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Vol. 126 Issue No. 5 50<i
Legal Organ For Peach County, City of Fort Valley and City Of Byron
Meetings:
• Byron City Council: Every 2nd
Monday. 6 pin.. 2nd Floor. Byron
Municipal Complex.
• ft. Valley City Council: Work Session
5:30 pm. Tuesday before regular
meeting. Mayor’s Office, City Hall;
Regular Meeting every third Thursday.
6:30 p.m.. Public Meeting Room. City
Hall.
•County Commissioners: Every 1 2nd
Tuesday. 4 p.m.. Public Meeting Room,
County Courthouse Annex. Ft. Valley.
•Board of Education: Study Session.
Tuesday before Regular Meeting, 5 p.m..
Board Meeting Room: Regular Meeting
every 1st Tuesday. Board Meeting Room.
523 Vineville St.. Ft. Valley.
•Hospital Authority: Friday after 4th
Monday, 9 am. Conference Room.
Peach Regional Medical Center.
• Development Authority: Every 3rd
Thursday. 8 a m . Conference Room,
Troutman House. Ft. Valley,
•Ft. Valley Utility Corn-mission: Every
2nd Monday. 6 p.in.. Public Meeting
Room, Ft. Valley City Hall
• Water & Sewerage Authority: 3rd
Monday of month. 6:15 p.m.. Public
Meeting Room. County Courthouse
Annex, Ft. Valley
•Tax Assessors: First Thursday of
month. 4 p.m.. Public Meeting Room,
County Courthouse Annex, Ft. Valley.
•Byron Planning & Zoning Every 4th
Thursday of month, 6 p.m.
•Fort Valley DDA Board: First Tuesday,
6 p.m.. Troutman House Conference
Room.
•Fort Valley Historical Preservation
Commission: Second Thursday at 6
p.m., Troutman House Conference Room
What's
Patch In A* Out 8
Polios Boat...... 3
Opinion............ ,4
Country Living. 8
Faith Matters.. 6
Sport*............. .7
School............ 8
Legal*............. 9-11
Classifieds....... 18
Black History... 18
Tax Tima.......... 14
Local
Weather
Forecast
PMShcwea Wednesday, Feb. 1
Hi: 73*
Lo: 52*
Partly Cloudy Thursday, Feb. 2
Hi: Lo: 74* 51* o
Few Showers Friday, Feb. 3
Hi: 71*
Lo: 52* # *
#
Thunder Shower Saturday, Feb. 4
Hi: 70*
Lo: 52*
Thunder Shower Sunday, Feb. 5
Hi: 69*
Lo: 50*
* i
Kr
WMAZ Junior Journalist Kayla Singletary interview Kabom
Kellogg about Joselyn Miller-Jackson's Theater Arts class.
Dwayne Wilder looks on. Photo by Victor Kulkosky
By Victor Kulkosky
News Editor
When the crew from WMAZ TV
showed up in her classroom to tell
Joselyn Miller-Jackson she'd been
selected for "My Teacher is Tops," she
started. in her own words, “bawling like
ababy
Serrina Peach ( lilt I hi Over mi Year
ii 301 i liil,|,i liss Georgia
lip Pageant
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See e 2
Peach County's Newspaper
Guidelines Released For
Fort Valley Historic District
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The continuous glass on the front of the building that now houses Farmer's Furniture was cutting edge in the
1950's, but is now historic. Photo by Victor Kulkosky'
— Bv Victor Kulkosky
News Editor
Paul Simo began his talk on the new
Historic District Guidelines with some
negatives.
They don’t tell a property owner what
color to paint his home or business,
they don't regulate at all the design and
alteration of the interior of the property,
nor do they govern use of the property.
Simo, a consultant with jB&A
Advantage, was at the Austin Theater
last month to introduce the recently
revised Historic District Guidelines for
Fort Valley's historic districts.
Summarizing a handout, Simo
said the guidelines do the following,
Respect the traditional character of the
historic district, ensure compatibility
of additions and new construction with
historic buildings, avoid “demolition by
neglect." or the loss of historic proper¬
ties due to bad maintenance; preserve
significant features such as landscaping
and trees, walkways and sidewalks; and
protect property owner investments by
suggesting best practices. One example
would be adding paint to unpainted sur¬
faces or removing paint; the materials
and methods used for such work require
approval by the Historic Preservation
Commission.
TV Crew Gives Drama Teacher an Unorthodox Day
It was no doubt sincere, but seemed
fittingly dramatic for Miller-Jackson.
who teaches Theatre Arts at Fort
Valley Middle School.
