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Mobile Home Placement
’V
Ineffective Laws
Hamper Inspector
me nousion county
Commission again Tuesday
wrestled with the perplexing
problem of requests to place
mobile homes in R-l zoned
areas, and learned from
Building Inspector Fred
Beard that almost any mobile
home can be placed in an R-l
area if it is “demobilized”.
Astonished by the news,
County Commissioner Steve
Byrd surmised, “Well then, R
-1 and R-3 will be no good
anvyiore. But that is not the
intent of zoning laws. 1 think it
looks like we need to do away
with the planning and
zoning!”
Byrd later explained that he
was a strong proponent of
keeping mobile homes out of
R-l areas. The problem
resulted in a letter to the
editor (see page 5-A of this
week’s Home Journal. The
name of the writer was
withheld upon request.).
Tuesday’s problem, at the
commissioner’s meeting in
Perry, came up for discussion
on a request by Woodrow
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The First Baptist Church of Perry will present
Ken Medema in concert June 14 at 8:00 P.M. Bob
Brewer, Minister of Music, said that Medema is a
Christian singer and composer, best known for
“Sunshiny Day”.
Plaintiff Appeal Dropped
Financing "Bugs"
New State Court
Houston County Attorney
Walker Burke disclosed
Tuesday morning that at
torney Denmark Groover has
dropped appeal of Count One,
affecting the State Court, of
Judge Willis B. Hunt’s
decision concerning the suit
filed by five Perryans against
Houston County. The dropping
of the appeal removes the
final challenge to operation of
the court in Warner Robins
and legalizes construction of a
new court building.
However, after Tuesday's
budget setting was completed,
the Houston County Com
mission was unable to provide
any general government funds
for building of the proposed
$1.4 million, 38,000 square foot
court building. Over $600,000
in federal revenue sharing
funds are available to begin
the building.
In announcing that the Gray
attorney had dropped appeal
of Hunt’s order which ap
proved location of the State
Court in Warner Robins,
County Attorney Burke added,
“It is finished as far as they
are concerned. Counts Two
and Three (affecting the
Sheriff and Commission) are
still being appealed. A hearing
in the Georgia Supreme Court
will probably be held
sometime in September, or
later. But this can settle
people’s minds as far as the
State Court is concerned.”
A reliable observer said that
Groover probably dropped the
State Court count because of
action taken this winter by (he
Georgia General Assembly
which specifically legalized
the court and its existence in
Warner Robins. The
Assembly’s action made the
suit of no effect.
But Tuesday’s develop
ments may have meant the
Court will not be built in the
upcoming year, regardless of
legal hurdles The com
missioners could budget no
general government funding
at all for the construction
without a tax hike, but later
agreed to invite architect
Henry Corsini to next Tuesday
Parkerson of Lot No. 8, Smith
ville Church Road in North
Houston County, for a one
year extension of his permit to
keep a mobile home on his
property. Parkerson received
the permit for the “out of
zone" trailer a year ago, and
planned to build a home on the
site. But financial problems
prevented the construction, so
he applied for a year’s ex
tension on the permit.
Building Inspector Fred
Beard, careful to strictly
follow zoning law, told the
board that Parkerson said he
would “completely demobilize
the mobile home, block it in,
and add on to it.” Parkerson’s
mobile home is on a 200 foot by
400 foot lot, and is located a
few hundred yards from
Houston Lake Road.
Commissioner Alton Tucker
said, “I see no reason to deny.
If we’re going to let one, we’ve
got to do all.”
Although Parkerson last
year never purchased a
building permit, Beard ex
plained that “now he’ll have to
night’s Commission meeting. Talton and for the Juvenile
The board will attempt to Court,
begin the Court building with One problem perplexing the
money on hand (the revenue board of commissioners is the
sharing funds) if Corsini finds probable true cost of the
that approach feasible. building. Eighteen months
The Commission is also ago, Corsini estimated it could
eyeing possibilities of con- be built for about $1.4 million,
strucling only one half of the but the board is afraid that
building at the present time- amount might now be in
the front half that will include sufficient, in view of inflation,
the actual State Court- and But the generally depressed
later constructing the nature of the building industry
remainder. In addition to the could mean the “old” price is
court, the building was f”'! “fairly close”, according
originally supposed to contain to Commission Chairman
offices for Sheriff Cullen Charles Carter.
Now S3OO Per Lot
Cemetery Lot
Prices Hiked
The Perry City Council
Tuesday night increased the
price of Woodlawn Cemetery
lots from S2OO up to S3OO, ef
fective immediately. The lots
have space for four caskets
each The raise in price came
on a recommendation by
Councilman HE. “Gene”
Smith.
