Newspaper Page Text
The True Citizen, Wednesday, November 25, 2009 — Page 7
Variance approved to allow
concrete plant on River Road
By Anne Marie Kyzer
annemariek@thetruecitizen.com
A concrete plant will soon be
built on River Road to support
Plant Vogtle expansion now that
a controversial variance has
been approved by the Burke
County Planning Commission.
The planning commission ap
proved the variance, which will
allow a smaller than usual buffer
zone between the plant and
property lines, after hearing
from a room full of area resi
dents at a meeting last Tuesday.
The plant will be located on a
10-acre tract near Rouse Lane,
where many of the residents said
they don’t want to deal with the
dust, noise and traffic they think
is imminent.
The tract Evans Concrete
wishes to purchase is 525 feet
wide, and the plant, to be about
80 feet wide, will be constructed
in the center. That does not leave
enough room for the mandated
400-foot buffers, and the prop
erties on either side of the tract
are not available for purchase.
“My biggest concern is dust
coming from the plant,” Ginger
Rogers said, noting her 9-year-
old daughter suffers from
asthma. “The things I have re
searched show it will put her in
a dangerous health situation.”
Elmer Berry, of Evans Con
crete which will run the plant
and already operates
Waynesboro Concrete on Davis
Road, said his company operates
other plants near densely popu
lated areas without complaint.
“Over in Statesboro, we are
probably about the same dis
tance from the Georgia South
ern campus as this proposed site
is from your house,” he told one
of the residents. “We don’t have
any problems there.”
Commission members voiced
sympathy for the residents’ con
cerns but noted that dust from
crop land and dirt roads were al
ready at high levels in the rural
areas of Burke County.
Commission member Leon
Bynes said his research showed
the plant would likely stir up less
dust than a large farming opera
tion.
“I tried to go back and get any
piece of information I could on
this so I could make an informed
decision tonight,” he said, not
ing he didn’t want to favor eco
nomic growth over the health of
residents.
Commission member Bill
Lively added that the area would
see change far greater than the
concrete plant’s presence in the
coming years when Vogtle con
struction peaks. "I live within
ten miles of Vogtle, and I don’t
care what we do, our quality of
life is going to change,” he said.
Commission members ended
up supporting the variance 4-1,
with chairman Lee Webster,
Lively, Bynes and Joe Mont
gomery in favor and Carolyn
Heath opposed.
Though Heath was compli
mentary of Berry’s effort to
work with the residents, she said
she would have to vote against
the variance.
“These people have chosen
our county and have been tax
payers for a long time, so I’ll
have to be the lone hold out,”
she said.
The commission’s decision
was delayed in two previous
meetings due to snags in the no
tification process designed to
inform all surrounding residents
of the variance request.
Since the variance has been
approved, the plant could pos
sibly be up and running in five
weeks, according to Berry. It
will be used on an as-needed
basis and will not likely have
regular operating hours. Plans
are to use it for about four years
and then disassemble and re
move the plant.
Had the company not needed
a variance, they could have built
without any other hurdles be
cause Burke County does have
zoning laws.
According to Webster, those
opposed to the approval of the
variance have 15 days from the
date of the decision to file an
appeal with the planning com
mission.
The Code of Ordinances states
that appeals may also be filed
with the board of commission
ers in regard to decisions made
by the planning commission.
Yuletide events next weekend
From Staff Reports
Christmas is coming.
Burke County residents will
begin ringing in the cheer
next weekend with the two
seasonal favorites in
Waynesboro.
On Friday, Dec. 4, Christ
mas on Liberty organizers
will commemorate a decade
of Yuletide gatherings with
Victorian-clad characters,
Christmas carols and other
celebrations of the season.
The event, which is spon
sored by the Downtown Or
ganization of Retailers, will
begin at 5 p.m. with a carol
ing procession from the First
United Methodist Church to
the courthouse, where chil
dren are invited to have milk
and cookies with Santa.
The event is free and open
to the public.
Saturday, Dec. 5, the Town
and Country Woman’s Club
will host its annual home tour,
A Christmas to Remember.
The tour will feature five his
toric homes on Academy Av
enue, a newer country-style
home in Waynesborough
Place and a mountain-style
house in the woods of Barrett
Plantation.
Tickets are $15 and may be
purchased by calling 706-
551-1299.
COMING UP
Check out next week’s True
Citizen for additional informa
tion on both events.
Program aims to up
student community
service hours
By Anne Marie Kyzer
annemariek@thetruecifizen.com
As college admissions offi
cials peruse applications, the
hours of community service a
candidate has completed can
often make the difference, ac
cording to Allen Kicklighter
of Burke County Public
Schools.
Local school officials plan
to help college-bound stu
dents boost their volunteer
time, and their plan involves
giving those in younger
grades an advantage as well.
Kicklighter, the system’s
Title One coordinator, an
nounced last week plans for
the Youth Enhancing Student
Success (YESS) program
which will allow college prep
high school students to tutor
those at other local schools.
“These would be peers that
a child in primary, elementary
or even middle school would
look up to,” Kicklighter said.
“Their exceptional skills will
help the younger kids.”
The concept was fully sup
ported by board of education
members.
“I think it’s a good idea,”
BOE member Willie Jordan
said. “It’s a win-win situa
tion.”
With the help of the older
students, the schools will be
able to offer tutoring on Tues
days, in addition to the Thurs
day sessions already in place.
The cost of coordinating
and monitoring the tutors will
be covered by federal funds
the system receives through
Title One, which provides
extra funding to target the
needs of economically disad
vantaged students.
Kicklighter said this program
serves a dual purpose because
it helps at-risk students while
offering college-bound stu
dents a chance to log more
community service hours si
multaneously.
Countdown to Christmas
The rain didn’t stop them. Downtown Waynesboro
was humming with shoppers Sunday for the annual
Christmas Open House. Waynesboro resident Ed
Burke was winner of the Downtown Dollars drawing
worth $475 in gift certificates, and 85 shoppers turned
in enough receipts to take home cooler totes. Those
shoppers alone spent more than $3,500 during the
four-hour event - a good number, organizers say, con
sidering the weather. Merchants are hoping to see
more business in the upcoming weeks and will be
open late for Christmas on Liberty, Dec. 4.
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