Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2009
THE JACKSON HERALD
PAGE 3A
Memorial ride
CARRON MEMORIAL
Motorcycles were lined up in Jefferson Saturday for a memorial ride in honor of
Mike Carron, the Jefferson business owner who died in a wreck. The ride was 125
miles. Photos by Lyn Sengupta
Aerial photos in use at 911 center
PROVIDES MORE INFORMATION
Aerial photos are being used at the Jackson County
911 center. Assistant 911 director Lou Ann David is
shown looking over the new system.
Photo by Angela Gary
BY ANGELA GARY
DISPATCHERS in the
Jackson County 911 center
have technology in place that
allow them to see photos of
areas crimes may be occur
ring or where emergency
assistance is needed.
Aerial photos taken earlier
this year have been installed
at the 911 center.
“It’s a lot more benefi
cial than the old way where
we just had lines shown for
streets,” said Lou Ann David,
assistant 911 director. “Now
we have exactly what it looks
like. You can see the house,
vehicles and landscaping, as
well as bodies of water.”
This past weekend a chick
en house was on fire in a
wooded area that was not
visible from the road. The
aerial photos enabled dis
patchers to give firefighters
details on how to get to the
chicken house.
The photos will also be
helpful during foot chases
because dispatchers will be
able to give officers informa
tion on what is ahead.
“It has a lot of advan
tages,” David said. “It is so
much more updated.”
The county’s GIS direc
tor, Joel Logan, handled the
installation of the photos in
the 911 center. He said offi
cer safety is one of the main
benefits of the program.
“You can describe to
an officer exactly what is
around them,” he said. “It
will also be helpful to fire
fighters. They feel like it will
save lives.”
The aerial photos of the
county are also available at
www.qpublic.net/ga/jackson.
Pendergrass minutes missing
WHERE ARE the minutes of
Pendergrass’ July 28 meeting?
At its August meeting last
week, the Pendergrass City
Council approved the July
minutes. But when The Herald
asked for a copy this week, the
minuets weren’t available.
According to Georgia law,
the minuets of public meetings
are supposed to be available for
public inspection within two
days after the meeting.
The July 28 meeting was
the one at which Pendergrass
Mayor Monk Tolbert fired four
city employees, saying the city
had to cut expenses. The fol
lowing week, three whistle
blowers came forward to claim
the firings were actually an
effort to cover-up wrong-doing
by city officials. The three had
documented their allegations
of wrong-doing and taken that
information to the mayor ear
lier in the month. The firings,
they said, were in retaliation.
After asking for July 28
minutes Monday at city hall,
The Herald was given several
sheets of paper, including the
agenda and library report, but
no minutes. When asked for the
minutes, city employee Becky
Davis said, “Those are the min
utes.”
When Herald editor Mike
Buffington pointed out the
documents didn’t contain any
minutes of the meeting actions
or motions, Davis said, “That’s
all we have.”
Davis later sent a fax to
The Herald, saying she hadn’t
found anything “that has been
transcribed. I will let you know
when the minutes are made
available.”
How the council last week
approved minutes for July 28
that don’t really exist is unclear.
But the lack of minuets puts the
city in violation of state law.
According to the Georgia Open
Meetings Act:
“A summary of the subjects
acted on and those members
present at a meeting of any
agency shall be written and
made available to the public for
inspection with two business
days of the adjournment of a
meeting of any agency.”
The law also oudines what
details are supposed to be
included in the minutes.
“Said minutes shall, as a
minimum, include the names
of the members present at the
meeting, a description of each
motion or other proposal made,
and a record of all votes.”
The Herald also has other
outstanding open records
requests with the city, includ
ing a request for copies of city
credit card statements and cell
phone statements for 2007
and 2008. Officials have said
they could not find those docu
ments. The Herald has request
ed those public records be got
ten from the credit card firms
and phone companies. So far,
those records have not been
turned over to The Herald.
“We are preparing to take
all legal steps necessary to
make sure Pendergrass fulfills
its legal obligation by making
public records available to the
public,” Buffington said.
Jackson sales taxes remain down
Sales tax revenues to the
Jackson County government
remain way down from last
year, running 17 percent
below through June.
In 2008, Jackson County
took in $5.7 million in local
option sales taxes. For the first
six months of this year, the
county has only taken in $2.4
million.
The county had original
ly budged over $6 million
in sales taxes for 2009, but
the budget was lowered ear
lier this year when it became
obvious that amount wouldn’t
be met. The county has since
moved its contingency funds
to help cover the shortfall, but
that likely won’t be enough.
Veterans’ memorial planned in Nicholson
BY SHARON HOGAN
IN A CALLED meeting on
Thursday, the Nicholson City
Council agreed to proceed with
plans to construct a Veterans’
Memorial in front of the com
munity center.
The council will meet at 6
p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 3, with
Joe Bennett, Elberton, to get a
cost on the proposed project.
Nicholson resident Margaret
Ward spoke to the council at
Thursday’s meeting about the
Veterans’ Memorial.
Ward said, “We are about
honoring our service men and
women. My philosophy is if
you don’t know where you’ve
been you won’t know where
you’re going.”
Walter Barnett, Nicholson,
told the council he would
donate his time to help con
struct the memorial.
A discussion was held about
seeking donations for the proj
ect.
Ward said, “You have to be
careful in these hard economic
times asking for money.”
Mayor Ronnie Maxwell said,
“Now may be the time to go to
the area businesses and ask for
donations.”
Barnett reported the price of
granite is down and the monu
ment the council is considering
is made of granite.
Council member Paul
Cartledge said, “As a veteran
of the Vietnam War, I appreci
ate everything that citizens are
doing to honor veterans. At 64,
if I was called back I would
go.”
In other business at
Thursday’s meeting, Barnett
was sworn in by Maxwell
to serve as a member on the
Nicholson Water Authority.
Local bank listed among ‘undercapitalized’
A BRASELTON-BASED bank was among
15 in Georgia listed as among the most under
capitalized banks in the nation.
A newspaper article in the Atlanta Business
Chronicle this week listed Hometown
Community Bank as one of 15 state banks on
a national list of 116 as having been under
capitalized at the end of the second quarter.
Banks are considered undercapitalized when
their capital ratio falls below a percentage
mandated by regulators.
Sean Childers, President and CEO of HCB,
said the bank did fall under the capitalization
requirement at the end of June, but that plans
are underway to recapitalize the organization.
“The bank did slip just under the reported
FDIC capitalization level on the June 30th
call report; however, we were under by less
than one tenth of one percent,” Childers said.
“Our board of directors has been pro-active
in funding the bank’s loan loss reserve given
current economic conditions. The funding
of the reserve impacts capital, however, the
bank now maintains a very healthy loan loss
reserve. HCB also maintains a very high
liquidity ratio that was not reported in the
article, giving added health to our bank.
“The bank’s board has a plan to recapitalize
the bank and we are nearing completion of
the plan that will add a significant amount of
capital to the banks holding company. After
execution of the plan, the bank’s capital level
will exceed the FDIC’s highest capital rat
ing.”
According to the Chronicle, Georgia is one
of three states with the highest number of
undercapitalized banks. The housing downturn
in the state has hit banks in the Metro Atlanta
area hard, including Northeast Georgia.
Two area banks have failed this year:
Freedom Bank based in Commerce and First
Piedmont Bank based in Winder. In addition,
other area banks are under regulator orders to
improve their financial standings.
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