Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

\ ...........—— .............. Chill hours inadequate for some varieties but growth regulator may help - Th * All fruit trees need a cert. initiate blooming and fruit s we are particularly interest* While we experienced col week, it is not known how much the cooler weather helps the peaches after February 15th FVach trees need a certain amount of hours when the temperature is at or below 45“ As of February 16th those hours for Fort Valley were 650 while Byron had closer to 700. If they are Wcdnesdgf/FVhrtiarv 24 1999 Peach County's source of local news, advertising and sports for over 100 years... ©e Heater ©tbune Vol. No. 110. Issue 8 2 Sections, 16 Pages f, i 50* Per Copy >•* 7 ig| i INSIDE&OUT Foster homes needed The Peach County Depart ment of Family and Children Services need families who an* willing to provide stable and loving homes for children requiring temporary or perms nent care If you are interested in becoming a foster and/or adoptive parent please call (912)825-6438 Veterans Service A re p r e s e ntative of the Geor¬ gia Department of Veterans Service will be in residence each Wednesday afternoon from IrOO p.m to 4:00 p.m to assist you in veteran related matters at the Peach County Courthouse - across from voter registration office Festival sponsorships A nyone interested in being a Georgia Peach Festival sponsor please contact the festival office at 825-4002 Car safety seminar A free car maintenance and safety seminar for women will be held or. Monday. March 1, 1999, from 6:00 p.m to 8 00 pan. at Middle Georgia Techrn cal Institute in Warner Robins The class is sponsored by HODAC's Victim Resource Center, The Warner Robins Police Department, and Middle Georgia Technical Institute Topics will include basic car maintenance: emergency items for trips, how to avoid mechan k scams, and persona! safety while driving If interested in attending, please call HODAC’s Victim Resource Center at 912-953-5675 for reservations Limited Seating s Hospital Authority The February meeting of the Hospital Authority is sched¬ uled for Thursday. February 25, 1999 at 9:00 a.m, in the hospital conference room Republicans ’Die Beach County Republi¬ can Party will meet on Feb 25. 1999 at 7:00 p.m at the Thomas Public Library in Fbrt Valley. Speaker will be Bill Stembndge from the office of U.S Rep. Saxby Chambliss The public is welcome to attend For information, call Joe Collins at 953-6070 or Christine Hoskins at 923-9967 Chamber BAH The Beach County Chamber Of Commerce and The Amen can Camellia C •'fotv invite you to Business After Hours at the American Camellia Soci¬ ety's Annabel! Fetter-roan Edu i, 100 Lane Fort Valley 5:30 p.m. until 7:00 pm Beb 25,1999 helrwH Kv of cold, that number ut y according to reports x tension Director Mark of our peach crop hours needed based on different varieties. On the high end trees could ne «d as much 900 hours which means there » « this year for those high chillers This mean a scattered bloom delay and leaves will come in slow and late In other words, the t ..rk snmae * ?. l sfP •K® t Fort Valley Mayor John Stumbo with his own brick to be used in Fincher Park He is standing front of the design plans for the park which will include a plaza, bandstand, clock and water fountain Several people have donated trees to city By Jerry Murtagh The Trees, bricks and caskets dom¬ inated discussion at Fort Val¬ ley’s regular city council meet mg 1 want to say a special word of thanks to people who donated trees over the last few weeks 1 wanted to speak a word of thanks to David Cleveland of Cleveland Wholesale Tree Ser¬ vice He gave us 348 Ginkgo ■frees.-';'. Mike Huckabee gave us ten Bradford Pears, Lorraine Collins gave us 500 saw-tooth Oak Trees, Dr Nathan gave us 50 Camellia bushes which will be planted in public areas and parks' Mayor John Stumbo announced February’s employee of the month as Sergeant Jef- City tables raising funeral cost It may be cheaper to die now than to wait until Fort Valley City Council takes a proposed ordi¬ nance off the table for bather discussion Council members tabled the proposed ordinance at last week’s regular meeting after questions arose during discussion of how it would be imple merited The ordinance would require any person being buried within the city to have their casket placed inside a vault The proposed new ordinance reads, in part, “...No person shall bury any dead body without first placing said dead body into a casket and then plac¬ ing the casket into an outer burial container The outer burial container includes, but is not limited to, a vault made of concrete, steel, fiber glass, capper or a nsrtiiinsl concre t e enclosure, a crypt or a a wooden enclosure Any person violating this ordinance shall be sub¬ ject to a fine, not to exceed $1000 and imprison ment not to exceed 180 days’ trees are not naturally able to aet an adequate crop. Compare this to last year when for this same time frame when there were 1147 chill hours In fact, the last thre.* years the hours have been adequate in 1997 there were 1126 and in 1996 that figure was 1371 In fact, the last time hours were really inadequate was in 1974. according to Collier Scientifically the hours are measured from the time the tree goes dormant Ail is not lost for those requiring more chill hours, however. For the first time in Peach frey Lundy of the Fort Valley Police Department Lundy has been with the police department since 1993, Stumbo noted, and his wife is a deputy with the Beach County Sheriffs Department Mayor Stumbo added that Lundy has been recognized by the department as officer of the year and has also been recog¬ nized as officer of the year by the Optimist Club Lundy also devotes time to working with DARE program, according to Stumbo, and he vol¬ unteers his time to work with Habitat for Humanity. The new bandstand planned for Fincher Park will be funded in part, according to Stumbo, from the sale of commemorative bricks The bandstand, Stumbo said, is being designed by Tribble & City Attorney Charles Jones explained that the ordinance was designed in an effort to comply with state law and to avoid health problems Local funeral director. Clayborn Edwards, told council he thought the ordinance was needed Asked how he would handle an indigent case where a person could not afford to pay for a vault. Edwards said he would come to the city for assis tance “It seems to me.