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Here’s to hoping 2014 is a better year for you and yours than any of the past years.
Let’s ring in 2014 safely!
Please don’t drink & drive
nr WiREGRASs Farmer
Serving Turner County Since 1902
Wednesday, January 1,2014
ASHBURN,GA, 31714
VOL 109 - No. 1 • 500
www.thewiregrassfarmer.com
{Around Town\
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Call 567-3655 for
information.
AFD training
Ashburn Fire & Emer
gency Services will offer
the Basic Firefighter: Mod
ule One Course as part of its
in-service training program.
The course is a very fast
paced course, which is the
mandated training course
required by Georgia Law to
become a firefighter.
The class begins Mon
day Jan. 6, 2014 at 6PM at
Ashburn Fire & Emergency
Services Station #2 located
at 1070 Bridges Rd., Ash-
bum. The course is 68 hours
long and will be held on
consecutive Monday and
Thursday Nights. The
course will take approxi
mately 8 weeks to com
plete. If you are interested
in attending the class please
call 567-4952 to register.
There is no charge for this
class and after successful
completion participants
may pursue a career in the
Fire Service.
Reception for
Shelley Zorn
A reception for outgoing
Chamber of Commerce
president Shelley Zorn will
be held at the Chamber
from 5-7 p.m. Friday.
Park benches
The recent expansion at
Elrod Park has created
room for 15-18 more mar
ble benches. If you are in
terested in ordering a bench
in honor of or in memory of
someone who served in the
military, this is your chance.
Call Edgar Perry at 567-
3366.
Stray dogs
Ashburn residents are
reminded that pets must
have a collar and current ra
bies tag. Police Chief Joe
Saxon said animals without
tags will be collected by
Animal Control. A copy of
the City's animal ordinance
is available at City Hall and
the Police Department.
Obituaries
Robert Kearns, 45,
Ashburn
Mr. Arthur Massey, 92
Ashburn
Carolyn Summerall Pheil,
61, Cordele
Dura Eidson Smith, 95,
Ashburn, services incom
plete
Complete obituary
information is on Page 5
tint
New clerk for Sycamore
Sycamore has a new Clerk.
Janice Varnadore, who has
worked as Clerk for 15 years,
is leaving City Hall.
The Council voted in De
cember to hire Ashley Topley
to replace Mrs. Varnadore.
Outgoing Mayor Larry
Youngblood said he’d met with
Ms. Topley and considered her
to be the most qualified of the
applicants.
“I met with her and so did
Mr. (Fred) Eister. We talked to
her extensively,” he said.
“I like the fact this particu
lar applicant is ... also versed in
Quickbooks, Microsoft Excel
and can handle the budget and
numbers,” Mr. Eister said.
Incoming Mayor Wayne
Woodruff, seated in the audi
ence, was asked if he felt Ms.
Topley was the right person for
the job and if he could work
with her. He said he could.
“The only flag thrown up to
me is a girl who has gotten into
early childhood development
and is the manager of a place
and now making $8.25,” he
said.
Jim Galt-Brown, a professor
at ABAC, said that’s not as un
usual as some might think.
“A lot of people want to be
a teacher until they start teach
ing,” he said.
Mrs. Varnadore echoed that,
saying Ms. Topley told her that
she did not want to teach.
Ms. Topley spent some time
in December working along
side Mrs. Varnadore to learn
the job. She will have to attend
clerk training classes.
As a new employee, Ms.
Topley will be on a six-month
probabtion. Her work will be
evaluated in 90 days.
Other applicants were also
mentioned at the meeting. One
of those was “flagged” said
Mayor Youngblood because of
issues with a name change and
a license renewal.
Another applicant, who was
considered qualified, also
home schools her children and
said she’d need to bring her
children to City Hall with her.
The Council agreed this could
not be permitted.
Terry Peavy knocks the suds down at the fountain at Elrod Park. It was soaped
twice in February.
No quorum for
Sycamore meet
mmmmmmmmmn
The Wireorass Farmer
by Ben Baker
Editor
The Sycamore City Council
lacked a quorum last week for
a called meeting.
Council members JC
Harris, Fred Eister and
Keith Reynolds were
the only three to attend.
Mr. Reynolds served as
mayor pro tem in the ab
sence of mayor Larry
Youngblood.
The mayor was in the
hospital.
Council member Jim
Galt-Brown was re
ported to be in South
Carolina. Freshman
council member Brenda
McNair was not at the
meeting. City Clerk Jan
ice Varnadore said Mrs.
