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The True Citizen, Wednesday, December 29, 2021 — Page 3
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I SUNDAY
BURKE
COUNTY'S
FIVE-DAY
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City proposes increased building fees WHAT’S NEXT?
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
The Waynesboro City Coun
cil met Monday to discuss the
first reading of the proposed
2022 budget.
If the panel adopts the new
budget there will be a few
changes. Included in the fig
ures is a 3% cost-of-living
increase to the city’s pay plan.
Those looking to build will
see an increase in costs. Site
permits will include a fee if an
engineer inspects the prem
ises . Zoning verification letters
will now cost $25. Petitions
for zoning map amendments,
currently set at $100, will be
increased to $300. Variances
and conditional use permits
will also increase from $100 to
$200. Annexation applications
would now cost $100.
“Certificates of appropriate
ness (COA), which we cur
rently don’t charge for, but
next year we anticipate that
to be $75,” said City Manager
Valerie Kirkland. “That is due
to newspaper advertisement
and website fees.”
Special event requests will
require a $75 fee.
Water and sewer rates will
also increase. The rate at which
the city charges for water will
increase $.38 per thousand
gallons and is projected to
increase by $.25 over the next
five years.
“The funds are needed to
improve and maintain the
water system,” Kirkland said.
“There are years when we did
not implement an increase at
all. During those years, stuff
was still getting broken and
the cost of supplies and repairs
Members of the Waynesboro City Council went over the
proposed 2022 budget Monday.
Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022
Burke County Retired Educators Association will meet at Mt.
Olive African Methodist Church on West Seventh Street. Guest
Speaker is CTAE Director Sean Middleton of Burke County
School System.
Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022
The Burke County Improvement Association is sponsoring
MLK Parade at 1 pm. The theme is "Dream for Justice". Dead
line entry date is January 5. Call 706-825-4075 to submit entry
information.
went up.”
There could be an $.80 in
crease for sewer. For a house
hold that uses the average
5,000 gallons of water, that
equals approximately a $4.00
increase in their monthly sewer
bill.
“Also, I want to bring to your
attention that we do have vehi
cles and roll off trucks that are
over 10 years old,” Kirkland
stated. “In this budget we did
not approve any capital pur
chase. Right now, we do have
a roll off truck that is down.”
Kirkland informed the panel
that if the roll off can’t be
repaired then she will be ap
proaching them in the future
with a request to lease a new
one.
Politics, pandemic dominate
Georgia news headlines in 2021
DAVE WILLIAMS
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
From upset victories by
Democrats in two U.S. Sen
ate runoffs in January to the
December launch of a rare
primary challenge of a sitting
governor, politics dominated
Georgia’s news landscape in
2021.
Only the ups and downs
of the coronavirus pandemic
gripping Georgia for a second
year vied for attention with the
partisan fallout from the 2020
presidential election early in
2021 and the opening salvos
of a Republican civil war that
marked the second half of the
year.
Here’s a look at the Top Ten
Georgia stories from 2021:
All year ... The COVID-19
pandemic continues to domi
nate the headlines, with Geor
gia suffering through a spike
of the virus during the summer
caused by the delta variant and
a December surge in cases
driven by the new omicron
variant. Gov. Brian Kemp and
Attorney General Chris Carr
sue the Biden administration
over federal vaccine mandates
for federal contractors, health
care workers and businesses
with 100 or more employees.
January 5 ... Democrats
capture both of Georgia’s U.S.
Senate seats, as Jon Ossoff
and Raphael Warnock defeat
incumbent Republicans David
Perdue and Kelly Loeffler.
Ossoff and Warnock become
the first Georgia Democrats
elected statewide since 2006.
January 6 ... At the U.S. Cap
itol amid an attack launched by
supporters of then-President
Donald Trump, Georgia’s 16
Electoral College votes are
cast for Democrat Joe Biden.
