Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, September 1, 2021 - Pike County Journal Reporter - Page 3A
SMART: Communities Challenge to benefit Pike,
FROM PAGE ONE
“The pandemic under
scores just how critical
connectivity can be for a
community’s economic
well-being. Covid-19
made it clear that the
internet is necessary for
education, healthcare,
and business, as well
as access to important
real-time information,”
said Concord mayor John
Strickland. “We are for
tunate to be geographi
cally close to Woodbury,
which introduced us to
their service provider.
Working together, small
cities and counties can
provide solutions that
will serve more people at
a lower cost.”
As infrastructure
investments are often
driven by an intersection
of cost and functionality,
researchers will help Pike
County administrators
analyze technologies to
improve connectivity
countywide, including
exploring different broad
band options to identify
solutions that are both
cost effective and reliable
for consumers.
“We want to serve the
citizens of the commu
nity by ensuring options
for broadband access in
all areas of the county,
so no communities are
left behind in the digi
tal divide,” said county
manager Brandon Rog
ers. “We’re excited to
be working with Georgia
Tech as we seek out
reliable sources for con
nectivity that can reach
unserved areas of the
county at an affordable
price range for all of our
residents and all of our
municipalities.”
The cohort will be
working with research
ers from Georgia Tech’s
College of Computing,
including professor El
len Zegura, the Stephen
Fleming Chair in Tele
communications, and
associate professor Ada
Gavrilovska.
“The pandemic has
made it clear that de
pendable access to
high-speed internet is
no longer a luxury but
a necessity,” said Angel
Cabrera, president of
Georgia Tech. “At Georgia
Tech, we believe in the
power of technology to
improve lives and com
munities, especially in
our state, and we look
forward to working with
the winners of this year’s
Georgia Smart Communi
ties Challenge to achieve
just that.”
Since 2018, GA Smart
has served 12 communi
ties across the state of
Georgia in a variety of
projects, ranging from in
stalling sea-level and traf
fic sensors to planning
for connected vehicle
technology. Alumni from
the GA Smart program
have successfully imple
mented their projects
and garnered additional
funding and technical
assistance to continue
their projects beyond the
program period, con
tinuing to service their
residents and meet their
community’s goals.
“Communities experi
encing gaps in connectiv
ity across the state of
Georgia have sought cre
ative solutions to bridge
them, and still more com
munities are seeking an
swers about how to get
connected,” said Debra
Lam, executive director
of PIN. “This cohort has
taken steps toward being
innovative in a collabora
tive way. By providing re
search services to these
neighboring communities
with established relation
ships and an interest in
coordinating connectiv
ity efforts across city
Concord
and county borders, GA
Smart can make a re
gional impact and follow
the natural expansion of
these services across the
area. This placemaking
opportunity allows com
munities to plan together,
avoid redundancies, and
accomplish more collec
tively.”
The GA Smart pro
gram has facilitated
community engagement
across the state by host
ing more than 40 com
munity meetings, pro
vided in excess of 170+
technologies deployed
in its funded projects,
and provided research
support that led to suc
cessful grant proposals,
academic presentations,
and publications.
Williamson council discusses events such as
bag toss challenge, mystery dinner, fall festival
PHOTO BY WINDELL PETERS
Hammerhead worms are snake-like and eat other creatures
that live under the soil. This one was seen in Williamson.
WORMS: Have same
toxin as puffer fish
BY DWAIN W. PENN
dwain@pikecountygeorgia.com
A calendar of early
fall events was proposed
during the August 19
meeting of Williamson
Council. And proposed
is accurate since future
social gatherings depend
on the infection rate of
Covid-19 delta variant
and any pending state
and federal response to
it.
The city of William
son would prefer to
host family events with
assurance of safety and
will leave the choice up
to visitors and partici
pants.
The first activity will
be the long-delayed
competition promoted
last year as the William
son bag toss challenge.
Councilman Tom Brown
took the initiative to
develop the concept
and permit competition
among any combination
of Pike’s mu
nicipalities.
T-shirts pro-
moting the
games will be
printed and
the inaugu-
ral matches
could begin as soon as
early September after
Labor Day.