* Stumbo said, “that what we need to require is that the container would not rot and is also sealed * Edwards noted that "some people just won’t be able to afford it ” Stumbo indicated that the city might be respan sible for seeing to it that indigent persons could obtain a vault Edwards raised the question of how such an ordi would be enforced Faced with several questions, council members decided to table the proposed ordinance City selling bricks for use in Fincher Park Your name could be commem orated in brick for all posterity if you so desire The City of Fort Valley is offering the opportunity to buy a commemorative brick with names or special messages per manently cut in the trick Purchased bricks will be used in the new bandstand ami plaza of Fincher Park which happens to be in the center of Fbrt Valley Fincher Park is being rebuilt to include a bandstand, plaza, town clock and fountain. The design plan can be seen at Fbrt Valley City Hall Meaaages you use on the ..brick may include an anniver sary or birthday wish, a meims rial or simply an individual’s name The rustic red bricks we of permanent high quality and measure eight inches by four inches by two and n quarter inches A two-line message with 14 characters per line may be used Messages an- sandblasted into the bnck Richardson Then* will also be a lam* four faced clock that will chime the Westminster chimes on the quarter hour and there will be a fountain at one end of the park Persons wanting to purchase commemorative bricks should contact Jo Cobb at city hall Charles Simms addressed the council concerning a request for council to support a survey of local businesses The first part of the study, according to Simms, focuses on the strengths and weaknesses of the local economy and is designed to assist developers such as Simms in matching the county’s strengths with compa nies interested in coming to the county The second part of the study, known as the Business Reten¬ tion and Expansion Project County, a growth regulator is being used to over¬ come the lack of adequate hours This product. Dorroex, has been sprayed on a considerable number of acres This product has been researched thoroughly and tune will tell how well it helps the peach crop here in Peadh County It has proven to be effective on trees which do not receive adequate chill hours Still, even with Dormex. Collier says at this point, there are a lot of unknowns which only time will tell. (BREP), focuses on existing industries in the county During the second phase, Simms explained, a survey of local businesses will be conduct¬ ed A similar survey was con¬ ducted five years ago, Simms said Simms noted that results of the two surveys will provide a basis for analyzing business trends in the county The third part of the study will generate a list of industry types which should be persuaded to locate in Peach County (See CITY Page 2 A) says no to racetrack The city of Byron’s race to resurrect the Middle Georgia Speedway is under a caution flag this week Superior Court Judge Martha Christian ruled Monday that Byron's efforts to annex the Middle Georgia Speedway Property were void because the property is not contiguous to the city of Byron The U.S. Department of Agri¬ culture Research Center is located between the Middle Georgia Speedway and the city limits of Byron Judge Christian said she could find no precedent for annexing across federal prop¬ erty Byron City Clerk Frances McDaniel said yesterday she didn’t know for sure whether then* were plans to appeal the case but thought that the city might leave it up to Leroy Davidson to make the appeal Davidson holds the-leas** on the Middle Georgia Speedway Mayor John Stumbo feels this is also a unique way to celebrate special occasions and milestones and what better way be says to start off the millennium A limited number are being sold and orders must be received no later than April 7, 1999 Ded ication of the newly designed Fincher Park is expected to take place during the Peach Festival in June Bricks to be placed on the floor and steps of the bandstand will coat you twice as much as the ones for the plaza which are $25 each Stumbo said he did not want the bricks to be eost prohibitive for anyone The sal* of bricks will help fond the new design of Fincher Park No tax monies are being used in this project Forms to order your coni memorative bricks can be picked up at city hall and found in stores throughout Fort Valley including th** office of Tin* lsad erTnhunv on Anderson Avenue Lj W ifc to 1 4 i ' - Sgt Jell Lundy, city employee of the month property and has been active in trying to get the city of Byron to permit the reopening of the track. The Byron Planning and Ston¬ ing Board voted unanimously in January to approve the re zoning of the racetrack area as a special recreation area This would have marked the next to the last step in permit¬ ting racing on the Middle Geor gia Speed was with only action by the city council left to be taken Action of the city council, of v course, was not a foregone con elusion Some observers count ed three council men opposed to the track Monday's decision by Judge Christian stops the entire pro¬ cess The city of Byron can’t re-zone property they don’t have Whether this race is finished or not is yet to be decided If there is no appeal, the race¬ track is dead