Newspaper Page Text
8-A
.. .. . The Summerville News, Thursday, June 16, 1988
The Summerville City
Council Monday night adopted
a 1988-89 budget that boasts a
m“ of some $140,000, due
l&)oto the transfer of
$lO2, in residual federal
Revenue Sharing monies into
the town’s general fund.
A property tax rate of 2.8
mills was also set by the Coun
tf'g;cthe same as for the 1987-88
al year. A mill is $1 tax on
each SI,OOO of taxable
property.
LIBRARY
Maxor Sewell Cash and the
Council had held several public
budget meetings prior to Mon
day night. There was onldy one
minor change made Monday in
the budget recommended to
the Council by Grady
McCalmon, city manager. At
the request of Councilman
Ronnie Pilcher, the Council
authorized raising the city's
allocation to the Chattooga
County Library from $17,400
to $20,000, an increase of
$2,600.
. The adopted budget pro
jects income of $4,803,858 and
expenses of $4,663,591, leaving
a surplus of $140,267.
However, the income figure in
cludes $102,108 in ‘‘left over”
federal Revenue Sharin%]funds.
The Revenue Sharing
money was not included in a
tentative working budget
flven to the Council by
cCalmon in May. That
budget called for revenues of
$4,701,750 and expenses of
$4,710,631 as requested b
various city departments. 1{
listed a budget deficit of
SB,BBI.
CURRENT
The final 1987-88 budget
called for $4,834,850 in
revenues and $4,641,854 in ex
penses for an anticipated
surplus of $192,996. Whether
that surplus projection is ac
curate won't be known until
after the current fiscal year
ends on June 30. The budget
ado¥ted Monday night will go
in effect on July 1.
The 1988-89 revenue projec
tion is $30,992 lower than the
1987-88 figure and expenses for
next year were estimated at
Chamber Chief
Hit By Ag
A downtown Summerville property owner Monday night
ripged into the executive vice Eresident of the Chattooga Coun
ty Chamber of Commerce for her comments about his facilities
at a recent session of the Chamber’'s Retail Council.
Clinton Agnew said of the Chamber's Sue Spivey: “'lf she's
such a good é;‘amber director, why isn’t she runing the Atlan
ta Chamber?”’
Agnew made the remarks to the Summerville City Council.
He said he was referring to a report in last week’s edition
of The News that quoted Mrs. Spivey as saying insurance for
the Downtown Cinema building was a probf;m. along with its
cost of upkee%. “If it's such a good money-maker, why does
he want to sell it,” she was quoted as asking at the Retail
Council meeting.
Agnew and Yartner Richard Lindsey are attempting to sell
the theater building to the city for $90,000, saying it could
be used for various civic programs.
Rental of the theater worked well for the Shriners during
the Memorial Day weekend, Agnew told the City Council Mon
day. It helped the Shriners raise some $20,000 for Chattooga
County Hospital, he noted.
He’s never had a problem with insurance and he's never
given Mrs. Sfiivey any upkeep figures, an obviously angry
Agnew told the Council. He accused the Chamber executive
of commenting on ‘‘something she knows nothing about.”
He had never made the statement to Mrs. Spivey or the
City Council that the old Tooga Theater property was *‘a big
money-maker,” Agnew said.
His purgose Monday night was to ‘‘set the record
straight,” the property owner said, and make sure that city
officials weren't swayed by her comments, Agnew said.
The facility will be open all summer to show movies, he
said, and since another story about the offer to the city ap
peared in The News last weefi, he has received inquiries from
peo&le who wanted to lease the buildin%l on a trial basis.
ayor Sewell Cash told Agnew that the city was still con
sidering purchase of the property.
Councilman Guinn Hankins said he would like to have the
issue tabled until around December when the Council makes
its six-month review of the 1988-89 city budget.
