About The Baldwin bulletin. (Milledgeville, GA) ????-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 21, 2017)
Your hometown newspaper for Milledgeville and Baldwin County, Georgia. » BALDWIN COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Hall to serve as interim county manager WIL PETTY wil@bbnews.today Sammy Hall, chairman of the Baldwin County Board of Commissioners, was selected to serve as interim county manager during the board’s meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 19. All commissioners voted for Hall to take the job, with the exception of Hall, who abstained from the vote. Hall will be temporarily replacing County Manager Ralph McMullen, who is retiring on Sept. 30. “It’s pretty evident in our search for a county manager that we are not going to be able to fill that (position) before Ralph’s last day,” Hall said. “We need to appoint somebody.” Hall said he anticipated this appointment would only last one or two weeks. “It would be a short time from the time Ralph is leaving us until we get another person in that position,” he said. Commissioner Emily C. Davis made the motion to make Hall manager with Commissioner Henry Craig seconding the motion. Hall then asked Baldwin County Attorney David McRee to make comments in regard to the legality of such a motion. “The proposed motion is viable so long as the chair severed on a uncompensated, volunteer SEI COUNTY »A7 Sammy Hall, chairman of the Baldwin County Board of Commissioners, has been selected to be interim Baldwin County Manager, effective Oct. 1 when current county manager Ralph McMullen retires. WIL PETTY/Staff » PLANT BRANCH » BOARD OF EDUCATION CASEY PARRISH/Staff The explosion and resulting cloud of smoke grows into a cover for the entire facility before dissipating leaving a collapsed building and tons of rubble. 700 lbs. of explosives detonated as planned LYNN HOBBS lynn@bbnews.today A small crowd gathered Saturday morning at Little River Park and surrounding areas to watch as the boilers of Georgia Power’s Plant Branch were removed by implosion. “It was a lot more exciting than the dropping of the smokestack; this explo sion was bigger,” said Alan Haley, of Lake Sinclair Realty, noting the situation was “bittersweet” because the plant had been a landmark for 40-plus years. Approximately 700 pounds of explo sives were used for the job, according to Georgia Power spokesman John Kraft. “It woke me up; I thought an airplane had crashed or something. It was loud - I know that much,” said Tobi Quider, as he watched in what seemed like disbelief. He lives in River North Apartments, directly across the street from Plant Branch, and said he was unaware the demolition would be taking place. SEE BRANCH » A7 BOE eyes sports complex upgrades WIL PETTY wil@bbnews.today The Baldwin County Board of Education listened to a presentation regarding a sports complex for the school system during its work session on Monday, Sept. 19. An estimate provided to the board by Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood showed phase I of the complex would cost $2,491 million. Phase I would focus on upgrading the softball, baseball and soccer fields as well as the tennis complex and other site work for landscaping and parking. Amy Bell, architect for the company, led the board through a presentation showing what ideas GMC was considering for the upgrades. “We’ve been looking at the sports complex and thinking about what we SEE BOE » A9 » MILLEDGEVILLE CULTURE » CENTRAL STATE HOSPITAL Free museum entry day planned Saturday ALAINA MINSHEW alaina@bbnews.today The Old Governor’s Mansion and the Sallie Ellis Davis house will be open to the public for free in Milledgeville on Saturday, Sept. 23, as part of Smithsonian Magazine’s 13th annual “Museum Day Live!” event. This museum day allows attendees to step back in time for free, if they download a “Museum Day Live!” ticket. “It is an opportunity for museums to offer free admis sion to the public,” Kierstin Veldkamp, curator of education and public engagement at Georgia’s Old Governor’s Mansion and Sallie Ellis Davis SEE MUSEUMS »A2 CSH to lease buildings to GMC The members of the CSHLRA board met in the campus' Powell Building to discuss and vote on GMC's request. ALAINA MINSHEW/Staff ALAINA MINSHEW alaina@bbnews.today Board members of the Central State Hospital Local Redevelopment Authority (CSHLRA) held a meeting on Sept. 13 at the Powell Building to vote on a request made by Georgia Military College. The housing at GMC is over flowing with cadets, so the board SEE LEASE » A9 BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT A8 BULLETIN BOARD A3 CRIME WATCH A7 OBITUARIES A5-6 OPINIONS A4 PROPERTYTRANSFERS A7 SERVICE DIRECTORY B9 SPORTS B1 JMA dominates Westfield 56-9 SPORTS » B1 Sales & Financing Available www.BeckhamsAutos.com