The leader-tribune. (Fort Valley, Peach County, Ga.) 192?-current, October 30, 2002, Page PAGE 6A, Image 6

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Newspaper Page TextV Uil 6 l A i VN EDNESDAY, October 30, 2002 L-T Mailbag OCR OPINION IN Li I II RS I • Ul arm call On _ t^tor I would Thel^der.Tnbune: like to correct an error t ..... —4 „„ r___* r,r Tribune concerning the law suit between the city of Fort Valley and Peach County. The reporter stated that Peach County’s offer to the two cities still stood at 68 V of the LOST funds with the inclusion of total costs of E-911 and the Peach County the countv’J know this ts atm olicated issue so a word of expla mtkm may be in order. Peach County’s original offer to ihe cities was to increase the coun ty's share of LOST from 5W to 68 V with no additional costs attached. The 51V was the per cent age agreed on ten years ago based solely on population. How ever, this percentage only included the county s percentage of popula hon in the unincorporated area and failed to account for the 49V of the population that lives inside the city limits of Byron or Fort Valiev who also receive services from the county. City residents receive basically the same level of county services as unincorporated residents the Delivering Best Care for mothers End newborns Jay J offering Davis, complete M.D. at Obstetrics Physician's and Speciality Gynecology Center 601 Blue Bird Blvd. Fort Valley, Ga. 31030 478-746-1333 Service Includes : Peach Hospital Regional Privileg Hospital es: Family Planning 1 ligh Risk Obstetrics Medical Center of Center Georgia Menopausal Health Care Macon Northside Hospital Coliseum Medical Center t Participating with most 1 insurance plans including j Medicare and Medicaid For <ij\ a ppointmentPleasecall: ^ 478 - 745-1333 1 ■, Central Ga. Women's Health Care INVITATION TO BID 1 The Peach C ounty Board of ('nnimj.ssioncr.s Office will he accepting Sealed Bids for the next two weeks pertaining to the follow ing: Procurement of four, 2003. i law enforcement police pursuit vehicles for the Peach ( mints Sheriffs Depart I ment. I Specification Packages are available in the Peach ( minis Purchasing Office, jj Suite 206. 205 \\ esl ( htirch St.. 1 m l \ alles . ( , \ 31030. I lies mas he picked op j Mondas through Frida) between the hours nl S OU a.in. and 5:0(i p.m. I ( losing date for Sealed Bid #03-001 shall he 1 hursdas. \os emlu r 14, 2002, at 1 10:00 a.m. Openingiflate for Sealed Bid #03-0(11 shall he I hursdas. November Public 14. 2002 at 10:15 a.m. in the Peach ( omits Courthouse Nunes 1st lloor. Meeting Room. \n) questions concerning the- above \ limit please eontact Sheriff .John nie Beeliam at (478) 825-3435. to make an appointment. Peach Counts reverses the right to reject .ins and all bids, to waive informalities, to readsertise and/or to award the contras l m tin best interest of the ( (Hints. and to retain ans and all Bids for a pci iod ol ilm is 30 (lass alter the date of hid opening. Bids should he mailed to: Peach Counts Commissioners (IHli e Attn: Sealed Bid #03-001 205 West (’hurch Street. Suite 206 Fort Valley, Georgia 31030 Clarice Das is. Peach Counts Purchasing Vgenl The Leader-Tribune the exception offire protection and garbage pick up. Garbage service is funded by the insurance premi um rollback ($411,000), not prop prtv y taxes or °' sales saie8 taxes wlxe ®* V/1W6i Cities ssssaaasr . t tl on is spent solely on the citizens within their city limits. The funding of the fire depart ment is not based on property taxes either and is funded by the LOST and grant funds. The fire department’s budget is approxi mately $ 494,000 out of the coun &*g****»», The rountyrameup ba^d with the$ 8 % figure on the pereentage of the county’s population (23,668) divided by the combined popula tion figures of the county (23,668) and the two cities (Fort Valley 8,005 & Byron 2,887). Under this arrangement the county would receive 68.48V, Fort Valley would receive 23.16V and Byron 8.35V respectively. Under this arrange ment Byron ^ Fort Valley resi den ts would receive $155.68 capita and ^unty re8ident8 exactly 1/2 of that amount or $ 7784 The reason for that is that Byron and Fort Valley residents reoeive $ 77.84 per capita by right of being a city resident and 577.84 per capi ta for also being a county resident In order to try and reach an agree ment on the LOST distribution. Peach Countv later inducted ‘ fund- 1 cities as well as funding the library. This reduces the financial burden on the cities while adding expenditures to the counties bud get Peach County further reduced the LOST percentage to 65^ and still included E-911 dispatch service and hbrary funding. The county ye^inort’ertott'putrs'trlin on the city ofFort Valiev financial ly. The cities originally offered the county 54 ^ based on the same cal culations of ten years ago. Later the offer was increased to 57V and finally to 61V with the inclusion of E-911 and library funding. At this point it was decided that we had failed to reach an agreement by the mandatory deadline and arbi tration would be used to settle the ^pute. Peach County later offered one fma l compromise of splitting the difference of 61V and 65V and offering to settle with 63 V, not the 68 V as reported. This offer was voted on and ap Q. roved by a 5-0 margin in a regular : meeting of the county commission. The 63 V would not be a net per r n t nTnn S,nCC ,;f Pr0 X n : Ute,: : $ 9 200,000 n would be additional H 8 be ctse^o 6 oTToTvaftey would receive about 28.5V, but would net out more than that because of reduced expenditures. Byron would receive a gross per centage of 8 . 