Her student. Dwayne Wilder. 12,
sent a letter to the TV station explain
ing why he thought Miller-Jackson is
"tops ” The station decided to see her
Continued to poge 3
Special Olympics
Held in Peach Co.
1
iti .
See page 7
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Consultant Paul Simo said this
sign for an old insurance com¬
pany is one of the little details
that help create the character
of Fort Valley's Historic District.
The sign is on the side of a com¬
mercial building on Church
Street near the Courthouse.
Photo by Victor Kulkosky
Simo went over the process
for applying for a Certificate of
Appropriateness before doing any
work in the Historic District. An
applicant starts with download-
K! v
Why Shop locnlf
Dollars spent locally circulate
through the community several
times, spreading the benefits to
many of your friends and
neighbors. Dollars spent aunty from
home benefit other communities.
Spend a few dollars at your
hometown business todayt
ing the Design Guidelines snd GOA
Application, the completes the appli¬
cation and submits it to the Historic
Preservation Commission, including
all documents, drawings and photos, at
least 10 days before the Commission
Meeting (2nd Tuesday of the month,
6 p.m., Troutman House). The next
step depends on the HPC's review of
the application. You might get the
COA and proceed immediately to get¬
ting required permits and starting your
project. You might be asked to attend
the HPC Design Review meeting (1st
Thursday, 6 p.m., Troutman House)
and be asked to meet certain condi¬
tions to receive your COA. If that's
done, you get the COA and move on to
permitting and construction.
Applicants who are turned down
may revise and resubmit their appli¬
cation. and if their application is still
denied, may appeal to the Fort Valley
City Council within 30 days of a
denial.
Simo said the review process is
“transparent,” with nothing in the pro¬
cess that isn't included in the guide¬
lines. He said owners should consult
the guidelines, which include a matrix
Continued to page 11
(1 TOP*
i V 1
■m
Joselyn Miller-Jackson from
Fort Valley Middle School
beams as she hold her cer
tificate for "My Teacher Is
Tops" from WMAZ-TV. Her
Stuaenr ,i . Uwayne \Ai Wilder t~1 nom
inated her. Photo by Victor
Kulkosky
I Peach Publishing (a. Sews paper
Mummy 1, 3012
Officials
Discuss
Roads J
Harbors and
Taxes
By Victor Kulkosky
News Editor
Could Peach County's future be in
Panama?
Maybe a little bit, as the Port of
Savannah gets deepened to handle big¬
ger ships passing through the Panama
Canal, which will be widened in the
next few years.
Fort Valley Mayor John Stumbo tied
those two projects together at least
week’s quarterly Intergovernmental
Meeting. The informal gatherings
bring together elected and appointed
officials from around the county to talk
about issues of concern to all of them.
The goal for Savannah is to increase
the port’s capacity from 5.(XX) - 6.000
containers a day to 12.000. All that
cargo will start moving through the
state, which ties in issues such as
roads, jobs and businesses locating
nearer the port.
An issue of concern to cities and
counties is legislation to eliminate
sales taxes on energy used in manu¬
facturing, which is intended to attract
businesses and spur hiring in the state.
There are big differences of opinion in
the state about the tax break, Stumbo
said. One of the “sleepers” affecting
the proposal is the tax break’s effect on
SPLOST bonds. Local governments
issue bonds to get SPLOST projects
started quickly and then pay back the
bonds with tax revenues. Lost reve¬
nue from the energy-in-manufacturing
tax cut could trigger clauses in the
bond issues requiring more collateral,
Stumbo said.
Local government objects to the
“inverted unfunded mandate,” while
state government seeks ways to pro¬
vide incentives for businesses to move
to Georgia, Stumbo said.
Stumbo also expressed concerns
about caps on property valuations and
mill levy increases. Caps imposed dur¬
ing a down economy could stick local
government with tax digests based on
artificially low values while mill rates
Continued to page 11
Objections
Persist, but
Streetscape
Plan Approved
By Victor Kulkosky
News Editor
__
The Fort Valley City Council
approved plans for the State
University Drive Streetscape project
last week, but with council mem¬
bers and residents of the affected
neighborhood continuing to object to
aspects of the project.
At a called meeting of the council
last Thursday, Mayor Stumbo began
with an update on the progress of the
project. Bids were received, with
low bid of SIJ76 million, below
the project’s budget of $1.47 mil¬
lion. The next step is for the state
Department of Transportation, which
is in charge of the federally funded
project, to review the bid line by line.
Stumbo said the plans are still publi
cally available and subject to change.
A pre-construction conference will
happen before construction begins,
with the date depending on how long
the GDOT takes to review the bid.
Continued to page 11