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VOLUME XCIV - NUMBEF,
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You know it’s summertime when the Summerville Recreation Depart
ment pool is overflowing with noisy and active youngsters (top left).
Meanwhile, several young ladies (bottom left) are satisfied to congre
gate at poolside to renew last summer’s tan, lost months ago to the
Ga, Power Bills To See
Increase; Problems At
Two Plants Are Blamed
Georgia Power Co. customers may notice an
increase in their electric bills for the next few
weeks or months due ot a partial shutdown at
two major generating plants, District Manager
Marshall Timberlake said recently.
The increase will show up on the fuel
adjustment of power bills, Timberlake said. The
fluctuating fuel adjustment reflects Georgia
Power’s expenditures for fuel used to generate
electricity.
Nuclear-powered Plant Hatch in Baxley is
currently using only one of two units to
produce electric power. Coal-fired Plant Bowen,
10 miles west of Cartersville, has one of its four
units shut down for repair.
Each one of Plant Hatch’s units produces
about 800,000-kilowatts (kw),—or about 8 per
cent of the electricity generated by Georgia
Power, Timberlake said. Plant Bowen generates
the largest amount of electricity of any plant in
the state, with a capacity of 3,160,000 kw.
Timberlake explained that nuclear power is
the cheapest means of generating electricity,
coal is the second cheapest and fuel oil 2.7
times more expensive than coal.
Georgia Power is depending more on oil
fired plants now to generate electricity. This is
due to the problems at Plant Hatch and Bowen.
Timberlake explained that because of the addi
tional expense of generating electricity with oil,
the customer will pay a slightly higher fuel
adjustment until the two crippled plants are in
full operation.
The two plants are expected to be running
full tilt sometime this summer, Timberlake said.
When the company’s fuel costs drop, so will the
customers’ fuel adjustments. The rise in the fuel
adjustment should not be a large one, though,
Council Decision To Sell Land
Highlights Busy 5-Hour Session
By TOM KIRWAN
In a busy five-hour meeting
Monday night, the Summerville
City Council agreed to sell the
city chert pit on the Menlo
Highway, heard a request to
increase the city’s annual
contribution to the local
library system, and doubled
the natural gas cut-in fee.
In other action, the council
set a date for an auction of old
city vehicles and other equip
ment, approved utilities for the
proposed highrise for the
elderly, and tentatively
approved a salary increase for
city employees.
The 7 p.m. meeting broke
up at midnight. In all, 26 items
were on the agenda.
The council voted to sell the
city chert pit on Menlo
Highway in the near future.
Newspaper advertisements will
be published to seek sealed
bids for the property, which
was bought a few years ago for
$10,500, according to Mayor
Sewell Cash. At the time of the
purchase the city needed the
area to park city machinery.
However, subsequent negoti
ations led to property being
leased near City Hall, a move
. which allowed city machinery
®lje ^ummerutlle News
because the additional cost of fuel is spread
over all the customers in the state, he
explained.
No one area will be hard hit by the shut
down of the generators, the company says. The
electricity generated by Georgia Power runs in a
statewide grid and one community will not
receive less electricity or pay a higher fuel
adjustment than another.
Georgia Power’s base rate for the first 650
kilowatt-hours is now 2.9 cents year-round.
When a residential customer uses more electri
city than the 650 kwh base, the additional units
are billed at a higher rate. For the months of
June through September customers pay more
for additional units than they do during the
winter months.
The customer using more than 650 kwh per
month this summer will pay 4.35 cents for each
additional kwh. During the winter months the
customer pays 2.78 cents per kwh beyond the
base rate.
For the month of June, the fuel adjustment
is set at .005115 cents for all kwh used. For the
customer using 800 kwh the month’s billing
will include a fuel adjustment fee of $4.09.
Chattoogans who are on the North Georgia
Electric Membership Corporation TVA Service
will see no increase this summer, a spokesman
said Monday. “I was told,” he said, “that a rate
increase is not expected until October, but may
be postponed to a later date.” The company
was planning an increase this March of 614
percent, but the increase was then postponed
until July. The company again cancelled the 614
percent increase set for July and put a tentative
date of October for its next rate increase, with
no firm commitment as to the percentage.
to be parked there. Mayor Cash
said after the meeting that the
council decided to sell the
property because “it’s not
feasible to keep it solely for
chert excavation.” The city has
access to other sources of
chert, he said.
