Newspaper Page Text
VOL. 117 NO. 6 Millen, Ga. 30442 LEGAL ORGAN OF JENKINS COUNTY SINCE 1903 Wednesday, August 9, 2023 • 750
Public hearing on SWMP packs the courtroom
DEBORAH BENNETT
Millen News Editor
The courthouse courtroom was
packed Tuesday afternoon for a public
hearing on the Jenkins County Com
missioners’ Solid Waste Management
Plan (SWMP), and those attending
came packing plenty of questions.
Chairman Horace Weathersby ex
plained that the hearing was for public
comments and questions concerning
the SWMP only. However, many of
those who chose to speak publicly
were eager to express their concerns
about the proposed landfill.
Cheryl Tatum addressed the group
with numerous concerns about the
SWMP. She questioned why several
sections in the document contained
references to a Keep Jenkins Beauti
ful website when she had been unable
to find one. References to a “manned
recycling center” were a source of her
concern as well.
“Manned recycling stations are too
expensive. Bulloch County tried that
and it was just too costly. They now
have unmanned centers,” she said.
Tatum also questioned references to
“zoning” in the SWMP when Jenkins
County has no zoning.
“That needs to be re
moved,” she said. SEE
Tatum expressed her SWMP,
opinion that the document 7
Cheryl Tatum is shown addressing the Jenkins County Commissioners with
her concerns regarding the county’s draft a Solid Waste Management Plan
during a public hearing held Tuesday.
A tree fell on the home of Alice Farr in Perkins. Fortunately, there was no damage to the inside of the home and no one was
injured.
Storms create havoc for Planters EMC
DEBORAH BENNETT
Millen News Editor
As storms moved across Jenkins and Screven
counties Monday night crews with Planters Electric
Membership Corporation were out in the aftermath
restoring power and clearing fallen trees. At the
peak of the storm, the cooperative had 3,000 meters
affected by the outages. Jenkins County had ap
proximately 250 meters out of power, and Screven
County had around 2,700 meters out.
“At one point during the storms, a large Oak tree
fell on a main feeder near Sylvania causing the en
tire Sylvania substation to go out,” said Randy Hill,
member services manager. SEE
Planters’ crews worked through the STORM
night Monday and were still restoring r
BOE announces
9.3% tax increase
DEBORAH BENNETT
Millen News Editor
The Jenkins County Board of Edu
cation (BOE) announced this week
that it is has tentatively adopted a
millage rate which will necessitate
a tax increase of 9.36%.
School Superintendent Dr. John
Paul Hearn released the following
statement.
“Each year, the Board of Tax
Assessors is required to review the
assessed value of taxable property
within the county for property tax
purposes. When looking at assessed
values, the tax assessor looks at the
trend in prices from recently sold
properties and uses that as a guide
to determine current values. For us
in Jenkins County, our most recent
assessment saw property values rise
sharply. When this happens, Georgia
Law requires a rollback millage rate
to be computed so that the new rate
will produce the same ggg
total revenue on the new Dnc
. , but,
tax digest that last year s
rate would have produced ^
The Millen Community House has been getting some repairs and renova
tions in recent weeks.
City Council discusses
millage rate at meeting
DEBORAH BENNETT
Millen News Editor
Millen City Council discussed
during its regular meeting Aug. 1 the
possibility of rolling back last year’s
millage rate of 7.219 mils to 5.528
mils for fiscal year 2023-2024.
Jeff Brantley, city manager, re
ported that this was the maximum the
millage rate could be set without it
being considered a tax increase. This
rate would generate approximately
$295,000 in revenue for the city,
which is $2,500 less than last year.
Councilman Giovonni Shumake
expressed concern since the city
ended FY 2023-2024 with a nega
tive $104,000 balance. It was noted
that the city has raised utility rates to
compensate for the
negative balance. SEE
Mayor King MILLAGE RATE,
Rocker remarked, 3
Shining a light on the Open Meetings Act
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
Editor’s note: This is part two of
a two-part series on Georgia’s open
records and open meetings laws. It is
published to help local government
agencies and entities, as well as the
general public, understand how to
follow the law.
Public policy in the State of Georgia
requires that all state agencies conduct
business in the open and maintain
records that are available to the pub
lic. Georgia’s Open Meetings Act
requires that state and local govern
mental bodies conduct their business
so the public can review and monitor
elected officials and others working
on their behalf. The law requires that
government meetings are open to the
public. The law also requires govern
mental bodies to provide reasonable
notice of all meetings.
Which entities must transact
business in the open?
Under the Open Meetings Act, each
of the following must transact busi
ness in the open: city councils, county
commissions, regional development
authorities, library boards, school
boards, planning commissions, zon
ing boards and hospital authorities.
Most meetings covered by the
Open Meetings Act must be open.
Whenever the minimum number of
members are present at a meeting,
enough to make the proceedings of
that meeting valid, the meeting must
be open to the public. Even meetings
conducted by telephonic, electronic,
wireless or other virtual means must
be open. Any official action of any
type taken at a meeting that is not open
is invalid and may be set aside if an
action is brought promptly.
When are meetings exempt from
the law?
The Open Meetings Act provides
exceptions that allow certain closed
meetings and some confidential ac
tions. However, a government entity
may close a meeting only if a specific
statutory exception applies. Addition
ally, a meeting can be closed to the
public only by a majority vote taken
during a properly noticed and open
meeting. The most commonly used
exceptions are for personnel matters
(but only for discussion and delibera
tion by the governmental entity, not
for votes), attorney-client discussion
of actual or potential lawsuits or
claims and discussion of real estate
transactions. In a closed meeting, an
agency may take preliminary votes
regarding real estate, but a transac
tion does not become binding until a
public vote is taken.
How must government provide
open access and adequate notice of
meetings?
The public must be given full access
to all open meetings and may make
video and audio recordings of all open
meetings. In addition to mandating
open meetings, the law requires that
agencies provide notice to the public
in advance of all meetings, even emer
gency meetings.
The law requires that in the case
of regular meetings, agencies post at
least one week in advance, a notice
containing the information about the
meeting in a conspicuous location at
the agency’s regular meeting place
and on its website, if the agency has
one.
Special or emergency meetings that
are not held at the regularly posted
time and place require more rigorous
notice procedures. At least 24 hours in
advance, notice must be posted at the
regular meeting place and oral notifi
cation must be provided to the news
paper that serves as the legal organ for
the county. In counties where the legal
organ is published less than four times
a week, notice also must be given to
any local media outlets that make
a written request to be so notified.
Such outlets must be notified at least
24 hours in
advance of the SEE
called meeting. OPEN MEETING ACT,
In those rare 3
