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VOL. 106, NO. 7, SEPTEMBER 2, 2009 LEGAL ORGAN OF JENKINS COUNTY MILLEN, GEORGIA • 75 CENTS Cavalier Home Builders to close local plant By Deborah Bennett Millen News Editor Jenkins County will soon lose its last major industry. The announcement was made Friday, Aug. 28, that the lo cal mobile home manufactur ing plant of Cavalier Home Builders will be permanently closed, resulting in the loss of approximately 104 full time jobs. The shutdown has already begun and will continue through Oct. 26, according to information provided to the Georgia Department of Labor (DOL). Because the company did not give the DOL the re quired 60 days notice of the shutdown, the workers will be given 60 days severance pay in accordance with the Work ers Adjustment and Retrain ing Notification (WARN) Act. A statement released by Bobby Tesney, Cavalier chief executive officer, indicates that the Millen plant may be the only Cavalier facility be ing closed. Cavalier also op erates plants in other states. Tesney commented, “We appreciate the support that our team members and retail ers have provided over the years and value their contin ued business. Accordingly our sales teams will be work ing together to offer options for providing products from other company facilities. We will continue to build homes for the market by offering sales from other facilities.” Tesney attributed the clo sure of the Millen plant to “the continuing challenges in the housing market and re lated economic conditions.” Cavalier Home Builders an nounced June 15, that it had agreed to be bought by South ern Energy (SE) Homes, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Clayton Homes, spurring hopes that the local plant would receive a "shot in the arm” and continue its opera tions. Friday’s announcement put an end to any speculation as to the fate of the plant and The Millen plant of Cavalier Home Builders is slated for closure, resulting in the loss of 104 full time jobs. (Staff photo by Deborah Bennett) its employees. The local mobile home plant has been in operation in Millen, under different own erships, since 1967. Cavalier, home-based in Alabama, be gan operations in Millen in 1997 when it merged with Belmont Homes, which had recently purchased the local Bellcrest Homes plant. The local plant is the state’s old est continually operated manufactured housing facil ity. The loss of jobs resulting from the closure is expected to push the county’s July un employment rate of 21.7 per cent, the highest in the state, even higher. The Cavalier clo sure follows that of Jockey In ternational in 2006 and MI Home Products in 2007. RIBBON CUTTING Day care opens in Mllen jM it — ■ P The Millen-Jenkins County Chamber of Commerce recently sponsored a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Kidz Korner daycare. Participating were, from left, first row: Aniyah Kelly and Klersten Lake; second row: Paula Herrington, chamber executive director; Clay Boulineau, chamber director, King Rocker, mayor; Ashley Lake and Joshua Lake, owners; and Lamar Faircloth, city manager; and third row: Katherine Kelly and Larissa Badie. The business is located at 610 N. Masonic Street and is open 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. Children, ages 6 weeks to 12 years may enroll. (Staff photo by Deborah Bennett) County commission says no’ to requiring advance notice of grants By Deborah Bennett Millen News Editor Agencies and organizations seeking grants that require matching local funds will be able to continue to seek those grants without having to give the county advance notice. The Jenkins County Commissioners recently voted against a motion that would have required them to do otherwise during the Aug. 4 meeting of the group. The issue was brought up by Chairman James Henry who suggested that local agencies intending to apply for grants requiring matching local funds notify the county and receive up-front approval so that the matching funds could be in cluded in the county’s budget. During discussion of the mat ter, Commissioner Thomas Lane suggested that an alterna tive way to handle the situation would be to include $60,000 in the county budget, $10,000 for each volunteer fire department. Chairman Henry stated that this could be considered when pre paring the 2010-2011 budget. The group then voted against a motion made by Commis sioner Pam Dwight and sec onded by Chairman Henry to include within the county’s Pur chasing Policy a clause stating that advance notification of grants requiring matching local funds was needed. Commis sioners Lane, Domingo Green and Floyd Chance opposed. Commissioners Henry and Dwight voted in favor. In other matters, Chairman Henry informed the board of the electronics recycling day that was recently held in Richmond - See Commission, page 3 Arrest made in armed robbery A Millen man is facing several charges in connection with the Aug. 18 armed robbery of McTeer Food and Fuel on U.S. Highway 25 South. Tracy Jordan, 42, is charged with armed robbery, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. On the morning of Aug. 18, the Millen Po lice Department received a call reporting an armed robbery in progress at the business. Upon arrival, the suspect fled on foot north of the store. The cashier reported that the suspect held her at gunpoint and stole an undetermined amount of money from the cash drawer. MPD investigators were able to track down and arrest Jordan a little later. Commissioners seek tax increase TRACY JORDAN By Deborah Bennett Millen News Editor The Jenkins County Commissioners announced this week that the county would seek to increase the property taxes it will levy for the 2009-2010 fiscal year by 1.36 percent. This represents an increase in the millage rate of 0.144 mil. A decrease of $7.6 million in the tax digest and a decrease of $58,000 in Local Option Sales Tax revenue from the previ ous year were noted as contributing factors to the need for the tax increase. The commissioners called attention to the fact that the county’s budget was decreased $249,000 from the previous year in an effort to deal with the loss of revenue. Because the budget tentatively adopted by the commission ers requires a millage rate higher than the rollback millage rate, Georgia law requires that three public hearings to allow public input must be held before the budget can be finalized and millage rate adopted. All concerned citizens are invited to attend the public hearings on the tax increase which have been set for 10 a.m. Sept. 10, 7 p.m. Sept. 10 and 7 p.m. Sept. 17. All will take place at the Jenkins County Senior Citizens Cen ter, just past the City of Millen Municipal Building on Walnut Street. The commissioners last sought a property tax increase of 2.53 percent for fiscal year 2006-2007. Bubba Small retires as City of Millen utility superintendent By Deborah Bennett Millen News Editor On Thursday, Aug. 27, R.M. “Bubba” Small turned in his keys, radio and vehicle and declared that he was retiring as the City of Millen Utility Superintendent. Although he officially logged 36 years of service to the city, Mr. Small began working as a helper with the Utilities Department with his father at the age of nine, dig ging ditches and painting both water meters and fire hy drants. This indoctrination into the City of Millen’s workforce led him to follow in his father’s footsteps in making Utilities Superinten dent his lifelong career. Now, his son, Mikel Small, is con tinuing the father-son tradi tion at the City of Waynes boro. Mr. Small is a graduate of South Georgia Technical Col lege in Americas, and he has earned certifications in water and wastewater from the State of Georgia, as well as numer ous other certificates and awards throughout his career. He was recently recognized by the Municipal Gas Author ity of Georgia with the Bill Hershey Award for his excel lent leadership and commit ment to his community. “Bubba has been a very loyal and dedicated employee for 36 years. I consider his re tirement a tremendous loss to the city, but it is a well-earned retirement. He is a very knowledgeable person and has done a superb done,” commented City Manager Lamar Faircloth. R.M. “Bubba” Small, left, is congratulated by City of Millen Manager Lamar Faircloth upon his retirement after 36 years of service to the City of Millen. (Staffphoto by Deborah Bennett)