5 V, but would net out over 12 V. Byron has agreed to accept this offer. 'Hte amount of dollars keeping the city of Fort Valley and the county from arriving at a settlement only amounts to $52,000. In my opin ion, this amount is hardly worth the costs of settling the LOST dis pute through arbitration and the possible additional court costs of settling the E-911 dispute. Resolving LOST could settle the two year dispute over E-911 fund ing and end the double taxation issue on library funding. James E. Khoury Chairman Peach County Board of Commissioners Tribute Editor, The I reader- Trihu ne: Fred Amos, son of Willis and Ellen Jones Amos, was born in Roberta, Georgia. A tall, light skinned, wiry man with keen features was a good man. His friends called him "Chick." He was a Christian man who would do anything for you. He was quiet and slow to anger. He took life as it was dealt to him with out complaint. He had sharp eyes for exactness and beauty. * yo«r sauWMUon. f i " 88 you. H6 wbb rsfisondblc. £ His work far exceeded whet he It was not the money. It was the quality ofhis work that stood out and it was evident that he was a man high standards. No matter how difficult the job, he conquered it without fanfair or e g°tsrn- He knew his work. He CIS tain time and plaoeat a certain nee, he did it. His best came out m his work. ^h have ere sought were a few revenge, times he but could he turned the other cheek. When he spoke softly, only kind words were uttered. He was courteous with a positive, ethical attitude which made him easy to get along with, n e was a w ho conformed * ** P^ciple^ nr 38 i a nr patnot ; n i„ B u. He who was fought recog- for hls C 0 “ n, f' r ® ceived man y awards for his bravery and steadfastness. One honored him self or herself by being in his presence. What does he leave us? Be true to yourself. Do not walk away from difficult problems. There is no P rcb,em ** hard work can not ^ pat^. ^ a lit de while, all will dissipate and be again. Man y wlU lon 8 remember his kindnesses and his good work, Love to his memory. Peace to his soul, by Dorothy M. Haith F^GSDOflSIUl IlIV • * Editor, The Leader-Tribune: It is our duty to vote when an election is coming. You have no reason to complain about an elected official if you decide to “copout”, or commit voter apa thy. It only takes a matter minutes to register your vote, So, if you want to participate in all the opinions/arguments on who won what and which political party is best, you need to go to the polls on November 5 and voice your choice. And don’t forget how your pocket book is affected because that is the bottom line, pun intended. Frank Brown Best wishes Editor, Next week, The Leader-Tribune: finest, two of our Reverend Ray Golko and his wife, Lynda, will be leaving our community. In the three ghort yearg they have served at St Andrews copal Church, these partners many beyond their own congre gation. Ray, in his way, has ministered to all religions and all walks of life, Lynda has been a pillar for Habi tat for Humanity. As neighbors and friends, we grieve at this loss. We will espe dally miss the rector reading a book while he walked his around our neighborhood. Emmett, a neighborhood charac ter and befriended by Ray, said, "If Mr. Ray thinks we have lems in Fort Valley, wait until gets to Atlanta!" We join St Andrews' in Ray and Lynda much as they go to a 1600 church in Marietta, St, Episcopal Church, where will be <me of the associates. AnnLanter Vote yes Editor, The Leader-Tribune: I would like to take this County dtizens to vote YES the renewal of the SPLOST Crawford County Schools on November 5! The current bond indebtedness 0 n our elementary school, which was built in 1991, is scheduled to ^ through 2009. By renewing the SPLOOT, the oneK»nt sales tax will *111 be used «. to make . those , years just as it is doing now for us. This reduces the tax bill for every property owner in our county. The amount saved by the SPLOST is printed on our tax bills each year. degperately need another ele schooTwas mentary school as our current brnlt for 700 student, and houses over l,(W0.WhMi voting YES on the SPLOST, funds are designated for the con gtruction of a new school and property taxes are reduced Our new middle school opened without a bond indebtedness thanks in part to the 1998 pas sage of the SPLOST. A YES vote on November 5 is a win-win vote for our children and Crawford County property owners!! Please vote YES! Sincerely, Sandra C. Neal a j 1 1 fx/f CjTCjlO a C j Q Editor, The Leader-Tribune: of Georgia In the state there are “*■* thous^d citizens living m Georgia s seven regional men *} tala Many and