Newspaper Page Text
WEEKEND
EDITION
250
Perry & Houston County's
official Legal Organ
\ SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19,1992
Marketplace
anchors near
completion
By BRIAN LAWSON
Staff Writer
Workers at K-Mart have begun
putting in shelves and Kroger will
follow suit beginning Monday, as
the two main attractions of the
Perry Marketplace near completion.
The project, which had several
stops and starts due to bad weather,
has finally had a string of rain-free
days and project manager Rick
Schmieden secs the light at the end
of the tunnel.
"Once the fixture work begins
that's it for us. The fixture contrac
tors, who handle the shelving for
the stores and the store employees,
do the rest. This job had a lot of
pressure, we were under the gun and
I think we did quality work," he
said.
The 16 specialty stores between
K-Mart and Kroger are still being
worked on. Workers were pouring
concrete Friday, building the slabs
for the stores. Work on the walls
should begin early next week. It is
expected the specialty shops will
have an opening date shortly after
the projected mid-November open
ings for Kroger and K-Mart.
Recently it was announced B.C.
Moore, a junior department store,
will be added to the complex. Ac
cording to Schmieden, bidding for
the construction of the building was
continuing.
Construction on the proposed
Chic-Fil-A, which will be located
in the parking lot near Kroger, has
yet to begin.
Half of the parking has been paved
and paving work will continue for
Please see NEAR, page 6A
Mullins remembered for influencing city's downtown, housing
By BRIGETTE HAMILTON
Managing Editor
Walter Glen Mullins Jr., the man
who "conceptualized downtown
Perry as we know it today" accord
ing to City Manger Marion Hay,
died Wednesday, Sept. 16, in a
Macon hospital after an extended
illness. Mullins, better known as
W.G. "Dink" Mullins, was 65.
Mullins’ talents as a developer and
building contractor and his love for
the Perry community has left be
Who will end up paying for
Rowland's local appearance?
By BRIAN LAWSON
Staff Writer
Houston County Development
Authority Executive Director Dick
Ulm has taken an active financial
role in Congressman Roy
Rowland's recent visits to Houston
County.
Rowland is running for the newly
drawn Bth Congressional District
seat against Macon businessman
Bob Cunningham. Both men are
relatively new to Houston County
and the exposure afforded Rowland
is not expected to undermine his
campaign.
Ulm stated Friday morning the
Rowland campaign paid for a
recent VIP luncheon held at
Houston Lake Country Club for
Rowland's offices' and he expected
to be reimbursed for an Agricenter
event held for Rowland. Following
questions concerning the Rowland
offices' stated unwillingness to pay
for events they were invited to,
Ulm explained the money spent
was from his own pocket and was
in now way connected to the au
thority.
"The meeting in Perry was an op
portunity for local citizens to get to
know the Congressman. We are
not playing sides we were interested
in helping him get more in tune
with the needs of Houston
County,” Ulm said.
A similar invitation has not been
offered to the Cunningham
campaign.
Ulm reportedly paid the SIOO fee
PERRY, GEORGIA S HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER SINCE 1870-FQR COVERAGE OF YOUR EVENTS, CALL 987-1823 .
f The Houston Home!
Journal
HJrL -- J®(‘ ® I ■
y ■
(HHJ photo by Jim Kerce)
As construction for the new KMart nears completion, the finishing touches began
this week with the delivery and placement of the sign Wednesday. Shelves are
expected to up inside next week.
hind several mainstays to remember
him by. Among these arc several
houses, apartments, warehouses, a
motel, a school building and com
mercial and industrial buildings.
A good summation came from
Lewis Meeks, former mayor, cur
rent president of the Bank of Perry
and long-time friend and working
associate of Mullins, "You name it,
he built it. I've been in Perry for 26
years and I don't know of any single
to use the Fairvicw Room at the
Agricenter during a community
meeting with Rowland the morning
of Aug. 10.
At a VIP luncheon at the Houston
County Country Club, attended by
Rowland, former RAFB Comman
der Major General Gillis and local
leaders from Warner Robins and
Perry, Ulm had said the bill for the
57 people placed on his account.
