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Peach County UMlV OF g a *PER project
Since 1888 ATHENS Q A 30602
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Jail, LOST still under review by county
3v DAVID WALENCEUS
L T Staff Writer
County commissioners
heard concerns from the sher
iff regarding operation . of the
county jail at their regular
meeting last week.
1 each County Sheriff,
Johnnie Bee ham, asked com
nnssioners for eight addition
al officers to run facilities
under his control. This need
became painfully apparent
after Becham received indica
tions the liability insurers for
the county intended to cancel
t-overage unless requirements
could be met.
Commissioners asked
Bt than) to i xplor* all the
options h lore they would
allow additional personnel to
be hired. Becham had mdicat
ed the insurance company
Peach
Inside &
Out
OCTOBER 17th BOD MEETING FOR
THE DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY - The
location of the October 17 Board of
Director’s meeting for the
Development Authority of Peach
County has been changed from the
Troutman House to Room 106,
Pettigrew Center, Fort Valley State
University. The meeting will convene
at the regular time - 8:00 a m.
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meets
every Monday, Wednesday and Friday
at 7:30 p.m., St. Andrews Episcopal
Church, 309 Central Ave., Fort Valley.
For information call 478-825-8133,825-
7337 or 825-3498.
BYRON TOPS CHAPTER meets every
Thursday evening, 7 p.m. at Byron
United Methodist Church. For more
information call 956-3935 or 218-2919.
PEACH COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL
CLASS OF 1982 will celebrate their
20th reunion Saturday, October 19,
2002. Classmates interested in obtain
ing information for the busy weekend
planned, can call Sue Green Zuniga in
Bonaire at 478-922-8452.
SASANQUA FESTIVAL at Massee
Lane Gardens, Oct. 1-31. Hands on
discussion every Wednesday in
October at 1 p.m.; Senior Citizens Day
is Oct. 22; fall fashion show Oct. 16.
Call 478-967-2358 for admission fees
and information on events.
Halloween Carnivals - Thursday,
October 31, downtown Fort Valley
Nightmare on Main, Byron also Oct. 31
Jailhouse Alley Art Show 8i Sale
Saturday, November 2,2002 at 9:00 am.
until 4:00 p.m. Fort Valley United
Methodist Church. Free Admission.
Logic and Accuracy Test will be done on
the DRE Voting Machines, starting at 10:
00 AM. on October 23,2002, continuing
hour by hour and day by day until com
pleted, at the Peach County Courthouse.
This certification is open to the public.
MORE INSIDE PAGE 2A
Perspectives - 4AI
Op-Editorial - 5A
Vol. No. 113 Issue 43 3 Sections. 32 Pages
FV8U Homecoming
Wildcat Homecoming this week
end. Find out who is the queen
and a list of activities.
PRape 1 -
would possibly be satisfied
with just six additional offi
cers. A few commissioners
wondered if expenses could be
kept down by installing sur
veillance equipment. The pol
j cy j s held by St. Paul
Insurance and ultimately
th ey cou ld on j y decide if risk
would be reduced by addition
al equipment.
Concern from St. Paul
came after they inspected
facilities and felt the jail was
under-staffed. A second con
cern cited by them was that
the turnover rate was too
high. Becham feels that prob
lem can be helped by offering
better pay to jailers.
County officials hope a
H tudy they plan to implement
within the 2003 budget for
pay sca | es f or county employ-
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2002-03 PCHS HOMECOMING COURT proudly celebrates “Tacky day” to show Trojan pride donning
backward shirts and bedroom slippers. Front row seated from left: Dave Allen, Grace Gilmore, Michael
Johnson, Janesa Walker, Nicki Keys, Jessica Wommack and Brett Rucker. Standing from left: Nikki Hill,
Raina Carter, Mercedes Noble, Parthina McCrary, Jordan King, Kristin Alligood. Find out who will take
top honors Friday night at Anderson Field.
Byron residents facing higher taxes
By FAYE JONES
The Leader-TYihune
A public hearing on a proposal to
increase Byron city taxes by 10.11 per
cent was held at 6 p.m., Thursday, Oct.
10 in Byron City Council chambers.
Other than Mayor Robert Wright and
members of council which included:
Betty Hortman, Mike Kanaly, Mike
Chumbley, Mike Chidester and Jesse
Hall, only four others attended. Derick
Mayes from City Hall, this reporter and
Mr. and Mrs. Loren Driskill.
The Driskill couple are newcomers to
Byron, who moved here to escape the
increasing tax burden in Warner
Robins - only to be faced with the same
problem here.
They were concerned that no notice
of the Thursday public hearing was in
the paper.
The legal organ for Peach County is
The Leader Tribune. Last week's paper
(October 91 did have a notice of public
hearing - but it was for the meeting
which will be held this week in Council
chamber's in the City Complex on Oct.
ees will address their sec
ondary concern,
James Khoury, Chairman
of county commission,
announced that I)r. Melvin
Walker, Michaela “Kayla"
Jones, Marcia Johnson and
himself attended a conference
held on St. Simons Island,
While there they received the
grant of $500,000 from the
Georgia Department of
Community Affairs (GI)CA) to
start work for the Gano pro
ject. Gano is an area plagued
with sewage and water prob
lems soon to be reconciled
through this state project,
Reporting on Local Option
Sales Tax (LOST) negotia
tions between the county and
the cities of Fort Valley and
Byron, Khoury stated as rep
resentative from the county
** JjDJ . . . < ■ Lzj I T~~&\ Troians B Lady MS Trojans football blast Dodge update ; Religion/Obits 8A-9A
► Page 1B | Legals/Classifieds • 2B-15B
What the people don')
Recognition ceremony
Volunteers, leaders and others gathered to rec
ognize the best of the best from the Peach
County Boys & Girls Clubs..