of these retardation patients hospi- have hved in these hospitals most of ^*^ ct with or support from mends or family. Forty-four years ago, in 1958, the Georgia Municipal Association and then Governor Ernest Van diver created the Mayors’ Christ mas Motorcade to help these hospital patients celebrate Christmas by providing each with a present. The staff at the regiona i hospitals tell us that without the Mayors' Christmas Motorcade, many patients would 2° without any type of gift or recognition during the holidays Our city has started its gift col lection campaign and we are asking for your help. The hospi tal clients are part of our com munity, drawn from a region, we wou i d i^e ^ encourage all of you to remember them this holiday season. If your school, church, business or civic group would like to participate in an outstanding holiday community project, please contact Lewis Moye at Fire Dept for further information on how you can get involved. Let's not forget those less fortu nate during the holiday season. Lewit Moy ^ Fort Valley Fire Department T-l I ■ * * ^ I I f Editor, The Leader-Tribune: Thank you so much for keeping the public informed about the Peach County High School Class of 1982 20th Class Reunion. We received many phones calls with your help. 'Dianks again. Sue Zuniga Class of 1982 State Flag Editor, The Leader-Tribune: I was bom and raised in Georgia and a career military man sta tioned in Florida. But I m still a Georgian and concerned about my home state. My letter con cems change of the state flag. As I watched the debate by the politicians before they voted to change the flag, I was amazed at the bizarre rationalizations given by some for not allowing the peo pie of Georgia a chance to make fap ut s^ami yoteon^this them Mississippi can vote on whether or not to change their flag, but not Georgians? TTie only .V, 5S* ml reason is that if the politicians allowed the people of Georgia to vote, they couldn't guarantee the outcome. The outcome they had guaranteed due to racial extor tion by certain special interest groups. That outcome was decid ed behind L , , dosed . , doors « m a secret State Representatives, the NAACP and Jesse Jackson. The result was a subversion of the legislative process, with complete disregard for the will of the peo pie. Florida has a "Sunshine Law". It requires Ration all matters concerning Z be conducted in ^ 1 . This allows public debate, discourse and scrutmy. A group of county commissioners m the Panhandle are currently being prosecuted for violating this law. I'm sure ifGeorgia had a similar law, the secret deal Barnes made would subject him and all con cerned to prosecution also, Whether illegal or not, it was most certainly unethical and immoral. I now see many more "real" Georgia flags, than the one coerced upon the State, along with more and more "let us vote" signs. The November election is Georgia's chance. No matter how hard the politicians try to avoid the flag issue, now is the chance to gend a message U) the ones ^ disregarded Cet2 the right of the voices h d Geo S, s should vote out ofoffice politicians who with Barnes b >’ t0 change the state nag The chance for the people to have ^ yote them out. Ron Johnson Navarre, Florida Congress Editor, The Leader-Tribune: For the last several months, both houses of Congress have been playing political "ping pong” with an energy- bill that could have a devastating impact on electricity consumers in Fort Val ’ey and across the nation, In light of the recent $30 billion electric power debacle in Califor nia, the scandalous behavior of the crowd at Enron, and the manipulation of prices by greedy energy traders - Congress should declare a moratorium on any fur ther "experimentation" with our electric system, Unfortunately, Congress is "bar reling ahead toward fuller dereg ulation of the electricity markets . _ as » the California and Enron messes had never happened.So says Business Week economic columnist, Robert Kuttner in the October 14 issue. "Worse,” Kut tner states, "they are proceeding th^streHiKH 18 objection of governors as well as state regulators. Most state officials have concluded from the Califor nia meltdown that they prefer to remain integrated and regulated power utilities, But Washington isn't listening." Well, I hope our Senators and Representatives of Fort Valley are listening. We don't need any further "experi mentation" with our reliable electridty system. We don't need any Califomia-style blackouts ->r rate increases imposed by Ffeder al regulators. They should vote against any energy bill that con tains an electricity title that will further federalize our electric system. I hope the citizens of p or t Valley will talk to the mayor and council with questions they may have about this issue, and turn communicate these con cems to members of the Georgia Congressional delegation prior to their return to Washington in early November. Sincerely, Director,GovemmentandCor porate Affairs MEAC Riwer

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The leader-tribune. (Fort Valley, Peach County, Ga.) 192?-current, October 30, 2002, Page PAGE 6A, Image 6