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ijdP him I. ill.. .11. nil 4*2 ’MIL FOR GEORGIA NEWSPAPER PR03EC* W 1 UNIV OF GA ATHENS GA 306G2-00G1 each week for tips & services Sm png* 14 mm ru mv ft* lot? .* i BE nsatH ?H V - g 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 ZJL See e 2 Peach County's Newspaper Guidelines Released For Fort Valley Historic District S3 t ■ 'Vj £ . ■ X 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 fi I ffi I * r i. .... a——t —»ww i 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