Newspaper Page Text
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Volume No. 96. No, 4 1
Building inspector
jobs to be combined
Acting on the recommendation of the the city of Fort Valley. The city will
recent Peach County Charter Commis¬ vote Thursday on the resolution
sion, the Peach Countv Board of combining the jobs.
Commissioners has mapped out a plan If Fort Valley and Byron pass the
to consolidate the building resolution calling for one building
inspectors' job for Byron, Fort Valley inspector, both Terrell and Flowers will
and Peach County into one position. be offered a chance to apply for the job.
In their study the Charter The position will also be widely
Commission found that the typical advertised and a final decision will be
number of monthly building permits in made considering all of the applicants.
the early 1980’s was one in Fort Valley, The city stands to save $15,000 to
one in Byron, and four in Peach Coun- $18,000 a year if the council approves
n the resolution. Under the agreement,
Thc county presently employs they will pay 16.5 per cent of the
William Terrell who also acts as inspector’s salary. The county will pay
Byron's building inspector. 77.5 per cent and Byron will pay six
Forr Valley’s building inspector is per cent. The county will also provide
Frank Flowers whose salary is split office space, transportation and other
between the Utilities Commission and incidental expenses.
Dwight Byrd tells of his
for tax office
Dwight Byrd, treasurer of Fort
Valley Oil Company, announced this
week that he is a candidate for the
position of Tax Commissioner of Peach
County. A special election will be held
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Dwight Byrd
December 6 to fill the vacancy caused
by the resignation of Mrs. Eloise
Mathews from that post.
Byrd, 32, has lived in Peach County
for the past 20 years. He is the son of
Mr. and Mrs. Mercer E Byrd. He is a
graduate of Fort Valley High School
and attended Macon Junior College.
He is married to the former Debra
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Ralph Malone accepts the medallion from Pat Fluker
Heart Fund exceeds goal
Peach County Heart Fund Chairman
Ralph Malone received a bronze
medailion last Tuesday afternoon from
the American Heart Association for his
work in helping this county to exceed
its fund-raising goal for the first time
ever. The county's goal of $7,250 was
exceeded as the volunteers collected
$7,543
A special awards ceremony for the
volunteers was held Tuesday afternoon,
October 11, at the Peach County
Chamber of Commerce office Malone
had certificates of appreciation for his
key workers.
Those assisting were co-chairmen
Dollie Horton and Tracy Rivers.
Other key volunteers were Joseph
Adkins, Terri Muilis. Mrs. Sarah
ante iLEaber-cUrtbune
Home Owned and Operated for more than 90 Years
Fort Valley, Peach County, Ga., Thursday, October 13, 1983
Harchert of Fort Valley. She is a
teacher at the Fort Valley Middle
School and serves as director of the
Golden Girls Drill Team. They live at
Quail Hollow Lane, just outside Fort
Valley.
Byrd said that one of his goals if
elected is to better serve the citizens of
Peach County, and especially Byron,
by establishing a means by which
Byron residents can purchase their car
tags in Byron rather than having to
drive to Fort Valley. "This should help
to shorten the lines for tags at the cour¬
thouse, as well as making it more con¬
venient for the citizens of Byron,"
Byrd said.
The candidate is a past president of
the Fort Valley Optimist Club, a
member of the Fort Valley Kiwanis
Club, and a board member at Pine
Needles Country Club. He is an active
member of the Fort Valley Baptist
Church, and is the official statistician
for the Peach County High School
football team for the past 12 years. He
has been employed at Fort Valley Oil
Company for eight years. Prior to that
he worked at the Peach County
Hospital in the bookkeeping depart¬
ment from 1970 to 1975.
"Peach County deserves the
friendliest, the fairest and the most
honest service possible, and I hope to
have the opportunity to serve the
citizens of Peach County as their tax
commissioner, Byrd said in his
statement
Young, Mrs. Loretta Schofill, Sam
McGehee, the late G. W. Hilson, Vcr
nie Uber, Norman Fairdoth, Gerald
Walker, Mrs. Louise Powell, Mrs. Nor
mi Bradshaw, Mrs. Barbara Palmer,
Mrs. Annie Rumph, Mrs. Wilmetta
Langston, Dr. John Dubriel. Mrs. Nina
Yuhas, and Mrs. Mary Murray.
Other certificates of appreciation
went to J. C. Hill, WQBZ; Doihe Hor
ton, WXKO; Clarence Gooch, Alpha
Phi Alpha fraternity; Wanda
Magwood, Alpha Kappa Alpha sorori
ty; and The Leader-Tribune.
Malone is director of Career Planning
and Placement/Cooperative Education
and Equal Employment Officer for Fort
Valley State College.
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Job prospects are pleasing
The prospect of going to work at Transportation Seating, Inc., has given a
boost to many in Marshatlville. Mrs. Daisy Davis hands out the applications
to some of the more than 350 who ate applying. The new manufacturing
On proposed tax digest
the course ’
The official statement from the
Peach County Board of Commissioners
is that they will "continue to monitor
the appeals process," but once the
number of contested property values
drops below the five per cent level, the
commissioners plan to implement the
1983 digest.
