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Vol. 126 Issue No. 1 500
Legal Organ For Peach County , C/fy of Fort Valley and City Of Byron
Looking
Ahead
in 2012
Fort Valley
Streets to
See Major
Work
By Victor Kulkosky
News Editor
Anyone who plans on driving
through the heart of Fort Valley in
the next year to two years should get
themselves a good map or GPS.
Ttoo major projects are scheduled to
get underway in Fort Valley, and both
will create serious traffic problems.
The bigger project is an $11 mil¬
lion project to upgrade wastewater
lines under Camellia Blvd^Georgia
Highway 49. The project, under the
purview of the state transportation
department, is part of a multi-pronged,
multi-year project to renovate and
upgrade Fort Valley’s aging wastewa¬
ter and stormwater systems.
The Camellia Blvd. Project will
involve tearing up the street from Five
Points to the far side of the old Kell
Building. The project is expected to
begin in spring 2012 and could last up
to two years, but the result will be two
new 36” stormwater lines to replace
the existing, and inadequate, 12” and
24" lines.
A more modest project is scheduled
to begin very soon. The $12 million
State University Drive Streetscape
project will make mostly aesthetic
improvements from the beginning of
the street at the Wildcat Monument
to the main entrance of FVSU. The
work will include repaving, planting
and installing streetlights. Plans call
for completing the work in time for
FVSU's next Homecoming in the fall.
As the most recent City Council
meeting, a citizens group expressed
overall support for the project but
objected to a planned island in the
middle of the State University Drive,
raising concerns about traffic, park¬
ing. safety, aesthetics and mainte¬
nance.
Also on the agenda for the year.
Fort Valley Main Street/Downtown
Development Authority will soon
appoint a committee to come up with
ideas about how to use the Passenger
Depot and other historical railroad
buildings. The owner donated the
Passenger Depot to the city late last
year. With that donation, the city now
owns the old Passenger Depot. Signal
Building and Freight Depot.
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Peach County's Newspaper
Byron Council
Passes Budget
3 Sworn In
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Byron~~ ; Crfy -G»uncilman Farrell Bass
stgm the oath of office after swearing
in for his second term.
By Victor Kulkosky
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With wife Sarah beside him, James Richardson fakes the oath
of office as Byron City Councilman with Municpal Court Judge
Laurens C. Lee presiding. Richardson is in his second term.
Photo by Victor Kulkosky
By Victor Kulkosky
News Editor
At a December 28 called meet
ing, the Byron City Council passed
a 2012 General Fund city budget of
$4,735,615.45. The final budget was
New Hospital Board
to Start Work
Ground Set for March 29
By Victor Kulkosky
News Editor
The Peach County Hospital
Authority recently held what was
probably its last meeting under its old
status.
“Thank you for all that you've done.”
said Nancy Peed. Chief Executive
Officer of Peach Regional Medical
Center, at the December 19 board
meeting. “There's been a lot of hard
work and dedication and probably
some tears. I appreciate your belief
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Your dollar* spent in locally-ownad
businesses have three times
the impact dollars on your community national
chains. as When spent at locally,
simultaneously shopping jobs,
you create
fund more city services through
sales improvement tax, Invest in and neighborhood
promote
community development.
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With First Lady Charlotte Collins beside him, Larry Col¬
lins takes the oath of office as Mayor of Byron with Mu¬
nicipal Court Judge Laurens C. Lee presiding. Collins is
in his fifth overall term as Mayor and third consecutive
term. Photo by Victor Kulkosky
unchanged from the budget presented
earlier in the month.
On the revenue side of the budget.
taxes comprise the largest source of
funds for the city. Taxes on real and
personal property total about $1.36
million. Local Option Sales Taxes
that something would come and letting
us get to this point."
With the partnership between PRMC
and the parent company of the Medical
Center of Central Georgia proceeding,
a new board will begin overseeing
operations of the hospital this month.
Peed said. The new board is tentative¬
ly entitled the Medical Center of Peach
County and will hold an informal
meeting around the time the Medical
Cento- signs the lease on the planned
new hospital
Members of the new board will
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total $321,395.40. Franchise fees for
electricity, TV/Cable and telephone
add another $304,090.36.
