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VOLUME XCIII - NUMBER XXXIII
FloflH Gas District Hassle Goes to PSC
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Receives Retirement Gifts From Staff
Pat Emory, director of nurses at Oak
View Nursing Home, presents Sonny
Elgin with a card and gift of money
from the staff at Oak View upon his
retirement. Elgin, who has been the
accountant at Oak View for the past
Price of Justice High
For Superior Court Term
The cost of justice is not
cheap in Chattooga County, a
review of the expenses from
the August Term of Superior
Court shows.
Merely to seat jurors for
criminal and civil cases during
the four weeks of the term cost
the county $15,400. An addi
tional $2,500 paid out for the
one week the grand jury met
cost the county $2,500, which
means the total tab paid out to
jurors during the term came to
$17,900, which includes the
salaries of the seven bailiffs
who worked during the term.
Coming up with an exact
figure as to how much the
county paid for justice during
the term depends how you cut
the pie. An assortment of fees
and expenses are ongoing and
often pro-rated between the
four counties of the circuit.
But Clerk of the Courts Sam
Cordle said in an interview a
total cost of $25,000
“wouldn’t be too far off.”
Although the jury expenses
make up the greatest part of
costs for any term of the supe
rior court, a number of other
related expenses are also borne
by the county.
Indigent defendants who
cannot afford to hire an
attorney are given counsel at
county expense. So far local
defense attorneys have :sub->
Says Problems Can Be Licked
Administrator Shoulders Hospital Woes
When James Smith took
over the reins of the county
hospital and nursing home a
little over three months ago he
had a fistful of problems
dropped in his lap.
Smith came on as adminis
trator during a crisis period in
the institutions’ history. He re
placed former administrator
Steve Snapp, who had resigned
in Febiuary after he told hos
pital board members he had,
for a number of years, been
taking unauthorized loans and
pay advances from hospital
funds, which he subsequently
paid back. Meanwhile, all of
the hospital’s staff doctors had,
or were about to, quit. The
hospital was also plagued with
serious financial problems. In
addition, hospital and nursing
home employees were dis
gruntled about their salaries:
they wanted (and still want)
pay raises.
PROBLEMS LINGER
In some form or another the
problems then are still present,
to some degree, at the hospital.
But Smith is confident that
with time and work the prob
lems will eventually be solved.
Smith is the key figure in an
unusual development in which
the local hospital and nursing
home became a “satellite” of
the Floyd Medical Center
(FMC) earlier this year. Techni
cally, Smith is an employee of
the FMC, although he is
accountable to the local hos
pital authority. As far as is
known, the arrangement-
(The ^ummerutlle Nma
five years, was also presented a plaque
by James Smith, hospital administrator,
in appreciation of his hard work. Elgin
was presented the gifts at a luncheon
held recently in his honor.
mitted bills totaling $950 for
the August term, although
during the February term the
same figure was $1,675. A
county employee who works
with county funds said she
expects the August defense
attorney fees to “run close to”
that figure.
Expert state witnesses
mostly off duty law enforce
ment officers-also cost the
county money. So far $726 has
been turned in to the county—
at a rate of $8 a day per wit
ness-for payment.
There are a number of on
going payments the county
pays-with county tax
monies—connected to the oper
ation of the court. Each month
the county pays $25 for each
of five probation officers who
serve this circuit. Each of the
other three counties in the
circuit pay a comparable
amount. Under a similar
arrangement, the county pays
SIBB per month towards the
salaries of the two superior
court judges who serve here.
The district attorney’s
office in Summerville also costs
the county money. Office rent,
janitor services, phones and a
number of other expenses runs
the county roughly $l6O per
month. Two district attorney
secretaries and one assistant
. t x_
under which the local author
ity pays Smith his salary as
well as doles out $5,000 a
month to FMC to manage the
local hospital and nursing
home—is unique in that it is
the only one of its type in the
country to cross county lines.
Smith says his key objective
right now is to get the hospital
and nursing home on sound
financial ground. The main
problem, he says, is the institu
tions have had a rough time
SUMMERVILLE, CHATTOOGA COUNTY, GEORGI A 30747 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1977
district attorney are paid a
total of $425 in salaries under
an arrangement in which the
salary costs are shared with the
other three circuit counties.
Additionally the county
pays a total of $232 a month
to pay for the services of two
court reporters, regardless of
whether court is in session or
not. Additional court reporter
work, such as the production
of court transcripts, cost extra.
Luckily, one major cost is
shouldered by the state. The
district attorney receives his
salary from the state.
And while it costs the
county a lot to administer
justice here, at least a good
part of it is offset by fines and
fees. During the August term,
for example, fines totaling
$12,740 were levied against
defendants while civil case fees
earned the county $778.
Nonetheless, that income
doesn’t come close to even
paying for jury costs for the
term. ’
“People have the idea that
the court is supposed to pay
for itself through fines,” com
mented Clerk Cordle. “I don’t
much believe it is supposed to.
No other (county) department
does. But the judicial system
pays more than other depart
ments do.”
quickly getting paid for serv
ices, and as a result haven’t
been able to pay many bills on
time.
