Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 8A
Sawnee EMC raises rates for first time in 16 years
By Jennifer Sami
Staff Writer
Sawnee Electric Member¬
ship Corp. will raise rates for its
128,000 customers in north
Georgia for the first time in 16
years next month, Sawnee offi¬
cials say.
The increase was approved
because of heavy increases in
fixed costs of materia] and labor
for the Cumming-based power
provider, officials said.
The rate increase will take
effect with the first billing state¬
ment in 2006. For residences,
small commercial and large
commercial three-phase users,
the increase will be $1.60 per
bill. For small commercial sin¬
gle-phase users, the increase is
nearly doubled at $3 per bill.
The difference between sin¬
gle-phase and three-phase users
Twenty-five years ago • • •
Editor’s note: The following items
were taken from the Dec. 3, 1980, edition
of The Forsyth County News.
• • •
Representatives from 14 organizations
attended a meeting sponsored by the
Sawnee Association of the Arts seeking
support for a community cultural center.
The group made known its request that
each organization name a permanent
member to a steering committee in charge
of leading the effort.
“What we are here to do is ask your
club to make this a priority,” said associa¬
tion member Julianne Boling.
The group, which had been raising
funds for a center, discussed certain fac¬
tors that would have to be met if it were to
qualify for government funds, such as
handicap access and a “live area” buffered
against noise for concerts, plays and
sporting events.
The Forsyth County Board of
Commissioners, complaining of interfer¬
ence by the state, reluctantly increased the
county tax digest by 15 percent and rolled
back taxes to compensate at its Nov. 24
meeting.
The state Department of Revenue
reviewed the digest and found it “[did] not
accurately reflect an assessment ratio of
40 percent of fair market value.” State
revenue commissioner W.E. Strickland
then ordered the board to increase the
value of the tax digest.
Commissioner James Harrington com¬
plained the General Assembly “takes
away all the rights of local governing bod¬
ies and puts them down in Atlanta.”
Board chairman Bill Barnett noted the
state would continue to receive a quarter
of a mill of all property tax receipts, and
Harrington added, “So now they will get
more [money].
Editorial columnist Eddie Stowe
Incident reports
Editor’s note: The follow¬
ing items are taken from
reports on file with the Forsyth
County Sheriff’s Office.
Wreaths stolen from
Aberdeen subdivision
A self-styled Grinch appar¬
ently made off with six high
dollar Christmas wreaths at
the Aberdeen subvision late
Tuesday or early Wednesday,
residents told Forsyth Sheriff’s
deputies.
According to sheriff’s
reports, someone stole a $200
wreath with lights and red,
green and gold bows at the
entrance of the subdivision at
the intersection of
Westminster Lane and Old
Atlanta Road.
Another five wreaths val¬
ued at $150 each were stolen
at different locations along
Westminster Lane, reports
said.
The theft occurred some¬
time between 6 p.m. Tuesday
and 10 a.m. Thursday.
Teen leads deputies
on high-speed chase
A 19-year-old Cumming
man led Forsyth Sheriff’s
deputies on a high-speed
chase in his father’s Chevy
Tahoe early Wednesday on
Atlanta Highway, according to
reports.
Reports said a deputy was
on patrol on Atlanta Highway
about 4:25 a.m. Wednesday
when he spotted the Tahoe run
a stoplight at the Buford
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS — Sunday, December 4,2005
Will hit small power users hardest, officials say
is in size and power. A single¬
phase commercial account is
along the lines of a small sand¬
wich shop, using a small
amount of power. A three-phase
commercial account might be a
welding shop, which uses lots
of machinery and air condition¬
ing units, requiring more serv
ice.
According to Blake House,
vice president of member serv¬
ices, the increases were based
on the costs associated with
metering, processing printing
and other services provided to
each type of user, as well as
poles, wires, transformers and
meters. He said up until now,
the company has absorbed the
cost, but due to the recent sub-
recounted psychic predictions for 1981 he
read in an issue of Star magazine.
“ — Jackie Onassis will remarry. Her
husband will be a well-known political
personality.” False. After the death of
Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis
in 1975, Jackie O. shared a relationship
with Maurice Tempelsman, an American
diamond merchant. They were long-time
companions until her death in 1994 from
lymphoma.
