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770-214-9900 • P.O. Box 680/961 Maple Street, Carrollton, GA 30117
JUNE 6, 2010
500 StarNews monthly publication /StarNews Online www.starnewsga.com
VOLUME 16 NUMBER 5
NEWS BRIEFS
Water authority reports
on Snake Creek
Reservoir repair options
by Prissi Sullivan
The Carroll County Water
Authority executive director Matt
Windom has reported that Schnabel
Engineering completed the prelimi
nary study for repair alternatives for
the spillway at the Snake Creek
Reservoir.
Option 1 would involve filling in
the eroded area, while option 2
would extend the spillway. FEMA
(Federal Emergency Management
Agency) has only agreed to Option
1. However, Windom will go back
to FEMA and ask them to consider
Option 2. FEMA will fund up to
$635,000.00, with CCWA paying
15%. The problem with Option 2 is
that, at this time, the unknown
amount of rock that would have to
be dealt with. Windom will return
to the board after further research.
for full story go to:
www.starnewsga.com
County schools: 111.5
jobs subject to RIF
by Prissi Sullivan
Newly hired superintendent Scott
Cowart officially presided over his
first board meetings during the
Carroll County School Board Work
Session on May 10 and the regular
meeting on May 13, while retiring
superintendent John Zauner
observed from the audience.
The budget and fiscal issues took
center stage, as Chief Financial
Officer Greg Denney wrestled with
balancing the budget, saving the
jobs of as many employees as pos
sible, and funding construction
costs. His goal is to work with a
reduction of $7,716,628.00 in reve
nues and still meet all expenses
without having to raise the millage
rate. 66 and one half certified posi
tions and 45 classified positions
will be subject to a RIF (Reduction
in Foree).for full story go to:
www.starnewsga.com
Chairman presents balanced, smaller budget:
up to board to review and approve by June 30th
by Chuck Wanager
The Carroll County Board of
Commissioners voted to advertise
the fiscal year 2011 budget that was
presented by Chairman Bill
Chappell. The proposed budget is
down just a few thousand dollars
from last year at $47,259,248, ver
sus approximately $47.3 million for
2010. Chairman Chappell stated
that the budget would be less than
last year’s because less revenue is
expected in the coming months.
Board members are to review the
budget and meet during June to dis
cuss, work out any issues, and then
adopt a budget by the June 30th
deadline.
In other matters, the low bid by
local contractor J&R Construction
and Development Inc., Carrollton -
- for $16.9 million -- for the new
county justice center was approved
by the commission board by an
unanimous vote of the seven com
missioners during their meeting
held June 1st.
The selected bid included two
alternates to the base bid for the
building, which includes an unfin
ished fifth floor and demolition of
the current courthouse annex after
the justice center is completed.
Chairman Chappell indicated
that work should begin soon. He
said when paperwork is completed
with the local contractor, the county
would have the go-ahead to begin
Candidates for District 2
commission seat give their
thoughts/opinions on issues
by Cfiuck Wanager each of the four candidates tc
by Cfiuck Wanager
With the July 20th primary elec
tion approaching, the StarNews and
StarNews Online (at
www.stamewsga.com) are focus
ing on the one county race in which
there is opposition for the incum
bent: District 2 of the Carroll
County Board of Commissioners.
In that race, the current commis
sioner, Vicki Anderson, a Fairfield
Plantation resident, is being chal
lenged by three candidates, Jorge
(pronounced “George”) Hernan
dez, also a Fairfield resident, and
Villa Rica’s Joseph “Joey” Kelley
and Scott Henrichsen.
Most likely, with four candi
dates, there will be a runoff since
one candidate must have 50 per
cent of the total vote plus one vote
to win. A runoff election will be
held three weeks after the election
on August 10.
For this article, the Star asked
to
answer three questions that would
assist District 2 voters in making
their commissioner choice:
— In your opinion, is the county
headed in the right direction? Give
two examples why or why not.
— What are the top two issues
you think are most important for
the county to address during the
next four years?
— What makes you particularly
qualified for this job?
This newspaper emailed the
questions to all four candidates,
giving them a deadline to reply. We
received responses, via email, from
three of the candidates. The incum
bent, Anderson, did not respond.
Responses are published here
verbatim. Editing was done only to
comply with the style of this news
paper. We begin our review with
Henrichsen:
See CANDIDATES page 31
construction.
Board members also gave the
go-ahead, in an 5-3 vote with all
members in attendance, for the
county to switch to a new computer
aided dispatch (CAD) system. The
current one just has too many
glitches, according to Trisha Orr,
county Emergency: 911 director.
This was her third trip to the board
to alert them of the system’s prob
lems as sending rescue units to the
wrong addresses. The problems
were extensive, she said, and only
by starting over with an entirely
new system would the county
finally be rid of the root cause of
See COMMISSION page 14
county fcmergency ytl director. See COMMISSION page D
Technology cited as reason
for rising medical costs
by Carole Scott
Since World War II, medicine
has advanced more than it did
through all the rest of recorded his
tory. As a result, the pain and suf
fering the average person experi
ences in their lifetime has been
vastly reduced, and average life
time has been vastly extended. In
1850, life expectancy for a new
born, white girl was 40.5 years. For
boys it was 38.3 years. By 2004,
the life expectancy for a white,
newborn girl had risen to 80.4
years. The much shorter average
lifetime in 1850 was largely the
result of so many people dying
See COSTS page 17
“Obamacare”: Medicare to
expand; new taxes to emerge
During World War II, the federal
by Carole Scott
Since 1962, the share of the
United States’ economy accounted
for by health care has risen from 6
percent to about 17 percent.
Today’s third party payer domi
nated health care system became
entrenched after World War II.
government promoted third party
payment for medical services by
offering tax subsidies to employer-
sponsored health care insurance.
Since 1965, when it created
Medicare for seniors and Medicaid
See OBAMACARE page 34
Physician shortage on horizon:
Due to expansion of coverage to tens of millions
more people; career now less financially appealing
by Carole Scott
For many years it has been
feared that, as a result of the rela
tively slow growth in the number
of primary care physicians and the
huge Baby Boomer generation
starting to turn 65 years old in
2011, the nation faces a large future
shortage of primary care physi
cians. In March 2010, Congress
magnified the size of this shortage
by passing legislation that will
enable tens of millions more people
to obtain health care insurance -
thereby increasing the demand for
more physicians.
Primary care physicians include
both family practitioners, whose
job is to provide primary health
care for the entire family, and inter
nists. Internists diagnose and treat
See SHORTAGE page 32
