Newspaper Page Text
Page 4A,The Lee County Ledger, Wednesday, September 28, 2011
The Environmental
Benefits of Trees
Trees serve as a great en
vironmental benefit to Geor
gia. Environmental benefits
such as cleaner cooler air,
clean water, noise reduction
and wildlife habitats.
Trees provide cleaner and
cooler air. In exchange for
giving oxygen, trees absorb
carbon dioxide produced
from the combustion of
various fuels. Trees remove
or trap lung-damaging dust,
ash, pollen and smoke from
the air, in addition to pro
viding shade for people and
conserving energy.
Air quality is improved by
urban and rural trees. Par
ticulate matter and noxious
Trees provide cleaner
Water: Trees also act as
natural water filters and
help significantly slow
the movement of storm
water, which lowers total
runoff volume, soil ero
sion and flooding. From
an economic viewpoint,
communities that utilize
this important function of
trees and canopy cover may
spend less money develop
ing additional stormwater
management infrastructure.
Each year about 50 acres of
forest canopy is lost each
day in the greater Atlanta
area. For every acre of
tree canopy lost, one acre
of impervious surface is
gained each day. Infiltration
rates for forested areas are
10-15 times greater than for
equivalent areas of turf and
grass. During a heavy rain,
a healthy forest can absorb
as much as 20,000 gallons
of water in an hour.
Urban noise is reduced
by trees absorbing sound
waves. Trees also provide
wildlife habitats for many
species.
The State of Georgia is
blessed with an abundant
amount of trees and there
fore receives many environ
mental benefits from trees.
Lets continue to benefit
from our trees and plant
for the future. For more in
formation about trees or to
order tree seedlings contact
the Georgia Forestry Com
mission at 759-3011 or log
on at www.gatrees.org
chemicals created in urban
and industrial areas neces
sarily “blow” into rural
areas. Improving air quality
at the source of these prob
lems helps alleviate possible
problems in downwind
rural areas. Trees provide
numerous benefits to the
urban forest, especially with
mitigating air pollution in
urban areas and providing
a positive impact on human
health.
In respect to air pollution
reduction, trees provide
shade which reduces tem
peratures and helps keep
pollutants already in the
air from becoming even
more volatile, while also
intercepting many of the
solid particulates that are
airborne.
Recent research has dem
onstrated that urban heat
islands change weather pat
terns, altering the amount
and duration of local and
downwind rainfall pat
terns. Urban
trees
I
Tom Lambert
lessen the impact of the
urban heat island effect and
reduce changes in weather
patterns. One acre of trees
produces enough oxygen for
18 people every day.
Letters Policy
The Lee County Ledger welcomes - indeed encour
ages - letters from our readers on matters of interest
for the community. Have a complaint? See a problem
that needs correcting? Have the solution to a prob
lem that others haven’t seen yet? Feel some person
or group deserves praise and isn’t getting it? Please
write us and let everyone share in your viewpoint.
We do request that all letters be
signed and accompanied by the
writer’s street address and tele
phone number. We reserve the right
not to print any letter. Letters not
signed will not be printed. Let
ters must be limited to no more
than two double-spaced sheets.
Address your letter to Editor, The
Lee County Ledger, P.O. Box 715, Leesburg,
Georgia 31763 or bring them by our office.
0
The Lee County Ledger
Established August 24,1978
lcledger@bellsouth.net
P.O. Box 715 (124 4th Street) (229) 759-2413
Leesburg, Georgia 31763 USPS 470-310
Official Organ of Lee County
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
Lee and surrounding counties $20.00 year
Elsewhere $25.00 year
Publisher Derryl Quinn
Editor Jim Quinn
Layout and Design Zan Twiggs
Advertising Manager Tina Maples
(USPS 470-310), is published weekly for $20.00
per year in Lee and surrounding counties, and
$25.00 per year else where by its offices at the May
Office Building, 124 - 4th Street, Leesburg, Georgia
31763. Periodicals postage paid at Leesburg, GA.
POST MASTER: Send address changes on Form
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Printed On
Recycled Paner
MEMBER OF GEORGIA
PRESS ASSOCIATION
Don’t Sign Petition
Good citizens of Lee
County:
Following are some facts
to consider in regards to
garbage collection fees:
FACT: The Lee County
citizens that are not paying
their garbage bills cost
this county $400,000 per
year in uncollected fees.
$400,000 PER YEAR!
This is ridiculous and
inexcusable.
FACT: The proposed
add-on Garbage Collec
tion and Disposal fee will
Not be based on the value
of your property. Whether
you live in a single-wide
trailer or a “mansion on a
hill,” we will all pay the
same amount just as we do
now.
FACT: Lee County is
under a legally binding
contract with Crisp County
Waste Authority until
2024. Whether CCWA
picks up 25,000 cans or
200 and whether 50% or
100% of our citizens pay
their bill, Lee County has
to pay CCWA the same
amount of money. Ac
cording to this LEGALLY
BINDING contract, it is
LEE COUNTY’S respon
sibility to collect these
fees from its citizens, not
CCWA’s.
