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VOLUME XCVI — NUI 73! XXXI
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Group Listens To Eichelberger
New Trion Riegel operations manager
Charles Eichelberger addresses a group
of local residents at a Riegel-sponsored
breakfast in Trion last Tgursday‘
Riegel Running Schedule
To Improve, Group Told
“We are in somewhat of a
depressed market; as all of
you know the state of the
economy leads to those type
of things. We do have very ac
tive Yursuits and new product
developments and are seeking
new markets. We've got a lot
of folks working in these
areas. We do anticipate that
probably in the next few
weeks that we can see some
improvement as far as our
running schedule.” X
That was the message of
Charles Eichelberger, the
newly-appointed vice presi
dent of Eiegel Textile Corp.
who heads its Trion operation.
In a talk given to a group of
local business and govern
ment leaders at a Riegel
sponsored breakfast last
Thursday, Eichelberger
sounded a largely optimistic
note for its Trion operations.
““This plant here has been a
6-day operation, considered
full,” he said. ‘‘We're present-
l&' runnin% a full 5 days in the
rey Mill here and some
Saturday operations. We ex
pect in the coming weeks this
will be improved. We're pro
jecting that if things go as
Low they look at the moment,
we will, at least with most if
not all of our looms, be back to
a 6-day schedule.
“Tge finishing plant is run
ning less than 5 days,” he
Job Service To
The Georgia Employment
Service in Summerville will
close its doors at the end of
the month, it was officially an
nounced this week.
The office is a satellite of
the Georgia Employment Ser
vice in Rome. (E/arl Beavers,
who heads the Rome office,
confirmed the closing Tues
day to The News. “Due to
cuts in federal funding to the
Georgia Department of Labor,
the Summerville satellite of
fice will cease fulltime opera
tion on Aug. 31, 19817 he
said. “We regret this action
has to take pfice. but due to
the austere budget that the
Georgia Department of Labor
will have to operate on during
Fiscal Year 1982, this action
has become necessary.”
The Summerville closin
isn’t an isolated case, he saicF.
“The cuts in federal money
have resulted in the closing of
many satellite offices
throughout the state, as well
as eliminating apé)roximately
300 jobs statewide with the
Department of Labor.
However, the staff of the
Rome local office will provide
services to the Summerville-
Chattooga County area on a
Sl ey
Staff personnel will visit
Summerville every Wednes
day at the Courthouse to take
applications for jobs and for
government job-training pro
grams, he said.
“Also, personnel will be
visiting employers in the com
munity to try to develop jobs
for persons a,pplying for work.
Hopefully, if economic condi
tions germit. we can re-open
on a fulltime basis at a later
date.”
The fulltime satellite of
fice, located on the ground
floor of the Courthouse, has
Che Summeruille News
Eichelberger said that although textile
markets are in a slump, future gains are
expected. Fifty-five persons attended the
breakfast, held at the Riegeldale Tavern.
noted. “We're working on
other products there that
would allow us to improve
their running schedule. So,
we're working hard at trying
to get things%ack to what we
would consider normal. We're
g_etting back in that
irection.”
He noted, too, that Riegel
is continuing its moderniza
tion program in Trion: “We
are in the midst of installing
new open-end spinning equip
ment, and in the next few
weeks we will have another
phase of the new loom pro
gram beginning to come in
and they will be installed.”
A few minutes later he was
asked whether that program
will translate into lay-offs at
Riegel. He responded: ‘‘The
new looms will affect jobs —
that, I guess, would be a fair
way to state it. What we're
trying to do is to absorb peo
ple into the plant as those
things might occur. We're let
ting attrition pretty much
take care of those type of
replacements. We're trying as
best we can to absorb without
having to lay off anyone.”
He anticipated questions
about last week’s fis‘i'x kill, he
said, and noted that the firm
had released a press release
(which reported 31,000 gallons
of caustic soda was inex
plicably missing from its in-
been open for approximately 5
years. Its primary mission is
to help the unemplored find
jobs, and assist employers in
filling vacancies.
As a result, the office coor
dinated the various programs
funded under CETA, the Com-
El)‘rehensive Emfiloyment and
raining Act. The cutbacks in
those job-training programs
have been severe under the
Reagan Administration, with
about 75 percent of the jobs
cut from the program nation
wide and more cuts planned.
Locally, according to local of
fice manager Diane Ham
Lunch Prices Raised
The price of school lunches
in the Trion City School
System will be going up this
Schools Open In
County Today:
In Trion Tuesday
The Chattooga County
School System %)egan its
1981-82 school year this
morning at 8:15.
