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Page 2 • The OGLETHORPE Echo • Thursday, October 14, 2021 State Bound Oglethorpe County 4-H Forestry Judging Team The Oglethorpe County 4-H Forestry Judging Team traveled to McRae, Georgia, on September 25th for the 4-H State Forestry Judging Contest. They did a great job as it was their first trip to the State Contest. Team members worked for weeks mastering aspects of the Forestry profession such as: tree identification, insect & disease identification, pacing, and timber volume estimation. The team did out standing and placed 7th overall. Team members included: Aidan Abrams, Katie Embry, Justin Loggins and Kate Spearing. They were coached by 4-H Agent Marcus Eason. Sheriff plans to close the county jail, except for booking, January 1 For several years, Oglethorpe County SherilF David Gabriel has considered the possibility of one day closing the Oglethorpe County Jail. When he was first elected in the county, he was already pondering the fact that the Law Enforcement Center might better serve the community and save money by not actually housing inmates. At the time, Gabriel emphasized that he would need to spend at least a couple years in office getting to know all the ins and outs of the sheriff’s department before making any sort of decision such as that. In fact, he has since served four years and been reelected for his second term before he started working towards that potential outcome. Several months ago, the sheriff stated that he was moving forward with his long-term plan of shuttering the county jail. He estimated that the change would happen after the first of the year. This week, Gabriel confirmed those statements, acknowledging that on January 1, 2022, the Oglethorpe County Jail would stop housing inmates. The facility will still remain open as the booking site for the sheriff’s department, however. He estimates that closing the jail would save at least $300,000 next year compared to the operating costs for 2021. Those projections aren’t entirely accurate, he noted, because Gulf-Atlantic . Forestry ® Forest Managers & Consultants Timber Sales, Appraisals, Real Estate & Land Surveying Whit Lester 706-202-2996 gulfatlanticforestry@yahoo.com employees’ salary would have had to be raised “quite a bit” this year to be able to staff the facility appropriately. Part of the issue that the jail and the department as a whole have been experiencing for a while now is the inability to hire and retain employees. Gabriel said the department does not have the funding available to pay deputies and other law enforcement staff comparable wages to other surrounding counties. Finding people to work in the jail has been particularly difficult, he added. At one point, the most experienced employee at the facility had only been working there for a year, Gabriel noted. “You’re also competing against all these other counties who are paying $5-7,000 more a year than you are,” he said. Thus, he eventually came to the realization that it would better and more cost-effective to “streamline” the operation. The county will still have a functional booking area at the LEC that will be staffed by at least one person 24 hours a day. Gabriel pointed out, “If you go to jail in Oglethorpe County, you’ll still go to the jail in Oglethorpe County.” “It’s not a complete shutdown,” he continued. “It’s just reducing the number of employees we have there by 11.” Gabriel explained that cutting 11 employees should save close to $300,000 in salary alone. Their insurance costs would add another $100,000 or so to the savings amount. By contrast, he estimated that it cost around $383,000 annually to house 30 inmates at the county jail. That is the average number of inmates that the jail has contained in the past. The Professional Alternative to doing it yourself * Interior & Exterior * Ca fpetty & Construction * Painting & Sheetrock * Electrical & Plumbing * Pressure Washing * Gutter Cleaning & Repairs * landscaping & lamcare * tree &Umb Services * Land Clearing & Cleanup * Concrete & Paving * Decks & Patios The employees who do remain next year to continue working as jailers will also be certified as deputies, Gabriel mentioned. That will provide the department with additional flexibility to use its employees as needed moving forward. After the first of the year, any inmates from the county will instead be housed in other counties at their jails. For some time now, the Oglethorpe County Jail had been housing inmates from other counties to bring in some extra revenue, as there was available space in the local jail. Though the department will lose out on that additional funding from other counties, it is expected to save even more money by not housing any inmates at all, whether from Oglethorpe or outside its borders. For now, the sheriff’s department has not been hiring anyone new to work at the jail and has instead been using part- time help. “We’re in the transition phase now, which is the difficult part, including winterizing the jail and making adjustments as necessary,” Gabriel said. “We’re trying to finish out the year and move on to the next phase.” Closing the jail is a change that does not require the approval of the Oglethorpe County Board of Commissioners, or anyone else. It is the sheriff’s responsibility to house inmates and oversee the department’s facilities as he sees fit, and procedures can be altered at his discretion, Gabriel stated. Still, he has taken the time to speak with almost all of the commissioners and explain his decision regarding the jail and its inmates “out of courtesy,” he noted. The county ultimately provides the funding for the sheriff’s department and its operations, though Gabriel pointed out that his plan will actually save the county