Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, November 8, 2017
ASHBURN,GA, 31714
VOL 109 - No. 45 • 500
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Call 567-3655
Thanksgiving
meals
Rotary Club and some
members will sponsor
thanksgiving meals for
some Turner County fami
lies. A list is being pre
pared. Gift certificates for
the Piggly Wiggly will be
delivered. Anyone who
wants to help with this ef
fort should contact Mike
Moore at the Pig, Mike
Mastrario at the Courthouse
annex or Mike Geoghagan.
Separate limbs
and leaves
Ashburn residents:
When you pile leaves and
limbs at curbside, please
separate limbs from the
leaves and pine straw. The
City's street vac can pick up
the leaves and straw. The
boom truck can pick up
limbs. When you separate
the leaves and limbs, pick
up goes faster and takes
fewer employees.
Raise passes
first reading
I do this as a service, not for the
money. Andrea Pierce
I deserve it. I am a working coun
cilman. Howard Jordan
A decision to give a future
City Council a pay raise passed
4-1 last week at the Ashburn
City Council.
Mayor Sandra Lumpkin
called for a roll-call vote. An
drea Pierce was the only no
vote.
“I do this as a service, not
for the money,” she said
Council member Rhonda
Walker appeared to think over
her vote for a few minutes be
fore voting yes.
“I would love to get a raise,
but is it just to do that?” she
asked.
“It is a reflection of what
you feel about it,” City Attor
ney Tommy Coleman told Ms.
Walker as she considered her
vote.
Council members Cebo
Bateman, Howard Jordan and
James Burks also voted yes.
“Cordele and Tifton get
$1,200 a month. The Albany
Council gets $15,000. I think
we’re worthy of whatever we
(See RAISE Page 2)
Raise will put council to
2nd in same sized cities
According to the 2016 re
port from the Department of
Community Affairs (DCA),
Ashburn is above the median
for City Council pay.
The DCA report is broken
out by City population. Ash
burn is in the 2,400 to 5,000
population group. In this
grouping, pay ranges from
nothing for Avondale Estates
and Hepzibah to $19,200 a
year for Hogansville. Hogans-
ville is an outlier as the next
highest pay is $9,000 for Jack-
son and Lakeland. More typi
cal are annual salaries in the
$3,000-$5,000 range.
Looking at nearby cities of
similar size:
Ocilla - $4,800
Dawson - $3,600
Gray - $5,400
(See TOP Page 2)
https://www.dca.ga.gov/dcawss/reports/sta
tic/2016/2016_Municipal_Elected%20Offi
cials_Final.pdf
NOW THAT’S SCARY
Horror movie fans got a jolt last week at Trick or Treat in the Street when this
youngster dressed as the Jigsaw Killer showed up. He won his age category for best
costume. See all our pictures on our Facebook page.
Peanut facility upsetting to at least one resident
Medicare help
Got questions regarding
Medicare? A representative
will be at the Turner County
Civic Center Thursday,
Nov. 16th from 9am-noon.
Animal control
Anyone who needs the
Ashburn Animal Control
department should call 567-
0313. All calls routed
through the dispatch center.
This applies to Ashburn res
idents as well.
Birth certificates
Need a certified birth
certificate? If you were
bom in the State of Georgia,
the Turner County Probate
Court may be able to pro
vide you with a certified
copy. For more information
call Probate Court Judge
Penny Thomas at 567-2151.
Siren tests
The Turner County
weather warning siren is
tested the first Wednesday
of the month, good weather
permitting, at noon.
Obituaries
Lloyd Scoggins, 85,
Sycamore
Complete obituary
information Page 5
I figure property taxes ought to be
cut by 2/3s because of what hap
pened out there. Gene Massengale
which included a second after the meeting.
Gene Massengale is upset
about the peanut drying and
transfer point just north of his
house on Highway 41.
“This has really messed up
the neighborhood good,” he
said.
He is so upset, he thinks the
County Commission should
abate taxes in the area.
“I figure property taxes
ought to be cut by 2/3s because
of what happened out there,”
he said.
Mr. Massengale spoke to
the County Commissioners last
week under the Public Speaker
part of the agenda.
“We are not going to ex
change and debate tonight,”
Commission Chairman Sam
McCard told the audience,
speaker Joseph Ezekiel. Mr.
McCard said if anyone wanted
to discuss those matters in
more detail, they were wel
come to come meet with him
The property Mr. Massen
gale was discussing was re
cently rezoned to Wholesale-
Light Industrial to allow con
struction of the peanut staging
area. Wagons are brought in,
peanuts dried and transferred
to semis to be carried to
processors. As part of the proj
ect, the property was clear-cut.
A 6-foot buffer fence was
placed on the property between
the subdivision and the staging
area.
“People are used to looking
(See PEANUT Page 2)
Turner County Elementary School celebrated Red Ribbon Week
style last week. Photos Trish Mathes
Smoke rises from the wreck last week on 1-75. Ketchup cans, in the
foreground, scattered across the interstate. Photo Mark Robinson
Interstate crash leaves one dead
1-75 southbound was shut down for
about 11 hours last week as crews
cleaned up a wreck between two semis
and the debris the collision caused.
Two lanes of northbound traffic were
closed for a while as crews attempted to
put out a fire at the wreck.
Harold Jack McNeal, of Ocala, FL,
died at the scene, said County Coroner
Edgar Perry. Mr. McNeal was in the
second semi which rear-ended the one
in front.
The semi caught fire and the body
was burned.
County Fire Chief Mark Robinson
said the two trucks collided next to the
concrete barrier between the north
bound and southbound lanes. The body
was pinned in debris against the wall.
“According to (See WRECK Page 2)
8
66670
00023 4
500 - tax included
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Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build bridges even when there are no rivers.
Nikita Khrushchev