Newspaper Page Text
County contracts with EMS provider
WALTER GEIGER
news@barnesville.com
The Lamar County commis
sion took a big first step to
ward solving its EMS problem
by contracting with a pro
vider at its regular meeting
Dec. 21. The current provider,
Community Ambulance, is
shutting down in February.
The county still has to be
licensed by the state to oper
ate its own ambulance service
and needed a provider in
place for approval.
After Community an
nounced it was pulling out
last month, the county issued
a request for proposals.
Ameripro was the low bid
der at $837,999.96 annually.
Other bidders were Veter
ans at $867,181 and AMR at
$930,100.
Commissioners and county
administrator Sean Townsend
worked closely with Upson
officials and agreed to join
together in operating the
service. Under the joint
agreement, Lamar will pay
$494,700 annually or $41,225
per month.
Ameripro will have two am
bulances in each county at all
TOWNSEND GLASS
times and a fifth ambulance
will rove as needed. There
will also be an additional vehi
cle with personnel to respond
when needed.
“1 was very impressed with
Ameripro’s operation and
how their dispatch center
was set up,” Townsend told
the commission. He said the
service will be reviewed after
180 days with the approval of
all three parties.
“We are so grateful to
Upson County for working
with us. It greatly improves
the economies of scale. The
contract will have perfor
mance standards in place
with regard to response times
and truck staffing,” chairman
Charles Glass said.
The county approved the
contract unanimously.
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Like all previous years, 2021 was an eventful one for Barnesville-La-
mar County. Like 2020, COVID dominated 2021 but there were respites.
A rare Inca dove (top left) arrived in Redbone in late July, attracting bird
ers from all over including Yve Morrell who took the photo. The com
munity celebrated Independence Day (top right) and young Paris Altman
enjoyed a hot dog at the VFW celebration.
The Class of 2021, including Ju’Corie Zellner who broke out a cel
ebratory dance routine, marched off into its future (bottom right). And,
BBQ and Blues drew a crowd of revelers which included a rib-sampling
Max Tileson (bottom left) but Buggy Days was truncated due to COVID
concerns.
For complete coverage of 2021: The Year in Review, see page 1B.
More information needed
about local black histories
Subscribe. Your name goes
on the label in this box
KAY S. PEDROTTI
kayspedrotti@gmail.com
A new Lamar Arts exhibit to
honor and celebrate black fam
ilies and their contributions to
Barnesville, Lamar County and
beyond will open in late Janu
ary or early February.
Much about several persons
in continuing families, and the
impact of their achievements
here and elsewhere, has been
gathered by Dorothy Carter,
but much more is needed. Any
one who has old family Bibles
or records, stories about hon
ored people in their families,
or photographs should contact
Carter by calling 770-358-7660
and leave a message; email
info to bibhsaa2012@
gmail.com, or mail
to Barnesville High
& Industrial/Booker
Schools Alumni Assn.,
RO. Box 833, Barnes
ville 30204.
Categories of
achievement so far
include educators,
churches, veterans,
athletes and coaches,
farmers, business and
entrepreneurs, and
“firsts” or pioneers.
Additional names, etc., are
needed in these and other cat
egories, such as writers, artists
and musicians.
Lamar Arts gallery director
Angela Preston encourages as
many people in
the total commu
nity as possible
to get in touch
with Carter
with additional
facts and stories
about local black
families and
their achieve
ments: “We are
truly trying
present opportu
nities for any
one to tell their
stories.
This is an event which will
remember the past and cele
brate the foundations of all our
residents; it’s a true historical
contribution.”
CARTER
Wimberly
Classic is
underway
First round action got
underway at 10 a.m. today
in the Oscar Wimberly Bas
ketball Classic at the Lamar
County gym. The finals will
be held Thursday.
There are eight teams in
both the boys and girls tour
naments.
The LC Lady Trojans,
ranked #9 in Class AA, play
Taylor County tonight at 7
p.m. The Lady Vikings are
ranked #3 in Class A. They
are the only ranked teams on
the girls side.
The Trojans battle Central
Christian in the nightcap at
8:30 p.m.
The only ranked team on
the boys side of the tour
ney is Manchester which is
ranked #5 in Class A.
L**+*+„
THE
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AMERICAN
RESCUE
PLAN
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Towaliga
Circuit gets
ARPA funds
WALTER GEIGER
news@barnesville.com
The Towaliga Judicial
Circuit, which includes Lamar
County, has received the full
amount it requested in Ameri
can Rescue Plan Act funding.
Circuits had applied for
ARPA funds to clear case
backlogs, mobilize senior
judges, hire additional as
sistant district attorneys,
court reporters and security
personnel and victim sup
port, etc.
The Towaliga Circuit
requested $627,399 and was
granted the full amount.
Qualifying
fees are set
Several local offices are
up for grabs in 2022 and the
county commission has set
qualifying fees for those races.
The fees are a percentage of
the salary of the officeholder.
The county commission
chairman’s seat, now held by
Charles Glass, is up for vote.
That fee is $126.
The commissioners from
districts one and two, Bennie
Horton and Bob Heiney, must
also run for reelection. Those
fees are $108.
The seats held by school
board members Danny Turner,
Sue O’Neal and Ron Smith will
also be up for election. The
fee for Turner’s at-large seat is
$252. The other two are $198.
©2021 THE HERALD GAZETTE, BARNESVILLE, LAMAR COUNTY, GA 30204, 770.358.NEWS