Newspaper Page Text
♦ SATURDAY, AUGUST 23, 2008
2A
Reach and JONG
Warner Robins, Perry, Hawkinsville and
Cochran look to add Byron to joint operation
By DON MONCRIEF
Journal Managing Editor
This could effectively be
called the “JONG” show,
although nobody’s going to
be sent off stage.
In fact, everybody’s wel
come, especially the newest
candidate, Byron.
JONG stands for Jointly
Owned Natural Gas and the
“jointly” applies to Warner
Robins, Perry, Hawkinsville
and Cochran.
“Since 1953,” said Wayne
James, JONG manager, in
regard to its history, the cit
ies of Warner Robins, Perry,
Hawkinsville and Cochran
have always worked in con
cert to bring gas to the cit
ies. In 1953 it was too much
cost for just one city so they
formed a consortium to pool
their money and build a
pipeline.
“Well, beginning in 1968,
the city of Byron, of course
they were a Centerville
community back then, they
needed to bring gas to their
citizens, so they entered into
an agreement to purchase
gas from the four cities.
In 1994, he said, the city of
Warner Robins approached
Byron - after Byron had ini
tiated the contact due to
some “internal” problems
they were having - and
offered to buy their system
from them.
They declined.
“In February of this year,”
he said, “they contacted us
again and said they were
losing some customers. Was
there any way we could help
them with the delivery of
gas. Well, when we looked
into it, the engineer and
myself, that’s not where the
problem lies. The problem
lies in some of their struc
ture in the city. We’re deliv
Businesses invited
to complete Career
Academy survey
Special to the Journal
The Houston County
Board of Education and
Middle Georgia Technical
College are applying to the
Georgia Department of
Education for a grant to
establish a Career Academy
to serve high school stu
dents.
The mission of the Career
Academy, according to a
release, would be to ensure
a viable 21st century work
force for Houston County.
The charter school would
link public education and
workforce development
efforts to maximize commu
nity economic success.
The goal of a career acade
my, according to the release,
is for high school students
to be trained to fill existing
jobs, or jobs that will exist
soon, and to ensure that all
students have the necessary
skills and work ethic for
employment prior to leav
ing high school.
MGTC would offer dual
enrollment certificate pro
grams at the career academy
so that high school students
would earn job-relevant col
lege credit at no cost to
them or their parents while
still in high school.
An online survey has
been created to gather
data on the needs of the
Houston County workforce.
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(Acrost from Houston Lake Country Club)
ering plenty of gas to their
meter set. It’s beyond that
point. And it’s things that
can be remedied.”
Again they asked Byron if
they wanted to sell their sys
tem and again the answer
was no. So, James said they
came up with the alternate
approach of offering them a
10 percent ownership in the
JONG.
They agreed, or at least
were drafting up a resolu
tion to approve, James said.
Their 10 percent would be
from Bear Branch Road to
Houston Lake Road. Warner
Robins voted unanimously
in favor of it at its Monday
meeting. Perry did like
wise Tuesday at its coun
cil meeting and Cochran
had approved it earlier.
Hawkinsville isn’t slated to
meet for at least another
week but that may just be a
formality at this point.
Giving Byron a 10 per
cent share means Warner
Robins’ share goes from 45
to 40, James said.
“Under the proposal they
wouldn’t pay a dime,” James
said. “They would just roll
into the system. But then
they don’t have to have staff,
insurance, meet federal man
dates that have come over
seemingly more and more.
What they bring to the table
(in terms of making it glam
orous for Warner Robins) is
we would then control and
service that area. Those cus
tomers become joint owned.
“It’s a benefit to them but
I think it’s more of a benefit
to us because it’s a market
ing wonder over there.”
And, oh by the way, he
added, with the addition of
Byron that gives the JONG
five interstate interchanges
to service from.
In other business the
Local businesses are urged
to complete the survey to
share their opinions about
the current and future sta
tus of the local workforce.
If a grant is obtained and
a career academy estab
lished, the data would drive
decisions about curriculum
and facilities.
The survey is posted
online to the HCBOE,
Warner Robins Chamber
of Commerce and Perry
Chamber of Commerce Web
sites: www.hcbe.net, www.
warner-robins.com or www.
perrygachamber.com.
From either Chamber’s
home page, clickon “Houston
County Career Academy
Needs Assessment.”
