Newspaper Page Text
©©©
Wednesday, December 27, 2023
ASHBURN,GA, 31714
VOL 109 - No. 52 • 750
www.thewiregrassfarmer.com
^Around Town'
Subscribe to
The Wiregrass
Farmer
Delivered in your
mail every week
Call 567-3655
Blood drive
Red Cross blood drive at
the Civic Center January 4th
from 2:00 to 6:00. Please do
nate as supply levels are ex
tremely low. It is so very
important.
Meetings
County Commission, last
and 1st Tuesday of the month.
Ashburn Council, 1st
Thursday of the month.
Sycamore Council, 2nd
Thursday of the month.
School Board, 1st and 2nd
Monday of the month.
All meetings are at 6 p.m.
Teddy bears
The Kiwanis Club is col
lecting teddy bears for public
safety to give to children. The
bears are to help frightened
kids. New bears may be
dropped off at The Wiregrass.
Stray dogs
Ashburn residents are re
minded that pets must have a
collar and current rabies tag.
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 Depart
ment. Animal control number
is 567-0313.
Separate debris
If you pile leaves and
limbs at curbside, please sep
arate 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.
Siren Test
The Turner County
weather warning siren is
tested the first Wednesday of
the month, good weather per
mitting, at noon. If weather is
bad, the system will be tested
at noon on the next clear day.
Obituaries
Christopher Lamar
Wilson, 34, Ashburn
Complete obituary
information Page 5
V J
HOMETOWN NEWS SINCE 1902
BOE earns Exemplary Board award
School Superintendent Craig Matthews,
Board Chair Sandra Blue, David Mathis, Cor
nelius Ball, Ann Kendrick and Sam Brown.
CORNELIUS BA1
Of E<JO &
The Turner County
School District is proud
to announce the
achievement and status
of the Georgia School
Boards Association's
(GSBA) 2023 Exem
plary School Board
recognition.
The recognition program is
designed to showcase best
practices in school governance
and leadership. GSBA recog
nizes good school board gov
ernance to foster educational
community cultures in order to
advance student learning and
achievement.
Turner County School
Board met and/or exceeded the
criteria set forth by GSBA to
earn the honor of a 2023 Ex
emplary Board.
The GSBA Governance
Team Recognition Program
(See BOE Page 2)
Sycamore accepts 8 % of SPLOST if renewed
The Sycamore City
Council unanimously
agreed to accept 8% of
the take in the new
Special Purpose Local
Option Sales Tax. The
Council held a called
meeting Thursday
evening.
Sycamore is staying
with the current em
ployee health insurance
provider for the coming
year, but that City
Council decision comes
with 2 warnings for next
year.
1) The insurance must be
accepted by Tift Regional, now
Mayor Wayne Woodruff ex
plained the process that got
Sycamore to 8%, up from 5%
in the current tax. He specifi
cally thanked County Commis
sioner Nick Denham for the
proposal that saw the increase.
“Nick Denham and Brad
Calhoun came up with the idea
in there,” the Mayor said. “We
called Southwell.
2) Renewal information
must be presented to the Coun
cil at least by Nov. 1,2024.
The unanimous vote specif
ically stated insurance bids
must be presented earlier than
what happened this year.
TRMC
The City’s current insurance
provider was part of the South-
are now at 8%.”
“There” was a called
County Commission meeting
that saw Council members
from the each of the Cities also
attend.
“I’ll go with 8%. I thank
you (the Mayor) and the
County Commission for get
ting together to work this out,”
well network earlier this year
but a decision from the Tift Re
gional Medical Center and
clinic owner abruptly canceled
that.
In renewing the contract,
the Council said getting that
provider back in network is a
priority. At the regular meeting
earlier this month, the Tifton-
(See TRMC Page 2)
said Alan Coker.
“I thank the County Com
mission for being fair to us,”
the Mayor said.
The vote says the Mayor
can sign the tax agreement
after the City Attorney reviews
and approves.
MORE VOTES
The County Commission is
expected to approve the split
which sees each City and the
County divide up the tax
money. (See TAX Page 2 )
When do we vote?
The Special Purpose Local
Option Sales Tax (SPLOST)
election is March 2024 on the
Presidential Preference Pri
mary ballot.
State law says such votes
can only be held at certain
times of the year.
What is SPLOST?
The Special Purpose Local
Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) is
a voter-approved sales tax.
Turner County’s sales tax
rate is currently 8% or 8 pen
nies collected on each dollar.
The tax lasts for 6 years if
all the cities agree. If the cities
do not agree, the tax is for 5
years.
