Newspaper Page Text
HaPP-y NeW JfeaR J
™ Wiregrass Farmer
Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2007
ASHBURN, GA, 31714
VOL 107 - No. 52 • 500
/Around Town \
Band Calendars
The 2008 Band
Calendars are now on sale.
They are only $3 each. To
purchase a calendar see
any band student or Mr.
Lyons.
Chamber
banquet
The Annual Ashbum
Turner County Chamber of
Commerce banquet is set
for Friday, Jan. 18 at 6:30
P.M. at Turner County
Civic Center.
Entertainment Karla Heath
Sands and the Reflections
Band. Dinner is steak and
all the trimmings. Tickets
are $30 each. Tickets avail
able at Chamber office
only through Friday, Jan.
11.
Firefighting 101
Module 1 Firefighter
class at Ashbum
Fire/Rescue. We will have
an organizational meeting
on Jan. 14 at 6 pm at
Ashburn Fire Station #2
Those interested should be
18 years old, valid Driver’s
License, and a desire to
become part of team to
promote and help Ashburn.
To register call 567-4952
Annex Holiday
Hours
Courthouse Annex, Tax
Commissioners,
Building/Zoning, Tax
Assessor, and Executive
Office will be closed from
Dec. 24-28, 2007. We will
reopen on Dec. 31 AND be
closed on Jan. 1, 2008.
Reopen on Jan. 2. We hope
you have a Merry
Christmas and a Happy
New Year.
Probate/Superior
Court Holidays
The Offices of Probate
Court and Clerk of
Superior Court in the
Turner County Courthouse
will be closed from Dec.
24th through Jan. 1st. We
will reopen on Jan. 2nd.
We hope you have a Merry
Christmas and a Happy
New Year.
Pilot club
The Ashburn Pilots
Association is having
monthly meetings at 7 P.M.
at the Airport Terminal
Building. We will have a
theme each month concern
ing sport aircraft and fly
ing. If you are interested
in aircraft, flying, or learn
ing to fly, please come and
join us. We will meet the
2nd Tuesday of each month
at 7 PM at the Airport
Terminal Building.
Watering ban
City of Sycamore ask
that there be no outdoor
watering until further
notice. We ask all residents
to cut back 10% wherever
possible. Georgia Water is
requesting this.
Obituaries
Frances Hobby Reynolds,
83, Ashburn
Complete obituary
information is on Page 5
V J
Serving Turner County Since 1902
Zoning request passes P&Z
by Ben Baker
Editor
Zoning for a planned ethanol plant just south of the
state detention center in Sycamore should be
approved, according to a vote of the Greater Turner
County Planning and Zoning board (P&Z).
The decision is a recommendation. It now
goes to the County Commission. The
Commissioners will hold a public hearing Jan.
8 at 6:30 p.m. at the Board of Education meet
ing room.
P&Z met last week to hold a public hear
ing on the rezoning request and an amend
ment to the Turner County zoning ordinance.
The decision to recommend approval of
the “special exception” as the zoning request
was called was not unanimous. Scotty
Wilkerson, a Sycamore City
Councilman, voted against the motion.
Royce Peacock gave the motion to
approve the request and Gail Walls
gave the second.
The amendment to the zoning code
came first (see callout box at
right).
Once that was done, P&Z
took up the special exception
for the ethanol plant.
County Zoning Administrator Mike
Mastrario said the text amendment to the zon
ing code would then allow the ethanol plant to
be eligible for a special exception instead of a
rezoning.
He said the text amendment to the zoning
code is needed regardless of the final decision
on the ethanol plant.
With the text
amendment, “the land
will not change use.
If the plant doesn’t
materialize, we’re not
stuck with 190 acres
where something
might come in we
don’t want,” he said,
“site specific,” he said.
“This will allow the ag use to remain the same in the
event the plant doesn’t work.” The special exception is
site specific for the ethanol plant.
The text amendment if approved by the
Commission will cover all ag-zoned areas in the
County.
(See CORN Page 3)
; - *
4
' l -1
Mastrario
A text amendment to the Turner
County zoning code was approved
unanimously by P&Z.
The amendment, if approved by
the County Commission, expands
the definition of the Agriculture
Zoning to include ag-related busi
nesses.
The text amendment is not
A BIG PINE TREE comes down at the west Ashburn Fire & Rescue Station. Chief Brian
Meadows said several trees toppled in the tornado last week, keeping emergency crews from
getting out of the station. He said by removing several more trees the same thing won’t happen
again.