I Page 3A
he offered to accept 63 percent
of sales tax revenues. The
county would also maintain
responsibility of E-911 and
the libraries with the excep
tion of a payment due to
Byron for their building,
Arbitration could be avoided
if all three parties can agree
with these figures.
Commissioners also voted
unanimously to allow Khoury
to finalize an agreement on
those terms.
Commissioners had before
them a proposal to form a
county convention and visi
tors bureau. Questions aris
ing during review of the pro
posal left commissioners wait
ing to make a decision until
they could get answers.
A resolution governing
standards for records man-
18 at 10 a m. Notice was also given in
The Leader Tribune of the proposed
23% raise in Peach County taxes.
Councilman Chumbley explained
that the hike in Byron city taxes would
amount to a ballpark figure of about
$23 on a $100,000 house. He stated the
additional taxes would raise city rev
enue by approximately $53,000 annual
ly above the present tax amount.
Hayes stated that industry was
needed in Byron to abate taxes. In the
council work session held immediately
after the public hearing, discussions
were held pertaining to the Byron
Industrial Park.
Members of council discussed tenta
tive plans to continue backing the
Byron Development Authority by
agreeing to pay approximately $90,000
per year in interest on the loan for the
park, at least for a time.
In a joint meeting held last month
between the BDA, Byron City Council
and real estate broker Jack Upshaw, no
concrete, agreements were made to
allow Upshaw to market the park.
Work between council and the Byron
agement for local govern
ments to implement a disas
ter preparedness to comple
ment the existing plan was
also approved unanimously
by members.
Alien-Smith Consulting
(ASC) of Jersey, Georgia was
awarded the contract for
administration of the grant
received for the Gano project.
ASC was instrumental in
obtaining the grant for Fort
Valley by writing the applies
tion to the GDCA. Under the
same item it was also agreed
by commissioners to use
Santee Consulting Services of
Macon as the engineering
firm to complete the Gano
project.
The Commissioners with a
4 to 1 vote approved a long
term disability plan for full
Development Authority continues and
some announcements will hopefully lie
forthcoming at this week's council
meeting.
Council reviewed the agenda for the
coming meeting. It was announced
that Fran Washko agreed to replace
Mike Kanaly on the Convention and
Visitors Bureau Board of Directors.
Kanaly stated that an election should
to be held for secretary/treasurer of the
CVB.
Council discussed making a pay
adjustment in salaries for themselves
Chidester suggested a raise from $100
to $500 per month. Jesse Hall stated
that was too high an increase.
Chumbley agreed. Hortman left it to
other members. Chidester asked
Chumbley what he thought his time
was worth. Chumbley replied that
when he took office, he made a commit
ment to the people of Byron to work for
their good and indicated that salary did
not enter into his obligation to them.
Due to the Monday holiday, Council
will meet on Thursday of this week in
regular session.
4
Latest technology
A new advanced CT scanner was recently
installed at Peach Regional Medical Center.
Find out all about it.
g Page 7A
time and elected officials of
Peach County with a yearly
cost of $23,558.
Sheriff Becham also
requested a transfer of funds
which would enable his
department to replace n
wrecked patrol car.
Commissioners approved
his request 4 to 1.
Historic Preservation
Advisory Board member
Evelyn D. McCrary had a
request to be reimbursed for
expenses to attend a meeting
in Atlanta, which was
approved in a 4 to 1 vote.
A closed session was entered
afterward for personnel issues
and attomey/client privileges.
Following the short session
commissioners adjourned the
regular meeting,
Issues from
A to Z aired
at hearing
By DAVID WALENCEUS
L T Staff Writer
Taxpayers expressed anger
over legal bills, taxes and
freeport to the Board of
Education (BOE) at a public
hearing on the millage rate
increase last week.
With everything from A to
Z being fair game for citizens,
BOE members lent a sympa
thetic ear. William Holt of
Byron expressed his displea
sure with everything from
taxes to freeport exemptions
and Tax Commissioner
Dwight Byrd’s legal bills. His
position was that problems in
tax collections wouldn’t be as
prevalent if people would just
try to work together.
“Taxpayers shouldn’t have to
pay because you guys can’t
work it out,” said Holt.
Other citizens present
conveyed concern for them
selves and others on a fixed
income having to face larger
tax bills.
Sympathetic BOE mem
bers tried to explain state
funding and lower revenues
and late tax collections have
forced the board into a cor
ner. Citizens present for the
public hearing on proposed
tax increases inquired why
budgets couldn’t be cut to
meet expected revenues. Bill
Gresham, BOE Chairman,
tried to explain that man
dates from the state erme
along with their revenue
reductions. These mandates
included raises for teachers
and smaller classroom sizes.
Additional teachers have to
be hired to provide smaller
classrooms. An almost free
for-all attitude took place as
some of the attending taxpay
ers expressed anger over low
state standings for Peach
County schools. Derrel
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