Smith also said that “a
couple of bad incidents” would
necessitate expenditure of
S7OO in repairs to ’ the
cemetery, which is located
just inside Perry city limits on
U.S. 41 North. Mayor James
McKinley explained that the
“mistakes” were unlocatable
lot comer markers, causing
concern over size of each lot.
Councilman Gordon
Scarborough, noting, “I’m the
youngest of the lot,” tried to
amend Smith's motion and
further hike the lot cost to
S4OO, but could not secure a
have one”. The com
missioners a few months ago
set up a policy of REQUIRING
owners to purchase building
permits as a sign of good faith
intent to build, before issuing
the "out of zone” trailer
location permission.
County Attorney Walker
Burke agreed, “A condition
precedent to granting the
renewal is him buying the
building permit.”
Commissioner Byrd
snorted, “Anyone could take a
mobile home, and block it up
and it’ll pass.” Beard agreed,
“It always has.”
Byrd retorted, “I can see
problems coming up.”
Beard again proposed, as he
has in the past, that anyone
placing a mobile home on a
single lot be required to
purchase a building permit.
He explained that the mobile
home “is a man’s castle, just
like a permanent dwelling.”
Commission Chairman
Charles Carter broke in, “It
seems to me that we’re going
around our thumb to keep
from “spot” zoning. A person
could put a single wide trailer
almost any place in the county
if he demobilized it.”
Beard agreed that current
law says that “if you take the
axles and the running tongue
off, it is not a mobile home.”
Carter suggested that
subdivision owners might
have protection in square
footage requirements in their
protective covenants. But he
later said that most sub-
second on his amendment.
Smith’s motion then passed
unanimously.
CREEKWOOD POOL
Perry Recreation Com
mission Chairman Bob
Morrow appeared before City
Council Tuesday night, asking
approval of hiring of two
lifeguards and of a pool
manager at Creekwood
Recreation Park, located on
Creekwood Drive. He said the
lifeguards would be paid $2.00
per hour, with the manager
making $125.00 per week for a
six day week.
The Council agreed to
Morrow’s requests. The pool
opened for the summer last
Sunday. Opening hours are:
10:00 till noon; 1:00 P.M to
2:30 P.M.; and 3:30 P.M. to
5:30 P.M., according to
Morrow. It is open six days a
week- Tuesday through
Sunday- and is closed on
divisions have only a
requirement of 1,500 square
feet. He added, “Take a 12 foot
by 70 foot mobile home, add a
20 foot by 40 foot addition and
you’ve got more than 1,500
feet.”
Byrd asked, "What are the
Planning and Zoning Board's
feelings on the situation?”
Beard explained that a “new”
book is “trying to get drafted
to make some changes", but
added that no decision had
been made on mobile homes.
County Attorney Burke
interjected, “It has to turn on
what is a residence and what
is a mobile home. Once it
ceases to be mobile, then it is a
matter of design. Subdivision
"Mass Gatherings'
Crowd Control
Law Adopted By
Perry Council
Perry City Council Tuesday
night passed an ordinance
designed to give the city
control over large gatherings
of people. The ordinance is
entitled “Control of Mass
Gatherings” and stipulates
that any event likely to attract
one thousand (1,000) or more
people and to continue for six
(6) consecutive hours must
have a permit issued by
Council.
Written authorization by the
City to operate the mass
gathering must be obtained.
The permit will specify the
conditions under which the
gathering may take place.
Application for the permit >
must be made at least five (5) >
days before any advertising of ,
the event takes place and at 4
least fifteen (15) days before ]
the first day of the gathering. '
The applicant must provide '
a plan for limiting attendance i
and must provide a statement ]
from the police and fire !
departments that they can ‘
supply adequate security, !
traffic control and law en- ’
forcement. Persons J
promoting such gatherings ■
must furnish a SIO,OOO surety i
bond, that will include site >
cleanup coverage. i
The ordinance DOES NOT 1
apply to “any mass gathering ]
which is to be held in any \
regularly established per- ‘
Mondays.
Morrow also asked Council
to consider installing a pay
telephone at the pool, in order
to have a means of com
munication, He said that he
preferred a pay phone so “it
could pay for itself, and it is
less likely to be a pest.” The
Council voted to have the
telephone installed as soon as
possible.
FIRE HYDRANTS
In other Council action,
Councilman Gordon Scar
borough reported that the
Perry Jaycees had requested
permission to paint fire
hydrants in the downtown
area red, white, and blue to
help celebrate America’s
200th birthday The Jaycees
proposed to do the painting at
no cost to the city. Council
enthusiastically agreed to
permit the Jaycees to
“brighten up” the city.
owners could control it better
than public bodies."
The board agreed to
Parkerson’s request by a
unanimous vote and a few
minutes later voted 3-1 to give
Jerry Leverett an extension in
the same area. Byrd voted
against Leverett’s extension
because Leverett did not
appear before the board or file
a letter. Alton Tucker ex
plained that Leverett had
talked with him on the
telephone and would file the
letter.
