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Wednesday, August 25, 2021 - Pike County Journal Reporter - Page 3A
Concord council discusses Jubilee plans, new events
BY DWAIN W. PENN
dwain@pikecountygeorgia.com
With two months
before one of Pike
County’s most popular
events, Concord council
discussed the October
Jubilee at their Aug. 10
meeting with hope the
rising delta variant infec
tion rate will not cancel
plans.
Last year’s event was
not held due to the pan
demic, breaking a more
than 40-year streak of
festivals.
Festival organizer
Anita Neath shared high
lights including two new
events this year.
“Bobbie Lynch and
Harold Kirkland will
coordinate the entertain
ment for the two days,”
said Neath. “They will
use the pavilion this
year rather than the old
stage on Lee Street. 1
have reserved our porta-
a-potties early due to
the pandemic limiting
their availability. Ap
plications for vendors
and other booths will be
accessible online only.
Mass emails have been
sent out to our regular
participants.”
According to mayor
John Strickland, Red
Clay Ministries, encour
aged by the success of
their April event, have
reserved the Strickland
building for the Jubilee.
They plan to provide a
variety of venues for all
ages.
The other new event
will be a Republican
party forum. The or
ganization has rented
the old stage area for
their use and offered to
rebuild the stage as part
of their rental contract.
Booths will be put up
nearby. Governor Kemp
has been invited to at-
SPECIAL
PHOTO
Plans
for this
year’s
Concord
Country
Jubilee
are being
dis
cussed
by the
Concord
council.
tend. The forum will be
open to all candidates
but handbills will not be
permitted. A representa
tive of the organization
will be invited to discuss
plans at the next council
meeting in September.
COUNCIL ALSO:
• Learned the status
of the Concord Wireless
Internet service. Work
with Georgia Power is
currently ongoing in
Concord Estates. $35,000
will be spent on anten
nas to give customers
service equal to those
with “line of sight recep
tion.” Four customers on
Eppinger Bridge Road
are now hooked up. The
Hilltop tower will soon
be operational.
• Received the month
ly water department
report from superinten
dent Doug Neath. There
was an 8% water loss in
July due to leaks. The
north wastewater pond
created a concentration
issue in the creek caus
ing an EPD violation.
Both bids and a grant
are being sought to
solve the problem. A lift
station pump went down
clogged by a towel in the
sewer.
• Heard Green Street
will be repaved followed
by Hill Street.
• Approved to pur
chase a grapple and
forks, accessories for
the new skid steer, at a
cost of $4,000.
• Approved to em
power the mayor to pur
chase 2 Concord Estate
lots at the tax auction
due to city sewer lines
running through them.
• Moved the Septem
ber 14 meeting back to
September 21 to accom
modate the clerk and
deputy clerk attending
three days of training.
Georgia Military College announces
Zebulon campus enrollment officer
Georgia Military Col
lege Zebulon campus
recently announced
Isabel Rutledge as the
new enrollment officer. In
this role, she will serve
as the point of contact
for all new and prospec
tive students, provide
information about the
college and its programs,
host tours of the campus,
participate in and host
community events and
sustain and build the
campus’s presence on
social media.
Isabel Rutledge gradu
ated Magna Cum Laude
from the University of
Georgia Griffin Campus in
May of 2021. She majored
in Consumer Econom
ics with an emphasis in
financial planning and
General Business. At
graduation, she had the
honors to serve as the
Family and Consumer
Sciences convocation
Student Challenge
speaker. Before attending
the University of Georgia,
she earned her Associate
of Science in Consumer
Economics from South
ern Crescent Technical
College in 2018.
ISABEL RUTLEDGE
Molena council hears power issues,
substation on Highway 109 east
BY DWAIN W. PENN
dwain@pikecountygeorgia.com
Michael Smith, a Geor
gia Power employee,
addressed Molena
council at the August 9
meeting concerning area
problems caused by the
Georgia Power distribu
tion center substation
on Georgia Highway 109
east.
For most of the year,
some Molena residents
have experienced
problems with radio
frequency interference
and discovered the
source of the problem to
be the substation. Back
in January when po
lice chief Novin Darsey
tried to report a house
fire to the 911 center in
Zebulon, he had trouble
with dropouts of his
radio transmission. That
incident turned out not
to be life threatening but
considerable damage
was done to the resi
dence.
Darsey felt the inter
ference problem should
be fixed to assist with
urgent life or death
needs.
“There has been
found two issues in the
substation emitting
radio frequency interfer
ence,” said Smith. “The
substation is owned by
Georgia Transmission
and they are aware of
the problem and want us
to fix it. We will replace
the lightning resistor
later in October along
with other components
when the weather is
cooler.”
Smith estimates the
replacement of the ar
rester is a two hour job
and changing out other
components another
two to four hours labor.
