Newspaper Page Text
ISSUE 52, DECEMBER 28, 2017
COVERING BYRON AND PEACH COUNTY
BYRONBUZZ@PSTEL.NET
No resolution for
PCHS from GHSA
Peach County High School
supporters, players and coach
es met at the Georgia High
School Association headquar
ters in Thomaston Monday
to discuss concerns over what
many have called a blown call
in the 3A championship title
game December 8 in Atlanta.
Calhoun County won the
title 10-6. However, Peach’s
Noah Whittington appeared
to score a late go-ahead touch
down. It was ruled incomplete
by a referee which caused
an onslaught of social media
posts and about the blown
call. PCHS officials appealed
but GHSA attorney Alan
Connell said in the meeting
Monday, “there is no appeal”
under association rules and
that the meeting for informa
tional only. “There won’t be
any action at this meeting,” he
said.
Head coach Chad Campbell
addressed the group for more
than 40 minutes pleading the
case. He stated the call was “a
blatant, astronomical mistake”.
Campbell said the way to
correct the mistake was for his
team to be declared Co-cham
pions or to play the last few
minutes of the game from the
point of the bad call. “We’ll go
out and play on the concrete,”
Campbell stated, adding, “We
think we deserve something.”
Campbell said it was an
awful night for those 85 kids
who worked their behinds
off. During his address to the
board he also said that not for
one second did the officials try
to get the call right. He held
up a poster showing Whitting
ton reaching over the goal line
with the words “Determina
tion”.
The poster will be hung all
around the school building,
Campbell said.
GHSA President Glenn
D. White, was the only one
of the 11 board members to
speak. All he said was that
Peach County’s case would be
considered but no decision
or ruling on the matter was
necessarily pending.
It will be taken up at a later
undetermined date. Given
GHSA’s history on rulings
and their by-laws, it is unlikely
anything will change.
On a different note, Kearis
Jackson, JaQuez Jackson,
Shamarcus Redding and
Mitchell Fineran were selected
to the All State Team.
MCPC new nutrition director
says they have best food
BY LINDA REYNOLDS
the Byron buzz
Bruce Crosby is
the new Director
of Nutrition at the
Medical Center
of Peach County,
Navicent Health.
The hospital
contracts with
Morrison’s Health
Care for its food
services, and all of
the employees that
work at the hospital
are Morrison’s personnel.
Crosby Was bom and raised
in Mobile, AL and received his
culinary training in Orange
Beach, AL at the Perdido
Beach Resort. He moved to
Georgia in 2011 when he mar
ried a ‘Georgia Girl’ and now
calls Warner Robins his home.
He specializes in the ‘front of
the house’ and formerly man
aged the Hilton Hotel food
services in Norcross, GA.
“Food is for the body and
the soul,” Crosby stated
Bruce Cosby
sincerely, “It’s a spiritual
experience. For many people
alone in the hospital and away
from family and
friends, a good meal
is the highlight of
their day. If they
can enjoy a good
meal, it leads to
aster recovery. It’s
art of the healing
irocess.” One of the
>est services is that
atients can request
'whatever they like
and the kitchen
staff will do their very best to
accommodate.
The hospital cafeteria is
open to the public from 7:30
a.m. to 6:00 p.m. serving
breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Between meals the grill is
open and they’ll be happy to
whip up anything from an
omelet to a burger for anyone
that drops in hungry.
“We have the best food of
any hospital in Georgia,” said
Crosby proudly, “And it’s
served with pride and love.”
PCHS recognizes business
PCHS Local School Governance Team would like to recognize
some of our local businesses for their support of our stu
dents. The November Business of the Month was GA Bob’s
Barbecue in Byron. John Morris and William Kent, teachers
at PCHS presented John Cox with a plaque in appreciation
for their support of PCHS students. They have catered events,
employed students and sponsored various teams throughout
the years.
City hears about
Byron Mayor Larry Collins accepts certificate of recognition
for the city’s designation as a PlanFirst Community from
Adrian Wood.
potential
BY VICTORIA SIMMONS
The Byron Buzz
Byron City Council heard
from Edward Gibson and his
wife who have property on
Jailhouse Alley this month.
The property is actually
owned by more than one
family member but Gibson
is hoping to be able to secure
it to build a BBQ restaurant
on it. Gibson has caught up
the taxes on the property
and presented a drawing
to council of what the BBQ
place would look like. He
told Gibson he and his wife
had a successful business in
Warner Robins for 10 years
and now he wanted to come
back to the property where
he was born.
The city was actually inves
tigating getting the property
to use as a parking lot before
taxes were caught up to date.
Gibson said he wanted to
introduce himself and see
what steps he needed to take.
Mayor Pro-tem Michael
Chidester told him he needed
a lawyer to get the property
owned by just one person.
Gibson’s wife noted they had
an attorney already. Once
there is a clear title a plan
would need to be submit
ted to Planning and Zoning
Chidester said. He added that
he hoped it worked out for
business
the Gibsons.