Several months back the
chert pit was eyed for possible
use as a city park after a local
woman’s group offered to
landscape it. “Some plans for a
park were discussed,” the
mayor said, “but they haven’t
materialized. We felt it would
be best if it was sold.”
Bill Kirchner, who heads up
the regional library in LaFay
ette, appeared before the
council with several local
library board members seeking
city funds of $12,000 for the
fiscal year which starts July 1.
In the past the city has
annually obligated $7,200, plus
occasionally making special
contributions through federal
revenue-sharing monies.
Kirchner said the proposed
city contribution would be ear
marked for a part-time mainte
nance position ($1,500), FICA
employer contributions for
that worker ($93), basic oper
ating costs mostly consisting of
SUMMERVILLE, CHATTOOGA COUNTY, GEORGIA 30747, THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 1979
Summer (Splash!!) Fun
utilities ($9,406), and part of
the locally-generated funds for
the headquarters’ operation
($1,000).
The library board’s budget,
he said, is based on “actual
experience, fiscal realities and
simple determination of
needs-basic needs—which if
met as the budget suggests, will
result in no serious diminution
in library operations and
library services to residents of
Chattooga County over the
next 12 months.”
Although the council
declined to say yea or nay to
the library proposal, Mayor
Cash said, “I feel the council
will come up with the ways
and means to afford it (the
library request).” The council
said it will consider the request
along with others at a budget
meeting to be held later.
In other budgetary matters,
the council tentatively agreed
to give an across-the-board
salary increase of $8 per week
to all city employees. The
action is scheduled to finalize
later.
In other action:
* The final adoption of the
ordinance legalizing wine sales
was unanimously approved by
winter cold. Keeping an eye on everything (right) is the lifeguard Terri
Echols. The pool is open seven days a week from 1:30 to 5:30 and
Tuesday, Thursday and Friday nights, 7:30 to 9:30.
Paper Closes 2 Days;
New Rates Start Soon
The offices of The Summerville News and Espy Pub
lishing Co., Ine. will be closed from noon today (Thurs
day) until Monday morning.
As a result of the closure, the deadline for readers
wishing to subscribe to Th- N " before new rates take
effect has been changed to Monday at 5 p.m.
In the first subscription increase in eight years, in-county
rates will increase from the current $5.15 annually to
$6.70. Out-of-county rates, determined by the postal zone
of the subscriber, will also be raised.
Subscriptions can be renewed for as many years as a
reader wishes to extend his subscription. For example, a
reader whose subscription ends in October could renew his
subscription for as long as he wishes-the old rate would be
in effect through October (in this case), plus the three
years’ renewal-as long as the renewal is made before 5 p.m.
Monday.
The newsstand price of papers will increase June 21 to
20 cents per copy.
Trion Man Arrested
For Theft Charges
A Trion man remained
lodged in the county jail Tues
day afternoon on charges
stemming from the theft of
pool equipment from a local
mill and a motorcycle from a
Floyd County resident.
Authorities identified the
man as Roger Dale Galloway,
27, of Route 1 Box 852, Trion.
He was arrested Friday and
charged with two counts of
theft by receiving stolen
property. He is being held in
lieu of SIO,OOO bond and a
hold warrant for Walker
the council, a move which
means wine should go on sale
within the city within a matter
of days.
* The council agreed to pro
vide sewage, water, and natural
gas to the proposed highrise for
the elderly, to be located on
Marvin Street. The council
received assurance from archi
tect Bobby Toles that the
building, which would be the
county’s largest, would be
adequately protected in case of
fire. The building has a
sprinkler system in addition to
standpipes which fire hoses
could be connected to on each
floor, he said. Strict Housing
and Urban Development guide
lines also include a number of
other fire safety features, he
said. “This is about as safe a
building as you can build,” he
remarked.