money instead of asking for more. When the budget for the sheriff’s office is set for the fiscal year, the funding is there for the sheriff to do with as he wishes. Once the county sees the savings from closing the jail, Gabriel said it would be “wise to invest” in salary raises and other incentives for his employees “without costing the taxpayers any more money.” I I I I I Check Your Expiration La bel - Renew or Start A Sub scription To The ECHO Mail to: The Oglethorpe Echo P. O. Box 268 Lexington, GA 30648 Keep Your Echo Coming Remember To Check Your Expiration Date The expiration date of your ECHO subscription is imprinted on the label in the upper right hand corner. Remember to renew your sub scription before the expiration date. Thanks Please Cut the Label off your ECHO and paste below New/Renewal Subscribers Name Address In County Six Months - $$16.20 One Year - $21.60 Out-of- County Six Months - $21.60 One Year - $28.00 Out-of-State Six Months - $25.00 - One Year - $35.00 I I I Something I have done quite a few times is to go on a week’s fish ing trip in Alaska. In the South if you ask a man what he likes to do in his leisure time, he is very likely to say, “I like to hunt and fish.” When I was growing up, my friends and I did a lot of fishing. That was be cause it did not cost a lot of money and it filled the hours with some thing to do. Some people say that fishing is boring. I guess it could be if you really don’t know how to fish. Remember that this art is not called “catching” it is called “fishing.” There are so many different kinds of fishing that I could not be gin to describe them in this column. I would, however, like to share one category of my own fishing experi ence that I consider to be “as good as it gets.” One distinct category of fishing is fly fishing. This is done with gear that is usually lightweight but you can go for the “big ones” if you just step it up a little bit to the heavier equipment. There are two kinds of fly fishing. One is done under the water and the other is done on the surface. Like in the movie “A River Runs Through It” surface fishing is known as “dry fly” fishing. The other unique thing about fly fishing is that you cast the line and not the weighted lure on the end of monofilament line. Flies are very light weight and attached to the end of the fly line with a tippet, which is a length of monofilament. The weighted fly line is then cast much like a whip. The good news about fly fishing in Alaska is the absolute abundance of fish that like the dry flies, the sub surface flies and some you catch that don’t eat at all. These species are Arctic Char, Grayling, Trout (usu ally Rainbow) and Salmon. The first three are hungry fish that go af ter whatever you present because it looks like a bug ( food) to them. The latter is the real reason for going fishing in Alaska. Mainly because when the Salmon run hap pens, five different species of Salm on come up from the Pacific Ocean to the rivers they were bom in to spawn and die. The females are full of eggs. They deposit them on the bed of the river followed right be hind by the males who fertilize them much like a crop duster covers a field. These fish don’t eat once they start up the stream from the ocean. Why is this so special? Why Alaska? Why Salmon? Well, it’s like this. There are a whole bunch of them. I mean so thick in some places that you can’t see the bot tom of the stream. More fish, in one place, than I have ever seen in my life. Much like the trout in the long concrete pools in the fish hatchery, except in the wild. There may be places other than Alaska where this happens but I don’t know where that is. Lastly, a Salmon is a really big fish and we all know that if you are going to catch fish, you want to catch a big one. In Alaska you can catch yourself a bunch-a-big’uns and do it every day. One important thing to know about fishing in Alaska is this: In the summer, the sun comes up about five o’clock and goes down about midnight. That makes for a long day. When you are standing in a stream in your waders at five in the afternoon and wondering why you feel so tired, it’s because you have been fishing for eleven hours and you have about six more to go if you can hold out. Why would anyone do this? I guess you have to love to catch fish. In the streams of Alaska, it is very hard NOT to catch fish. On one trip, I sat in a folding chair and caught one hundred Pink Salmon in a row. On the other hand, I have hooked a forty-pound King Salmon on a nine- weight fly rod and played him up and down the river for an hour and a half before I wore him out enough to land him. Then I turned right around and put him back in the river. CHARLES FLEMING Hauling Clearing Grading 706 202-3897 MASTERS REALTY, INC Timberland, Farms & Lots Acquisitions & Sales WHIT LESTER 706-202-2996 gulfatlanticforestry@yahoo.com Tales of Oglethorpe County Life Adventures - Fishing in Alaska If you have a week to spare and much a young man’s game, meaning don’t mind spending a little bit of it takes stamina to fish sixteen hours money (really not all that much) you a day for five or so days in a row. can have the fishing experience of Lastly, the best part is telling every- your life. Another consideration; it body all about it for the rest of your is not for the faint of heart and pretty life. Board of Education handles annual business at recent meetings The Oglethorpe County Board of Education discussed a variety of business items that they handle on an annual basis at their September work- session. They then voted on each item and allowed for additional discussion at their October regular meeting. First, the board was asked to consider contracting with a hearing officer for the district for the school year. Dr. Jimmy Stokes has