The tax also has a money
cap. The coming tax has a cap
of $6.5 million. If that much is
collected before time runs out,
the tax goes away.
SPLOST can only be spent
on projects listed on the refer
endum. It can be used for
buildings, road work, vehicles
and other similar items. It can
not be spent on salaries, power
bills or similar recurring ex
penses.
Insurance pivots on Southwell decision
2023, a look back at what happened in Turner County
January
Week 1
A State Patrol investigation *
into a fatal wreck that hvpp jyy.uj,
started in Ashburn and
>Pc&
A
ended inside Irwin
County is over. The re
port says “Dyquarius
Dy-Drikquez Gilbert”
is at fault. The
lawyers representing
the estate of Dyquarius
Gilbert are taking issues
with several things in the
GSP report on the accident
that killed Mr. Gilbert.
Is the Local Option Sales
Tax (LOST) is staying on the
books in Turner County for an
other 10 years? That depends
on who you talk to. A split
Commission voted 3-1 to ac
cept a 58-42 split of the money.
Commissioners Nick Denham,
Dana Whiddon and Brad Cal
houn voted yes. Commissioner
Allen Weaver, on the phone for
the meeting, voted no.
Sycamore says tax is dead.
Week 2
A discussion over replacing
090®.
Traap
Arrtitod-'TA
a single-wide mobile home in
a west Ashburn neighborhood
led to raised voices and an
early adjourning of Ashbum’s
January Council meeting.
It was standing room only
for the Ashburn City Council
meeting last week.
Residents showed up en
mass to complain about the
water bill situation. Ashburn
has grappled with getting cor
rect water bills sent out for
well over a year now. City of
ficials say the bills will be
worked out soon.
Liquor stores are now
legal in unincorporated
Turner County. Liquor
stores are not legal,
right now, in Ashburn,
Rebecca and
Sycamore. The County
Commission’s ordi
nances only apply to
unincorporated areas
Week 3
Diane Wideman is cho
sen as the Turner County Citi
zen of the Year for 2022. Katz
Veterinary Services is the Busi
ness of the Year. Gary Carter
named Farmer of the Year. Joy
Matthews is Volunteer of the
Year. Donna Pate, with hus
band Geoffery, received
plaques of appreciation from
the Turner County Develop
ment Authority and the Cham
ber of Commerce Board of
Directors.
A Highway Patrol report
says the death of an Ashburn
man in wreck near Wenona in
Crisp County on Highway 41
was the driver’s fault.
Farmers and other folks
with John Deere equipment
now have the right to repair
their equipment. Case is ex
pected to sign a similar agree
ment soon.
Week 4
Following a no contest plea
in Atlanta by Fillian Burgess,
the Department of Revenue
suspended the alcohol license
for B’s Southern Kitchen for
12 months.
The Ashburn Council ap
proved an application to the
CHIP (Community Home In
vestment Program) Grant Des
ignation.
The City identified three
neighborhoods on the west
side of town to spend the
money, if awarded.
February
Week 1
Ashburn native Demarcus
"Bae Bae” Daniels was in
ducted into North Florida Ath
letics 2023 Hall of Fame. The
induction ceremony for its
2023 class was held on Friday,
Jan. 20 at the UNF Student
Union.
Young artist, Abigale Faci
“Face” Wise, finds therapy
through her art. She suffers
from a condition known as Id
iopathic Intracranial hyperten
sion.
Sycamore is moving toward
allowing package stores in the
City Fimits. Given discussion
at a workshop meeting last
week, the Council appears to
have the needed votes to create
a liquor store ordinance.
Turner County Titans will
play the first ever varsity soc
cer match. This team is lead by
Head Coach Jacob Bishoff and
assistant coach Mallory.
Week 2
A new company will take
over garbage collection in
Turner County effective March
1. That company will also take
over the billing. This covers
only unincorporated County
residents. The Cities are still
working out collections.
(See YEAR Page 2)
66670
00023
Wed Cloudy
750 - tax included
Weather for Turner Co 10%
Thur Partly Cloudy
©
54
< J 34
© 5
Fri Mostly Sunny
/
Sat Mostly Sunny Sun Partly Cloudy
0%
©
53
Q ©
/
o%
©
54
33
©
This space available.
Your ad runs 4 or more
weeks. Get your
business noticed!
Call
567-3655
Every year you make a resolution to change yourself. This year, make a resolution to be yourself. Anonymous
When contemplated in its extreme, almost any power looks dangerous. Ruth Bader Ginsburg
