About The wiregrass farmer. (Ashburn, Ga.) 1984-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 20, 2024)
Page 2 - The Wiregrass Farmer, November 20,2024 NEW SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION No action on gym idea Discover a new standard for your health at mysouthwell.com. cjyDSOU TH WELL PHYSICIANS FOR WOMEN Accepting New Patients 1493 Kennedy Road, Tifton 229-391-4130 0®in Dr. Shannon Price, Dr. Kristin Yates Coleman, Dr. Ana Hernandez and the entire Southwell Physicians for Women team welcome nurse practitioner Collie Haynes, FNP-BC! Collie is accepting new patients. PARK (Continued from Page 1) Mayor is gone to honor him. Mr. Eister also noted the years of service the Mayor has given the City and the work that went into getting the park in the first place. When it was brought up at the November meeting, Mayor Woodruff stepped down and let Mr. Eister run that part of the meeting. Councilman Jim Galt- Brown asked if the City was planning a statue as well. “No statue,” Mayor Woodruff said. Council member Jennifer Yawn said the park needs a new sign now to reflect the new name. “I’m still stuck on the statue,” Mr. Galt-Brown said. PHANTOM POOPER In October, Chief Reeves reported on someone treating the park like a toilet. Council man Galt-Brown referred to the person as the phantom pooper. The Councilman asked if the Chief had any updates. The Chief did not. He did say the new cameras in the park provided enough evi dence to arrest a person ac cused of breaking into vehicles. Chief Reeves was less than impressed with the initial cov erage of the matter and Coun cilman Gait-Brown’s suggested name. “It took me 3 weeks to live that down. It made Facebook down in Florida,” he said. School officials and the Board of Education toured the new school construc tion last week. Above, they have a discussion with one of the construction crew members. At left, one of the wide staircases that leads to the second floor where the high school stu dents will attend class. The middle school is on the first floor. An elevator is also going in near these steps. School construction is coming right along and this part of the work should be done in time for classes in fall 2025. This is Phase 1 of 3 construction phases. Construction money is coming from the school sales tax. The School Board took no action on a request from a Ben Hill County gym to buy equipment to set up a gym at one of the school cam puses. At the workshop meeting on Nov. 4, the owners of the Fitzgerald gym presented in formation to the BOE. The owners also said Turner County does not have a gym. They are wrong. Turner County has a gym for the pub lic to work out. It is in Ash- burn. It is open weekdays starting at 7 a.m. and is open until 7 p.m. a few days week. Membership is required. The school also has a weight room on the south end of the football field. The Fitzgerald gym owners had a meeting with a lawyer to work out details of a proposed agreement. In other business: • The Board tabled a deci sion on security doors for the schools. • A sign-on bonus for bus drivers was approved. Drivers get the money at the end of the school year in hopes of keep ing them on the job. • An AI, artificial intelli gence, policy is more compli cated than originally thought. Superintendent Christy Wray said what was expected to be a line or two in an existing pol icy is going to be much more. • The State School Superin tendent is coming to town Dec. 6 to present 2 awards. The Middle School is a state Fiter- acy Feader and the High School is a state Math Feader. Christmas bonus in Sycamore Sycamore City employ ees are getting a Christmas bonus equal to 2 weeks pay, before taxes. The Council discussed the idea last week. Mayor Wayne Woodruff said the City has the money to do the bonus. He also suggested the City pay the as sociated taxes so the employ ees got the full 2 weeks pay. With the taxes offset, the bonus costs the City about $27,000. If the taxes and so forth were withheld, it would cost a bit over $2IK. “They have all done a good job and should be rewarded,” the Mayor said. “The City is in better shape than it has ever been in. A lot of that is because of you de partment heads. You deserve it,” said Councilman Jim Galt- Brown. The Council also said the current crop of City employees is the best ever. “Certainly in the 13 years I’ve been on this Council,” Mr. Galt-Brown said. Watch local meetings on our YouTube Channel @TheWiregrassFarmer 'tnes Collie y' Outpatient OB/GYN services 0 Primary care for women N Health and wellness education "A lot of these are big trees that need removing," he said. The work will allow another company to go in and run video cameras through the sewer lines to find places where rainwater is getting into the lines. Councilman Burgess noted the City has done this in the past and did not find problems like the manholes that need work. MANHOLE PROBLEM The manhole problem was found "last February," Mr. Hampton said. The City's Pub lic Works department is not ca pable of doing the needed work he said. Councilman John Burgess asked why the Council was not made aware of this need be fore. He said the Water Depart ment director needs to come and make reports to the City Council so they will know about problems. Councilman Sheldon Smith said this is why the Council needs a workshop meeting prior to the regular session. Mr. Burgess also said the City has "plenty of time" to ad dress the issue. He said the EPD does not move with speed when it comes to addressing problems like Ashburn has with the sewer system. When the City got word of the recent fine, various City of ficials and others tried to get the state agency to waive the fine. EPD was not willing to do that and insisted on the fine with the consent order. Mr. Hampton said the City has until June 2025 to com plete all the work under the consent order. HVAC BID REQUEST The Housing Authority of the City of Ashburn is now accepting sealed bids for replacing the Heatpumps on six (6) houses in Ashburn. All interested bidders may pick up a bid package at the Ashburn Housing Authority Office located at 200 Perry Drive, Office 412, Ashburn, Ga. 31714, Monday thru Thursday 7:30 am till 5:00 pm. Bids must be received at the Ashburn Housing Authority Office by 12:00pm Tuesday, December 03, 2024. Successful bidders must meet all eligibil ity requirements set forth by the Housing Authority. The Ashburn Housing Authority reserves the right to reject any and all bids. I-75 at Bussey Rd. Exit 80 Sycamore AUTO-RV- TRUCK AND TRAILER TIRES OPEN LATE MON - SAT 567-3390 SEWER (Continued from Page 1) Councilman John Burgess voted against the bid. In dis cussion, he asked why the City Water and Sewer Department could not do the work. He also suggested that the City buy equipment to do the work. City Manager Daryl Hall said the grant will not allow the City to buy equipment. Mr. Hampton said the scope of work may be beyond what the Water Department can do. Southwell Physicians for Women Haynes, FNP-BC FAMILY NURSE PRACTITIO N E R