The Trion City School
System will begin its new
school year on Wednes
day, Aug. 26, when school
opens at 8 a.m.
Local parents are
reminded &at students
only have 30 daf's after
enrolling in school to com
plete their immunization
records. Under the law,
students will be sent
home after the 30-day
period until their records
are brought up-to-date.
SUMMERVILLE, CHATTOOGA COUNTY, GEORGIA 30747, THURSDAY., AUGUST 20, 1981
ventories the day before the
fish kill was discovered on the
Chattooga river last week)
concerning the incident. ‘“We
stated we are cooperating
with the environmental
department in the furtherest
pursuit of the matter,” he
said. ‘“We've investigated
very thoroughly in our facility
here trying to determine if we
| had a responsibility for it.
There’s been nothing conclud
ed at this point in that regard.
We have nothing further to
| report on that.”
Riegel held the breakfast
to give selected local residents
the opportunity to meet — or
in some cases meet again —
Eichelberger, who took his
new post only last Monday.
Eiche?gerger was employed
with Riegel in Trion during
the 19605, then left the com
?any. and then reg'loined the
irm just prior to the new ap
l pointment.
““We thank you for coming
out,” he concluded. “It was
nice to see all of you again. We
appreciate your interest in our
business and we pledge our
sup?ort to the fulf:!st to cer
tainly work toward trying to
improve our community as a
hiring body in it.”
Fifty-five people attended
the breakfast, hefii at Womet
co’s Riegeldale Tavern.
Close
monds, only a handful of such
positions remain. All CETA
jobs have been frozen until
Oct. 1, when a new plan is
scheduled to go into ef?ect..
“We are not getting the
orders for employment that
we did before,”” she noted. “At
one time we were Eetting
mag;be 20 or 25 a week. Now
we have about five placements
a week."”
She added: “We have been
busy with receiving new ap
plications, which is why we're
going to continue doing so on
Wednesdays.”
coming school year following
a decision by the Trion City
Board of Education on Tues
day afternoon.
Upon a recommendation
by Trion Superintendent Bill
Kinzy, the goard agreed to
raise lunch prices for elemen
tary students (first grade
through fifth) to 60 cents per
plate, high school students
(grades 6 through 12) to 75
cents per plate, and adults to
$1.25 per plate.
Last school year, lunch
prices for elementary students
cost 45 cents, while high
school students paid 50 cents
a plate. Adult lunches last
year was $1 per plate.
Superintendent Kinzy ad
vised the board that chh
prices need to be increased by
at least 15 cents for three
reasons: (1) inflation; (2) an 8
cent reimbursement per lunch
loss from the state; and (3) a
4%-cent cut on commodities
per paid plate received from
the state.
see LUNCH, page 7-A
55,000 To 60,000 Fish Died
In Fish Kill, DNR Estimates
As many as 60,000 fish in
the Chattooga River died dur
ing last weefi's fish kill there,
a spokesman for the Georgia
Department of Natural
Resources (DNR) said Tues
day.
DNR spokesman Gib
Johnson said: “We estimate
that between 55,000 and
60,000 fish died, somewhere in
there. We counted the number
of dead fish on a 100-yard
stretch every mile and turned
this into the total distance
figure.” Ny
Johnson said the DNR
believes it has determined the
source and tyfie of the toxic
substance which was in
troduced into the river that
killed the fish, for at least 24
miles, but said he could not
comment further on the mat
ter.
‘“‘Right now there is
nothing we can say,”” he said.
“All the data is in and we're
looking -at. it right
now . . . there will be some an
nouncement, perhaps on Fri
day or Mondafi'. agout what
action we're taking."” :
““The thing is, we're
reasonably certain we know
who it is, and that we have
enough to prove it,” he said.
“We have to be very, very
careful on it. We don't want to
prejudice our case.”
Riegel Textile Corp. in
Trion said last week that the
day before the fish kill was
reqlorted it discovered 31,000
gallons of caustic soda miss
ini from its inventory.
Johnson declined to say
whether his department’s
tests had confirmed the
presence of the substance in
the water.
Riegel officials were at a
loss to explain how the caustic
soda, technically known as
sodium hydroxide, might have
left their plant.
Efforts by The News to
learn more about the lost
caustic soda — described as
an expensive liquid solution
used in fabric finishing that
was the e?uivalent of about
565 55-gallon drums, proved
futile. A reporter's personal
visit to Riegel’s main office
and several phone calls were
not returned.
