Newspaper Page Text
VOLUME CI — NUMBER X
BLASTS Mc: INNELL
Powell Won’t Pay Bill
On Sheriff’s Vehicle
By TOMMY TOLES
Editor
The owner of a Chattooga
County vehicle body repair
shop has told his attorney to
file a lawsuit against the coun
ty because of non-pa{ment of
a repair bill on a sheritf's patrol
car.
Commissioner Harry
Powell contends that the coun
ty doesn’t own the car, which
Sheriff Gary McConnell
bought as surplus last May
through the Georgia Depart
ment of Administrative
Services.
“They're yours,” said a
state official when asked about
the vehicles, ‘‘but we'd like to
get paid for them.”
In addition, the county’s in
surance firm has the vehicle,
Powell Attacks
Toles, Hall In
Letter To Paper
Chattooga County Commis
sioner Harry Powell is blasting
Chattooga Tax Commissioner
Hugh Don Hall and Tommy
Toles, editor of The Summer
ville News, in a letter to the
editor published in The News
this week.
The commissioner also is
publishing a paid advertise
ment in The News this week
outlining expenses of the Chat
tooga County Sheriff's Office
for the first two quarters of
this year.
Powell said he was
publishing the ad because
“There has been so many ques
tions asked about the expenses
of the sheriff's department.
Also expenses in the other
departments.”
However, Powell is not
publishing expenses of *‘the
other offices” in this week's
edition of The News.
SIMILAR
The ad on the sheriff's
department is similar to one he
pu%lished on Feb. 20 of this
year listing the sheriff’s office
expenses at $759,438 for all of
1986
Opinion Survey
RETURN TO:
Opinion Survey
The Summerville News
P.O. Box 310
Summerville, Georgia 30747
COUNTY RESIDENT
SUMMERVILLE RESIDENT
TRION RESIDENT
LYERLY RESIDENT
MENLO RESIDENT
‘Bigfoot’ Family
--See Page 74
The Summerville News
plus two more bought at the
same time, covered under the
county’s insurance policy and
has paid at least one liability
claim resulting from an acci
dent the patroFcar was involv
ed in during mid-June. The
county policy carries a SI,OOO
deductible in collision
coverage.
GO TO HELL
“The sheriff hasn't had
enough respect — He can kiss
my — and go to hell and you
can put that in the paper if you
want to,” Powell said in an out
burst of anger and profanity
when questioned by ’Fhe News
about the patrol car situation.
‘““He thinks he runs this coun-
W
Sheriff McConnell appeared
somewhat stunned when asked
for a reaction to Powell's
remarks. ‘ Arguing over the car
1985. Powell said in the
February ad that the total did
not include $63,011.99 in un
paid bills from 1984.
The ad this week lists total
first quarter expenses for the
sheri;}' s office of $168,059.36
and $179,725.24 for the second
quarter for a six-month total of
$347,785.10. If that trend
holds up, the sheriff's office
would spend $695,570.20 for
the entire year — $63,868 less
than what was spent in 1985.
Powell points out what he
says is ‘‘a considerable amount
of overtime” listed in the se
cond quarter.
He goes on to say ““We have
several bills in the office that
are questionable and as of now
have not been paid.” He does
not describe those bills.
WRONG BILL
The latest ad lists $318.20
attributed to the sheriff’s ex
penses as having been used to
%ay for a paie ad in The News.
owever, The News has only
one invoice for that amount —
numbered 1681 — that is for
see POWELL ATTACKS, page 8-A
RESIDENTS SHOULD VOTE EACH CATEGORY AT TOP ON A SCALE OF 1-10, WITH 10 BEING THE HIGHEST SCORE
is really a waste of time and
money,’ McConnell said. *‘lf
he dislikes me, the time to take
care of that is at the election.
We need to work together for
the ’lgood of the county.”
he sheriff said his pur
chase of surplus vehicles from
the state has saved the county
thousands of dollars. “They're
old troo;i)er cars we can get a
lot of mileage out of,” he said.
