About The wiregrass farmer. (Ashburn, Ga.) 1984-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 27, 2016)
Page 2 - The Wiregrass Farmer, January 27,2016 C&C Bait and Tackle held a ribbon cutting in Sycamore last week. Subway held a ribbon cutting for its new location on E. Washington in Ashburn. TRMC wins award for organ donation work LifeLink® of Georgia is proud to announce Tift Re gional Medical Center re ceived a Silver award for its organ, eye, and tissue donation and registration efforts through the Workplace Partnership for Life Hospital Campaign. Sponsored by the U.S. De partment of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, the campaign brings together national partners, local and re gional organ, eye and tissue donation organizations, and hospitals throughout the nation to educate employees and their communities on the impor tance of organ, eye and tissue donation. The 736 hospitals who earned gold, silver, and bronze level recognition earned points for awareness and registry activities between August 1, 2014 and April 20, 2015. “Tift Regional Medical Center is a great champion for organ, eye, and tissue dona tion. We are proud of this ac complishment and applaud them for making a difference in the lives of the more than 5,300 Georgians that are cur rently waiting for transplant,” says Danny Johnson, Hospital Development Liaison with LifeLink of Georgia, “It is be cause of these professionals’ unyielding dedication to sav ing lives that we applaud their achievements.” The need is real. Each day, an average of 79 Americans re ceive life-saving organ trans plants and thousands more benefit from cornea and tissue transplants. These extraordi nary gifts have been gener ously donated by ordinary people of all ages and back grounds who took just a few minutes in a busy day to indi cate their decisions to become organ, eye, and tissue donors. Every 11 minutes another per son is added to the national transplant waiting list that cur rently lists over 123,000 peo ple and sadly, approximately 22 people die daily because of the organ shortage. For information about the Workplace Partnership for Life Hospital Campaign, visit http://organdonor.gov/howhelp /hospitalcampaign.html. To learn more about organ and tis sue donation in Georgia visit LifeLink® at www.lifelink- foundation.org and to desig nate your decision to be an organ, tissue and eye donor sign-up on Donate Life Geor gia’s Organ and Tissue Donor Registry at www.donatelifege orgia.org. SEWER (Continued from Page 1) If the work doesn’t remedy matters, the mayor promised more work. “I’m no dummy,” Mr. Gip son said. As for the work going on now, “that’s good. That’s progress. I see that with my own eyes.” He said he is aware the problem can’t be fixed in a day or so. “Just so long as progress is being made,” he said. He said the lift station has a big pump and a generator that runs a lot, creating noise. Still, “I know that is a problem when it goes off. The water backs up. “I don’t want the water coming up in my house. When water comes up in my house, that’s not good for nobody.” “We’re doing the best we can with what we’ve got,” the mayor said. SECOND SPEAKER Johnny Hillmon spoke next. He came before the Council a few years ago to lodge the same complaints. “We’ve had this problem for more than 5-6 years. We’ve had this problem a long time. We’ve had this problem for the last 30-40 years,” he said. “This stuff is coming in our face. Urine and No. 2 come up in our face. All this crap - someone is going to get sick. “Someone is going to get sick. People coming in my neighborhood get all this stuff coming down in their lungs.” As for promises from the Mayor and Council, “You just come in. But people have come in and said they will do some thing. Ain’t nothing been done... If I don’t see nothing done soon, you will see me again.” COME SEE He asked the Council to come see the problems after a rain. “You do not believe. I chal lenge you to come stay in my house I’ve stayed in for years,” he said. “When it rains, you can’t shower. You can’t flush. It comes back up. You can’t wash clothes. It can be fixed,” he said. “It goes back on a lot of Councilmen and the mayors too. They don’t do nothing. I am getting tired of coming up here and telling you how I feel. “All this is coming up again, urine and No. 2. It is coming