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8A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, July 13,2022
County commission votes on E-911, radio projects
By Julia Fechter
jfechter@dawsonnews.com
After almost a year of
special purpose local
option sales tax collec
tions, the Dawson County
Board of Commissioners
just approved requests to
release requests for pro
posal on two of its high-
est-priority infrastructure
projects.
SPLOST VII funds of
$3 million will be allocat
ed to the first responder
radio system upgrade,
while $5.5 million will be
given for construction of
the new E-911 and
Emergency Operations
Communications (EOC)
building.
For the radio system ini
tiative, the board chose on
July 7 to go with the 700-
800 mhz option for cover
age. This option, as pre
sented on June 16, would
provide for dedicated
emergency services radio
frequencies and better in
building coverage, among
other benefits.
As for the EOC center,
subsequent schematics for
that project will be sub
mitted to the county at a
future time, and the com
missioners will then be
able to review those plans.
Rough drawings were
shared with the board dur
ing the June 16 meeting.
“With everything that’s
been presented, the 700-
800 mhz band [option] is
where we need to be,” said
District 4 Commissioner
and BOC vice chairman
Emory Dooley. “There’s
other challenges with the
other [options], and it’s
time to move forward with
it.”
Pay per call
upped for volunteer
firefighters
The BOC also approved
an increase in pay for the
county’s 19 volunteer fire
fighters retroactive to July
1, 2022.
Since 2015, Dawson
County volunteer fire
fighters have been paid
per call. Now, their rate of
$12.83 will increase to
$16 per call for all exist
ing volunteers.
Individuals volunteering
who’ve been with Dawson
County for a while and
received any promotions
or longevity increases
before 2015 will receive a
$3 increase.
The effective date of
July 1 would account for
calls volunteers have
responded to since the
beginning of the month,
given that they’re reim
bursed for their efforts
after the end of every
month.
During the July 7 work
session, Dawson County
Fire and Emergency
Services Chief Danny
Thompson shared that the
public has “long been
served” by volunteer fire
fighters, with them build
ing multiple of the exist
ing stations between four
and five decades ago.
BOC Chairman Billy
Thurmond explained that
the pay-per-call structure
was started so volunteers
wouldn’t be spending their
own gas money to respond
to calls.
Thompson added he
wasn’t asking for addi
tional funding in his
department’s current bud
get and said the changes
could be made by using
current funds.
“My tool for having vol
unteers is to recruit some
of these younger people,
get them some training
and then turn them into a
full-time employee,”
Thompson said. “We’ve
seen some of that success
with this model.”
Chief Thompson and
volunteer firefighter coor
dinator and Cpt. Randy
Edwards explained that
volunteers get the same
equipment and training as
paid staff.
Edwards praised volun
teers’ efforts and thanked
commissioners for recog
nizing their hard work.
“There’s kind of an old
saying in the fire service,”
Thompson said. “A house
fire doesn’t know if you’re
paid or a volunteer. It just
knows that you’re coming
to try to put it out.”
Kemp extends gasoline tax break through mid-August
By Rebecca Grapevine
Capitol Beat News Service
Gov. Brian Kemp on
Friday extended Georgia’s
gas tax holiday through
Aug. 13.
The General Assembly
suspended the fuel tax in
March as inflation began
raising pump prices above
$4 a gallon. Kemp extend
ed that break in May and
again on Friday.
The state gas tax is
around 29 cents per gallon.
Kemp also suspended the
state sales tax on locomo
tive fuel, which he said
would help fight rising con
sumer costs.
“I am committed to
fighting to ease the eco
nomic burden hardworking
Georgians are facing due to
disastrous policies from
Washington politicians,”
Kemp said.
Kemp said President Joe
Biden’s administration had
not done enough to combat
inflation and rising fuel
prices.
In June, Biden called on
Congress to suspend the
federal gas tax (18 cents
per gallon) until the end of
September.
Biden has also ordered
releases of oil from the
Strategic Petroleum
Reserve, the nation’s emer
gency oil stockpile.
Georgia’s gas prices are
about 50 cents below the
national average, according
to AAA.
On Friday, Kemp also
extended an April executive
order declaring a state of
emergency in Georgia due
to supply chain disruptions.
The order prohibits price
gouging by gas station
operators and relaxes some
rules on commercial buck
ing in Georgia.
Kemp extended that
executive order until Aug.
13.
This story is available
through a news partnership
with Capitol Beat News
Service, a project of the
Georgia Press Educational
Foundation.
Dawson County to host ‘Magic Camp’ at Rock Creek Park
By Erica Jones
ejones@dawsonnews.com
This July, Dawson County
will host a “Magic Camp” at
Rock Creek Park, allowing
aspiring young magicians to
learn how to perform magic
tricks.
The camp will run from July
18 through 22 from 9 a.m. to
noon. It is open to children
ages five through 12 and costs
$135 per student.
During the camp, students
will have a chance to learn
how to make objects appear
and disappear, levitate objects
in mid-air, perform card, coin
and silk magic and read
minds. The camp will culmi
nate with a special magic
show at the end of the week to
allow students to show off
their new skills for their par
ents.
For more information about
the upcoming camp, go to
https://www. dawsoncounty.
org/parksrec/page/magic-camp.
