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PAGE 2A -
21st Century series
Local bank keeping friendly face,
but definitely going high-tech
By Victor Kulkoaky
Walk through the Greek
columns into either branch of
the Citizens Bank, and it wont
look like a revolution is chang¬
ing the business.
There’s still no bullet-proof
glass between customers and
tellers, and those tellers are
still as friendly as ever.
Bank employees have the
same familiar faces, and they
know most customers by name,
just as they always have.
Same old bank, right?
Not quite.
“Most people don’t realize
what significant changes have
already taken place,” said
Freddy Greer, president of Cit¬
izens Bank.
Technology and new laws
have done more than bring us
ATMs and put an end to tradi¬
tional banker’s hours.
“The electronic revolution has
absolutely made state lines
and national borders irrele¬
vant,” Greer said.
Case in point: Peach County’s
home-town bank has hundreds
of customers outside Georgia,
and 15 to 20 customers outside
the U.S.
Those businesses and individ¬
uals don’t need to be in Peach
County because they can bank
electronically, Greer said.
The electronic revo-
Hicks will remain at county helm with pay increase
By Jerry Murtagh
The Leader-Tribune
Peach County Commission¬
ers opened the new millennium
with a resounding note <f con
sensus.
It was the election of this
year s officers, required by
state law to be conducted at
the first regular meeting of the
board during the new year.
Commissioners unanimously
re- elected Ira Hicks, chairman
of the commission last year, for
a second term. He was unop
P°®fd. Hicks will $100 month
earn a
more than he did last year,
Members passed an increase in
the chairman’s pay earlier in
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Nevertheless, it must be treated
A chalazion is the term for a
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eyelid.
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fit lulR-frlivu,
lution will affect the Average
Joe, too.
More industries are doing
away with paychecks, sending
pay directly to employee’s
accounts. The state of Georgia
is pioneering electronic bene¬
fits payments.
The above developments
mean there’ll be fewer reasons
to go the bank, although other
things could add a few rea¬
sons.
Late last year, House Bill 1
ended the barriers between
banking, insurance and securi¬
ties that had been in place
since the Great Depression.
The Glass-Steagall Act of
1934 had built high walls
between banking, insurance
and brokerage in order to avoid
the bank failure that had hap¬
pened during the Great
Depression. Laws also prevent
ed much interstate banking.
Those restrictions fell apart
gradually, and now they’re
gone. That’s how Citizens &
Southern Bank became
NationsBank, and Nations¬
Bank became part of Bank of
America.
That’s also why financial
giants Traveller’s Group and
CitiCorp were allowed to
merge.
“Everyone is going to see
financial services supermar¬
kets,” Greer said. “People will
the year but made it
for the chairperson elected
January. His total
remuneration will be $600.
Members elected Joe
vice-chairman to
Matt Mullis, who served
that position last year. Mullis
seconded Walter Smith’s nomi
nation and Collin’s election
was also unopposed.
Chairman Hicks promised to
do his best during the upcom
j n g y ear an d made a point
thanking the other commis
gioners for their support and
hard work in the year just
past. He added that he particu
larly appreciated the job that
Mullis did as vice-chairman.
Jim McClarnon appeared
lazion is typically, removed (using
local anesthetic) by your eye doctor.
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re • :
■
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that warm
■ ■
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Freddy
have the option of doing all
kinds of things in one place.”
It’s a matter of survival for
Citizens Bank to keep with the
electronic times.
“I’ve got banks electronically
calling on my customers every
day,” Greer said, referring to
the 300 or so banks that adver
tise on America Online,
There already are banks that
are entirely electronic. Citizens
Bank will get a little more so.
It already runs a site on the
World Wide Web and is plan
ning on introducing Internet
banking services by year’s end,
Greer said.
Citizens Bank has its own
connection to a bigger organi
zations, if not quite a New
York-based megabank.
Citizens Bank is owned by a
Synovus Financial Network, a
holding company with 38
banks and assets of $12 billion
total,
Synovus connects Citizens
with things it can’t get as a
before the commission with two
concerns.
He presented a plaque to
Commissioner James Khoury
acknowledging the help he has
given in the health screening
project being conducted in Fort
Valley and he provided the
board with an update on the
Peach County Boy’s and Girl’s
Club.(See our article: Boys and
Girls Club).
Susan Kitchens appeared
before the commission repre
senting Central Georgia
Billing. Her company handles
billing for the county ambu
lance service,
Kitchen’s requested an
increase in ambulance service
rates, noting that Peach Coun¬
ty lagged behind other coun¬
ties in Georgia and that the
ambulance service was running
at an annual deficit.
Commissioners voted unani¬
mously to approve the pro¬
posed rate increase.
Hicks told commissioners that
the Department of Community
Affairs indicated the county
should get some response on its
request for a block grant by the
end of February.
The county’s $500,000 block
grant request was part of the
Water and Sewer Authority’s
efifort to provide improved ser
vices in the Gano area of Fort
Valley.
Chairman Hicks told commis
sioners that letters were sent
to state legislators asking them
to assist the county with
expansion of the jail, the
paving of the tennis courts and
small-town bank, such as
sophisticated computer sys¬
tems and financial products
including stock brokerage,
mortgages, insurance and leas¬
ing, Greer said.
At the same time, Citizens
still has its own board of direc¬
tors and carries out its own
business plan, without having
to go to Synovus headquarters
in Columbus for approval,
Greer said.
“We’re still able to provide
that warm and fuzzy service,”
he said.
It’s not likely that Citizens
will do away with its branches
(after all, there are only two)
but there may be fewer people
inside.