At the end of its last finan
cial year, for example, the hos
pital owed a total of $78,402,5
Smith said. But at the same
time a whopping $173,000 was
owed it by the federal govern
ment (for Medicare and Medi
caid payments) as well as late
paying (and sometimes non
paying) former hospital
By TOM KIRWAN
The Public Service Commis
sion has slated a hearing
Wednesday in which it could
decide to take away all or part
of a giant natural gas district
the City of Summerville now
controls exclusively in North
Floyd County.
In a letter received in July,
the PSC ordered city represen
tatives to attend the hearing
“to show (the PSC) cause why
the certificated service area in
Floyd County (now exclusively
controlled by Summerville)
should not be advised to allow
service from another natural
gas system in the area.”
As shown by the map, Sum
merville controls a sizable and
profitable area of Floyd
County. But the city’s ex
clusive right to service the area
has been thrown into jeopardy
after the city council prev
iously refused to service resi
dents in the area with natural
gas.
■ City council members prev
iously took the position that it
would be too expensive to lay
pipe to serve the handful of
Floyd residents who have de
manded natural gas. Further
more, city officials say they
have been under pressure from
the Federal Power Commission
to suspend additions of new
gas customers.
City officials believe one
man, a Floyd County con
tractor, has been largely re
sponsible for its current woes
with the PSC.
It is believed that com
plaints to the Public Service
Commission from Jackson D.
Morgan, who in November was
turned down by the council for
natural gas hook-ups at three
homes he built on Highway
140 in North Floyd County,
has resulted in the PSC calling
the hearing.
According to the PSC, it
Menlo and Cloudland
Study Water Line
Menlo and Cloudland repre
sentatives met Tuesday night
and agreed to undertake a
study to determine the feasi
bility of running a water line
from the state fish hatchery to
the water-short communities.
The action came during the
monthly meeting of the Menlo
City Council. The council met
with David M. Howerin, Coosa
Valley Area Planning and
Development Commission
staffer, along with Lucian
Desilet and Col. John
O’Connor of the Cloudland
Improvement Association.
Howerin told the officials
he will check into finding out
about possible federal or state
grants which may be obtain
able for the proposed project.
Desilet told the group that
Cloudland’s water problems are
becoming more and more des-
patients. '
“If we got all our accounts
receivable (money which is
owed the hospital) tomorrow
we’d be ahead,” Smith ex
plains.
He says the financial prob
lems are directly tied to the
fact that the hospital “isn’t get
ting paid fast enough.” He and
the hospital authority are
hopeful that a recently-hired
Rome collection firm will be
able to pressure patients with
sent a letter of inquiry in No
vember (apparently after re
ceiving a complaint from Mor
gan) to the city about the sit
uation. In July, after receiving
no response from the city to
the letter, the PSC ordered" the
hearing. (City officials admit a
delay in responding to the PSC
letter, but say the response ap
parently crossed in the mails
with the second PSC letter in
which the hearing was an
nounced.)
Since the announcement of
the hearing the city council has
voted to make all efforts
possible to keep control over
the North Floyd County gas
district. It has advised Bo Log
gins, city attorney, to inform
the PSC at the hearing it will
do whatever is necessary to
keep its control over the dis
trict, even if it means laying
expensive gas pipes to serve
oply a handful of customers.
At the same time the
council rejected any move
under which it would seek to
give up portions of the district
which is too expensive to serve.
According to Loggins, if the
city voluntarily gave up a por
tion of the district which is not
profitable to serve there are
indications the PSC would also
give another natural gas com
pany, presumably Atlanta Gas
Light Company, the power to
serve in areas the city is pres
ently serving profitably. “I
don’t believe the PSC will give
Atlanta Gas Light just that
slice (which the city serves un
profitably)... they will give
them more than that. They will
give them some of the good as
well as the bad.” ’
The city council is hoping
that the PSC will accept its
assurances that it will serve all
customers who request service
in the Floyd County district
and leave the boundaries as
they are currently.
perate. He said the community
ran out of water twice last
Saturday, despite the fact that
100,000 gallons had been
hauled during the past week.
The community’s efforts to
see WATER, page 2
Armyworms Take Big Toll Here
By PAM PURCELL
First came the Winter of
’76, then the harsh summer
drought, and now fall army
worms are taking their toll on
what is left of crops, lawns,
and forages in Chattooga
County as well as throughout
the Southeast.
outstanding bills to pay up.
Another critical area of
financial concern involves the
patient load the hospital
carries. The Chattooga County
Hospital in recent months has
only cared for about 42 per
cent of the patients it might
have-meaning that over half of
the hospital beds are typically
vacant.
BAD NEWS
That’s bad news for the hos
pital, because it is staffed to
take care of a full house. “It’s
just like a merchant,” said
Smith, “if you don’t do the
business you won’t do any
good financially. We’re fully
staffed to take care of the
volume of business that might
come our way.”
He says there are no easy
solutions to bringing in more
patients to the hospital as only
doctors can admit patients.
And he says emphatically that
there are no plans to cut staff
in order to save money.