* The council decided to
levy a $3 per trip charge on a
local veterinarian for whom the
city dog catcher in the past has
carried dead animals to the
county landfill at no charge.
* It was agreed to lease, at a
basic rate of $l2O per month, a
Xerox copying machine for use
at City Hall.
(Continued On Page 3-A)
County on burglary charges.
According to a warrant at
the sheriff’s department,
Galloway had a Honda motor
cycle in his possession that had
been stolen from Dianne Hall
of Highway 156 in Armuchee
recently. The motorcycle was
valued at SBOO and was
recovered by deputies.
Another warrant said Gallo
way had a swimquip sand
filter, a Franklin pump and a
chlorine mixer also in his
possession. The items were
stolen recently from Harriet
and Henderson Mills in Berry
ton.
The incident is still under
investigation by deputies.
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Sam Bible’s home on Stallion Road in
Dry Valley was gutted by fire Friday
afternoon. The fire started in the base
ment of the home, a fire department
report said. The carburetor of a lawn
Opinions Split At
Meeting On Fate
Os Rebate Money
By DARRYL YOUNG
A wide difference of opinion surfaced Thurs
day at a public meeting called to discuss how
the Chattooga County School District should
spend $238,000 in rebate taxes it recently
received from the state.
The special school board meeting generated
a strong debate focusing on whether the money
should be returned to taxpayers through a tax
credit or used for school improvements. The 40
local residents in attendance, as well as school
board members, appeared split on the question.
CRAWFORD FOR
REBATE
Strongly recommending that the money be
returned to the taxpayers, was State Represen
tative Johnny Crawford, who told the group
Gov. George Busbee intended the money to be
used in that manner. If the money is not given
back, the chances of receiving similar money
next year will be greatly reduced, he said.
One of Busbee’s campaign promises was to
return $75 million to the taxpayers of Georgia.
But a constitutional amendment would have
been required to give a statewide rebate, Craw
ford explained.
The only legal way to return the money was
through local school boards, he noted. “It was
never intended to be kept by the schools,”
Crawford said. If the money had been intended
for the schools to keep, the legislature would
have earmarked it for maintenance and opera
tions expenses, he said in a later conversation
with The News.
“The majority of the people are fed up with
taxes—especially property tax,” Crawford com
mented. “People want tax relief; if we don’t
give the money back people will rebel like they
did in California with Proposition 13.”
School board members leaning toward
keeping the $238,000 for improvements were
Sue Spivey and Bill Mitchell. Some of the roofs
on the schools are in desperate need of repair,
Mitchell remarked. “If you put repairs off, the
more damage the building suffers and building
expenses keep going up. 1 think we should keep
the money.”
Mrs. Spivey said that while she would like to
see the money rebated to Chattooga taxpayers,
the pressing need to keep up with the rising
costs of school expenses has led her to favor
retaining the money in the school system. Her
main concern, she said, is the construction of a
new junior high school. That will take public
support,” she said.
School board member Leroy Massey said he
favors a taxpayer rebate, explaining, that he
anticipates a school millage increase next year.
“I doubt if we could get support for a new
junior high school if we don’t rebate the
money,” he said.
REBATE: THIRD OF TAXES
Concurring with that opinion was board
chairman Joel Cook. The average homeowner
would receive about one-third of their school
tax paid for 1978 with the rebate, he noted. “A
person who paid $l5O in school taxes last year
would receive about a SSO rebate,” Cook
explained. “I think we should give the money
back to the people.”
A man in the audience brought out the fact
Clear-Vu Appealing Ruling
To Georgia Supreme Court
The year-long battle
between the Town of Trion
and Clear-Vu Cable Inc. con
tinues as the company plans to
appeal a recent court ruling to
the Georgia Supreme Court,
The News learned Tuesday.
Superior Court Judge Paul
W. Painter recently suspended
compliance to his earlier ruling
that Clear-Vu restore trans
mission of three blocked
Fire Destroys Bible Home
channels, pending the outcome
of an appeal. Judge Painter is
not requiring Clear-Vu to post
bond, the new order states.