Work will require a city
wide power outage and
council will choose the
best time for the repair.
Councilman Luis
Vazquez asked about the
use of a generator. Smith
said he couldn’t power
the whole city but can
service certain areas
meeting critical needs of
the city.
Council reached a
consensus that the best
time for the work is at
night on the weekend
from midnight to 6 a.m.
on a Sunday morning.
The week prior to the
repair in October, Smith
will conduct another
scan of the distribution
center to be certain that
all failing components
have been identified.
COUNCIL ALSO:
• Received the first
monthly police report
from newly hired chief
Matthew Polk. Among
the usual calls and cita
tions was the arrest for
the Grubb Street arson
incident.
• Heard the FEMA
grant for two emer
gency generators did not
include a portable one.
Both will be fixed, one at
the park and the other
at the water treatment
station. The deadline to
receive the grant will be
researched and brought
back to council.
• Amended a previous
approval for the new city
hall window to increase
the cost from $900 to
$2000.
• Heard mayor Joyce
Corley suggest the inter
net project install “pops”
on poles with existing
power rather than nego
tiate an agreement with
Georgia Power.
SPECIAL PHOTO
Meansville council
members dis
cussed their
application for the
Georgia Environ
mental Finance
Authority grant
and water system
needs for the city
which include re
placing water lines
and meters. The
city has applied for
GEFA’s 1.4 million
grant maximum
and applied for
Georgia relief
j funds.
Meansville discusses water system
BY DWAIN W. PENN
dwain@pikecountygeorgia.com
With only a month
left before the revised
loan application for the
Georgia Environmen
tal Finance Authority
(GEFA) grant is due,
Meansville mayor Virion
Rachels and council
heard a summary of
events since April at the
August 9 meeting. Kurt
McCord from Carter &
Sloope shared critical
data and suggested op
tions for modification of
the loan application.
“Earlier this year
the city applied for the
GEFA loan and grant
scoring really well with
a high feasibility of
success,” said McCord.
“In April underwriters
expressed concern with
certain items in the ap
plication. As required,
10 random water meters
were pulled and tested
for inaccuracies due to
various wear. Not one
met minimum standards
comparing used to new.”
The tests revealed
why the city generates
each month 40% of non
revenue water. The tests
were conducted across
a spectrum of flow rates
from low (2.5 gallons
per minute) to high (15
gpm). The low flow had
nine meters fail. In other
areas of testing, four
meters didn’t register at
all, one registered 8% of
flow. For the high flow
test, only one meter
missed standard perfor
mance. Overall the 10
meters averaged a 43%
registry compared to
the standard of 95%.
“There were three
things the underwriters
looked at that hurt the
city,” said McCord. “On
a sliding scale, one must
act as if only 90% of wa
ter revenue is collected
as billed. The city must
anticipate operating
expenses are 3% higher
each year, a cumulative
factor resulting in the
need for more money
than is required to pay
the debt. And the city
must guarantee a debt
coverage of 1.05, five
percent more collected
above the amount of the
payment, or 40% more
than the cost of the
GEFA loan.”
McCord assessed
the current market and
believes the cost of
replacing water lines
and meters should go
down. It may be prob
able the city can only
get a $1.1 million grant
and not the original
$1.6M previously re
quested. The intent by
mayor and council is to
capture as much of the
grant as possible. To
help achieve that goal,
McCord offered four op
tions for success.
“The first option is
to leave the water rates
alone and apply for the
$1.1M grant ($660,000).
Second, look at doing
a third rate increase.
GEFA will check to see
if the city gets 1.05 col
lections. Third, leave
rates as set and increase
future water rates 3%
each subsequent year.
And, fourth, seek ap
propriations from the
federal America Rescue
Plan and state rescue
plan, putting the city’s
name in the hat early.”
An hour after con
vening, discussion
was distilled down to
two motions approved
unanimously by coun
cil. Apply for the $1.4M
grant maximum with
annual 3% water rate in
creases to service debt
and apply for Georgia
relief funds. Meansville
had previously been
approved for funds from
the American Rescue
Act and the first check
was for $39,957.50.
COUNCIL ALSO:
• Heard that Means
ville Baptist Church will
be used as a Covid vac
cination site.
• Heard the fire de
partment responded to
five medical calls in the
county, one in the city
and six county fire calls
plus a mutual aid fire
response to Northside
in Upson.
• Heard the city
usage of water in July
was an unusually low
376,800 gallons. With
the exception of the
last few days, July had
below normal tempera
tures.
• Tabled the city hall
rails bid for one month
and agreed to seek bids
for a new city hall roof
after it was disclosed
a small leak was found
in the clerk’s office and
the current roof was
installed 19 years ago.
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