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Vol. 126 Issue No. 3 50e Peach County's a Newspaper JANUARY20, 2010
Legal Organ For Peach County, City of Fort \ alley and City Of Byron
line I 7 IANI LEAr
PRMC Signs Banker for New Hospital,
But Much Work Remains to be Done
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An agreement between Peach Regional Medical Center and investment
banker moved this sign closer to reality. Photo by Danny Gilleland
By Victor Kulkosky
News Editor
There's no money in the bank, nor
has a single bond been sold, but Peach
Regional Medical Center cleared a
major hurdle last week in its long
running effortto build a new hospital.
By a unanimous vote last week,
the Peach County Hospital Authority
approved an agreement betw-een PRMC
and Bergen Capital Inc., an Atlanta
based investment banking company,
Bergen will underwrite and sell the
bonds and perform all the functions
required to manage the financing of
the hospital project. The hospital
authority w ill be the official issuer of
tile bonds. The most recent estimate of
the project was about $27 million.
In an interview after the meeting,
hospital authority chairman Tom Green
said Bergen Capital has been engaged
to see financing for the new hospital
through selling tax-exempt bonds. The
bonds would be so-called “non-rated”
bonds, which are considered “below
The Decade in Review:
2002-2004
By Victor Kulkosky
News Editor
NOTE: The dates are issue
dates for the paper, not the
exact dates of events.
2002
Jan. 9: A snowstorm closed Peach
County schools, giving children a rare
chance to build snowmen.
Jan. 16: Members of the Fort Valley
Utility Commission elected Bob
Hunnicutt Chairman
March 6: The FVSU Lady Wildcats
made history with their 3rd straight
SIAC Tournament championship
April 17: The Volunteer Board of
the Boys & Girls Club proposed a
ALL FOR ATHENS Untv Georgia C001
of
ADC GA Ga Newspaper
301 30602-0001 Project
_________________
Serving Peach County For Over 100 Years
OPINION %
PRMC Bites The Bullet i
For Everyone i I
By Victor Kulkosky
How I Came To Fort Valley
By Orlando Rodriquez
investment grade.” Bonds are rated
according to the credit-worthiness of
the issuer. Because of PRMC’s finan
ciat status, the bonds would be consid
ered risky. As a results of the bonds'
rating, they will carry interest rates
around 7 perc ent to 8 percent
PRMC and the authority have had
difficulty warning financing for the
planned tvpv. hospital due to poor
financial performance over the [last
few- yf«r«—WMC management has
cited high percentages of indigent
patients and patients on Medicare
and Medicaid, along with inability to
attract doctors, as the main reasons for
the red ink of recent years. They have
consistently argued that a newer hos¬
pita!, closer to 1-75, w ill attract more
doctors, including specialists, as well
as more paying patients,
Before the Bergen Capital deal, the
hospital had been trying to obtain
financing through the U.S. Department
of Agriculture. But USDA representa
lives had been concerned about the
See Hospital Page A3
new building rather than renovating
a section of the old Fort Valley High
School.
April 24: Banker and community
leader Hal Peavy died at age 66.
May 8: The Byron Area Historical
Society buried a time capsule in the
city park, to be opened 100 years
later.
May 15: The Byron Middle School
F-agles won their first baseball cham¬
pionship
June 26: A bust of educator H E.
Bryant was unveiled as part of the cel¬
ebration of the 20th anniversary of the
Hunt Educational and Cultural Center,
July 10: FVSU appointed Gwendolyn
Reeves as its first female Athletic
Director,
Aug. 7: First Baptist Church of Fort
Valley celebrated its 150th anniver
sary.
Aug. 21: Jody Usry beat incumbent
Bill Alford in the primary election for
Board of Education Post 4, setting off
a runoff.
Sept. 25: The Byron Middle School
Lady Eagles fast-pitch softball team
won their first championship.
Oct. 30: The Fort Valley Utility
Commission introduced wireless
broadband service.
Nov. 27: FVSU President Dr. Kofi
Lomotey denied allegations he was a
Muslim and did not say the Pledge of
Allegiance.
