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•— II,II,.,,11,,I! (•III II.,.H IH.I..I. Inti la * m 4# 2 (II ml : mm ,v» ^ GEORGIA NEWSPAPER PROJECT Ws ■ UNIV OF GA 1m A THEN'S GA 30602-0001 •M* <3 1 I s - I fK*. they Come out and support the Peach as take on ‘-hi CunoUto” T f( funs fralev "■ qhi ' rWFlT * Vol. 126 Issue No. 37 500 Legal Organ For Peach County. City of Fort Valley and City Of Byron Byron Keeps Mill Rate at 9 By Victor Kulkosky News Editor The Byron City Council voted last week to leave the city's property tax rate at nine mills for the next fiscal year. During a called meeting. Business and Finance Committee Chairman Michael Chumbley said the committee had reviewed the city's finances and looked at the future and voted to keep the mill rate at nine, unchanged from the previous year. TTie council unanimously approved the committee’s recommendation. A mill is one dollar of taxes for every $1,000 of assessed value. Georgia law sets the assessed value for tax purposes at 40% of the fair market price of a home. Thus, a theoretical $100,000 home in Byron would be worth $40,000 for tax purposes. Nine mills times 40 equals 360, making the home's city tax bill $360. The owner of that theoretical home would also have a county tax bill of $542.2(Land. a Board of Education tax bill of $580, bringing the total to $1,582.20. This example does not include any exemp¬ tions. which vary by the individual property owner and each government entity. In other business, the council approved revisions to rental and use policies for the Byron Municipal Complex. City Councilman Mark Waters said the Public Properties Committee had added a refundable deposit for damage and clean-up of the kitchen. A security detail consisting of a Byron Police officer will be assigned to every event. The officer will have a checklist to go over with a representa¬ tive of the group renting the facilities. Mayor Collins said problems with damage and clean-up, particularly with weekend rentals were well known and the revised policies would hopefully eliminate those problems. Update on A.W. Our long-time Sports Correspondent A.W. Dorsey has been transferred from the Medical Center of Central Georgia to its affil¬ iate, Central Georgia Rehabilitation Hospital, to begin the next phase of recovery from his recent stroke. He has difficulty swallowing and gets most of his nourishment intra¬ venously. Doctors expect him to be able to swallow in the future. A.W. can move his legs but does not yet have enough strength to walk. He also has use of only one arm. A.W. could sure use some encour¬ aging words. His cell phone number is 737-8587. We encourage readers to call or write and let him know people are pulling for him. The phone number at Central Georgia Rehab is (478) 2015-6500. The address is 3351 Northside Dr., Macon GA 31201. m for last week s ‘ i of The Kettle * of the winning team. We - S# n / > Pt arh ( 1* Italy I Oi Over UK) )i t in s Peach Newspaper On to Round Three Hrr Wj X •JL uA t .ASr-sC. ft . gjg sa ‘ : ■■ * ■ - -. SaiiS ii-.i - '*§? Keyshawn Lowe sweeps left during fourth-quarter action. His 13 carries and 81 yards led the team and made a major contribution to the Trojans' 35-14 victory. The team's next match is Friday against the Carrollton Trojans. Bkckto by Victor Kulkosky Next SPLOST in the Works By Victor Kulkosky News Editor It will be 2014 before another coun¬ ty-wide Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax could begin, but local offi¬ cials are already working on how to divide the money that would come from it. Representatives from the Peach County Board of Commissioners, the City of Fort Valley and the City of Byron met last Friday at the Commissioners offices on Persons Street to outline an agreement on shar¬ ing the estimated $21.7 million from the proposed SPLOST. Representatives began by listing their priorities. Mayor Larry Collins shared Byron's list of “near and dear" projects. First is a stormwater utility. Collins said SPLOST funds could be the "seed money” for creating a storm¬ water system, which he said would need to be self-sustaining, that is. pay for itself by fees charged for services. Byron also needs either a new fire station or a new pumper to improve the city's insurance rating. The city will also need new communication equip¬ ment for the police department because of widely anticipated changes in pub¬ lic safety communications around the state. The city is also looking at water system improvements and cultural/his- Dogs Have Best Friend in Peach County By Victor Kulkosky News Editor It's a pity dogs can't read or dial phones. If they did, the ymight read this article and the following message: “Lost or abandoned? Call Tammy Knowland at 955-8541.” Knowland is the proprietor of Peach County Animal Rescue, which in its II months of existence so far has arranged 170 per adoptions. She is currently at full capacity w ith 40 dogs in need of food, medical attention and a good permanent home. Knowland worked in business until she became “burned out and bored” and looked for a calling. She found it in animal rescue. She learned the business at Georgia Canine Rescue and Rehabilitation under Heather Za ret sky before establishing her own indepen¬ dent rescue operation in January of this year. Continued to page 3. torical improvements, which