On Sept. 2, a fund raising
breakfast in Warner Robins was or
ganized by local Rowland support
ers. Prior to the event, Ulm sent
out letters on Development Author
ity stationery to local aerospace in
dustries inviting them to attend the
breakfast and discuss relevant mat
ters with the Congressman.
Rowland termed the fund-raiser a
success.
"We had a good crowd and it was a
good event. We raised SB,OOO. I
came to Houston County
specifically to meet with the
Development Authority and tour
Northrop," Rowland said.
In the fund raising letter the
aerospace executives were told in
the letter to call the Development
Authority to RSVP. The letter
tells the executives if they are inter
ested in tickets, the tickets will be
delivered. Ulm said Friday, any
cost incurred by the publicly funded
Authority during the mail-out
would be paid out of his pocket.
The response came after questions
regarding the Rowland campaign's
2 SECTIONS —10 PAGES, PLUS SALES CIRCULARS
individual who has had a greater
impact on housing in this area."
Mullins, although born in Miami,
Fla., lived most of his life in Perry,
moving here in 1952 from Live
Oak, Fla. He began Mullins
Construction which led to his in
volvement in the revitalization of
downtown Perry and his past ap
pointments to the local chamber
board, the Perry Redevelopment
Authority and the Perry Housing
Congressman J. Roy Rowland
stated unwillingness to absorb the
cost.
"I am preparing a bill to send to
Rowland supporters. None of these
things will be charged to the De
velopment Authority , they will be
charged to Dick Ulm," Ulm said.
"The letter is something we were
aware had not gone out. We didn't
ask them to do it," Selby
McCash, press secretary to
Congressman Rowland, said.
The issue of reimbursement arose
after a letter was sent in the last
two weeks by Development Au
thority Chairman Walter Whiting
to Houston County Republican
party chairman, Annette Johnson,
offering a similar service if Cun-
Pleasa see WHO, page 6A
Authority. Additionally he was also
a member of the Bank of Perry
Board of Directors.
When local leaders decided to revi
talize downtown Perry around 1974,
Mullins was a significant player in
the process, "setting the tone for
the redevelopment of downtowm,"
according to Meeks.
He set the current Early American
theme in 1975 by purchasing a lot
on the corner of Washington and
Deaths
WalterGlennMullinsJr., Perry;
Krista Marie McNutt, Dayton,
Ohio . For details, please see
page SA.
INDEX
AGRICENTER EVENTS 5A
BRIGETTE HAMILTON 4A
CALENDAR 5A
CLASSIFIED 6A
JACKIE COOPER 5A
DEATH NOTICES 5A
EDITORIALS 4A
PERRY SCRAPBOOK 4A
POLICE REPORT 2A
SPORTS IB
JIM SHIPLEY 4A
STREET TALK 4A
JOHN TRUSSELL 2B
BOBBY TUGGLE 2B
COSBY WOODRUFF 1B
WOODS 'N WATER 2B
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IPERRYJ3A.
122ND YEAR—VOLUME 76l
911 payment
may double
for Perry
• County has asked city to pay
almost twice 1991 payment
By BRIAN LAWSON
Staff Writer
Having budgeted $32,0(H) for the
E-911 system for the year, Perry
officials were stunned to learn the
county has asked for $73,979 as
the city's share of this years bill.
The city received a letter from the
county at the end of last week in
forming them of die rate hike starl
ing Sept. 30 with a quarterly con
tribution of $18,494.
"We arc planning to meet with
(Houston County Chairman) Sher
rill Stafford and the 911 Director
I Lee Stripling to discuss this. The
mayor and 1 want to sit down widi
them and let them tell us why such
[ an increase in necessary. We had
I budgeted $32,000, which die police
I chief had been told by Lee Stripling
was the right amount. At the pre
sent rate, it would nearly wipe out
our contingency fund," City Man
ager Marion Hay said.
"I recognize acutely what this docs
to the city budget, especially after
the lower than expected tax digest.
It's important to remember last
year's costs were based on only half
a year, from Dec. 30 to July 1.