There’s already a split, Greer
said, with older customers pre
ferring to go inside for the
social experience and personal
touch, while younger cus
tomers are comfortable with
the bank’s electronic face, most
of the time.
“We have people who have
told us that they come to the
bank because they enjoy it,”
Greer said.
While the home-town bank
changes, the home town itself
will have to change as well,
Greer predicts.
“People that are highly edu
cated will be rewarded at a
higher level than educated peo-
heating and air for for the
building housing adult educa
tion at the Spruce Street school
complex.
Hicks said that Represents
tive Robert Ray responded with
a request that the county prior
itize its needs since he was not
certain that all of the requests
could be funded,
He added that Representative
Lynnmore James sent a form
to be filled out concerning the
request for funds to pave the
tennis courts in Byron. Hicks
said the form was completed
and returned.
Hicks added that local offi
cials met with the President
and Vice-President of Step
Two, a company considering
occupying the county’s new
“spec” building.
“We feel pretty good, on the
basis of what they said to us,
as relates to possibly getting
them to take our “spec” build
ing.”
Commissioners voted unani
mously to ask the county attor
ney to draft an ordinance
designed to prohibit residents
from accumulating trash on
their property.
County employees will now be
eligible to join the Robins Fed
eral Credit Union. Commis
sioners voted unanimously to
join the credit union. Johnson
explained that there was no
obligation on the part of the
county and that the action sim
ply permits employees to join.
Commissioner Matt Mullis
made a motion to permit the
County makes appointments
to brand new recreation board
It’s time for appointments
and re-appointments to county
boards.
Acting after discussion in
executive session nt last week’s
county commission, commis¬
sioners appointed a total of
nine persons
Seven persons were appoint¬
ed to the newly created recre¬
ation advisory board including.
Bill Gresham. Ronald Hughes.
Jack Kemp, Rhonda Johnson,
Sarah Knottingham, Danny
Special Millennium edition
newt uteek!
Wednesday, January 19,2000
V.
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pie," Greer said,
The schools will have to
adjust to an environment in
which jobs for the uneducated
and untrained will disappear,
Greer said.
Whether it’s technical school
or college, Peach County resi
dents will have to learn the
skills needed for the new tech¬
nologically advanced economy,
Greer said, and we’ll have to
have a bigger supply of well
trained people than do sur-
sheriffs department to adver
tised for three vehicles which
have already been funded. Joe
Collins seconded the motion
which was passed unanimous
ly.
Commissioners ( voted four to
one to sign a contract with
Hulsey, McCormick and Wal
lace to monitor the county’s old
landfill,
McCormick and Wallace mon
itored the landfill when they
were with Tribble and Richard
son and Chairman Hicks told
commissioners he thought it
would be a good idea to stay
with the people who were
familiar with the work. Com
missioner Walter Smith voted
in opposition to the signing of
the contract.
Commissioners voted three to
two to authorize the tax com
missioner’s office to transfer
funds in order to cover tempo
rary salaries for employees,
Collins and Hicks voted in
opposition,
Peach County Superintendent
of Public Works. Billy Segars,
appeared before commissioners
to discuss the county’s require
ment for curbs and gutters
which is not required in subdi
visions.
“In our code we have provi
sions for curb and gutter and
we do not require it in subdivi
sions. Curb and gutter gives
you a safer, cleaner road It
gives you better drainage It
cuts down on road mainte
nance, ditch maintenance,
drainage maintenance, and
Self and George Smith. The
formation of this board came
after months of the idea first
surfacing
Thomas Palmer was reap¬
pointed to the planning and
zoning hoard. He is joined by
Duane Gassett. Two positions
on the planning and zoning
board art* still vacant and will
be filled at a later date
Appointments still need to hi'
made for the hoard of tax com¬
missioners
rounding counties.
That new improved work¬
force will be one more asset for
a county that already has a lot
going for it, Greer said
From race relations to schools
to quality of life to the people,
the county is already blessed,
Greer said, though some can
fall into the habit of negativity.
“We need to build on all these
good things instead of jumping
to criticizing and complaining."
Greer said
infiltration of silt into
streams"”
Segars told commissioners
that he believed there should
be a code requiring curbs and
gutters in subdivisions.
* Commissioner Collins made a
motion to table consideration of
requiring curbs and gutters,
Commissioners voted to table
discussion with Khourv voting
against.
Commissioners took up the
issue of another attempt by
Warner Robins to annex a por
tion of Peach County. (See our
article on Peach County i
Commissioner Hicks shared a
letter from Central Point I'ni
forms with the commission He
noted that the letter asked for
official guidelines for the hid
ding process,
Hicks asked that Central
Point be notified in writing of
the availability of the request¬
ed information and the steps
necessary to obtain it
Robert Stump, director of the
Peach County Recreation
Department, told commission¬
ers that he did not recommend
Central Pointe for screening
football or basketball jerseys
He said the form which he
filled out had room for three
vendors and based on previous
experience with screening by
Central Pointe he did not rank
them among the top three
Central Pointes .-ilk screens
were not clear, he said, the
numbers on the back were not
up to standard, the ink was
blotched on the material
Stump noted that Central
Pointe has not been excluded
from bidding He noted that
they got the bid for soccer
shirts and they got a hid for
trophies for football and soccer
“Those things 1 continue to go
to the Central IVinte for hut I
put down these three vendors
because in my opinion these
vendors were the best "
In other business
• commissioners voted to
change the speed limit on
Housers Mill Road from 50
mph to 35 mph
• Superintendent Segars
that work on the
is complete
With no other business the
voted to go into
session for lawyer
privilege and to make
nt mint s to count \