served as the system’s disciplinary hearing officer for over 10 years. Superintendent of Schools Beverley Levine noted that before the system began contracting with a hearing officer, teachers and administrators had to be pulled out of classes and their regular jobs to serve on tribunals. The district had to pay for substitute teachers during those times, and Levine said the teachers “hated" having to serve on tribunals for students they might have taught in previous classes. She added that it was “far most cost-effective" to contract with a hearing officer than hold tribunals as well. Stokes charges $75 per hearing, which is the same amount he has charged for several years now. Levine told the board that Stokes was “phenomenal" at serving as the hearing officer. He is the only nationally certified disciplinary hearing officer in Georgia. Levine informed the board that “unfortunately" the school system has had to use his services three times already this school year. One of those hearings was actually an enrollment hearing, which she noted was the first time one had ever happened in the county that she knew of. A student moved to Oglethorpe from Clarke County. While in Clarke County, the student had a physical altercation that caused the Clarke County School System to call for a tribunal. The student then withdrew from that school district and enrolled here. Clarke canceled the hearing, which left Oglethorpe “in limbo," because they were under the impression that if a school system calls for a tribunal, it must be held whether the student still attends that district or not. The assumption was that if a school district had requested a hearing, then the situation, in this case the altercation, must be “pretty significant," she added. Thus, Oglethorpe’s school system recommended that the student start the year in alternative school. The student’s guardian did not want that to happen, so the district proceeded with an enrollment hearing. Levine noted that the tribunal was not to hear the charges from the previous altercation but to determine where the student would be placed for the school year. Through the course of the hearing. Dr. Stokes agreed that the student should be placed in alternative school. The parents decided to homeschool the child instead, she said. Next, Levine recommended approval of the ASPIRE (After- School Patriots Involved in Readiness and Enrichment) Program for the 2021-22 school year. The Georgia Department of Education issued a request for proposals in 2019 for the 21 st Century Community Learning Centers Grant. The Oglethorpe school district applied for one grant with two sites that year, and a grant over $ 1 million was awarded through a competitive approval process. The money was used to create after-school and summer programs at the Oglethorpe County Primary and Elementary Schools. The grant consists of an award of $350,000 per year for five years, and it can be applied for again after the fifth year to maintain the programs. The fourth and fifth years receive slightly less than that amount but are still very substantial. Performance and attendance are directly tied to continued funding. The board is required to approve the grant award on a yearly basis. Levine noted that ASPIRE is going into its third year in the county. She emphasized that the program has reached every one of its goals so far, and Dr. Tonia Willis has done a “phenomenal" job directing it. The board unanimously approved the grant for the year. B&C Well Pump Repair Installation and Trenching Bo Smith & Cory Smith Free Estimates Bo: 706-340-6572 - Cell Cory: 706-340-6396 - Cell PROPERTY FOR SALE Farm Listings * Barndominium on 95.13 acres on Clouds Creek in Comer, GA! The home is 1,000 square feet featuring one bedroom, one full bath, 9 foot ceilings, custom cabi nets, granite counter tops, stainless appliances, large walk in closet, and a 10x40 porch. 1,200 square foot shop finished with ship lap pine, three roll up doors, and a 16x55 foot lean-to on each side. 2000 feet offence along the road with multiple gates. 1,500 plus feet of paved road frontage. Approximately 50 acres of open land and 45 acres of mature hardwoods. $750,000 * Poultry farm with 3 broiler houses, stack house, 3 ad ditional poultry houses used for storage along with a 3 BR, 1 BA, 1885 sq. ft. brick home all for $699,900 Land Listing * 28.9 acres of mature tim ber on Pine Grove Rd. in Arnoldsville. 1300 ft of road frontage. City water avail able. $259,000 * Tract 1,20 acres on Buddy Faust Rd. Open, mixed hard woods & spring. $130,000 * Tract 2, 20 acres on Buddy Faust Rd. Open, mixed hard woods & spring. $150,000 * Tract 5, 21 acres on Buddy Faust Rd. Open, mixed hard woods & spring. $140,000 * 1.9 acres on Willow St. in Maxeys. City water and scholarship available. Great home sites. $24,900 * 2.5 acres on Willow St. in Maxeys. City water and scholarship available. Great home sites. $24,900 * 63.03 wooded acres on Arnoldsville Rd. with over 800 ft. of road frontage. City water and natural gas at the street. $504,000 * 112 acres of beautiful pines & hardwoods overlooking flowing creek. Great home site. Good hunting tract or get-a-way. $325,000 Commercial Listings * 1.7 acres with 2 buildings, zoned B1. Double road front age on HWY 78 and Wolf skin Rd. High traffic volume. Perfect location for your business. $175,000 IRIS INC. Jake Willcox, 706-338-0765 willcoxauctions@amail.com. Iris Walker 706-338-8279 apiris1@aol.com Donna Floyd 706-206-3587 dfloyd2691@gmail.com Brian Hill, 706-340-0512 -bhill3551@amail.com Jessica L. Arnold 706) 338-6566 jessicaleaarnold@outlook.com Blake Arnold i706-340-0866 blakelarnold@outlook.com. Jake Peacock 706-255-8762 jacobtpeacock@gmail.com Brandon Walker, 706-338 7586, bwalker.irisincrealtv@amail.con'