This year its a full operation, 24
hours a day, 365 days a year. It's an
expensive venture. When the 911
Main streets and removing the
house located there to build the of
fice buildings which still stand
there today. In addition, Mullins
laid the brick sidewalks in down
town Perry and helped several local
business owners rc-dcsign their
store fronts to reflect the Early
American theme.
"He did things far above and be
yond the call of duty, he’s just of
fered so much to this town,"
Expect a small city
property tax hike
By BRIAN LAWSON
Staff Writer
Perry City Council conducted the
first reading of an ordinance calling
for a slight increase of the city
property tax for fiscal year 1993.
The current city millagc rate is
13.97 percent.
The proposed increase would raise
the millagc rate to 14.548 percent.
The previous millagc rate on a
$100,(XX) property totaled a tax of
$558. The new rate produces a cost
of $5Bl, a $23 dollar increase over
last year.
A new state law requires a public
hearing for any increase in the mil
lage rate beyond what was received
the previous year. The city’s tax di
gest, the total of all assessed prop
erty in the city, actually went down
for the year, so the proposed higher
millagc rate will produce the same
amount of tax revenue for the city
as the previous year. Under the law
no public hearing is required.
Last year the city increased the
millagc rate from 13.69 to 13.97.
The previous millage rate had been
in place for five years.
Larry Clark of Perry voiced disap
proval at the council’s proposed de
cision to support the increase.
"Don't you have enough in the till
with bank accounts and CDs to ab
sorb this kind of shortage? I don't
think it's time for a tax increase.
It's three percent to you, but to me
and a lot of other people it's big
J time,” Clark said.
plan was agreed to several years
ago, it was agreed that each party
shall contribute a share to the 911
services. Perry, Warner Robins,
Centerville and Houston County
each have to pay a share of the dif
ference between the $656,484 ex
pected from the $1.50 per phone
line charge and the total operating
budget of $1,241, 358. The cost to
each city is based on the percentage
of calls in that city. Perry is at 20
percent, based on an estimate taken
from last year's totals," Stafford
said.
The largest operating expense of
the E-911 system is the personnel
budget, which is estimated at
$744,360 for the 36 employees.
Perry officials point out the Perry
Police Department also has 36 em
ployees.
"The county has paid the facilities
cost for the year and contributed
$109,000 to the Industrial Devel
opment Authority to help offset the
heavy 911 budget," Stafford said.
The city of Covington has a E
-911 system that serves 48,000 citi
zens with six agencies at a cost of
$240,000 per year.
Griffin's 911 system serves
Please see DOUBLE, page 5A
Barbara Jones, owner of Jones
Jewelers (a store front Mullins de
signed) and a fellow redevelopment
authority member of Mullins', said.
These innovative ideas and many
others, such as his decision to lo
cate underground utilities in
Camclot subdivision to make the
landscape more attractive, earned
Mullins the Seabic Hickson
Community Service Award from
Please see MULLINS, page 6A
City Manager Marion Hay replied,
"We have a gas fund and two enter
prise funds that we have transferred
money out of to pay for street
paving work. We have engaged in
several projects with these funds."
"We can't maintain this level of
lifestyle. Somebody has to pay the
bills and I wonder if we arc overex
tending ourselves," Clark said.
"We have looked real hard at the
budget and tax increases. Some
times we watch how carefully Mar
ion handles the money and wonder
who's money it is. It depends on
what kind of standard of living you
want. If you want to live by 1925
standards or 1992 standards," Coun
cilman Bobby Glover said.
Perry had budgeted a growth rate
of approximately 5.8 percent for the
years lax revenues. Instead the city
incurred a loss in revenues due to
reassessments and a number of ex
emptions for age, income and farm
land property.
"The amount of assessed value in
the tax digest has decreased from
last year. That is a slightly
unusual situation. We had budgeted
for an increase and instead we have
a shortfall," Perry Finance Director
Janice Williams said.
With the 3.8 percent increase pro
posed by the city council Perry will
still have a budget shortfall of
$56,660. Without the increase the
Please see TAX, page 5A