Fines and Forfeitures comprise the
second largest revenue source, total¬
ing about $1.13 million, including
Municipal Court and Probation Fees.
State Grants adds $328,000 to the
city's bottom line.
The Police Department is the larg¬
est single expense for the city. The
2012 budget for the department is
just under $2 million, with salaries
and benefits the largest share of that
amount, at about $12 million.
Byron also has some enterprise
funds, which should be self-support¬
ing through fees charged to customers.
Those funds include Water/Sewer,
at about $1.3 million. Natural Gas
at $435,329.48 and Solid Waste at
$257,420.55.
In other business, the Mayor and
two city councilman were sworn in to
new terms. Byron Municipal Court
Judge and Peach County Magistrate
Laurens C. Lee presided. Mayor
Larry Collins entered his fifth overall
term and third consecutive term. City
Councilman Farrell W. Bass began
his second term. City Councilman
James Richardson also began his sec¬
ond term.
include Tom Green (chairman of
the existing hospital authority). Dr.
Crystal Brown, Al Waldrcp. Dr.
Isaac J. Crumbly of Fort Valley State
University, Helen Rhea Stumbo.
Connie Cater and Jim McClendon.
The Peach County Hospital
Authority will continue oversee¬
ing county indigent care funds and
SPLOST funds, hold title to the new
hospital, and oversee the new hospital
lease. Under the agreement between
Continued to page 3
January 3,3018
Preview
Southwest
Peach
Waiting for
Sewer Line
By Victor Kulkosky
News Edit or
_
Could 2012 be the Year of the Sewer
Line for the residents of Southwest
Peach?
For many years, the 300 or so home
owners in the Peach County neigh¬
borhood near Fort Valley State have
suffered from septic tank and drain¬
age problems. The problem is that
the lots are simply too small to allow
septic tanks to drain quickly enough.
Current state building codes wouldn’t
allow new homes on relatively small
lots like those in Southwest Peach to
be built with septic systems. Heavy
rains can make for soggy yards and
toilets and drains that back up into
the home.
But until recently. Southwest Peach
never made it to the top of anyone's
priority lists. Officials argued for
years over whether the 2000 SPLOST
should have included Southwest
Peach; some projects included in that
now 12-year-old SPLOST are still not
completed as a result of that dispute.
The fighting appears to be over,
however, as in September 2011 Peach
County, the City of Fort Valley and the
Fort Valley Utility Commission signed
a Memorandum of Understanding that
could lead to a sewer line extension
for Southwest Peach, The county is
the lead agency for the project and
is seeking grant money with help
from Fort Valley and the FVUC. The
FVUC will own and operate the line
and process the wastewater at its exist¬
ing treatment plant nearby, while the
county would foot the bill for resi¬
dents to tap in to the line. Residents
who wish to tap in will have to agree
to annexation into the city.
Also on the agenda for 2012 is the
county's planned animal control facil¬
ity. The latest SPLOST designated
$400,000 for the project, which would
begin to cure a long-running headache
for county government and residents.
Plans call for a building near the Peach
County Law Enforcement Center, but
difficulty bringing the project within
the $400,000 budget have delayed
construction, with a redesign under¬
way.
TTie county is also looking further
ahead, to 2014, to be exact. The cur¬
rent SPLOST doesn't expire until then,
but the county has scheduled a referen¬
dum for it on March 6. Voter approval
ahead of time would guarantee the
SPLOST could continue without a
break. The anticipated $21.7 million
in revenue from the 2014 SPLOST
would be split, with the county receiv¬
ing 64% and each city 18%.
This year is a major election year.
In addition to President and House of
Representatives, many county offices
are also on the ballot. They include
Board of Commissioners Post I, Post
3 and Post 5, along with Sheriff.
Tax Commissioner. Chief Magistrate,
Clerk of Superior Court, Coroner and
Judge of Probate Court.
The 2012 State Legislature begins
its work later this month with Sen.
George Hooks, Rep. Robert Dickey
and Rep Lynmore James representing
Peach County. Redrawn districts are
supposed to go into effect for the 2012
election, pending Justice Department
approval and the outcome of any law¬
suits. As the districts stand now.
Hooks would not be Peach County’s
Senator, while Dickey and James
would probably win redrawn districts
that still include the county.