Trion cable-TV customers
will apparently continue to
have three channels blocked
until the case is settled. It
could take the Supreme Court
anywhere from a month-and-a
half to more than three months
to hand down a decision, a
mower Bible was operating reportedly
had been leaking, and the mower
backfired and ignited a blaze. The fire
quickly spread through the brick home.
Bible was not injured.
that industry and the utility companies would
receive a lion’s portion of the $238,000. Tax
Commissioner Jerry Money told The News later
the amount would come to approximately
$62,748; the rest would go to individual home
owners.
“If you don’t give the money back to the
people, you won’t get a bond issue passed for a
new junior high school,” said John Bankson, a
member of the audience. “Do what was
intended with the money—Give it back.”
A teacher present said, “Why not put the
money in the bank and earn $20,000 to
$30,000 interest on it. That may not be a lot of
money, but it could buy some books that we
desperately need.”
The teacher elaborated on the book shortage
he and other teachers have experienced in the
past. “Students must share books; I did not
have enough science books to allow the
students to take them home,” he said. “Other
teachers and classes share the same problem.”
Mrs. Spivey said that the price of some text
books has risen more than 50 percent in just
two years. An example she gave was one text
book that went from $6.20 to $10.73, since
1977, a 62 percent increase.
Superintendent Bill King explained that the
school system gets a set amount of money from
the state to purchase textbooks each year. The
state money breaks down to about $5 for each
new textbook. The primary cause for the
shortage of books, King pointed out, is that
students lose them and that many parents fail
to pay the replacement cost.
Cook concluded the public meeting by
reiterating his stand that the $238,000 should
be rebated to Chattooga County taxpayers.
“The governor and the senate meant for the
money to go back-keeping the money would
not help build the junior high-and if we don’t
return it we won’t get the bond issue passed,”
the chairman said.
NO AGREEMENT
Even state officials don’t agree as to how the
money should be spent. School Superintendent
Charles McDaniel is encouraging school systems
to keep the money. “The money can be used to
improve and expand existing school buildings,
McDaniel said, “Hopefully, some school dis
tricts will take some money and use it to make
their schools more energy- efficient by insula
ting buildings or changing the types of windows
they have.”
One purpose the money cannot be used for,
McDaniel explained, is to fund teachers’
salaries.
Rep. Crawford said Tuesday that the discre
pancy between how McDaniel and Busbee say
the funds should be used is a result of them
both looking after the interests of their own
departments.
Next year an amendment will come before
the voters in Georgia to allow a direct rebate
from the state to the taxpayer of $75 million.
This will eliminate the need of giving a tax
rebate through local school boards, Crawford
said.
The Chattooga County School Board met
again Monday night and discussed the matter,
but no resolution was reached.
Supreme Court clerk said Tues
day.
After the appeal is filed
with the Supreme Court,
attorneys involved in the case
have a 40-day period to decide
whether they will file briefs on
the case or argue it before the
high court, the clerk said. “It
can take the judges anywhere
from two weeks to a couple of
months to make a ruling on the
case,” he said.
The Supreme Court Judge
will either uphold Judge
Painter’s ruling that full service
be restored to Trion cable-TV
customers or overrule the
decision. “The hearing is most
likely to be held in Atlanta,”
an attorney involved in the
case said.
The Trion-Clear-Vu dispute
started last May when compa
ny president Boyce Dooley
asked the Trion Council for a
rate increase. The council told
Dooley that he must justify the
raise by showing them a profit
loss statement; otherwise they
said they could not determine
if a rate increase was “fair and
reasonable.”
The Trion Council has the
authority to determine the
cable company’s rates by
Section 19 of the 20-year con
tract, due to expire in 1990,
between Trion and the firm.
The City of Summerville
had a similar clause in its con
tract with Clear-Vu but in
1977 amended it with a pro
vision that ties Summerville’s
rates with the lowest in the
county.
Currently Summerville and
Trion customers pay $5.75 for
cable service. Dooley has
repeatedly tried to get the
Trion council to raise this to
$6.90 in Trion. Residents in
(Continued On Page 3-A)
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