About The Georgia post. (Knoxville, Crawford County, Ga.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (July 11, 2013)
Issue 28 Covering Byron & Peach County email: byronbuzz@pstel.net Thursday, July 11, 2013 Patients To Be Moved To New Location Next Week Peach Regional Medical Center Closes Doors To Begin Transition to New Medical Center MACON, GA (Monday, July 8, 2013) - A historic day that many in Peach County have awaited for al most a decade has finally ar rived. On Tuesday, July 16, patients at Peach Regional Medical Center will make the move to The Medical Center of Peach County, the area’s new hospital facility located at 1960 Highway 247 Connector in Byron. “This is an exciting time for our community and for everyone who supported Peach Regional’s goal of building a new hospital to provide state-of-the-art care for our area. We are thrilled that, after so many years of dedicated labor, this day has finally arrived,” said Nancy Peed, CEO ofMCPC. The emergency room at Peach Regional Medical Center will close at 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday, July 16. The emergency room at The Medical Center of Peach County will open at 12:00 p.m. that same day. Those in need of emergency care be tween the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday, July 16 are asked to call 911 or report to the nearest emergency center. MCPC will offer the residents of Peach and sur rounding counties access to a new, modern, 25-bed hospital complete with a larger emergency center and an operating room suite, expanded outpatient services and all-private rooms. This new facility will be operated through a partnership with CGHS. About The Medical Center of Peach County The Medical Center of Peach County partners with CGHS to operate a 25-bed hospital and provide emer gency, surgical, inpatient and outpatient care for residents of Peach and surrounding counties. Citizens Want Old City Hall Restored For Community By Susan Garnto The Byron Buzz Byron City Council has gotten proficient at mak ing quick work of their regular agenda items as this month’s meeting went smoothly and quickly. After approving previous minutes, including those for Planning and zoning the next item was for the Air Conditioner Replacement at The Byron Public Library to authorize the Mayor to sign a Resolution approving that monies be appropriated in the budget from Expendi ture Contingency. This was approved. Bob Murdock and Jan Davis addressed the Mayor and Council regarding the Old Byron City Hall building. Murdock spoke of how there is a Historical Society, the Depot, Parks, a Gazebo, Civic Clubs, Battle of Byron, as far as places to go. He stated that “we should fix the Old Byron City Hall”. He said he was with 12 Steps group and he was not ashamed to say it because you’re supposed to be anonymous, he figured the old City Hall could be used for a new place for the group to meet. He realized that they are not the only group that needs a place to meet. He also spoke of possible volunteers to help fix up the Old City Hall. He said he thought it would be a valuable asset to the com munity. Murdock wanted the Mayor and the Council to consider such action and stated, I have a check right here for $25,000.00 to do nate to get the work started for the City Hall building. He estimated somewhere between $20,000.00 to $30,000.00 would be need ed for repairs. Mayor Larry Collins said applications for grants had been made and all good things are running together. Jan Davis suggested to give all resources to restor ing the former city hall building. She is with the Garden Club and stated,: the money has to be spent on the cemetery and she would like to turn it over and would be more than happy to help in the solu tions and situations. Mayor Collins said “That’s a presentation”, and it was a wonderful thing. Mike Chumbley then recom mended that the City At torney look into the matter further to see what the city can do or cannot do for the community. Council next considered the Intergovernmental Agreement Concerning Energy Excise Tax which deals with allocation and distribution of proceeds from the energy excise tax. Next was the EPD Drink ing Water Testing Contract Renewal, to renew for Drinking Water Laboratory and related services with the EPD. The power and Telephone Services at HWY 49 & W. E. Green Parkway was up for considering an approval of power and telephone ser vices for the traffic signal to be located there. The ninth agenda item was to Request to Surplus Various Police Department Vehicles, in which, Po lice Chief Wesley Cannon requested the approval from Mayor and Council to sur plus five Police Department vehicles. One to go to the Police Academy at South western Tech in exchange for training and possibly for sealed bids for the surplus of vehicles. Chief Cannon also stated that the Peach County Fire Department showed an interest in the vehicles. There also was an item 9A and a 9B added to the agenda, in which, 9A had to do with the spraying of the County for mosqui tos and aerial spraying was brought up. Citizens have been complaining about the excess infestation of mos quitos due to the excess rain this year. There was some discussion but there was no motion because they needed to get with the Health De partment about the issue. Item 9B has to do with West Byron Water System involving a drainage issue with several