Newspaper Page Text
f —The Houston Home Journal -
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HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL THUHS., JUNE 5. 1975,
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No Money For Bonds
Tight County Budget;
Taxes To Stay Same
“We're going to have to not
approve any changes in
anyone’s budget for the entire
year That’s the only way we
can make it." These words by
Commissioner V W McEver
came Tuesday afternoon after
the Houston County Com
mission had approved a
$3,668,233.25 county govern
ment budget for 1975-76,
leaving only a $24,373 25
“contingency’’ fund with
which to operate in
emergencies
NO TAX INCREASE
Anticipated revenue from
all sources totals $3,687,607.00,
leaving the ad valorem tax
millage at 10.00 mills for
government purposes, the
same as this past year The
“bare bones” budget ap
proved Tuesday by the five
commissioners deletes
several major items once
thought “necessary”.
Among budget requests not
placed in the final budget
were. $76,136 for rabies
control; $12,000 for the In
dustrial Development
Authority; and $265,000 to
cover hospital construction
revenue bond payments.
Rabies control was the final
item pared from the budget,
after the board found that they
had no money left with which
to grant $56,000 in employee
raises The excision of the
rabies control enabled the
board to grant the raises and
also raised the contingency
fund from $4,237 up to the
present figure of $24,373.25.
Commissioners Frank
Hozar and V W McEver
expressed reservations about
operating with a budget with
such little leeway in the event
of drastic emergencies Rozar
stated that he thought forcing
future borrowing of money
might be unwise McEver
agreed Commissioner Alton
Tucker agreed that an un
foreseen emergency, such as a
“bridge washout”, would
"blow the entire contingency
fund at one time "
But Tucker was adamant
that taxes should not be in
creased In regard to the
hospital bonds, he proposed a
short term loan from area
banks if necessary to help
meet the payments But he
expressed confidence the
hospital board would be able
to pay a major part of the bond
I" .WAV.V.%VAVAV.V.V.V.VX««*>^
Airport Once World War Two Training Strip |
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Cooperative Effort Builds Airport
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From a very inauspicious
beginning in World War 11 as a
grassy landing strip for would
be British pilots—to a grazing
area for Houston cattle—to a
small, 2,500 foot asphalt strip
-to what is now a modern 5,200
foot runway, complete with
taxi-way and lights—this is
the saga of the Perry-Fort
Valley Airport. which
straddles the Peach-Houston
:|i| County line.
On June 8, Perry's "own”
United States Senator Sam
Nunn will officially dedicate
the $860,000 airport. The
dedicatory ceremonies will
cap three decades marked by
strenuous efforts of what was
at first just a few- notably
John Barton of Perry- to
deliver a modern, well
equipped airfield for Houston
and Peach Counties
In World War II the area
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payments.
The elimination of the
$12,000 for the industrial group
was done apparently with the
group s blessing The group,
according to the com
missioners, agreed that
$12,000 was not enough for a
successful industry attraction
program
COUNTY ENGINEER
In lieu of the industrial
authority funding, the com
missioners added $12,000 to
the Building Inspection budget
to hire a county civil engineer
County Clerk Lamar Brown
said several applications were
already on file for the position.
Commissioner Tucker has
Says Mrs. Calhoun
" Illegal" Parking
Is Fire Danger
Councilwoman Barbara
Calhoun Tuesday night
strongly urged City Council to
"do something" about
motorists parking in front of
stores at Eastgate Shopping
Center. She said that the
parked cars would hinder fire
trucks from putting out a fire
if one ever erupted at the
shopping center
Just after the shopping
center opened several years
ago, a fire did break out in
several of the stores Ex
tensive damage was done at
that time, although there were
fewer people parking im
mediately in front of the
stores.
Mrs Calhoun remarked, “I
realize this is no private
property, but I also realize
there are yellow “no parking"
lines in front of each business.
If we had a fire, it would be a
physical impossibility to get a
fire truck in there With the
cars parked in front, it is
almost like one way traffic."
She continued, "1 feel if
anything happens, it’d be
was utilized as an auxiliary
field where young Britishers
could learn the complexities of
landings and take-offs But by
1945, the area had been
abandoned insofar as airport
use was concerned And in
1950, the federal government
donated the 200 acres to Perry
and Houston County Parts of
the acreage were soon leased
to farmers to either raise
crops or graze cattle
In 1963, Perry obtained a
state grant to pave a 2,500 foot
runway on the site The 75-foot
wide rimway was dedicated on
April 2, 1964, as Perry-
Houston County Myrtle Field.