Dec. 18: Byron, Fort Valley and
Peach County reached a long-delayed
agreement on the formula for distribut¬
ing I-ocal Option Sales Tax revenue
2003
Jan. 29: Georgia Trend and the
Georgia Municipal Association
See Review A5
Keeping ^ V l he Dream Alive
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Fort Valley State President Larry Rivers and his wife Betty lead the annual Martin Luther King Day March along
State University Drive Monday morning, Photo by Don ny Gilleland
Danny Gilleland
Staff Writer/Photographer
The annual Martin Luther King.
Jr. Memorial Day March was held
Monday morning. Participants gath
ered at Wildcat Commons Clubhouse
on the Fort Valley State University
campus and began their trek at 9a.m.
The march crossed the campus, then
County Adds to Trojans Honors
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PEACH C OUNTY IKOJXNS
AAA STATE *,
football IIAMPIONS
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2005 f
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From left, Peach County Commissioners Roy Lewis, Melvin E. Walker Jr, Chairman Martin Moseley, Coach Chad
Campbell, and Commissioner Michael Dinkins pose with the new sign and the proclamation.
By Victor Kulkosky
News Editor
. The Peach County Trojans football
team is already in the weight room
getting ready for the 2010 season, but
last week the Peach County Board
of Commissioners kept talking about
the 2009 season. The board opened
their regular monthly meeting with
Chairman Martin Moseley reading a
proclamation declaring Jan. 12, 2010
as “Peach High School Trojans State
AAA Champions Day."
The board also unveiled a copy of
the new road sign that informs visitors
Peach County is home of the 2005,
2006 and 2009 AAA state champions.
“Everywhere we go on the road, we
have tremendous support,” Head Coach
Campbell said He noted Trojans fans
filled about one-and-a-half sections of
the stadium at the St Ptus X stadium.
An Evans Family Newspaper
SPORTS
Honors Continue For Coach
Campbell and s ■■
Trojans
Lady Wilcats Trump Tigerettes
and move to 15-0
followed Stale University l>rivc, and
ended at James Miracle Tern|l(tx|*f a
Mcmorial Day Service led bjj
Jamie Johnson. President
Rivers and First Lady Betly
the marchers as they sang their way
along the route
Sponsors of the event were FVSU
Student Campus Life, FVSU Student
Government Association Fort Valley
which only has one side
“1 feel honored and privileged,”
Campbell said. “1 work for a great
school system.”
Commissioner Michael Dinkins said
the five commissioners plan to go in
together to buy one state champion
ship ring, each of which costs $340.
In other business, commissioners
held a public hearing to discuss rec
ommendations from the Peach County
Planning and Zoning board
Zoning Administrator Rickey
Blalock told commissioners the board
had unanimously recommended
approving the request by Bobby and
Bonnie Evridge to rezone a 1 52-acre
lot cut from a larger parcel that the
couple owns, for the purpose of allow
mg their daughter to build a 2,000
square-foot home The request w as
for rezoning from R-Ag (Residential
Agricultural) to R I (low-density resi
Ministerial Alliance, The Peach
County Branch of the NAACP, and
the Fort Valley Chapter of SCLC.
U.S. Representative John Conyers
of Michigan first introduced legisla
tion for the holiday four days after
Dr. King was assassinated in 1968.
The holiday was finally approved and
signed into law by President Ronald
Reagan in 1983.
dential).
Blalock said the P&Z Board also
unanimously recommended approv
ing the request by Allen Temple AME
Church to re zone 6.14 acres at Ga.
49 and Jones Rd. from R-Ag to C-2
(General Business). Church Trustee
Phillip Shannon told commissioners
the church is building a new sanctuary
to replace the older one that burned
down, and the church's bank reconv
mended the re/oning in order to build
a large-enough parking lot on the site.
Commissioners unanimously
approved both recommendations,
In other business, commissioners
unanimously approved a $368,452
contribution to the defined benefit
plan for county employees. County
Administrator Marcia Johnson said the
Government Employee Benefits Corp.
See Review Page B6