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The Byron Buzz
ISSUE 25, Thursday, JUNE 18, 2020
COVERING BYRON AND PEACH COUNTY
email us at: BYRONBUZZ@PSTEL.NET
Chik-fil-A slated to open next week
Are you ready Byron? Chik-fil-A on Hwy. 49 next to Zaxby’s good now. They are a welcome addition to the Byron com-
is scheduled to open next Thursday, June 25th. It would have munity and will add to the local economy. Residents of Byron
opened earlier if not for COVID-19 but things are looking are excited about this new business.
County allocates $$$ for ambulance, begins road projects
BY KATELYN JENNINGS
The Byron Buzz
In a meeting last Tues
day, Peach County Commis
sioners approved additional
funds to be spent to install a
striker system on a new am
bulance in the county. The
total amount for this system
to be installed is $22,412.
The Beverly Road proj
ect started June 15th. The
permits were approved, and
they have started at Twilight
Road. There will be detour
signs put in place to help
people around the closed
road. They will have 120
days to get the work com
pleted, which is estimated
to be September 11, 2020,
as long as there are not any
weather delays.
The football field at the
park received a new light
pole recently. This proj
ect totaled an amount of
$3,750. This light pole has
already been installed and is
working.
The commissioners re
viewed details for the
Department of Correc
tions annual contract for
the probation crews, as
well. Requirements for the
vehicles used to transport
the inmates must now have
cages over all the windows,
so they will be getting quotes
to ensure the transport van
meets all requirements. The
contract amount increased
almost $10,000 for this
next year, making the total
$49,3t8. There was a motion
to approve this contract.
Flints delayed increase goes into effect July 1
Effective with Consum
er-member billings that be
gin on July 1, Flint Energies’
residential base charge will
move from $30 per month
to $31 per month. The base
charge change, originally
scheduled to go into effect
April 1, 2020, was post
poned due to the COVTD-19
pandemic. This change
continues an initiative that’s
been underway for several
years to gradually align the
monthly service charge with
the fixed costs of operating
the electric system. The
increase equals $12 for one
year of service, the average
cost of one lunch meal.
“As a local, not-for-profit
electric cooperative, we’re
committed to providing reli
able service at an affordable
cost,” says Flint Energies
Vice President of Coopera
tive Communications Mari
an McLemore. “Our primary
goal is to minimize the
effects of potential increases
while maintaining our high
standard of safe, continuous
service to our Members. We
work to reduce expenses and
look for new ways to operate
more efficiently to help con
trol costs for all Members.
While the base charge is
moving to better match fixed
costs, our Board also works
aggressively to share the
benefits of cheaper natural
gas and energy through the
monthly Wholesale Power
Cost Adjustment (WPCA).
Last year, the WPCA re
duced member bills by $3.7
million.”
Flint updates its cost of
service calculation every
two years; it offers a direct
and accurate reflection of
current expenses. The base
charge, or access fee, covers
the costs of operating the
Cooperative and deliver
ing power. It also includes
covering the co-op’s cost to
maintain more than 6,800
miles of electric lines and 53
substations, while providing
24/7 service and an out
age reporting system. The
computed cost of provid
ing service to a residential
location is more than $33
per month. The base charge
averages to slightly more
than a dollar a day. The
kilowatt-hour charge for all
residential rates will remain
unchanged. The wholesale
power cost adjustment rider,
which can change monthly,
fluctuates based on the costs
to generate power.
Base rate changes will also
be in effect for the other rate
schedules which have been
billed at $30 per month.
Those rate schedules will
be billed at $31 per month
and will affect approxi
mately 900 non-residential
accounts. General service
non-demand accounts will
be billed at $33 per month.
All changes will start April 1.
Members may compare cur
rent residential rates online
at the Georgia Public Service
Commission website: www.
psc.state.ga.us/electric/sur-
veys/r esidentialrs. asp.
Prepaid Electricity
Nearly 10,500 Flint Ener
gies Members have opted for
the Pay Your Way prepaid
service. Increasing popular
ity of this pay-in-advance,
no deposit electric account
has led to increasing costs
to administer the program,
known as Pay Your Way.
As a result, the monthly
base charge for prepaid
accounts will increase by $1
per month. Pay Your Way
accounts receive a daily
allocation of the base charge
that will rise from $1.07 per
day to $1.10 per day, plus
taxes.
Option for Low Income
Members who are ap
proved for the Low Income
Heating Energy Assistance
Program (LIHEAP) can be
placed on Flint’s low-income
rate. After April 1, Consum
er-members that confirm
their LIHEAP standing with
a check payment will be el
igible for a reduced month
ly base service charge of
$15-50 per month. LIHEAP
is administered by the local
Community Action Agen-
to build free-standing ER on Hwy. 96
Coliseum
Coliseum Medical Centers
recently received approval
from the Georgia Depart
ment of Community Health
to build a free-standing
emergency room in Houston
County. The 12-bed, 12,760
square foot ER will be open
24-hours a day, offering
around-the-clock emergency
medical services.
“As the population of
Houston County continues
to grow, so does the need
for healthcare access,” said
Stephen J. Daugherty, Chief
Executive Officer of Colise
um Health System. “Coli
seum Medical Centers has
an established reputation
for providing quality emer
gency care with short wait
times and we are honored to
provide this same service in
Houston County.”
The freestanding emergen
cy room will be staffed by
board-certified emergency
medicine physicians and
nurses who are special
ly-trained to care for emer
gency patients. The ER will
function as a satellite depart
ment of Coliseum Medical
Centers. It will provide the
same emergency services
as a full-service hospital,
including on-site CT scan,
x-ray, ultrasound and clinical
laboratory services.