In July of 1967 present fixed
base operator Jim Brown
leased the airport from the
city of Perry. In September of
1989, a meeting was held, at
the urgings of then-City
Councilman John Barton, with
PAGE 2-A
long contended that hiring an
engineer would “save the
county thousands cf dollars''
in problems such as drainage
(A complete breakdown of
the new 1975-76 county budget,
with each department’s
allocation, will appear in next
week’s Houston Home
Journal.)
HOSPITAL BONDS
At a special meeting with
the Houston County Hospital
Authority on Wednesday of
last week, the commissioners
were told by Authority finance
committee chairman Jim
Dooley that the Authority
could reassume $52,000 of the
construction bond payments.
chaotic. They should either
enforce the no parking in front
of those stores, or eliminate
the first few parking spaces in
the angle parking.”
Councilman Alton Hardy
agreed, saying the best route
to take would be to contact the
owner of the shopping center
and receive his permission to
enforce the “no parking” lines
in front of the stores.
NO PASSING
Mrs. Calhoun also said she
had received a telephone call
from a Kings Chapel Road
resident She added with a
grin. “I’m not on the police
committee, even though the
Houston Home Journal put me
on it." and said her caller had
requested that the Public
Safety Committee consider
prohibiting passing on Kings
Chapel Road, from its in
tersection with Houston Lake
F to Morningside Drive.
one said that the existence
of several apartment com
plexes on the road meant
presence of many cars and
children “There have been
Last month, for the first time
in recent history, the hospitals
were able to contribute to the
sinking fund set aside for the
payments. A total of $317,000
will be due in two in
stallments, on May 1 and on
November 1.
At that meeting the com
missioners left the Authority
with the impression that the
county would fund the
remaining $265,000 of the
payments. However, even
though by law the Commission
is liable for the debt (if the
Authority is unable to pay),
the commissioners felt they
could not budget any funds
unless they raised taxes.
many near-accidents out
there, and several actual 1
collisions." Mayor James
McKinley turned the request
over to the Public Safety
Committee for action.
In other action, Coun
cilwoman Calhoun confirmed
that the Houston County
Commission had Tuesday
morning agreed to a
resolution backing the City of
Perry in its attempt to obtain
a state $50,000 solid waste
grant. Last year Perry backed
Houston County in its suc
cessful attempt to obtain a
similar grant for its landfill
site.
Mrs Calhoun said that
Warner Robins and Cen
terville were "going together"
to try to obtain a grant, and
Houston County and Perry
were also combining forces.
Holding up the resolution, she
added, "In the essence the
resolution agrees that the
county and city will render
each other assistance in time
of need It is nothing new- we
already have that now,”
representatives from Perry,
Fort Valley, Peach County,
and Houston County present
They talked about a joint
venture to build an airport to
serve both counties A vote
was taken to construct an
administration building
The “original" members of
what is now known as the
Perry-Fort Valley Airport
Authority were: Barton;
County Commissioner (now
Sheriff) Cullen Talton; County
Commissioner Frank Rozar;
Perry dentist Bill Jerles;
Perry Mayor Richard Ray;
Perry banker Lewis Meeks;
Peach Commissioner Fred
Murphy; Fort Valley banker
Bill Wallace; Fort Valley
resident Pete Peterson; Fort
Valley Mayor David Sam
mons; and two other Fort
Valley members- Bennett
Rigdon and Virgil Young.
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Perry Annex School saw its last day of classes last Friday, and this photo
was taken as the children began to stream out of the fifty year old building.
Next year the Annex students will be housed in the old Houston High building,
located on Sunshine Avenue. The Annex building will be converted to office
space use.
Policewoman Mrs. Jean Baxley stops traffic as Annex school children cross
Main Street. Mrs. Baxley said she will miss having the children at the school,
and added, “There are a lot of memories in people’s minds there, I hate to see
it closed. ” The Perry Elementary School also on Main Street will remain open.
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“Sitting and thinking’’. Coach Danny Shelton
ponders the future of Perry Annex School building
as he sits at one of the side entrances. Shelton and
his fellow teachers will be at the former Houston
High building next year, along with Perry Annex’s
400 students.