‘““We can get 100,000 to
150,000 miles instead of paying
SII,OOO or more for them.”
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FOR SELLING SCHOOL
Board Rejects Low Proposal
The Chattooga County
Board of Education last montfl 5
voted to contract with a Rome |
auction company to sell the old |
junior high scKool buildings
and land although a Summer
ville firm submitted a proposal
for a lower commission on the
sale.
All-American Auctions,
owned by Summerville real |
estate broker Gary Colbert, |
submitted a verbal ‘‘bid" of 5.5
percent of the eventual sales
price of the J)roperty with the
school board to handle survey
costs only of the property, ac
cording to Colbert. |
J.L. Todd Auction Co., |
: g E 'l'lespon
> 3 2 rate each ¢
3 O o 11;*0' with 1(
or exam
py about 5
your area,
give them
appy witl
may want
10 score.
should be
categories.
NO PI
No ph
survey forr
only those
newspaper
And no mc
formls shofu
enve (fc
and woige?ml
ferently
categories
plete two
1 one). Inot!
see YOUR
SUMMERVILLE, CHATTOOGA COUNTY, GEORGIA — THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1986
SHERIFF'S PATROL CAR HELD PENDING PAYMENT BY COUNTY
Vehicle Not Owned By County, Says Commissioner
Murder Mystery
--See Page 1B
State records show that
price of the 1983 patrol car in
question was $1,200.
REPAIR BILL
Meanwhile, Wesson Body
Shop in the Teloga community
is seeking $804.50 from the
county in repair bills for the
1983 vehicle, which was involv
ed in an accident on June 24.
Larry Wesson said he has in
structed his attorney, Carlton
Vines, to file suit against the
county for the bill. T%:e county
Rome, the firm picked by the
board to sell the property, sub
mitted a proposal of 7.5 per
cent of the eventual total price.
At the board’s called meetin
Aug. 19, the panel said it woulg
handle a survey of the proper
ty and the closing of any sale
with Todd expected to pick up
all other costs, incguding
advertising.
Todd appraised the proper
ty at $215,150 althougga sale
may or may not bring in that
much money.
If Todd sells the property
for exactly the appraisal price,
it would receive a commission
of $16,136.25. If the project
also owes him an additional
$943.03 for repairs to the car
on a subsequent accident,
Wesson said.
Powell, who indicated he
wanted the matter to be fought
out in court, said he had
witnesses who would confirm
that he told Wesson not to
repair the patrol car the first
time.
**No siree, he didn't!"
Wesson responded. Wesson
said Powell came to his shop to
see POWELL WON'T, page 2-A
had been awarded to Colbert,
the firm would receive a com
mission of $11,833.25, a dif
ference of $4,303 — if the Col
bert firm sold the property for
an amount equal to the Todd
appraisal.
School board chairman Joel
Cook confirmed that Colbert
did submit a proposal of 5.5
percent and tEat Todd's bid
was 7.5 percent, a figure which
was cited at the Aug. 19 called
board meeting.
“The boar(gi all felt that he
(Todd) could do a better job
and had a wider space to cover
with advertising,’ Cook said.
see BOARD, page 9-A
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LG L Wi A e S S Y C U BAOEY e
Driver Hurt, Chemicals Spilled On Roadway
Driver of this truck was slightly injured
Wednesday afternoon when it overturn
ed on Highway 337 near the intersection
of Trion-Teloga Road. Georgia State
Patrol Trooper Bill DeHart (nfht), and
truck driver Estle Wayne Singleton, 26,
Dalton, look over the wreckage as Chat
tooga CountßEmergency Services techni
cian Susie Dalton (left) gets ready to
PAVING CONTRACT ISSUE
County Sued Over Road
Chattooga County Commis
sioner Harry Powel{ has been
ordered to show cause in
Superior Court hearing on Fri
day, Sept. 12, why he should
not be ordered to pave Penn
ington Circle, located just east
of Summerville.