“For patients with
life-threatening emergencies
like heart attack and stroke,
it’s especially critical to
receive prompt medical at
tention. Every minute counts.
At this new freestanding
ER in Houston County, our
expert emergency physicians
and clinicians will be trained
to triage and treat patients
who need us the most.” said
Dr. John Shivdat, Medical
Director of Emergency Med
icine at Coliseum Medical
Centers.
Beyond additional access to
healthcare, the facility will
have a positive economic
impact to the county. In
addition to the construction
costs, the freestanding ER
will employ 32 people annu
ally. The facility will contrib
ute an increased tax revenue
of $i.2M to Houston County
and is expected to provide
approximately $4-5M in care
to the uninsured or underin
sured. This will be one of the
first free-standing emergency
rooms in the state of Georgia.
The new facility will be
located at the intersection
of Highway 96 and Butten
Drive in Bonaire.
Lions club teams up
with USDA, others
to distribute food
There’s wonderful news
for all residents of Middle
Georgia. The United States
Department of Agriculture
(USDA) is partnering with
food producers, processors
and distributors to distrib
ute food that restaurants
and other institutions are
not using though non-prof
it organizations. This is a
six-month long program and
covers the entire State of
Georgia.
The Lions Clubs of Georgia
have embraced this project
as it helps accomplish many
of our Lions Signature proj
ects—Feeding the Hungry,
Diabetes Awareness and
Disaster Relief. Due to the
COVTD virus, many people
have been affected. The
Byron, Centerville and Perry
Lions Clubs are working
together to help. Members
of the Byron-Centerville
LEO Club and Scout Troop
620 have also been asked to
assist.
Deliveries will be made
once a month, and locations
will be announced as soon as
that information is available.
Trucks will be filled with
(approximately) 1900 boxes,
each weighing 20 pounds, to
be distributed to local area
residents. Boxes will contain
produce, and may contain
meat and/or dairy products.
The catch phrase for the
event is Truck to Trunk.
That means no one will need
to get out of their vehicle,
just pop the trunk or indi
cate placing box in the back
seat. Volunteers, who will
utilize masks and gloves, will
place the box in the vehicle,
and the recipient will move
on down the line. There are
no income requirements—no
vetting of recipients will be
done. Everyone is welcome.
Social distancing will be
practiced.
The first delivery will be
this Saturday June 20. The
truck is expected to arrive
between 8:00 a.m. and
10:00 a.m.. Pallets of boxes
need to be unloaded. Pick-up
will begin at approximately
11:00 a.m. and will continue
until 4:00 or until all the
food has been distributed.
This delivery will be at
the Centerville Lions Club
House located at 612 N.
Houston Lake Blvd. Follow
the arrows from Walker
Drive and enter behind Cen
terville United Methodist
Church. Follow the arrows.
There will be two exits onto
Houston Lake, one at the
Church and one at the Lions
Club House.
Lions motto is “We Serve.”
Where there is a need, there
is a Lion.
For questions or more
information about the event
or becoming a Lion, contact
Past District Governor Mar
lene Humphry, Byron Lions
Club, 478 918-3666.
FVPD presents actions
Protests around the coun
try have sparked a national
conversation on the issue of
police reform and race. Fort
Valley Police Chief Lawrence
Spurgeon says he has been
part of those conversations
both fellow chiefs, sheriffs,
government officials and
members of the faith com
munity. A debriefing was
conducted on June 12th by
the Fort Valley Ministerial
Alliance and Spurgeon pre
sented actions to them he felt
could be done immediately
and without any mandates
from the State or Federal
government. These are:
1. The Fort Valley Police
Dept, agreed to raise the stan
dard to justify a “no-knock”
entry, to where the police
must have probable cause
that knocking and announc
ing their presence, would be
dangerous or futile, or that
it would inhibit the effective
investigation of the crime
by, for example, allowing the
destruction of evidence. We
agree to have policies that
acknowledge that The knock-
and-announce rule isn’t a
mere formality. At the heart
of this proposal is the belief
that if the police are going to
violate the safety and sancti
ty of the home, they should
be forced to provide ample
justification for doing so. That
means a thorough investiga
tion, plenty of surveillance
and double-checking to verify
their information to ensure
that the suspect/suspects is a
real threat and that they have
the correct address.
We believe and have agreed
that if a knock no warrant
is to be served it should be
reviewed and signed off on
by the Chief Executive Law
enforcement Officer before
presented to a judge.
2. We commit to never
conducting an investigation
of our own officer when it
involves a use of force where
great bodily injury or death
has occurred and agree to call
in the GBI to conduct an in
dependent investigation.. The
Macon Judicial Circuit going
back to 2013, has used this
policy and the GBI conducts
independent investigations
into all officer-involved shoot
ings and deadly uses of force.
We believe If this policy had
been enacted in Minneapolis
and Glynn County, arrests
would have happened in
Floyd’s and. Arbery’s deaths
much sooner.
3 We agree to periodically
analyze our data or partner
with outside researchers at
universities, think tanks, or
non-profits to assist with the
analysis to determine whether
people of color are subjected
to stops, searches, arrests, and
uses of force at rates dispro
portionate to their presence in
the driving (or local) popula
tion and whether individual
officers or a particular squad
or shift are responsible for a
large share of any unjustified
stops, searches, arrests, or
uses of force. Data analysis of
Departments all over America
for stops of black and white
pedestrians and drivers has
been analyzed by numerous
organizations, and it is very
clear that there are dispari
ties.
“These are proactive mea
sures that will be taken to
ensure that the kind of dispar
ities we have seen around the
country do not take place here
in our community,” Chief
Spurgeon said.