McNair could not be
reached on the phone ei
ther.
The City charter specifi
cally states a quorum is the
mayor or mayor pro tem and
three council members.
After the gathering dis
persed, Mr. Reynolds said he
asked for the called meeting,
which Mr. Eister and
Mr. Harris supported, to
attend matters left un
done at a recent called
meeting.
The earlier called
meeting saw the City
Council approve a po
lice department policy
preventing anyone but
law enforcement from
riding in City patrol
cars.
How the police de
partment will transport
people under arrest to
the county jail remains
to be seen.
That earlier meeting
also saw Mrs. McNair
accuse a Sycamore
property owner of “spy
ing” on her. She also accused
Mr. Reynolds of lying.
McNair
Reynolds
SITE flan
comes from Crisp Solid Waste
Authority. Ashburn, like the
County and other two cities
has a contract with the Author
ity for garbage services.
A second Local Option
Sales Tax (LOST) decision has
been handed down by a supe
rior court judge. There are sev
eral more LOST cases working
their way through the proce
dures set for in the state law.
A swearing in of Ashburn
Council members, James Hall
Jr., returning Council member
Sandra Lumpkin and returning
Councilman Cebo Bateman.
Judge Thomas also swore in
School Board member Phillip
Crawford.
TCHS senior Shawn Felton
earns school credit and job ex
perience through the Youth Ap
prenticeship Program. He
plans are to become a pediatric
nurse.
The PrimeTimers collected
and donated toys to present to
the Turner County Elementary
school for needy children in
Turner County.
(See YEAR Page 2)
grade emergency communica
tions equipment.
An arrest was made in a
home invasion that took place
on Harrison Ave. The two vic
tims of the incident were held
at gunpoint and pistol whipped
then had bleach poured on
them. Ferdale L. Jackson, 19,
was charged with aggravated
assault with a gun, first degree
burglary, armed robbery of a
residence with a gun, posses
sion of firearm while commit
ting a felony and battery.
The Turner County Com
mission unanimously voted to
appeal both parts of the Local
Option Sales Tax (LOST) de
cision recently handed by
down by a superior court judge
from Valdosta. The LOST split
was 50/50 handed down by the
judge's order. The County ar
gued for a higher take and that
the law was unconstitutional.
Week 2
Ashburn raised the garbage
rate again. The January bills
went up 220. The rate hike is a
pass through. The rate hike
The major
news for 2013 was the ap
proval for expanding the
Turner County airport. A con
tentious issue across the
county, the Commission vote
was 3-2 to proceed.
Coming a
close second
was the line-of-
duty death of
Randall Whid-
don, a former
Turner County
EMS director.
Mr. Whiddon
was killed in a
neighboring
county during a patient trans
port. His EMS partner and the
patient also died in the wreck.
Whiddon
January
Week 1
Turner County Emergency
Management Agency (EMA)
was awarded a grant under the
Emergency Management Per
formance Response and Re
covery Grant Program. Turner
County received a grant in the
amount of $13,5941
by Jim Hedges
Ashburn mayor
The Georgia Department of
Community Affairs has selected
Ashburn as a recipient for the
Housing Tax Credit Grant.
Eureka Heights, a 56 unit apart
ment complex will be built on the
Eureka site in west Ashburn. Out of
60 applicants only 30 received
funding and Ashburn ranked 13.
The Eureka Heights projects is es
timated to cost over $5 million.
Construction will begin in the
spring/summer of 2014. This is
great news for Ashburn!
The Eureka Heights apartment
complex will be located at 1060
West Washington Avenue in Ash
burn. The complex will be con
structed in four single story
buildings and six two-story, garden
style walk-up building. All
buildings will be brick and
fiber cement siding.
The complex will offer
the following amenities:
blinds, carpeting/vinyl
plank flooring, central air
conditioning, dishwashers, garbage
disposals, microwaves, ovens, re
frigerator, coat closets, ceiling fans,
walk-in closets, in unit
washers/dryers, a clubhouse/com
munity room, a business center, an
exercise facility, a splash pad, a
walking path, on-site management,
off-street parking, picnic areas, a
playground, a limited access sys
tem, perimeter fencing, and video
surveillance.
Water, sewer, and trash pick-up
will be included in the monthly rent
which is unknown at this time.
Rent will be income-based.
The Ashburn City Council,
County Commission and the Board
of Education have been working
for years to get a housing develop
ment at this property.
$5 million project
Construction late spring
56 apartments planned
No word on rent costs
Eureka Heights gets state OK
The Wiregrass staff