Collins said involve “quality of life issues.” Also on the list is a new state court facility that would be located in Byron. Collins said a state court would rank below Superior Court and above Municipal Court. Such a project would require enabling legislation. Collins said the new state court would relieve the burden of misdemeanor cases on Superior Court, where many cases are dismissed due urlack of resources. He said local government could gain up to $300,000 a year in additional revenue from the proposed state court. Mayor Stumbo offered Fort Valley’s list of proposed projects. First would be continued work on streets and the stormwater system. The aging City Hall is in need of renovation. The city also needs street improvements beyond the limited number supported by state funds each year. Stumbo also said public works and public safety vehicles will need replac¬ ing. Fort Valley, like many local gov¬ ernments. has had to find other ways of funding capital expenditures other than through the General Fund, which comes largely from property taxes. Parks and recreation funds could help build basketball courts and play¬ grounds on the rehabilitated Woolfolk Site. The swimming pool at the Hunt community center could use expansion m A true gentle giant, Magu it a lbs., 10-month-old who will Husky/ reach Great Dane mix, now at 60 80-90lbs. lbs. At maturity loves children Magu will and be playing. approximately 80-90 He Magu will make a great addition to playful any family. but He is be not a TV-watchmg typical puppy. couch He can be well. Magu can safe, a potato as is cat and become a city pool. The city's trash trucks, while they look good with their recent paint jobs, are aging and in need of replacement, Stumbo said. An issue that Stumbo said he can't predict is whether the state Environmental Protection Division will require groundwater monitoring at the Vienna Street wastewater plant. He said a decision on that issue is about a year away. Commissioner Roy Lewis offered the county's proposed list. About $6 million would go to road improve¬ ments of the kind normally funded through property taxes. “Just about everything relates to taxes,” Lewis said. The county also needs to replace public safety vehicles, Lewis said. Equipment at the E9II Center has a life expectancy of seven to 10 years and will need replacing by 2014, he said. Also on the list are new ambulances for EMS, another item once included in the general fund and now routinely bought through SPLOST money. The county's list also includes a new fire truck, county-wide tornado sirens and a generator to ensure they will work, police radios, computers for the Public Libraiy, voting machines, equipment for the Clean Community Continued to page 5, KfitsSd Tigger is a Terrier saved mix who by was picked up by animal control and was a veterinarian. She is a sweat girl, well who loves doing being in well your with presence. house She listens and is playful very break mg. She is very and a lot of fun. Tigg ■ weighs about 43 lbs. She is full grown. Tigger h os never paid any attention to the cats. I Patch Publishing ( a. \ ewspaper November 23,2011 County Approves Byron SPLOST Drawdown By Victor Kulkosky News Editor ______ The Peach County Board of Commissioners dealt with several issues at a called meeting last Friday morning. The board approved two drawdown requests from Byron for water and sewer system work funded by the 2000 SPLOST. One request for $159397.49 for easements and professional servic¬ es. The second was for $519352.52 for materials and construction, bring¬ ing the total to $617,951.01. The Peach County Water & Sewerage Authority had previously approved the requests. Georgia law specifies the county government as the only entity authorized to disburse SPLOST funds. In other business, commissioners voted to accept the recommendation of Purchasing Manager Clarice Davis for taking down the communications tower at the old EMS station at Jail house Alley and moving equipment to anoth¬ er location. A letter from Fire Chief/ EMA Director Jeff Doles says the old tower currently holds equipment that controls the county's tornado warning system, which could be moved to the tower at Station I. Davis Told commissioners that Tower Erectors in Gray offered a quote of $ 122230 and Quality Tower Erectors, based in Florida, offered a quote of $27,530. She recommended the low quote, which commissioners approved. In other business, commissioners approved a revised intergovernmental agreement between the county and the Peach County Board of Education covering School Resource Officers. County Manager Marcia Johnson told commissioners the revisions were needed because the four-day school week extended the school year by about two weeks. That required slight adjustments to the previously approved pay rates. In other business the board approved a revised agreement governing the State University Drive Streetscape project. Johnson told commissioners the revised agreement clearly specifies what the county's $250,000 contribu¬ tion to the project will be used for and spells out Fort Valley's responsibili¬ ties. The county's contribution, which comes from 2008 SPLOST funds, will pay for preliminary engineering work. The rest of the roughly $1.5 million cost of the project will come from a federal grant.