Rigdon has since served as
Chairman of the Authority,
and Peterson is current
Chairman.
In the fall of 1970, Lester
Maddox, then Governor of
Georgia, gave the Authority a
grant from his emergency
fund, and the plane parking
area was tripled in size. Also
installed in 1970 was the in
strument flight route system.
Actually, only in 1971 did the
airport board become an
Authority, with power to
purchase land, apply for
grants, and negotiate with the
Federal Aviation Ad
ministration. After two years
of monumental effort, the
dream of a modem. 5,000 foot
runway began to see fruition
in the summer of 1969
On May 28, 1973, the Airport
Authority signed a contract
with the FA.A., that
called for construction of a
5.200 foot runway. Cost was
estimated to be $853,408, of
which eighty percent was
federally funded. Project
engineer was William Harris.
Middle Georgia Area Plan
ning and Development
Commission (MGAPDC)
planner Robert Flanders said
* the new airport would be
"regional in nature, serving”
a large part of Middle-South
Georgia.
The state of Georgia had
chipped in with over $200,000
toward the construction cost
of the project- $91,000 from the
Department of Tran
sportation, and $140,000 from
the Coastal Plains Com
mission. Cherokee Con
struction of Macon, a sub
sidiary of Milton Beckham
Construction of Perry, was
low general contractor bidder.
The contract called for the
5.200 foot runway, a full taxi-
Perryan Luther
Vance To Get
/
Medical Degree
Perryan Doctor Luther
Vance, Jr., will receive his
medical degree this Sunday,
June 8, at commencement
exercises to be held at
Meharry Medical 'College at
•Nashville, Tennessee.
Dr. Vance grew up at 1413
Carroll Lane in Perry and is a
graduate of Houston County
High School in Perry. Prior to
entering Meharry, he received
a bachelor’s degree in
pharmacy from the Florida
A&M University. He is the son
of Mr. and Mrs. Luther Vance,
Sr., of Perry.
While at Meharry, Dr.
Vance was active in campus
affairs including affiliation
with several medical
associations, a staff member
of the yearbook and member
of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.
He plans to enter either
way, medium intensity run- : : : :
way lighting, a new entrance
road, a 36-inch rotating
beacon, and a visual approach
slope indicator. Fixed base
operator Brown said last week >•:
that the runway lights are the
only part yet to be completed,
and will be operational by the
June 8 dedication date. >:•
The new 100-foot wide
runway opened to air traffic <£
last November. Among at
tractions offered at the airport
is FAA-sanctioned flight in
struction by Brown and his
associates.
The airport is operational on
a 24 hours a day basis, and has
about 60,000 operations a year.
Currently, 28 aircraft are
based at the facility. One of
the planes is owned by
Southern Frozen Foods of
Montezuma (a twin engine
Cessna), and seven more are
owned by Brown.
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Sewage To I
Industrial
Park Here I
Cont. from front page K
to pay Paul (take the funds fi
from another budget), fl
because that truck is just B
sitting in the parking lot right ■
now.” The Council agreed, on p
a motion by Alton Hardy, to ■
buy the dump truck body. ■
NO BUMP, BUMPS
The Council also rejected a
request by Northside Drive
residents Tom Daniel and
Larry Walker to have speed *
bumps installed on the street. li
Councilman Henry Casey U
presented the two Perryans’ B
request, and moved to place 1
the speed breakers. B
But Councilman H.H. Hack
worth objected to the idea,
adding, “We have turned
down like requests for oUa&
people. I cannot see granting
this one.” Several months ago
the Council voted to remove
several speed bumps then in
place on numerous city A
streets. I
Councilman Gordon 1
Scarborough agreed with |
Hackworth, saying, “Speed I
bumps penalize the innocent I
more than the guilty.” |
Upon voting, only Casey and J
Alton Hardy voted to install I
the speed breakers. Voting j
against the idea were Scar
borough, Hackworth, Barbara A
Calhoun, and Gene Smith. ■
Mayor James McKinley later "
explained that the area was
having problems with “late
night motorcycle riders”.
family practice or obstetrics
and gynecology. He will be»n
intern work at Samt
Elizabeth’s Hospital in
Dayton, Ohio. He is married
and has two daughters.
I