A widely-circulated rumor
blamed a faulty automatic
Future Of Cotton Mill Remains Unclear
1%2 Years After Being Given To Board
Back in March of last year
local business and governmen
tal leaders had high hopes
that a job-Producing manufiac
turer would come along soon
to take advantage of a bargain
site: the old Fabrics America
buildings and adjoining pro
perty. £t
After failing to sell the pro
perty following its closing in
1977, Fabrics America m(fi( a
tax write-off by giving the site
to the county industrial
authority. The Chattooga
County Chamber of Com
merce agreed to manage and
market the property For the
board.
Nearly 12 years later,
however, the old cotton mill
appears no closer to
generating new jobs than it
id on the day it was given to
the industrial authority.
Former chamber president
Henry Watson, who fieads the
chamber committee that
manages the building, says
that six serious industrial pro
spects have toured the facili
ty, but all rejected it as a
possible site ‘“‘for differing
reasons,”’ primarily its age
and design.
The main building is ap
proaching its 80th birthday
and signs of its age are evi
dent. “‘lt’s a multi-level
building,” explained Watson.
“Most of the industries today
need ground level, heated-air
conditioned space.”
Would it be better, then, to
level the site?
“I think it’s premature at
this time,” he said. *‘lt won't
take but one prospect that
needs that builging to create
300 dobs and it will all be
worth it. I still have hopes of
finding that manufacturer.
With the current economic
situation — there's little in
dustrial development going on
— it’s not a fair time frame to
look at, to decide to abandon
N
Some thought is being
given to perhaps trying to
market the plant to two or
« valve for the loss of liquid, but
this could neither be confirm
ed or denied.
In yesterday's Trion
Facts, the Riegel newspafiar. a
front page story quoted H. D.
Kingsmore, president of
Riegel ApparelpFabrics Divi
sion, as saying: ‘‘We are conti
nuin% to investigate the
?oasi ility that caustic soda
rom our mill may have leaked
into the Chattooga River, We
are cooperating fully with
DNR o?f?cials in their in
vestigation and have advised
the EPA of all facts we have
learned. Our waste water
system is desi’%ned to
discharge into the Trion City
Waste Water Treatment
Center for purification. The
Contractor Says School Board
Actions On Project Improper;
Officials Strongly Deny Charges
A local contractor says the
Chattooga County School
Board acted improperly in its,
decisions on a bidding con
tract it awarded to another
local contractor for renovation
work currently under way at
North Summerville Elemen
tary School.
School board officials
strongly deny the allegations,
saying that procedures outlin
ed by the State Board of
Education have been followed
corréctly, = .
Contraltor “James N .
“Buddy’’ Busbin of Summer
ville is protesting the pro
cedure used in connection
with the contract awarded Bill
Ramsey Inc. of Lyerly on July
20.
When the bids for the
renovation project were open
ed at a special called meeting
of the school board on July 17,
six contractors had submitted
bids, the minutes show. Of the
six bids submitted (four were
from local contractors, two
more companies, he said: “‘We
have looked at the possibility
of dividing it up into
condominium-type units so
that several industries might
be accommodated.”
One bit of bright news con
cerning the buil:fing is that a
local manufacturer is
weighing the !possibility of
utilizing part of the building,
according to Watson. The
chamber’s industrial team is
negotiating with what Wat
son would only describe as “‘a
fast-growing, local manufac
turer,” but nothing has been
finalized.
He estimates that it would
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Two large oak trees frame the front of the old Fabrics-
America building, which was Fiven to the county in
dustrial authority last year. Although representatives
of a half-dozen prospective occupants have visited the
building, nothing has panned out, chamber of com-
treatment plant is monitored
and tested daily, and the test
records of the city show no
sign of any discharge of soda.
We have an indication that
last weekend, soda solution
was discharged into a holding
pond in our waste treatment
system. Liquids from this
holding pond, however, are
&xmped into the Trion Waste
ater Treatment Center, not
into the river. We have not
been able to identify any link
between the discharge of the
soda into the holding pond
and any problems with the
river. We are continuing our
investigations. i :
“Through the years, Riegel
has constantlr improved its
waste disposal system as bet-
were from out-of-town firms),
Busbin was the low case bid
der.
Busbin bid $82,700 on the
project; the next lowest bid
was Ramsey's, at $85,000.
The other bids ranged from
$89,800 to $113,080.
According to the minutes
of that meeting: ‘‘The board
advised the bidders present
that the bids and their alter
nates would be examined and
that the successful bidder
would be notified ... The
board-and the architects ex
amined the bids and after
some discussion (board
member) Mr. (Ray) Hall made
a motion to take out Alternate
No. 2 and take the low bid
with this alternate deleted
unless state regulations re
quire that the low bid be ac
cepted.” The motion carried
unanimously.