Users will be asked to cre
ate a user name and pass
word so that they can com
plete the survey in multiple
visits, if desired.
A small to medium-size
employer can complete the
eight-part survey in about
15 minutes.
A large-size employer (50
or more employees) may
take an hour or so, espe
cially if several employees
complete different parts of
the survey in multiple visits
to the web site.
Questions about the sur
vey may be addressed to
Russ Moore, grant consul
tant, at info@seamlessed.
com or 678-481-7816.
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BOBTHREN
Warner Robins, 954-5300 §
: gaz.
"It's a benefit to
them but I think its
more of a benefit
to us because it’s a
marketing wonder
over there."
-JONG Manager Wayne James
council voted:
■ To approve purchasing
bids just under $225,000.
The most costly of those is
for $92,150 and is the cost
of replacing the gas heater
at Tap 2.
“It feeds the entire city,”
explained Marianne Golmitz,
engineer for the Utilities
Department. She further
explained that the previ
ous heater stopped working
“some years ago.” To that
end a regulator was place on
the line. The regulator takes
the gas from 1,000 pounds
to 500, a necessary function
Golmitz because if it didn’t
and a 1,000 pounds worth of
gas were to be fed into the
city at one time: “that could
be very disastrous,” she said.
The problem, she said, is the
regulator is supposed to be
freeze-proof. “But the pipes
around it freeze, sometimes
up to several inches of ice.
That’s not good. We really
need to heat the gas.”
The second most costly
item is for installing a flow
meter at Middle-Georgia
Cogen. It has a price tag of
$51,913. Currently the tur
bines - there are two - are not
picking up the full flow, said
Golmitz, and that’s causing
an imbalance. “When it was
new it did good,” she said
of the flow meter. “But it’s
been almost 11 years since
we installed it. We’re los
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ing money. It could be more
significant than it is. Cogen
has been working with us
(to achieve the balance) but
they don’t have to. It’s not
in their contract. It’s some
thing we’ve discussed for
five years. We budgeted for
it and we’ve wanted to get it
done for a long time.”
■ To disapprove an ordi
nance to prohibit the use
of hand-held communica
tion devices while operating
a motor vehicle within the
city. In other words, make
it illegal for people to use
their cell phone - without it
being “hands free” - while
driving.
■ To participate as a coun
cil and “round up” their
energy bills. City residents
will in turn be given the
option to do the same if they
so desire. The money will go
toward the Heating Energy
Assistance Team, which in
turn provides help to low
income with their heating/
cooling bills. Last year more
than SB,OOO was distribut
ed to Warner Robins even
though it was not part 1 of
the HEAT program at the
time, explained the non
profit organization’s repre
sentative. HEAT assisted
33 households in Warner
Robins, she added.
■ To accept a $50,000
grant - with matching funds
of $12,500 - for the rehabili
tation of the Elberta Train
Depot.
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AYUSA seeks area families
to host exchange student
Special to the Journal
With several Houston
County families already
signed up to host an
exchange student, accord
ing to a release, AYUSA is
looking for more.
AYUSA, according to the
release, is a global, non
profit organization that has
been offering life-changing
opportunities to young peo
ple for more than 25 years.
Host families and students
are supported by a network
of community-based staff
members throughout the
students’ year or semes
ter of attending school in
America.
AYUSA students come
from more than 60 coun
tries. They are accepted
into the program, accord
ing to the release, based
on academic excellence and
maturity.
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H&R Block has experienced instructors that use the
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If you would like more information about the H&R Block
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Our Dining Hours are:
Tuesday - Friday 11:00 am - 2:00 pm Lunch
Tuesday - Thursday 5:00 pm - ?:00 pm Dinner
Friday & Saturday from 5:00 pm - 10:00 pm
HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
Host families come in all
shapes and sizes: two-par
ent households with small
children, teenagers, or no
children at home; single
parents; grandparents; or
adults who. do not have
children. Families are asked
to give their exchange stu
dents the same kind of
support they would give to
their own sons and daugh
ters. Students come with
their own spending money
and health insurance.
All they need from then
host families is a bed, meals
and the opportunity to be
part of your American fam
ily. Host families receive
the support of a network
of well-trained AYUSA staff
members.
For further information
about hosting an exchange
student, visit them at www.
ayusa.org, or call 888-552-
9872.
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