The commissioners, meeting Tues¬
day, October 11, heard from Tax Com¬
missioner Melba Barrett, the Chairman
of the Board of Equalization Alva Lind¬
sey, and the Chief Tax Assessor J. T.
Joiner, After hearing that it would take
at least six weeks to prepare the 1982
tax digest, the commissioners seemed
to drop the idea of using it as a basis for
collecting taxes this year. They did not
rule out its use entirely, however.
Lindsey told the commissioners that
he expects to be through hearing ap¬
peals by December 10. He commented
that as few as 25 per cent of those who
have filed an appeal are showing up for
the Board of Equalization hearings.
Lindsey estimated that the board has
"gone over the 600 mark" in hearing
appeals. About 1,200 appeals had been
filed initially. “If it were me, I certain
ly wouldn’t scrap the digest yet,” said
Lindsey.
Joiner said that the county could
submit their proposed digest anytime
the number of contested values drops
below the five per cent level. This
could be before Lindsey’s board com¬
pletes the hearings, he said.
Mrs. Barrett said that to use the 1982
digest, it would take at least six weeks
to update the information. Then there
would be a question of a factor being
imposed by the state. The commis¬
sioners figured that a due date for pay¬
ment of 1983 taxes would be as late as
March 1, 1984, if the old digest is used.
Mrs. Barrett encouraged the use of
the 1983 digest.
Concerning the possibility of using
the old digest, Joiner said that if the in¬
formation in the new digest is not used
this year, the whole thing would have
to be done over n^ 3 ,in This would be
like "fighting a windmill," he said.
> > No one is ready to abandon the’83
digest,” said Commissioner Donnie
Doles, Commission Chairman Hal
Peavy said that there would be a lot of
protests from people—those who were
satisfied with the ’83 digest _ if the
new digest figures are not used
The comtmss,oners opened a can of
worms when W. L. Brown asked Lind
sey about complaints about Tax Ap
praisor Tom Waldon’s performance in
the board of equalization hearings,
"At times it is appropriate. At times it
stinks At times he wants to throw a
snobbish comment at a taxpayer," said
Lindsey. "You asked me, and 1 told
you the truth,” said Lindsey.
company will begin work October 24. Officials say that 15 will be employed
initially, but "depending on sales,” they hope to increase that number in the
coming months. For more pictures and story on Marshallville’s newest,
please turn to Page IB
Lindsey also commented that at a
hearing earlier on Tuesday, the board
of equalization uncovered an error of
$103,000. "That never should have
been there," he said.
Mrs. Barrett said that Waldon’s
remark about her before the board of
equalization was not appropriate. She
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J. T. Joiner [left] and A Iva Lindsey were asked about the progress of the
appeals and the prospect of having a new digest that could be submitted to
the state in time for people to pay property taxes during this calendar
year.
County moves one step closer to new
architect to cost estimates
'Whether to build <1 new j&il or to &dd
onto the present jail is the question
that the Peach County Commissioners
will be facing within a few weeks. At
their Tuesday, October 11 meeting, the
commissioners asked an architect to
study the present jail, built in 1929,
and to advise them whether that
structure can be used as a part of a new
jail complex.
The architect was also charged with
the task of giving the commissioners an
idea what it might cost to build a
completely new jail.
Architect Daly Smith said he would
immediately confer with Peach County
Sheriff Johnnie Becham about the
present jail and what might be
proposed if a new jail is built.
1 Year (local) Subscription $8.84
sa jd Waldon characterized her as a
11 troublemaker".
Joiner defended Waldon saying that
he is "highly capable and highly com
petent.” Peavy said that he did not
question Waldon’s ability, "but he
has become a source of contention."
The commissioners all reached the
If building . constructed,
3 new is
County Commission Chairman Hal
Peavy stressed the need to pay
particular attention to the utility of the
building, ie., making sure that it can be
supervised efficiently. Commissioner
Donnie Doles said thai the county
needs to “look at future needs" and
not make a mistake and build a jail that
might The be commissioners too small in the also near noted future^ that
the county is fortunate that they are not
having to consider building a new jail
under a court order. They said that it
would be more expensive to build a jail
under direction of a court order
Still unresolved, if a new jail is to be
built, is where to locate the structure.
Sheriff Becham said that 99 per cent of
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consensus that they should "stay the
course". Mrs. Annie Runiph said that
the commissioners should “go on and
do what is right for the county.” The
commissioners agreed that they would
not meet again with the Committee on
Taxation, the group that is protesting
the new digest.
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Mrs. Melba Barrett said that it
would take six weeks to update the
1982 digest if the decision is made
to use the old digest.
the parking at the jail is done on other
owners' property. Becham also advised
the commissioners to consider a jail
that would house as many as 60
prisoners, The present jail will house
25.
In other business, . the , commis
sioners decided to ask officials of the
city of Fort Valley to join with them in
asking the Justice Department to
relent in its questionnaire concerning
combining the voter registration lists
for the two bodies.
No decision was made at the
Iuesday meeting about the proposed
budget for the county for the new fiscal
year. More time is needed to study the
figures, they agreed.