“— Intelligent messages will be
received from space and we will read of
more encounters of a third kind — people
coming in contact with UFOs and beings
from space.” False. That didn’t happen
until Steven Spielberg’s hit “E.T. the
Extra-Terrestrial” landed in 1982.
“— We will see the government of Iran
change twice during 1981. The Ayatollah
will be out.” False. During the Iran
hostage crisis which lasted 444 days, from
Nov. 4, 1979, to Jan. 20, 1981, the
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini rose to
power and stayed there until his death in
1989.
“— The outstanding invention of 1981
will be an engine powered by nuclear or
atomic energy. It will be inexpensive to
run — 50 percent cheaper than gasoline
— and nonpolluting.” False, but perhaps
many SUV owners wish it were so after
the 2005 Hurricane Katrina-inspired spike
in gas prices.
• • •
Harold “Speedy” Evans of Cumming
was tried on 11 counts of allegedly receiv¬
ing stolen property in the form of automo¬
biles and allegedly altering their vehicle
identification numbers.
Evans was convicted on separate
charges of receiving individual stolen
cars in two instances and of conspiring
to commit the offense of altering vehi
cle ID numbers on a group of 41 cars
and of theft by receiving them as stolen
property.
Highway intersection. When
the deputy turned on his car’s
lights to pull the car over, it
sped up,’heading south. The
Tahoe led the deputy on a
chase at speeds reaching 80
mph, veering into the opposite
lane near Peachtree Parkway
and passing a car in a no pass¬
ing zone between Lake Road
and Shiloh Road, reports said.
As a second sheriff’s unit
joined the chase, the Tahoe
drove through an open pas¬
ture, spinning ’several times
before the driver regained con¬
trol and continued on Majors
Fork Road.
The driver then turned left
onto Collingham Trace, ran a
stop sign and parked in the
front of a yard, according to
reports. The driver then fled
into nearby woods, reports
said. He was arrested a few
minutes later.
Asked why he had fled, the
teen reportedly said he was
scared.
Andrew Johnathan Wolf,
19, of 6010 Providence Lane,
was charged with obstruction,
fleeing/attempting to elude,
failure to maintain lane, driv¬
ing on the wrong side of the
road, passing in a no-passing
zone, speeding, failing to sig¬
nal, reckless driving, failure to
stop at a stop sign and failure
to obey a traffic control,
device.
Man tells deputies
others ‘out to get him’
A man was charged with
being drunk in public early
stantial cost increases, he said
they were forced to raise base
rates.
“As things gradually went
up, we didn’t pass those costs
onto our members, but they’ve
gone up substantially recently
and it’s time to make that
increase,” he said. “Costs have
gone up more in the past two
years than they did in the previ
ous few. Really though, to stay
the same for 16 years is unheard
of, so I think we’ve done a great
job.
The company currently
serves electricity to more than
128,000 members in seven fast¬
growing north Georgia coun
ties, including Forsyth. Its
assets total more than $370 mil-
Wednesday after he was
allegedly seen knocking insis¬
tently on the window of
McDonald’s restaurant on
Peachtree Parkway after it was
closed.
According to Forsyth
Sheriff’s incident reports, a
deputy saw the man knock at
the window of the fast-food
restaurant. An employee
reportedly motioned to the
man that the dining area was r
closed, but the man continued
knocking, asking to come
inside.
The deputy approached the
man, who reports said had a
strong odor of alcohol and
bloodshot eyes, and asked him
what he was doing. The man
said he needed a ride, then
said people were “out to get
him.” The man then reportedly
wet himself in front of the
deputy.
Charles Lee Bush Jr., 29,
of 4240 Shiloh Road, was
charged with pedestrian under
the influence.
Building materials
taken from Tumberry
Someone stole building
materials valued at $5,500
from a construction site at the
Turnberry subdivision
Thursday, sheriff’s reports
said.
According to reports, a tap¬
ping sleeve, tees, flange kits
and meter boxes were stolen
from the site on James
Burgess Road sometime
between 6 a.m. and 1:45 p.m.
Thursday.
lion with annual energy sales of
2.56 billion kilowatt hours and
revenues of $222 million.
Sawnee EMC employs more
than 300 people,
House estimates 80 percent
of users are residential, with an
average bill of $135 a month,
Based on the figures, the
increase will earn an estimated
$2.6 million annually for the
company,
Along with the increases,
however, Sawnee EMC also
will add new energy efficiency
improvement incentives in
2006, House said.