up again. It has been going on too long. “It’s a bad feeling you’ve got. You can’t flush it your own self.” PROMISES As for the work going on, “I will check it out,” he said. “I am a concerned citizen. I am a taxpayer.” As for promises to get the problem resolved, Mr. Hillmon said he’s heard that before. “Nothing never gets done.” Some in the community have suggested he move. “What will these other peo ple do? Will they move too?” he asked. “If you buy my house, I will move.” Mr. Hillmon said more changes at the City Council might be needed. “Maybe I need to get a job up here. I can get things done,” more, HOME FURNITURE 640 East Washington Ave. Ashburn • 567- 9031 NO CREDIT REFUSED Stretch Your Refund ! Phoenix Wood Products, Inc. 'Building Partnerships Through Quality Products and Sen/ice Mrn Che// URN TurnerCounty Saluting our local industry and businesses. Growing for a better Turner County. ^Pierce / Econo*’ 0 ' HOUSING AUTHORITY CITY OF ASHBURN REQUEST FOR BIDS The Housing Authority of the City of Ashburn is ac cepting bids for lawn maintenance services. All in terested bidders may pick up a bid package at the Housing Authority located at 200 Perry Drive, Of fice 412, Ashburn, Ga. between the hours of 7:30 A.M. and 5:00 P.M. Monday through Thursday. Bids must be received at the Ashburn Housing Au thority Office by 10:00 A.M. February 29, 2016. Successful bidder must meet all eligibility require ments set forth by the Housing Authority. The Hous ing Authority reserves the right to reject any and all bids. he said. “I pay my bills on time. You ain’t got a problem with that. I should not have a problem.” He did admit to receiving some help in the past. “One councilman did come to my rescue. Mr. (James) Burks over here. The rest didn’t come until I made a phone call and got all of them down there,” he said. “The City did pay you for your damages,” Mr. Burks said. “And if I ain’t come up here, I wouldn’t have got noth ing,” Mr. Hillmon replied. “Come see. You ain’t got to take my word for it.” Councilman Cebo Bateman said he has seen the problem at Mr. Hillmon’s house. “Yeah, you came after I called you,” Mr. Hillmon said. MONEY MATTERS “We are going to try to do what we can. I’ll tell you something the others won’t. The City is broke. We ain’t got the money to do it. We will try to find some grant money,” said Councilman Johnny Burgess. After the meeting, the mayor said the City is not broke. “It might be 2-3-4-5 years before you get a grant,” Mr. Gipson said. “You tell me, as a taxpayer, we’ve got to live with that. What are we going to do? We ain’t going to up and move.” LECRESHA JACKSON “You inherited a mess. I do live on Martin Luther King,” she said. “I raise children there. They can’t play outside. “I am investigating it on my own. I am tired of it. I am sick of it,” she said. “If you can’t fix it, I will move at your ex penses. I am fed up. I need some answers. “You send your child out side and let them breath that hazard in.” Councilman Burks said “I live only a few feet from there.” “I live it,” Ms. Jackson said. “I’ve been told we’re working on it. I’ve been told it is not in Ashburn; it is the County. I’ve been told it is not the County; it is Ashburn.” If the problem is sewer lines, it is the City of Ash- burn’s responsibility. The County does not have a sewer department. If the problem is septic tanks on private land outside the City limits, it is the homeowner’s problem. “She stay in the County,” Mayor Carithers said. “You’ve got a problem.” “A big, stinking problem,” she replied. “You don’t have to accept it. You can cap it and get a septic tank,” the mayor said. Ms. Jackson said that will not stop raw sewage running out of City lines into her yard. ANOTHER ISSUE “There is something else I want to say. Martin Luther King and Fudge. It’s dark as hell down there. We need a street light,” Mr. Hillmon said. REBECCA (Continued from Page 1) Now it gets complicated. If the Councilman resigns before Feb. 25, a City Council election can be on the May 24 ballot. The resignation to run for mayor must be at least 90 days before the election. If a Councilman resigns after that 90-day period, it kicks the City into a position of having another called election. Rebecca would have to pay for that election, sometime in the summer. Recognizing our newest subscriber Carrie Myers
