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THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS • THE COMMERCE NEWS
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2016
Northridge Recognized
Northridge Medical Center CEO Larry Ebert, center accepts the “Small
Hospital of the Year Award” from Monty Veazy, left, president of the Georgia
Hospital Association, and Ralph Swanson, right, of PNC Bank, a sponsor of
the convention.
While the level of the Bear Creek Reservoir is down almost four feet from
full pool, that’s a far cry from 2007 (pictured), when the lake level dropped
so far that officials closed the boat ramp and issued severe restrictions on
outdoor watering.
Northridge declared state's
'Small Hospital of the Year'
Northridge Medical Center in Commerce
was named 2016 Small Hospital of the Year by
the Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals
at its 33rd Annual Conference, held on Oct.
12-14.
“We are honored to have been selected.
Our primary goal has always been to continue
to expand services to our community. Help
ing our community and our patients receive
quality care close to home is very important
to us,” commented Northridge CEO Larry
Ebert. “I work alongside a dynamic group
of people who are committed to ensuring
every patient receives a positive patient expe
rience.”
Through these awards, the Alliance high
lights the impact of member hospitals on
individual patients, the health and wellness
of Georgians, and the quality of life of their
communities.
While the healthcare industry, and par
ticularly smaller hospitals, face a financially
challenging environment, Northridge Med
ical Center has increased its services and
commitment to its community. Northridge
Medical Center provides 24/7 access to hos-
pitalists, surgical, orthopedic and pulmonary
services.
Northridge also contributes to the econom
ic development of its area by supporting local
efforts to recruit new companies and jobs
while also creating additional jobs within the
hospital itself.
“We are proud to recognize Northridge
Medical Center as the Georgia Alliance of
Community Hospitals’ 2016 Small Hospital of
the Year for their commitment to preserving
and expanding access to quality healthcare
in their community,” said Alliance president,
Monty Veazey.
Nicholson holds 1st budget hearing
Reservoir manager: No need
yet for water use restrictions
BY CHARLES PHELPS
The Nicholson City Council
held its first of two budget hear
ings last Thursday night.
The proposed 2017 bud
get has a total revenue of
$571,500, nearly half of which
comes from the Local Option
Sales Tax ($265,000). The
insurance premium tax brings
$98,000.
The rest of the revenue
stream is made up of fran
chise fees, business licenses,
permits, intergovernmental
revenues, charges for services
and building rentals.
The projected expenses
currently match the anticipat
ed revenue stream ($571,500)
The only objection to the
expenses dispersed out in the
city came with the city’s library
and how much it is supposed
to receive for books and peri
odicals, electricity and small
equipment, which is $16,000,
but $6,500 of that is just for
books and periodicals.
“It had been a while since
the city had put a lot of money
into the library to let it catch
up,” Mayor Jan Webster said
about last year’s budget. “This
year, we’ve got to do some
thing else.
“We have other things that
are necessary too. We would
like to be more creative into
how we get books and how
we do those kinds of things.”
She went on to say it’s “a lot
less” money than last year.
The library has spent nearly
$13,000 this year, according to
city clerk Debra Fontaine.
“We are taking a hit this
year,” library manager Rhon
da O’Keeffe said to the coun
cil. “I’m not sure how much
more creative we can get.
“There’s not a lot of grants
out there for books. Those
are geared towards other
things. They’re also often
geared towards larger libraries.
Believe me, I look at grants all
the time.”
The library also receives
money from the county.
“We have roads to do. We
have equipment to buy” Web
ster said in response to anoth
er person’s concern about the
lower budget.
“We have other things that
last year, we gave (the library)
a huge budget, and you’re
going to have to take a turn.
Next year, it might be differ
ent.”
Council member Max Whit
lock asked, “With all the books
you’re buying, what percent
age of them are actually being
used?”
A community member
responded, “Rhonda under
stands whatwe, in the commu
nity want. She gets input from
us. She orders books based
upon what we want. And I
can guarantee you, every new
book that that comes in is on a
waiting list.”
Other expenses include
$235,407 on personal ser
vices, benefits and salaries
between City Hall, Public
Works, the library and elect
ed officials.
There’s also $179,300
carved out for professional
technical contracted services
and $285,600 for personal ser
vices.
The water level of the
reservoir providing drinking
water to Barrow, Jackson,
Athens-Clarke and Oconee
counties is slowly falling,
thanks to the summer/fall
drought plaguing Northeast
Georgia.
However, the company
managing the 505-acre Bear
Creek Reservoir located off
Hwy. 330 in southwest Jack-
son County, says the data
did not indicate the need for
water restrictions as of Oct.
25 and projects that the res
ervoir will refill by the end of
the year.
Jacobs Engineering
released data last week
showing the lake level falling
almost a foot a week since
the end of September. As of
Oct. 21, the level was 690.7
feet (above sea level — full is
695). As of Oct. 21, the vol
ume of water in the reservoir
was down 13.8 percent from
full, Jacobs plant manager
Kenneth M. Moore noted in
a weekly report to the Upper
Oconee Basin Water Author
ity (UOBWA), the four-coun
ty consortium that owns the
reservoir.
The reservoir is filled by
pumping of water from the
Middle Oconee River, but
Environmental Protection
Division regulations prohibit
the pumping of water out of
the river when stream flows
fall below a point required
to sustain aquatic life. As a
result, the UOBWA has not
been able to pump a single
gallon of water out of the river
and into the reservoir since
late August.
Meanwhile, each of the
four counties continues to
pull water from the reservoir.
The week ending Oct. 14, they
withdrew an average total of
almost 23 million gallons per
day a number that fell to 16.9
mgd the week ending Oct. 21.
Rainfall drives the water
level of the Middle Oconee.
And while the amount of rain
varies from location to loca
tion, the National Climatic
Data Center reports cumu
lative rainfall during the first
23 days of October at three
one-hundredths (0.03) of an
inch at the reservoir — eight-
tenths of a percent of the
45-year average for October.
As of Oct. 21, the Middle
Oconee River flow at Arcade
was 25 million gallons per
day (mgd). The average daily
flow for October in the year
the reservoir was designed
(1986) was 235 mgd.
Through September, how
ever, rainfall was at 89 percent
of the 45year average for the
first nine months in Northeast
Georgia. Moore, citing data
from the Palmer Hydrological
Drought Index that considers
a number of factors in pro
jecting drought severity, takes
the position that the reservoir
level will not reach a critical
point.
“Using the adjusted mini
mum streamflow probability
(25 percent), the reservoir is
expected to dip to 84 percent
of its volume and then return
to its full volume at the pro
jected water use by the end of
the drought protection period
(Nov. 30),” Moore said in the
Oct. 25 report sent to basin
authority members.
That means Jacobs sees
no need to curtail water use,
although the report cautions
that the authority’s joint Engi
neering/Operations Commit
tee “may want to continue
to monitor conditions for the
next 30 days to see if any
further actions should be con
sidered.”
For the week ending Oct.
21, average daily use was
estimated at 25.74 mgd. Of
that, Athens-Clarke used 14.71
mgd, Barrow took 3.67 mgd,
Jackson used 4.07 mgd and
Oconee County used 3.29
mgd.
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