residents. Several residents spoke on what procedure they needed to do to get the city to clean the ditches and manholes located at the North end of Boy Scout Road and North Hamlin Road where the water is not properly drain ing and that the manholes and ditches had not been cleaned for some time. It was suggested by one of the citizens: “since there is no more garbage detail” to let them do the clean ing and cosmetic work. One resident has fixed her bathroom twice because of the water damage caused by this no-drainage problem. The second time she had to fix the floor because she fell through the floor because the floor had rotted due to all the water. Mayor Collins said the matter would be looked into. NOTE: Byron City Council meets the second Tuesday of each month at the Municipal Complex on Moseley Road. L mm ti ■ ■ In Customers at Georgia Farm Bureau’s Certified Farm Markets - like Mark’s Melon Patch in Dawson, shown here - have access to a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. Fresh Fruits And Vegetables Abound In Community And Throughout G A When talking about food in today’s society, you will hear the words locally grown, or ganic or fresh quite frequent ly. In Byron you can take advantage of fresh fruits and vegetables at several places. Drop by the Farmer’s Market, downtown in Jailhouse Park where you will not only find food but other locally made products like honey, baskets and even plants. Traveling on Hwy. 49 you will find a new place, Two Peach Buds where you will be met with the friendly smiles of Para Vinson and Carolyn Dorsey. They have a variety of fruits and vegetables, jams, jellies and other goodies. Also on Hwy. 49 you can stop in at Barbour Farms’ stand and try out the peach ice cream, along with fresh fruits and vegetables to purchase. If you want an on-farm experience or want to take a little trip, Georgia Farm Bu reau’s Certified Farm Markets have something for just about everyone. After a cool, wet spring pushed back harvest in many locations, the summer crops of tomatoes, peaches, blue berries, watermelons, sweet com, and other fresh produce is ready at the more than 90 CFMs across the state. “We’ve got a tremendous blackberry crop and our blueberries have done well,” said Phil Williams of Horizon Orchards in Jesup, which also offers grapes, pomegranates and plums. “The cold March and first part of April set us back about 3-4 weeks from what we were last year, but the quality of the berries is good.” Williams said he has repeat customers who drive multiple hours to sample his berries straight from the farm, but most Georgians are less than an hour from at least one CFM. “There’s something special about getting the freshest fruits and vegetables pos sible,” said GFB President Zippy Duvall. “Our Certified Farm Markets offer high- quality food, many times straight out of the field. And visitors get a chance to re kindle memories of the farm or make new ones.” Many CFMs also offer farm tours and other products and services to enhance the on-farm experience, includ ing hosting school and church groups for tours. For a complete listing of the GFB Certified Farm Markets, visit http://www.gfb. org/commodities/cfm/default. html. Upcoming Events To Note There’s always lots going on in Byron and Peach County. Make note of these July events. •Benefit Poker Run for Corey Parks, Saturday, July 13, 10 a.m., Yamaha of Byron. Corey Parks is at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta waiting on a heart transplant and is on the donor list. He needs his community to help cover costs of the surgeries. The ride happens to fall right at the end of National Transplant Week (July 8-14). •One year anniversary cel ebration at Devine Designs Salon, 200A Commercial Heights Blvd., Fort Valley, Saturday, July 13th. Jennifer Brown will be having refresh ments and door prizes. Stop by to say hello and see what she has to offer. •Patients at Peach Regional Medical Center will be moved to the new location in Byron Tuesday, July 16th. The emer gency room at the old location will close at 6 p.m. that day. The ER at The Medical Center of Peach County will open at noon that same day. •Load your unwanted trea surers into the hunk of your car for the first Love of Junk Trunk Sale at Pach Shops parking lot Saturday, July 27, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. Free admission and snow cones, along with a live band and food vendors. You can buy, sell or trade and the Farmer’s Market will be at that Peach Shops that day as well. Call Tiffany at 478-956- 2409 to reserve your spot for this fun family day. •Open house for the new Medical Center of Peach County, Hwy. 247 Connector, Byron, Sunday, July 14, 2-4 p.m. Go check out the new fa cility before the patients arrive. •Vacation Bible School at Byron Baptist Church, July 15- 18, 6-7:30 p.m. Call 478-956- 5717 for more information. •Vacation Bible School at Harmony Community Church, July 14-19. Call 478-956-6692 for more information. PLEASE NOTICE The Emergency Room at Peach Regional Medical Center 601 Blue Bird Boulevard / Fort Valley Will Close Tuesday, July 16, 2013 at 6:00 a.m. The Medical Center of Peach County and Emergency Room at I960 Highway 247 Connector / Byron Will Open Tuesday, July 16, 2013 at Noon If you need emergency care from the hours of 6 a.m. — 12 p.m. on July 16, please call 911 or report to the nearest Emergency Room.