The certification of the Geor
gia votes for Biden comes
after Donald Trump fails to
enlist the help of two fellow
Republicans, Gov. Brian Kemp
and Secretary of State Brad
Raffensperger, to overturn
the results. Biden is the first
Democratic presidential can
didate to carry Georgia since
Bill Clinton in 1992.
March 25 ... The Repub
lican-controlled General As
sembly passes a controversial
overhaul of Georgia’s election
laws. Senate Bill 202 replaces
the signature-match verifica
tion process for absentee bal
lots with an ID requirement,
restricts the location of ballot
drop boxes and prohibits non
poll workers from handing out
food and drinks within 150 feet
of voters standing in line.
April 26 ... Initial numbers
from the 2020 U.S. Census
put Georgia’s population at
10.7 million, up about 1 mil
lion since 2010. That’s not
enough growth to qualify for
a 15th seat in the U.S. House
of Representatives, the first
decade Georgia hasn’t gained
congressional seats following
a census since the 1980s.
August 25 ... University of
Georgia football icon Herschel
Walker enters the Republican
primary for U.S. Senate at the
urging of Trump, a friend of
Walker since he signed with the
United States Football League
team owned by Trump in 1983.
November 22 ... The Gen
eral Assembly concludes a
special session to redraw Geor
gia’s congressional and legisla
tive districts. While Georgia
has become divided almost
equally between Republican
and Democratic voters, the
new congressional map is pro
jected to give the GOP a 9-5
advantage in the state’s con
gressional delegation and help
Republicans maintain control
of the legislature, although
with smaller majorities.
November 24 ... A Glynn
County jury convicts three
white men of murder in the
2020 shooting death of Ah-
maud Arbery, a Black man,
near Brunswick. Greg Mc-
Michael, his son Travis, and
William “Roddie” Bryan are
found guilty on multiple counts
of murder by a jury made up
of 11 white jurors and one
Black juror after 11 hours of
deliberation.
December 6 ... Former U.S.
Sen. David Perdue announces
he will challenge Gov. Brian
Kemp in the 2022 Republican
gubernatorial primary. The
May contest will pit Perdue -
a Trump ally - against Kemp,
who angered Trump by refus
ing to cooperate with his efforts
to overturn Georgia’s 2020
presidential results.
December 16 ... Electric-ve
hicle startup Rivian announces
plans to build a manufacturing
plant off Interstate 20 east of
Atlanta, a deal touted as the
largest economic development
project in Georgia history.
The $5 billion investment is
expected to create 7,500 jobs.
This story is available
through a news partnership
with Capitol Beat News Ser
vice, a project of the Georgia
Press Educational Foundation.
asterKut
120 West 7th Street, Waynesboro, GA
(706) 535-4141
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Monday 9-7
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CROSSWORD
Preparing for Omicron
Are Burke Countians pre
pared for Omicron?
The Centers for Disease
Control estimated Dec. 18 that
the variant made up 73% of all
new Coronavirus infections in
the United States.
Locally, Burke County
reported 21 new cases of
the Coronavirus during the
2-weeks prior to Christmas
Eve.
According to the Georgia
Coordinating Center Sunday,
regional patient distribution
reached “severe” at University
Hospital, “busy” at Augusta
University Health and “over
crowded” at Doctors Hospital.
Burke Medical Center was
listed as “normal”.
According to a December
23 New York Times article,
“several studies indicate that
full vaccination plus a booster
shot provides strong protec
tion against infection with
Omicron.”
According to the Georgia
Department of Public Health
however, only 30% of Burke
Countians are fully vaccinated
with an additional booster
dose. Natural immunity ac
quired from previous infec
tions is showing to be ineffec
tive against the newest variant.
“When Omicron surged in
England, British researchers
similarly found that many
people infected with the new
variant had already survived
Covid. The researchers esti
mated that the risk of reinfec
tion with Omicron was about
five times that of other vari
ants,” according to The New
York Times.
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