Commissioner V.W.
McEver said that com
mission’s original intent was
that the “structural ap
pearance” on a mobile home
had to be changed. He added,
“It has degenerated from
that ”
The board voted in their
motions to require all future
persons obtaining permits to
“demobilize” within 45 days.
Otherwise, they said, no
further extensions would be
allowed and the owner forced
to move the trailer.
Building Inspector Fred
Beard was instructed by the
County Commission "to get
with the Planning and Zoning
Commission and come up with
something with more teeth in
it to discourage this type of
thing.”
manent place of worship,
athletic field, auditorium,
coliseum, or any other similar
permanently established
building within the maximum
seating capacity.” The
provisions also do not apply to
fairs in existence one year
prior to the ordinance.
The permit fee is $500.00,
The ordinance was adopted
at Tuesday night’s Council
meeting. It came several
weeks after the Council voted
to uphold Mayor James
McKinley’s veto of approval
for a “rock concert” at the
Perry Drive-In.
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Two Men Okayed
$ 18,994 Added To
Sheriff's Budget
Houston County Sheriff
Cullen Talton was successful
Tuesday morning in getting
$18,994 added to his depart
mental budget for 1975-76. The
Sheriff appeared, with Chief
Deputy Billy Hunter, before
the Houston County Com
mission after receiving his
budget totaling $442,1482 on
Friday.
Talton asked the board to
reconsider its chopping of four
patrolmen salaries from his
budget. He explained that
eliminating the four would
result in the department
having two less men than
authorized for this past year.
Talton has two slots unfilled at
the present.
The board agreed to add
back to the budget $15,144 for
the two men’s salaries.
Talton then requested the
addition of SI,BOO to the budget
for an additional bailiff at the
Houston Superior Court. He
explained that Investigator
Larry Snellgrove was having
to “spend all his time in
court” because at most times
a law officer’s presence is
necessary.
Talton called this a waste of
Snellgrove’s time and added
“we definitely need a full-time
investigator in the Perry area.
Sometimes after he gets out of
court he works late hours. He
would like to spend some time
with his family.”
The board of commissioners
also agreed to add the SI,BOO
back into the budget for
bailiffs, making the total
bailiff’s budget $5,400.
Another request by Talton
was for the raising of the
equipment rent budget from
$750 up to $1,500 to allow him
to use a more sophisticated
Xerox machine that would
copy fingerprints and
photographs. Talton has to
send fingerprint copies to both
the Federal and Georgia
Bureaus of Investigation. The
board agreed also to this
request.
HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL THURS., JUNE 5, 1975,
The board also agreed to
add in $1,300 for another car
radio, but rejected Talton's
request for a second radio.
They also said they would
attempt to find a replacement
typewriter for the Sheriff’s
office in Perry.
The total additions to
Talton's budget are $18,994.
/ v
At Bonaire
Landfill Will
Get Concrete
Weigh Station
The Houston County
Commission voted Tuesday
morning to build an 18 foot by
24 foot concrete block building
at the county landfill in
Bonaire. The building will cost
approximately $3,000 and will
be used to house weighing
equipment controls for the
landfill.
County Purchasing Agent
Miller Heath gave the board
three alternatives: 1) buying a
metal building for about
$3,500; 2) building the con
crete block structure; or 3)
buying a mobile home for
$3,000 and moving it to the
site. But Commissioner Alton
Tucker suggested that the
controls needed “to be at
ground level” and said he
preferred the concrete block
building.
The board subsequently
voted to build the structure,
with county prison labor.
In other action the com
missioners voted to raise the
price of loading pit dirt for
\
Talton said that his
workload had increased
tremendously since he took
office two and a half years
ago, The Sheriff said the
County Jail averaged having
about “25-26 a day then, but
now is averaging 56-60 all the
time."
individuals to S2.(X) per load,
from SI,OO previously
charged. They reiterated that
no soil was to be loaded at all
for commercial enterprises.
Included in the motion was a
new wrinkle. From now on
persons wishing to purchase
the dirt must first obtain a
ticket to take to the sites, from
either the Commission office
in Warner Robins, the Com
mission office in Perry, or *
Warden Allen Stone’s office on
Kings Chapel Road in Perry.
The commissioners also
heard the first reading on a
beer and wine consumption on
the premises application for
the “Casual Corner Nest” to
be operated by Edwin Gregg
Frost. The restaurant is
located at 2220 Watson
Boulevard, and is owned by
Charles Alday. Frost has a
brother on the Warner Robins
police force. The board (old
Frost the second reading, and I
vole, would be held at next I
Tuesday night’s meeting.
PAGE 3-A