The 1 p.m. hearing before
Chattooga Superior Court
Judge J osefih Loggins resulted
from a civil lawsuit filed last
week by Summerville attorney
Archibald A. Farrar, and
Robert O. McWhorter, both
residents of Pennington Circle.
Farrar was also county at
torney under former Commis
sioner Wayne ‘‘Pete’” Denson,
who was (i;feat,ed by Powell.
The lawsuit says Commis
sioner Powell executed a con
tract with the Georgia Depart
ment of TransFortation on
April 4 this year for the paving
otp 3.57 miles of county roads.
Powell then subcontracted the
DOT contract to Headrick
Co(rils:fiuc:iolrll Co., Summerville,
an of the paving was per
formed except .16 mfies of g:n
nington Circle, also known as
county road 339 or Tucker
Cemetery Road, according to
the lawsuit.
Powell has ‘“‘refused” to
authorize paving of that one
stretch, the suit says.
“County road 339 does not
measure up to the standards
and does not conform to the
legal requirements as prescrib
ed by law and is in such condi
tion that ordinary loads with
Forced Landing
--See Page 24
ordinary ease, cannot be handl
ed over such public road,” the
suit says.
The county commissioner
should be compelled by the
court to repave the road and
bring it up to legal standards,
the suit says.
Powell *‘fails and refuses to
honor” the DOT contract, the
suit says, and ‘“‘the failure to
honor and complete said con
tract constitutes a waste of
public funds in that recovery
may not occur to (Chattooga)
County for the funds expend
ed for pavin% without the full
completion of the terms of (the)
contract. The failure to com
plete said contract may further
result in the failure of the state
of Georgia and the DOT to pro
vide funding in future for pav
ing of public roads and shall
impress upon the taxpayers of
Chattooga County —the
Your Chance To
Express Views
The Summerville News is
again conducting an opinion
survey of Chattooga County
residents on a variety of local
issues, institutions and the
quality of life.
check Singleton for injuries. Chemicals in
the truck fiad authorities worried for some
time. They included soda ash, acetic acid,
monosodium phosphate anhydrous, rock
salt and concentrated sodium
hydrosulfite. The truck was later remov
eg without problems, however. (Staff
Photo by Tommy Toles).
R R e YRR el 4
burden of paving such roads
without the assistance of state
see COUNTY, page 13-A
Indians,
Bulldogs
To Open
The Chattooga High
School Indians and tie
Trion High Bulldogs will
open their 1986 football
seasons at home Friday.
Both games will start
at 8 E.m.
The Bulldogs will take
on the LaFayette
Ramblers and the Indians
will battle the Lakeview-
Fort Oglethorpe Warriors.
A total of 21 categories is
listed in the survey form
published this week in the
newspaper. Anyone receiving
the paper or buying it on
newsstands mag' particii)late in
the non-scientific sampling of
opinion.
The News last ran the
survey in the spring, 1983.
That poll featured 16 general
categories so this survey has
been expanded. But five
categories of residents are still
list,eg: county residents outside
any city or town, Summerville,
Trion, Lyerly and Menlo
residents.
The residency categories
aren’t binding but they will be
hel%ful in scoring the survey.
espondents are asked to
rate each category from one to
10, with 10 being the highest.
For exam%le, if you are unhap
py about the roads or streets in
your area, you might want to
Eive them a 3, but if you are
appy with the roadways, you
may want to give them a 9 or
10 score. The same method
should be used in all the
categories.
NO PHOTOCOPIES
No photocogies of the
survey form will be counted —
only those cllilpged from the
newspaper will be considered.
And no more than two survey
forms should be mailed in one
enveloge (for examfle, husband
and wife may decide to vote dif
ferently on the various
categories and want to com
plete two forms, rather than
one). In other words, don’t try
see YOUR CHANCE, page 2-A
PRICE 20c¢