FACT: All of Lee County
does not have a common
municipal service, i.e.,
water, power, or sewage
whereby a garbage col
lection fee could be easily
tacked onto a bill for easy
monthly collection. We
only have the Lee County
Tax Commission’s “Prop
erty Tax.”
The Tax Commission
doesn’t just collect “prop
erty tax.” Pull out your
2011 Property Tax State
ment that you received this
past week. The Tax Com
mission collects monies for
State Taxes, County M&O
(Management & Organiza
tion), and School M&O.
What is County M&O?
These are the fees for our
police and fire protection
among other things. If our
Tax Commission can col
lect fees to pay for those
county services, it can
collect another fee to pay
for garbage pickup. This
is the most cost effective
and financially feasible
solution!
I will not be signing a
petition to rescind the ad
dition of the garbage fee to
my property tax and I urge
all of Lee County citizens
to consider these facts.
Cere Gatlin
Hello Lee County
Yep, it’s me again Delo
res. Yep, it’s been a long
long time. How are you
good folks doing? Fine I
hope. My husband and I
are doing fine. The jam
boree is still going strong,
lots of fun, and we are all
loving this cooler weather.
Our jamboree is so
wonderful because it is
friendly, clean and a family
atmosphere. Of course, it
doesn’t hurt a thing that
the jamboree features Ms.
Betty Stroud and Rich
Russell. It doesn’t get any
better than that. They are
both great entertainers and
wonderful people.
If you are looking for a
place to be that is afford
able, smoke free and al
cohol free then we are the
place you need to be.
Donations welcome
because the rent does have
to be paid as well as the
utilities and other operat
ing costs.
The music can’t be beat
and you can dance till your
feet ache.
Yvonne loves it and says
“Why don’t you come on
down.”
May God bless and keep
you. You’re always in our
hearts. Remember we love
ya. Until next time.
Delores & William Hall
Lee Kounty Jamboree
Time To Reexamine
I have not yet learned
that I’ve been wrong in my
assumption that the depart
ment of utilities services
is inefficient and being
run by inept management.
However, I have learned
that there is good reason
to explore “the rest of the
story”. I write because I
enjoy the process and I get
to express my passion for
Lee County. Consequently,
my words are not the
results of tireless research
but rather the expression
of my opinion, which may
be taken as you like it,
or don’t. I actually enjoy
those occassions when I
stand properly corrected.
Being so always stings a
little but in the end also
broadens my perspective.
So, my perspective is being
broadened in the matter of
the garbage tax.
Following is some infor
mation and possibly some
mal-information gathered
from conversation with
trusted Lee Countians.
I don’t know which com
missioner spearheaded the
movement to effect the
garbage-tax ordinance. We
need to know that because
it could make a differ
ence in the way voters see
things.
I am told that Betty
Johnson, when she was in
office as tax collector, told
the commissioners that she
would adamantly refuse to
collect the garbage fees.
Now, she has stated that
she is adamant in her posi
tion of forcing it upon the
current tax collector. So,
if she was against it when
she held the office, why is
she for it when the office is
someone else’s? Could Ms.
Johnson have some other
motive? Could she be in
fluenced by her friendship
with the current utilities
dept, manager?
I am told that Ms. Bryan,
the director of the utilities
service dept, is directed
by the commission to not
discontinue the services
of non-paying customers.
Masonic Short Talk
by Ron Rowe, Sr.
True Masonry
Red roses for the living,
and hand-clasps warm and
true, a heart that’s tuned to
giving, and the strength to
dare and do, the sound
of honest laughter,
the joy of honest
toil; for those who
follow after, to leave
a finer soil. And this
has been and ever will be
the Masonic plan, a man’s
sincere endeavor to serve
his fellow-man. A little
self-seeking, a little more
for men, less bitter in our
speaking, more kindly with
the pen, a little less swerv
ing from paths of truth
and right, a little more of
serving and less of dollar
might. More peaceful with
our neighbors, and staunch
er to our friends. For
this all masonry la
bors, on this its hope
depends, to smooth
the way for oth
ers, to make
of life the
most, to make
the phrase “our
brothers” means more
than idle boast; to praise
sincere endeavor, when
praise will spur it on, with
holding kind words never
until the friend is gone; this
is the Masonic spirit, this is
the craftsman’s dream.
God grant that we may
hear it, before we cross the
stream.
I am further told that her
only recourse is to file suit
against non-payers. That is
expensive and very time-
consuming and I would not
expect it to be a “first line”
movement toward solving
the collection problem. I
support the method but
only after exhausting oth
ers. I suspect that, were I to
be in Ms. Bryan’s position
with my hands tied by
micro-managing com
missioners, I would lose
enthusiasm for the task.
