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Tribune & Georgian
Friday, May 3,2013
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Train
from page 1A
den House, the domestic vi
olence shelter for Camden
and Charlton counties.
The summit was a great
opportunity to speak with
donors from north Georgia
and get their perspective,
Boden said. Now it is about
following up with those
people and other donors to
hopefully find grants for
Camden House.
Momentum had an effect
in its first year, according to
a statement from Jeff
Barker, president of the St.
Marys United Methodist
Church Foundation.
“Since GCN launched
Momentum, I have seen un
deniable transformations in
these nonprofits,” he said.
“From the quality of their
proposals to their ability to
deliver their mission, organ
izations have professional
ized, increased their
efficiency and are ultimately
increasing their impact in
the community.”
Repairs to close
bridge Monday
Closure of the St. Marys
River Bridge on U.S.
17/State Route 25 in Cam
den County on the Georgia-
Florida state line has been
delayed until next week.
The Florida Department
of Transportation (DOT)
closure has been resched
uled for Monday, May 6, to
allow for additional notifica
tion to the trucking indus
try.
The bridge will be closed
for approximately one year
for a renovating project.
The $3.5 million project in
cludes replacing and fixing
damaged steel and refur
bishing mechanical compo
nents of the bridge. The
project contract specifies
330 days to complete the
work and allows for extra
time to be added for
weather delays, holidays
and unforeseen technical is
sues.
The bridge was built in
1927. An average of 8,600
vehicles a day travel across
the bridge in both direc
tions.
For more information on
the Georgia DOT, visit
www.dot.ga.gov or subscribe
to the Press Release RSS
feed or follow up on Face-
book (www.facebook.com/
GeorgiaDOT) and Twitter
(http ://twitter. com/gadeptof
trans).
FOR MOM
Comiskey
Case
from page 1A
Wahl also interviewed
Comiskey’s father, brother
and aunt and is still wait
ing for evidence to come
back. Depending on the
results, he’ll continue to
search for clues.
Terrell said that this case
is especially hard to solve,
considering many aspects
— the first being that in
vestigators still aren’t 100
percent sure where the
homicide took place.
“We suspect it may have
happened at Exit 14,” he
said, describing the area as
dark and secluded at night.
“We were essentially just
the dumping grounds.”
Terrell added that most
homicide cases in Camden
County are solved rela
tively quickly, considering
the local community and
fairly easy-to-find mo
tives.
Although the case has
gone cold since its incep
tion, Wahl and Terrell
stressed that the investiga
tion is still active.
“We want answers,”
Terrell said. “And hope
fully we’ll get them.”
Fund
from page 1A
seniors in their many needs.
It is my opinion that we
would still be administering
to the needs.”
The city agreed to the
change with its former attor
ney, Amanda Blackledge,
who noted the law con
cerned her and legislation
may be necessary.
“I have been advised to
take the position that it is my
opinion that it is related to
health care and we can assist
in the funding,” she wrote to
Stein in 2008.
Now two employees of the
attorney general’s office have
replied to Spencer’s inquires
and think the authority may
not be able to use its money
for the senior center.
“I believe that the hospital
authority has operated un
lawfully,” Spencer said at a
hospital authority meeting
Tuesday.
Authority member Frank
Drane said his interpretation
of Spencer’s request to follow
the order was that the senior
program should be shut
down.
Spencer denied, asking if
the authority had a state
opinion that would allow the
members to disregard the
consent order.
Earlier in the meeting, the
authority voted to have Stein
resolve the issue of the con
sent order with the city.
“If we lose, we will ab
solutely comply,” Drane said.
“No question. If we win,
then we’ll continue our sen
ior program.”
There are more questions
than answers, Stein reiter
ated when asked Wednesday,
noting that the authority
sold a nursing home, not a
hospital as specified in the
law.
“We’re in the dark and
we’re trying to find the
shore,” he said. “Hopefully
we won’t hit the rocks.”
As for the consequences of
past spending that may be in
appropriate, no one knows
what could happen. The
issue will be addressed and
resolved, Stein said. If taken
to court, a judge will have to
consider the situation,
Spencer said.
“It is unfortunate that the
hospital authority acted on
questionable legal advice to
re-purpose their mission
outside of what the hospital
authorities law has already
defined for them,” Spencer
told the Tribune & Geor
gian Wednesday. “Their ac
tions have misled an entire
community and they have
now put themselves in a pre
carious position because of
these decisions.”
Spencer also questioned
how much the authority has
received in Medicaid match
ing funds and says the lack of
audits — which attorney
general staffers say should be
conducted — makes it im
possible to verify how much
the authority has received.
“The public deserves to
know what is actually there
and how the money grew,”
Spencer said. “These monies
are to go toward indigent
patient hospital care accord
ing to the law and the court
order. That is one of the rea
sons the Medicaid program
was established.”
The authority has not re
ceived any Medicaid match
ing funds since selling the
convalescent center in 2006,
authority treasurer/secretary
Chuck Lanham said.
Authority members have
suspended all payments for
services rendered past April
21 while the matter is set
tled.
At its Monday meeting,
the St. Marys City Council
is scheduled to consider a
resolution supporting the
senior center.
Tribune & Georgian file photos
The St. Marys Hospital Authority, which maintains a trust fund that pays for many senior
programs in the city, has decided to halt all spending after April 21 until questions about
whether the authority must adhere to state law can be answered.