Adrian Wood from the
Department of Community
Affairs presented the city
with a certificate of recogni
tion for becoming a PlanFirst
Community which will begin
in January and runs for three
years. A big celebration will
be held in Atlanta sometime
in January for all designees.
In other business council:
• authorized City Attorney
Tom Richardson to draft a
letter canceling the sidewalk
grant for the city of Byron as
funding is not available at
this time from the TEA grant.
• approved the city seeking
assistance from the Carl Vin
son Institute of Government
for reviewing and updating
the city charter.
• approved amended job
descriptions for the Utility
Billing Manager and Storm
water Manager. This was
necessary as the position of
assistant director was elimi
nated.
• approved amended
job descriptions for Utility
Supervisor, Utility Foreman/
Inspector, Maintenance
Technical, Utility Worker
and Crew Leader to reflect
employee reporting respon
sibilities.
• tabled appointing an in
terim Building, Planning and
Zoning Director.
• approved a resolution
authorizing the city’s part in
the 2018 Pressure Improve
ment Project of the Jointly
Owned Natural Gas for Bass
Road. Chidester explained
this was to improve delivery
and improve pressure in
the area which was import
ant for development. It is a
$13.5 million project and all
cities in JONG are respon
sible for payment if funding
with bonds fails. He also
noted the city might have to
increase its gas contract at
some point.
• appointed B.J. Walker to
the DDA/CCVB board and
to the Byron Redevelopment
Authority. Chidester was
reappointed to the DDA/CVB
board; president of the Byron
Area Historical Society to the
DDA/CVB board. Madison
Lowe was appointed to Byron
Redevelopment Authority
and Todd Jesperson reap
pointed to the Byron Rede
velopment Authority.
• approved the annual lease
agreement with the Byron
Area Historical Society for
depot.
• approved annual agree
ment with Stephanie T. Ward
for indigent defense.
• approved annual agree
ment with the Byron CVB.
Council went into a closed
executive session to discuss
personnel before adjourning.
Portion of U.S. 41 named for legendary promoter
Second Allanta lnttrnalionil Pop Fw.nl
A portion of US 41 in Byron
was named in honor of the
late Alex Cooley and his
business partner, Peter Con-
Ion last week. Both have a
fascinating concert/southern
rock history. The dedication
was held at the historic
Byron Raceway - the home
of the Atlanta International
Pop Festival in 1970. Race
way owner Tim Thornton, left
and Peach County Commis
sioner Martin Moseley far
right were in attendance. A
historical marker was placed
at the raceway a couple of
years ago.
Navicent trying to restructure debt
in effort to outrun damaging tax bill
BY LINDA REYNOLDS
the Byron buzz
The Medical Center of
Peach County has become a
jewel in the community with
its 20,000 plus patients that
go through the emergency
room every year, the cafete
ria that is open to the public
all day, the gift shop staffed
by the Peach Auxiliary, and a
new family practice physi
cian on-site. The out-patient
care provided by the surgical
center and in-patient care
with its 25 beds is, of course,
the cornerstone of its service
to the community.
However, the recent
ly passed tax reform bill
threatened to change how
the hospital financed its debt
and would have potentially
impacted health systems
throughout the country. The
draft included provisions
that would significantly raise
the cost of capital and limit
financing options for 501(c)
(3) hospitals and health
systems after December
31, 2017, eliminating their
ability to issue tax-exempt
bonds. Tax-exempt bonds
fetch lower interest rates in
the municipal market and
therefore lower the overall
cost of financing. It would
have also eliminated the
ability of municipal issuers
to advance refund bonds
in order to take advantage
of lower interest rates. The
projects financed with this
type of debt are typically
things in the public interest,
such as low-income hous
ing, hospitals or airports.
Finance experts said this
would have been devastating
for governments trying to
find money for economic de
velopment projects and the
proposal caught the infra
structure finance community
completely off-guard.
In order to ‘outrun’ the tax
reform, Navicent rushed to
restructure its outstanding
$300 million debt in Decem
ber, before the tax reform
passed. Navicent Attorney
Kenneth Banks and CFO
Rhonda Perry explained the
dilemma at the November
28th board of directors
meeting, which voted to
support the debt-restruc-
ture. Navicent addressed
the Peach County Commis
sioners for approval at the
December 12th meeting as
a matter of engaging all the
players, even though the
county has no liability for
the hospital.
The refinancing was
secured by what is being
called the ‘Obligated Group’
consisting of Navicent
Health, Medical Center of
Navicent Health, Medical
Center of Peach County, and
the umbrella doctor group
affiliated with Navicent. The
outstanding debt currently
being refinanced is primarily
for Carlyle Place, Children’s
Hospital and Oconee. This
hurried restructure is ex
pected to save the hospital
group approximately $10
million dollars over the life
of the debt.
The final bill took less of
a bite out of private activity
bonds than expected, but
will still affect tax-exempt
advance refinancing. In that
respect, Navicent’s effort
to restructure its debt in
advance of the tax reform
bill was very fortunate. The
expected supply next year
will only be about $270
billion, compared with $380
billion to $400 billion if the
tax bill had not passed, mak
ing the available bonds more
expensive.