Here it might be helpful to
explain what alternates are. A
deductive alternate is work
that can be deleted should the
cost from $7 million to $lO
million to replace the struc
ture. “It is stifi. in my opinion,
a very valuable asset,”” he
said.
Riegel Textile Corp. is cur
rently using parts of the fi)lant
as a warehouse under a lease
arrangement. According to
Watson, Riegel pays no set
monthly rental for Lf":e facility,
but instead is billed for all
chamber expenses related to
building, plus it foots the bill
for the cgnamber secretary’s
salary. As a result, Riegel
pays all insurance and utility
costs, for example, in addition
to providing a round-the-clock
Vacated Plant Remains Idle
ter technology is available.
Our policy has been to share
technology and facilities with
all government protection
agencies, These efforts will be
continued and intensified."”
FINES, PENALTIES
LOOM?
The DNR is empowered to
imgose civil penalties up to
SIO,OOO against the polluter of
the river, plus levy an amount
et\\lml to the cost of the fish
killed. ;
DNR spokesman Johnson
was unable to sady what the
latter figure would amount to.
But he did note that a 12-inch
bass is valued at $2.30 while
an 8-inch crappie has a value
of about 85 cents. A spotted
sucker costs about 30 cents,
low bid be higher than the
amount set aside for the pro
ject. In the case of the North
Summerville Elementary pro
ject, six deductive alternates
were included and the contrac
tors were told to itemize their
g@gs on each one, which they
id.
Busbin said it wasn’t until
four days after the July 17
meeting that he learned from
a private citizen that Ramsey
had been awarded the con
tract. Busbin said he then con
tacted School Superintendent
Bill King who he said advised
him that with the deletion of
Alternate No. 2 (a new gym
floor finish and base), Ramsey
was the apparent low bidder.
Ramsey's Alternate No. 2 bid
was far and away the largest
of the six: $10,772. Busbin's
Alternate No. 2 bid was
$5,605, while the other four
contractor bids on Alternate
No. 2 ranged from $4,935 to
$6,100. i _
The effect of deleting the
guard. Riegel has also fixed
much of the building’s roof,
which was leaking.
“If Riegel were not there,
it would be a fire hazard, a
security hazard,”” Watson
commented. ‘lt would be a
tremendous burden without
Riegel there...they have
mage thousands of dollars’
worth of imfirovements.”
Despite Riegel's heavy in
volvement, he said, it is
mutually understood that the
storage arrangement is tem
porary. Should another firm
want to begin manufacturing
there, Watson said, the entire
plant could be handed over to
merce officials say. The building's age and design, as
well as high interest rates, have proved to be a stumbl
ing block in the effort to find a job-producing industry
for the mill.
PRICE 20¢
he said
“Most of the Chattoog:
River fish are going to
trash fish that are not worth a
whole lot,” he said. At bare
minimum, however, it would
appear that the fish reim
bursement the state will seek
could cost the offending party
in excess of $20,000, his
figures indicate.
“Now what we're doing is
taking whoever we find is at
fault, and we'll start with an
administrative order, a con
sent order, and send it to the
company and they will decide
what they think of it,"”
Johnson said of the process
the DNR has started in trying
to penalize the poliuter
see 55,000, page 7-A
gym floor work from the con
tract made Ramsey the low
bidder at $74,228, records
show, while Busbin was se
cond lowest with a bid of
$77,095.
According to Busbin, the
school board’s decision to
delete Alternate No. 2 was im
proper because Alternate No.
1 was passed over (that is, not
deleteg first). Busbin says
that in doing so, the boarg,'s
decision goes against
%uidelines set out by the
eorgia Department of
Education, whose funds are
paying for the pro{gct. Those
‘Administrative Procedures
for Receivinlg Cash Reim
bursement For Approved
State Capital Butlay
Projects’” tell local school
boards: ‘‘lf alternates are to
be included, deductive alter
nates are recommended and
should be listed in the order to
bé used in the bid
documents . .. "
see CONTRACTOR, page 7-A
the manufacturer's control
within 30 days. (Additionally,
the chamber recently allowed
the Department of Family and
Children Services to open a
clothes shop for the needy in
the office area of the plant; it
too has agreed to vacate the
premises within 30 days, if
necogsary).. .o
Although the old building
hasn't translated into new
jobs for the community, Wat
son emphasized that it has
had a beneficial effect in at
least two ways. ;
“It's been a tremendous
help to our oldest and best
see FUTURE, page 7-A