Moody enjoying apprenticeship work
Turner County High School
senior Lauren Moody is enjoy
ing her second year as an
apprentice at H & R Block in
Ashbum. Lauren is supervised
by Mrs. Carol Garrett who
praises Lauren’s willingness to
learn.
“She is a fine young lady
and does a great job. I have
enjoyed having her here work
ing with our team. Lauren is
very dependable and highly
motivated,” Mrs. Garrett said.
Wayne Baxter, Youth
Apprenticeship coordinator
said “Mrs. Garrett has super
vised several Youth
Apprenticeship students. I
Lauren Moody
really appreciate her support of
our program. YAP could not
exist without the support of
businesses who are willing to
give students a chance to earn
and learn.”
Lauren is very appreciative
of H & R Block employing her
for going on two years. “ I
have learned a lot about
accounting while working here.
I also have come to realize how
important computer skills are
out here in the real world of
work. I appreciate what YAP
has done for me and I highly
recommend that students take
advantage of this program.”
$370k on the way
U.S. Representative Jim
Marshall announced Congress
passed H.R. 2764, with
$370,000 in funding for pro
jects in Turner County. These
projects are:
$61,100 to help the
Turner County
Sheriff’s Office pur
chase computer sta
tions and records
maintenance software.
$84,600 to pur
chase radio systems,
in-car cameras, and
body armor for the
Ashburn Police
Department.
$150,000 for airport reno
vations at the Turner County
Airport.
$75,000 to purchase emer
gency power generators for
Ashburn’s City Hall, Police
Department, and both Fire
Stations.
The adopted legislation rep
resents eleven of the twelve
annual appropriations bills.
“I am pleased to
announce funding for
these projects,” said
Marshall. “I worked
hard to ensure these
projects survived the
appropriations process,
and I’m very happy
with the results.”
The House and
Senate have both
passed H.R. 2764, the
Foreign Operations
Appropriations/Consolidated
Appropriations Act of 2008.
The next step for this legisla
tion is receiving the President’s
signature, which is expected
before the start of 2008.
Marshall
County bridge work
moving right along
by Ben Baker
Editor
The County Commission
has budgeted most of the pre
sent Special Purpose Local
Option Sales Tax (SPLOST)
money for bridge and culvert
repair.
The repair work came after
a Department of Transportation
report stating many of the
bridges and culverts needed
repair. Exactly how much
repair was needed was some
what overstated at the time,
said Road Superintendent J.B.
Newell.
Some of the
bridges, without
repairs, would
have weight lim
its posted on
them. Mr. Newell
said that does not
mean the bridges
are dangerous,
only that the
bridge has a load
limit.
The work is
going right along,
Mr. Newell said.
“We’re working on it along
and along. We’ve still got some
rail replacement and some ero
sion damage to repair,” he said.
“It’s not something we can do
every day.”
He said it’s hard to put an
exact figure on how far along
the work is, but he estimated
the Road Department is about
halfway through.
Mr. Newell supplied this
written report to The Wiregrass
when contacted about the
bridge and culvert repair work:
We have 18 bridges and 16
bridge culverts throughout our
County, which are inspected by
the Department of
Transportation biannually.
Once the Department of
Transportation comes and eval
uates the condition of these
bridge structures they send the
County a report on the condi
tion of these structures with
recommended measures to cor
rect a problem if one exist.
Some of the things the inspec
tors are looking for but not lim
ited to in their inspection are
erosion problems, failed deck
joints, corrosion of metal
bridge components, and the
strength of the piles and caps
the actual structure sits on. Just
as with anything else that is
man made with age there
comes maintenance. We do
have some
bridges that are
still in use, that
were built back in
1958. As the
bridge ages the
weight ratings
will be lowered
by the state
unless corrective
measures are
taken to upgrade
these structures.
When a report
comes in from
the state on our bridges they
tell the County what to post a
structure for if posting is neces
sary.
The Department of
Transportation will put in their
report on certain bridges that
are posted wording like a
replacement structure is
required to upgrade this struc
ture to a point where posting is
no longer required. This does
not mean that this structure has
to be replaced or is unsafe at its
current weight rating. This only
says that if we wanted to
upgrade this structure where
posting would no longer be
required we would have to
replace this stmcture.
In 2005 we did have 3
bridges in the County that we
had to pour concrete encase-
(See BRIDGE Page 2)
This does not
mean that this
structure has
to be replaced
or is unsafe at
its current
weight rating.
JB Newell
Road Supt.
I don't really have a New Year's resolution to go on a diet or anything like that. I am who I am, and I don't want to be somebody else.
Karolina Kurkova
