of Centerville with our small budget.” Commissioner Jay Walker said he had “mixed emotions about it. That’s where I have a problem because citizens are losing enjoyment of their land.” Commissioner Larry Thomson said “the Health Department is doing that now, denying public wells to residents who have a water line in front of their prop erty, whether it’s two acres or 100 acres.” He said this includes wells just used for irrigation. “It’s not hurting our water light-skinned black male. The second suspect was wearing blue jeans and a black short sleeve shirt. The third suspect was wearing a dark shirt and dark shorts. Anyone with information about the armed robbery at the Citgo is asked to contact Det. Karen Stokes of the Warner Robins Police Department Criminal Investigation Division at 918-2980. The first of the two Tuesday night incidents occurred in the parking lot supply,” Thomson said, “it helps the county out dur ing drought times because they’re not using the county water supply.” He asked the legislators for “some relaxation on punitive action, some relief with property acreage and setbacks.” Mayor Donald Walke- told the commissioners “you appoint them,” referri ig to the local Board of H ;alth, “you can hire them, yc a can fire them.” Sanders said, “the/ are enforcing the laws o the state.” Representative L. rry O’Neal said the Jate requires 1.5 acres for x well, “the county requires he tie on is a waterline is avail able.” The taxation issues includ ed changes in motor fuel tax collection, increasing tax exemptions and a property tax freeze. Sanders suggested local sales taxes should be col- lected at the distribution point instead of at the retail level and instead of more taxes, improve the method of collection. Sanders said he is “asking for consideration for local taxation purposes, “so we don’t have to rely on diminished retail sales.” Representative Tony Sellier asked if part of the problem was “improper record keeping?” Other officials said that was a nice way of putting it. O’Neal said collection would be increased better than 20 percent. “We will see a significant magnifica tion on the collection of sales tax,” he said. He added, “the change is because of different sales tax rates throughout the sate. We needed a look back system since prices change daily.” Tolleson said “most people in the fuel industry like it because it makes (for) a level playing field.” The commissioners were strongly apposed to legisla tion to increase tax exemp tions on ad velorem taxes. Sanders said, “it is local rev enue for local government to carry out what is required to carry our duties. It’s not an undue taxation.” McMichael said “we don’t need to shift everything back to the property owners.” See CONCERNS, page 108 an Evans Family Newspaper Three sections • 24 pages of Secrets Lounge. At approximately 6:30 p.m., officers responded to 844 N. Houston Road to investigate the reported armed robbery. The victim reported he was in the parking lot when three black males robbed him at gunpoint. The suspects then fled the scene on foot. A juvenile was apprehended in the area of the lounge and was identified as one of the three suspects. He was arrested and charged See ROBBERIES, page 108 Housing permits drop in November By RAY LIGHTNER Journal Staff Writer Housing permits in all of Houston County dropped about 31.33 percent from October to November. The number of single family dwelling per mits issued countywide dropped from 150 in October to only 103 in November. It is also down from the 155 issued in November 2005. While there were increases in the unin corporated areas and in Centerville, the number of permits dropped in Perry and in Warner Robins. Warner Robins had the largest drop, at 50 per cent, from 86 in October to 43 in November. The 43 permits is also down from 65 in November 2005. In Perry, permits dropped 41.6667 percent in November with 14 from the 24 in October. It is down significantly from the 44 issued in November 2005. The increase in Centerville was only See PERMITS, page ioB Great Christmas Tree Round-up set tor new year Special to the Journal The Great Christmas Tree Round-Up will take place locally Jan. 6, 2007 on Maple Street. The event, co-sponsored by Flint Energies and ABC Proffessional Tree Services and hosted by Keep Warner Robins Beautiful, will run from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. During that time, free tree seed lings will be given in exchange for Christmas trees. Provided by the KWRB organization, here are some interesting live Christmas tree facts: ■ Christmas tree farms have environmental ben efits. They replenish the environment’s oxygen supply, serve as wildlife habitat, increase soil sta bility and provide a valu able and aesthetically pleasing improvement to the land. ■ Christmas trees are frequently, or can be, planted on barren See TREE, page toB