The Mystery Dinner
Theatre, hosted by the
Williamson LEAF, has be
come a perennial favorite
growing in popularity
each year. Inspired by
2020’s success, this year
there will be two per
formances, Friday and
Saturday, Oct. 8 and 9.
The venue will be the Wil
liamson United Methodist
Church fellowship hall.
Overwhelmed by the
record breaking atten
dance at the 2020 Fall
Festival, organizers are
eager to take the plunge
again providing enjoy
ment and recreation
for all. The festival will
be held
Saturday,
Oct. 30 at
_ the Benson
^ Hilley Park.
Last year
the Method
ist Church
co-hosted the event but
it was announced at the
council meeting that
Church of Joy will help
after recent success
with Bible events in the
park. However, other
churches, clubs and
businesses are welcome
to help through a variety
of ways from donation
of candy to volunteering
labor. Featured venues
this year will include
a family movie with
popcorn, the popular
Howl-o-ween pet parade
contest and another
favorite, trunk a treat.
COUNCIL ALSO:
• Received the July
library report of 166
patrons, $65 income and
105 books donated.
• Heard the July 31
charity fundraiser went
very well thanks to
so many individuals,
groups and businesses
volunteering to dem
onstrate a large loving
heart for those in need.
• Approved to move
forward with the sher
iff’s office service con
tract adding the request
ed liaison for the city.
• Conducted a first
reading of an update
to city ordinance with
Administration Variance
section with plans to
develop a final version
prior to second reading
and subsequent approve.
• Heard highlights of
classes and seminars
attended by mayor Steve
Fry and two council
members at the GMA an
nual conference.
• Approved to seek
action for the blatant
sign violation at Ashley
Glen entrance.
FROM PAGE ONE
Murphy says he is
unaware of any state
initiatives to combat the
spread of the worm, as it
does not threaten crops
directly and is mainly
only a danger to “com
mercial earthworm rear
ing operations.”
“1 don’t think there’s a
need to sound an alarm
just yet,” Murphy said.
“1 do think it is prudent
to encourage people to
continue to report sight
ings to authorities such
as the Center for Invasive
Species and Ecosystem
Health, Georgia Depart
ment of Agriculture, or
USDA APHIS (Animal and
Plant Health Inspection
Service) so we can track
their spread.”
Murphy does not ad
vise people to touch the
worms with their hands.
He said if they choose
to dispatch the worms,
they can use hot water or
place them in dry paper
towels to desiccate them.
After researching the
worm, Peters put table
salt on the worms discov
ered in Pike County to
get rid of them.
Murphy said since the
worms can reproduce
from cut body sections,
that would not be an ad
visable way to kill them.
Georgia Farm Bureau accepting entries for hay contest and hay directory
H
SUBMITTED PHOTO
The winner of the Georgia Farm Bureau Quality Hay Contest will receive the free use of a Ver
meer 604R baler for one year, courtesy of the Vermeer Manufacturing Company.
Georgia Farm Bureau
(GFB) members who
grow Bermudagrass hay
are encouraged to enter
the 2021 GFB Quality Hay
Contest. Hay entered in
the contest will be tested
at a University of Georgia
lab using the Relative
Forage Quality (RFQ)
Test, which provides an
analysis of the nutritional
value of the hay. Winners
will be determined by the
RFQ analysis. The dead
line to enter is Oct. 31.
Winners will be an
nounced in December.
Prizes will be presented
to the top five producers.
The first-place winner
will receive the free use
of a Vermeer 604R baler
for one year, courtesy of
the Vermeer Manufactur
ing Company. The winner
will have the option to
purchase the baler at a
reduced price at the end
of the year.
“If you grow Bermu
dagrass hay, entering this
contest is a great way to
have the nutritional qual
ity of your hay analyzed,”
said Pike County Farm
Bureau President Matt
Bottoms. “Everyone who
enters hay samples in
this contest will benefit
from learning what man
agement adjustments
they can make to their
hay fields to improve the
quality of their hay.”
Contest rules, applica
tions and instructions
for submitting samples
are available at the Pike
County Farm Bureau
office or may be down
loaded at www.gfb.ag/
HayContest. All hay
entered must have been
grown in Georgia on a
field with at least 25 days
of maturity or regrowth.