“My goal is to have as good
a hospital as this community
can afford,” he said, “the best
personnel and hospital pos
sible.” '
One of the tangible results
of the decision to hire Floyd
Medical Center to manage the
local facilities has been the
addition of two (soon to be
three) interns to cover the
emergency room on the week
ends. Without full-time staff
doctors, the hospital has had to
rely on local doctors to be “on
IM ADMINISTRATOR, PM« 2
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Map Shows Threatened Natural Cas District
The City of Summerville stands to lose
its gas district in Floyd County (shown
here shaded) if the Public Service Com
mission rules against it Wednesday dur
ing a hearing on the matter. The city
plans to tell the PSC that it has reversed
Farmers and backyard
gardeners have met the pesky
caterpillars before. This year,
however, just about anyone
with green and growing things
"have come face-to-face with
the armyworms, which are
some four to six weeks early .
County Agent Ted Clark
said the armyworms this year
have not only destroyed corn
and soybean crops along with
hay pastures but they are now
going after residential lawns.
“They are moving to lawns
now,” said Clark, “because
they must lay their eggs where
they feel their young can easily
obtain food. Since gardens and
fields are more or less de
stroyed, they must move to
lawns.”
Clark explained that the
mature armyworm is light
green to black in color and
grows to be an inch to an inch
and a half long. The army worm
moths lay between 500 and
1,000 eggs, which within five
to six days, hatch into tiny
larvae. These larvaes feed for
about 15 days and then go
underground for the pupa
stage, which last five to ten
days. They later appear outside
where they mate in two or
three days and start the cycle
over again. '
The formal title of the
armyworm is Laphygma Frugi
perda. Because of the orderly
way they progress across a
field, wreaking devastation,
they were called armyworms
for short. They are like an
invading army, Clark said. ’
“There is no sign of imme
diate let-up from the army
worm attack. The virus and
fungus disease that usually hit
the armyworms have not devel
oped this year due to hot
weather,” he commented.
Combatting the pests, Clark
said, is difficult since federal
regulations prohibits the use of
residual chemicals such as
DDT.
“Armyworms can be slowed
down some by spraying over
and over again with one of
several chemicals that farmers
are allowed to use under law,”
Clark said. 1
He went on to explain that
homeowners can also spray
itself on a previous decision not to
serve a handful of Floyd residents, a
move it hopes will convince the PSC to
leave the gas district under the city’s
full control.
their lawns to kill the army
worms by obtaining a pump-up
sprayer or a fasten-on hose
sprayer and just covering their
lawns with a liquid or dust
chemical mixture.
“There is no way to tell at
the present just how much the
cost of damage will be for
some farmers,” said Clark,
“but I’m sure it will be quite a
large amount.”
The chemicals which can be
successfully and safely used to
combat the worms, if direc
tions are followed correctly,
are listed below:
* Dylox-four pounds liquid
solution-apply six fluid
ounces in three gallons of
water to 1,000 square feet of
lawn.
Chattoogan Killed
In Auto Accident
A one vehicle mishap
claimed the life of a Chattooga
County man and injured a
passenger over the Labor Day
weekend holiday.
Rudy David Pollard, 42,
of No. 9 Given Street, Sum
merville, was pronounced dead
on arrival at the Chattooga
County Hospital Saturday
afternoon around 5:35 after
the 1973 Chevrolet pickup
truck he was driving left the
highway and overturned.
Investigating officers of the
Georgia State Patrol report
that Pollard’s vehicle was
traveling south on Highway
100 some seven miles south of
Summerville at a high rate of
speed prior to the accident.
As the Pollard truck started
around a curve, officers said, it
left the road, slid 754 feet and
rolled over, ejecting both occu
pants. The truck continued to
roll over both men before
PRICE 15c
* Diazinon-AG 500—apply
four fluid ounces in three
gallons of water to 1,000
square feet of lawn.
* Diazinon-50 percent wet
table powder—apply one
one-fourth pound in three
gallons of water to 1,000
square feet of lawn.
* Sevin—so percent wet
table powder-6.4 ounces in 25
gallons of water to 1,000
square feet of lawn.
* Spectracide—2s percent
wettable powder-apply two
and a half pounds in three
gallons of water to 1,000
square feet of lawn.
* The entire lawn must be
sprayed, paying particular
attention to the perimeter to
help prevent reinfestation.
finally landing upright.
Leroy Morris, 61, of Route
1, Lyerly, a passenger in the
truck was carried to the Chat
tooga County Hospital and
later transferred to Floyd
Medical Center where he was
released some time later.
Pollard was estimated to be
driving 90 miles per hour and
was reportedly Chapel of
Erwin-Petitt Funeral Home
with Revs. James Thompson
and Charles Cornwell officia
ting. Interment was in the
Summerville Cemetery.
Surviving are his parents,
Mr. and Mrs. Roy Pollard; two
sisters, Mrs. Jacqueline Strick
land of Summerville, and Mrs.
Maribelle Wade of Newnan,
Ga.; two nieces, Melissa and
Melanie Wade of Newnan;
three nephews, Stteven, David
and Jeffery Strickland of
Summerville; and several aunts
and uncles.