The commissioners should
not micro-manage any
department. Their function
is to manage the managers,
not the departments.
Polling a few voters leads
me to believe that our
commissioners have not
read our contract for gar
bage services with Crisp
County. On the surface
this is not alarming - we
might all think reading it
to be extremely boring. We
may also think we don’t
have time for such detail.
I say if the commissioners
have not the time for such
detail, they neither have
the proper time for being a
commissioner and should
resign. Voting in support of
any unread document con
jures huge visions of Nancy
Pelosi. Let us all hope
and pray that none of our
commissioners becomes as
impulsive and uninformed
as that example of failure.
I don’t have one solution
to offer for the garbage-
fee problem but I do have
some idea of how we can
find one. We can become
involved. We can obtain
the garbage contract from
the county administrator
and read it. By doing so,
we shall probably become
more informed than most
of our commissioners. We
can contact the commis
sioners and tell them how
we expect them to repre
sent us - we can ask them
to vote for what we want.
They are representatives of
us, not of their own desires.
We can talk with the
directors of both the tax
collection office and the
utilities service office and
we will then be able to
intelligently discuss the
matter with our commis
sioners.
Our commissioners make
claim to “no increased
taxes”. What must they
say about a new tax - the
garbage fee tax? It is up to
us to not allow them to do
this to us.
Please sign the garbage
tax petition. We need
your help in gathering
signatures. Volunteer at
any place that offers the
petitions.
Herbert Gladin
The Greatest
Deficit is Love
Special to the Ledger
By Robert Morrison
My seventh grade civ
ics teacher, Joe Zeichner,
taught us we had a duty
to be good citizens, to be
informed, to vote and to
take part in the life of our
community. That could
even include running for
public office.
It was natural, therefore,
that 15 years later I would
share with Joe my intention
to run for the state legis
lature. Joe offered to be
my campaign manager. He
would take no pay. He only
wanted to help. When we
were driving to our state
capital, Albany, from Long
Island, Joe told us stories
about his previous visits
to the legislature. Embar
rassed, I admitted this was
my first time to visit the
city.
“Oh, then you must say
a Hebrew prayer, a She-
hecheyanu,” Joe offered.
“What the heck is that,” I
asked, knowing that Joe
was not religious. “She-
hecheyanu, he repeated
firmly, and proceeded to
recite it in convincing He
brew. Joe had learned this
prayer from his father, who
was a Talmudic scholar
then living in Israel.
It is a prayer for the first
time you do anything, he
said. In English, it goes:
“Blessed are you, L-rd, our
G-d, Sovereign of the uni
verse, who has preserved
us in life, and enabled us to
reach this season (Amen).”
Joe Zeichner was a great,
hardworking, selfless
campaign manager for me.
He was, however, disap
pointed when I came out
firmly against abortion in
my race. Joe had always
supported liberal abortion,
but he would have been the
first to open his home to a
distressed young pregnant
woman who wanted to
keep her baby. Despite our
strong disagreement on
this, Joe loyally soldiered
on in my campaign. When
he expressed his incredu
lity that I could take such
an illiberal stance on such
an important matter, I told
Joe: “Well, you’re the one
who taught me the She-
hecheyanu.”
The God who preserves
us, who graciously enables
us to reach this season.
created them, too. With the
miracles of ultrasound, we
have never before been as
able as we are today to es
tablish a bond of love with
unborn children.
I recently got a call from
our daughter. She reported
her latest ultrasound. Both
of her twins are progress
ing well. At 26 weeks, they
weigh 1 pound 11 ounces
and 1 pound 12 ounces.
That’s important because
it’s a problem if one twin
is gaining too much weight
while the other is languish
ing. Both twins are “breath
ing,” that is, exercising
their lungs, taking in and
expiring amniotic fluid.
This is critical because
underdeveloped lungs are a
leading cause of death for
premature infants.
Our daughter relayed
her doctor’s words. At 26
weeks, should the twins
have to be delivered early,
they would have a greater
than even chance of sur
vival. During her visit not
long ago, I had a chance to
feel both the twins kicking.
Shehecheyanu!
There is in our daily lives
endless talk of debt and
deficits. Everything, they
tell us, is scarce and likely
to get more scarce. In the
future, with millions of
baby boomers retiring in
this country, we are warned
that we will be even more
hard-pressed and impover
ished than today.
This is doubtless why
President Obama says
“everything is on the table”
in his budget negotiations
with congressional leaders,
everything except funding
for Planned Barrenhood’s
engines of death.
Mother Teresa had a bet
ter answer, I think. She was
a community organizer in
Calcutta. She devoted her
life to service to the poor.
And she said: “It is a pov
erty to decide that a child
must die so that you may
live as you wish.”
This “Saint of the Gut
ters” understood that the
greatest deficit we face is
the deficit of love. Without
love, we can have no future.
With love, all things are
possible.
Robert Morrison is senior
fellow for policy studies
at the Family Research
Councils