Hay samples should be
naturally dried in the
field and taken from the
center of at least five
different bales (rolls or
squares) that come from
the same field.
There is a $20 entry fee
for each sample entered
in the contest to cover the
cost of the lab analysis.
Hay producers may enter
more than one sample and
will receive RFQ analysis
for all samples submitted.
Contestants submitting
multiple samples, howev
er, may only place in the
contest’s top five for the
sample with the highest
RFQ score.
Checks to cover the
entry fee should be made
payable to Georgia Farm
Bureau. Entry fees, forms
and samples should be
sent to the GFB Public
Policy Department 1620
Bass Road Macon, Ga.,
31210. Entry fees, forms
and samples may also
be taken to your county
Farm Bureau office.
Previous first-place
winners of the GFB Hay
Contest may enter their
samples for the purpose
of having them officially
analyzed but are not
eligible to win any prizes
in the contest for three
years after winning.
GFB is also accepting
listings for its online hay
directory. Farm Bureau
members with hay for
sale or who offer custom
harvesting or custom
sprigging services are
invited to list their hay
and/or services in the
GFB Quality Hay Directo
ry published on the GFB
website. Hay for sale or
services can be listed or
removed from the direc
tory throughout the year.
To be included in
GFB’s online hay direc
tory, complete a submis
sion form by visiting
your county Farm Bureau
office or online at www.
gfb.ad/hay. Hay produc
ers who enter the GFB
Quality Hay Contest
receive a free listing in
the GFB Hay Directory.
Hay producers who don’t
enter the hay contest
but would like to list
their hay for sale should
include a $10 check made
payable to Georgia Farm
Bureau for each listing of
hay, custom harvesting
or custom sprigging. Mul
tiple listings are allowed.
PIKE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION
MONTHLY MEETING
September 9, 2021 6:30 p.m.
The Pike County Planning Commission will conduct its scheduled monthly meeting
on September 9, 2021, at 6:30 p.m. on the second floor of the Pike County Courthouse
located at 16001 Barnesville Street, Zebulon, Georgia. The Board will conduct PUBLIC
HEARINGS onthe following items:
(1) Rezoning application REZ-21-03. McLeRoy Rentals LLC, owner and applicant are
requesting to rezone the property located on the west side of Highway 41 South, Griffin
GA 30224. The subject property has 75.02 +/-acres and is located in Landlot 136 in the
2nd land district of Pike County. It is further defined as parcel id 086 052. Applicant and
owner are requesting the property to be rezoned from A-R, Agricultural-Residential to
C-3, Heavy Commercial in preparation to construct a mixture of retail, office warehouse
buildings, mini warehouse/self-storage in phase 1 on approximately 6.5 acres and reserv
ing the rest for future development. The public is invited to attend to speak in favor or
in opposition of the request. The Planning Commission will forward a recommenda
tion to the Board of Commissioner for final decision.
(2) Rezoning application REZ-21-04. Pine Valley Concrete Company, Inc./Frank Ba
ffin, Jr, applicant and Howard M. Rawlings, Jr. owner, is requesting to rezone a portion of
property located on Rawlins Road, Zebulon, GA 30295. The subject property is located
in Landlot 220 of the 8th land district of Pike County. The subject property is further
identified as Parcel ID: 068 027 ZZA and consists of 28.76+/- acres, only 14.36+/- acres
is being requested to be utilized as part of the special exception. Applicant and owner
are requesting the property to be rezoned from A-R, Agricultural-Residential to M-2B,
Manufacturing-Heavy for a small concrete batch plant. The public is invited to attend
to speak in favor or in opposition of the request. The Planning Commission will for
ward a recommendation to the Board of Commissioner for final decision.
The Pike County Board of Commissioners will conduct a PUBLIC HEARING on Sep
tember 28, 2021, at 6:30 pm at the Pike County Courthouse located at 16001 Barnesville
Street, Zebulon, Georgia. The public is invited to speak in favor or in opposition of
the request. Legal 147 8/25; 9/1
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