We [currently] have a free
service where we come out to
your house and do an energy
audit and give - ou tips on sav-
The week ahead:
PUBLIC EVENTS
Today, Dec. 4
• “Sounds of Sawnee Christmas
Concert,” 3 p.m., Performing Arts
Center at South Forsyth High School,
585 Peachtree Parkway. Featuring
Community Band and debut perform¬
ance of Forsyth County Community
Chorale. Admission is $5 for adults;
children 12 or under are free. For more
information, call (770) 205-6000.
• “A Nutcracker Tea” presented by
Sawnee Ballet Theatre, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.,
Windermere Golf and Country Club. All
proceeds benefit Sawnee Ballet Theatre,
a nonprofit organization. For informa¬
tion, call (770) 887-0756.
Thursday, Dec. 8
• “Phantasia” jewelry sale, 8 a.m. to
4 p.m., Bennett Center in 1400 Medical
Building at Northside Hospital-Forsyth.
■""v
?
Feather
Your Nest
At American
4 - | >Trust Bank
V. With Our
_ Market Sky High Rates!
Money
OPEN A MONEY MARKET ACCOUNT AND RECEIVE
ONE OF THE BEST INTEREST RATES AROUND-
4 , 28 % apy*
PLUS-FREE CHECKING AND ON-LINE BANKING!
Deposit balances of $20,000 and over receive an interest rate
based on 60% of the Wall Street Journal’s Prime Rate. Balances
under $20,000 receive an interest rate based on 30% of the Wall
Street Journal’s Prime Rate. Current rates are available online at
www.AmericanTrustBank.us
or call us at 678-341-3330.
Ame rican
ffrust Bank
WE’RE PROUD TO BE YOUR
HOMETOWN BANK
NOW OPEN: 601 TVi-County Plaza, Cumming, GA 30040
Phone: 678-341-3330 ♦ Fax: 678-341-3333
WHEN IN ROSWELL VISIT US AT: 880 Holcomb Bridge Rd„ Building C, Roswell, GA 30076
Phone: 678-338-2265 ♦ Fax: 678-338-2270 ♦ www.AmericanfrustBank.us
•Rate effective as of November 4, 2005 and may change after account opens. $2,500 minimum deposit to open
this Money Market account. Annual Percentage Yield (APY). For balances under $20,000 receive 2.21% APY.
^vThe LSI availability of the offer is subject to change. Account related offer fees apply. subject Fees change. could reduce earnings.
FREE On-Line Banking. The availability of this is to 4 HK 8 ,
lender Copyright © 2005 American frust Bank rUlv
demand.
Sawnee EMC’s Web site
also offers a home energy cal¬
culator, which will identify,
energy problems based on
information provided by the
homeowner.
Though House said he does
not expect fixed costs to go
down, he said he expects the
increase to take the company
through the “next several
years.”
“We’re doing everything
within our power to manage
future increases,” he said.
For more information on the
rate increases, call the Sawnee
EMC Customer Call Center at
(770) 887-2363, ext. 165. For
more information about home
efficiency improvement pro¬
grams and incentives, call (770)
887-2363, ext. 7544, or visit their
Web site at www.sawnee.com.
ing energy in your home. We
hopefully can point out problem
areas you might not know you
have. We also have a free do-it
yourself energy audit on video¬
tapes you can do,” said House.
“We spend thousands and thou¬
sands of dollars — well over
$100,000 a year helping mem¬
bers with energy efficiency
improvements to their home.
These new programs that go
into effect in 2006 will really
help.”
Programs include grants up
to $200 for an attic insulation
upgrade, up to $75 for ventila¬
tion upgrades and up to $500
for small commercial and
industrial efficiency, resulting in
at least a 2.5kW reduction of
Benefits Northside Hospital-Forsyth
Auxiliary.
Saturday, Dec. 10
• Santa photos with pets, 10 a.m. to 2
p.m. Children's Bargain Boutique, 4910
Browns Bridge Road. All proceeds ben¬
efit Family Haven's Shelter. For more
information, call (770) 889-6384 or visit
www.family-haven.com.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
Tuesday, Dec. 6
• Forsyth County Zoning Board of
Appeals, 7 p.m., county administration
building, 110 E. Main St., Suite 220.
Thursday, Dec. 8
* Forsyth County Board of Ethics, 5
p.m., county administration building,
110 E. Main St., Suite 120.