. Y i
s I UL
.m» % SERVICE CENTER
RO E McGINNIS DRUGS
South Commerce Street
Ty Summerville, Georgia
S . F;hone 857-4151
o Se—— — uesday, June 21, 1988
S . Rooggine - 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
FREE CLeaning and Check-up of Any
Hearing Aide
Electronic Hearing lest in
FREE Your Home
it you can’t come in, we’ll come tu you
Just call us at 857-4151 :
BELTONE HEARING 2
AID SERVICE Foffone”
4048 McCall Blvd. == 1
X Rome’ Georgla_ ‘l‘ (ilrln'r l‘lDU{,_ POLEeSSHIOOOT Lare :
Summerville Shows Budget Surplus
Revenue Sharing Funds Transferred; To Buy New Firetruck
$21,737 more than for the cur
rent fiscal year. The estimated
budget surplus for next year is
$52,729 less than for 1987-88.
Expenses were pared by the
Council during its bugget
meetings and it also decided to
add the federal funds to the
revenue side of the ledger. The
money will be used to purchase
a new fire truck, estimated to
cost SIOO,OOO.
TRUCK
The bu(;:l&)et also includes
some $35, for a new gar
bage truck, some $50,000 for
rower for the city's street
ights, and $348,006 for
recreation.
Other departmental ex
penses listed in the budget
include:
Administration, $115,350;
animal control, $17,050; fire
department, $210,500, in
cluding purchase of a new
truck; streets, $203,850, in
cluding the street lights;
sanitation, $100,580, including
purchase of a new truck: and
police, $467,950.
Revenue sources listed in
the budget are general ad
ministration, $881,700; water
and sewer, $1,264,850; and
natural gas sales, $2,555,200.
The biggest income drop was in
natural gas, which is projected
to drop from $2,787,300 this
year, due to a new city purchas
ing agreement with a statewide
cooperative that reduces pur
chase costs, as well as gross
sales figures.
REVIEWS
The Council usually reviews
the budget again in July after
the previous fiscal year has
been completed. It then deter
mines whether certain areas of
the budget should be amended.
The panel also checks the
budget after six months to
determine whether it's on
track.
Members of the Council
said Monday night that they
plan to review the recreation
segment of the budget, in par
ticular, in July to see whether
it could finance new restrooms
at Fairway Recreation Center
(see related story).
The Council also made it
clear that if the 1988 tax digest
is factored by the State
Revenue Deg:artment, the city
will reduce the tax rate to bring
in approximately the same
amount of revenue as 2.8 mills.
The county digest was factored
by seven percent in 1987, The
current digest isn't expected to
be completed until sometime
next month.
REPRIEVE
Meanwhile, the much
discussed sewer line extension
to part of the Pennville com
munitK received a reprieve
from the city Monday when the
Council agreed in principle to
pay $30.0%r0 of the estimated
SIOO,OOO cost for extending a
sewer main to the area. The
agreement was on the condi
tion that the city obtain some
$20,000 in anticipated state
funds, and if property owners
along the line's route come up
with the other $50,000 —
whether personally or from
possible county government
assistance.
Dorothy Howell was the on
l¥l property owner affected by
the proposal to show up at
Mondaf/ night's meeting.
Severa residents or
businessmen who would be af
fected by the proposal had
shown up at earlier Council
meetings.
ESTIMATES
The city had agreed in May
to ask an engineer to provide it
with a preliminary estimate on
the cost of the project. Earlier,
rough estimates had ranged
from some $50,000 if the city
did the work to SIOO,OOO by a
private contractor. Harold
Tucker, city superintendent,
said the city doesn’t have ade
quate equigment for the job.
Mayor Cash and McCalmon
said the engineer had
estimated the $%00,000 cost,
based on extending the line
along the east side of the af
fected property. The cost for
extending it along U.S.
Highway 27 to the Sequoyah
Motel would be about
$130,000, the engineer
estimated.
Chattooga Rep. John
Crawford and 53rd Dist. Sen.
(% 1 Vi o W s
g 4 \ i(‘ iPB YTP of 60Nl gy B o
e L AEIENT " Wy RS
1 g - bl Tl :‘”z oL e
F§£ b b B ,:;2,'7 bAB Ay % % /},a v Rbt s ”
PR LR | [ty W§W" iLy A Aol P XL
i 1§ 8 it gao *\i‘ Wo WL s, ~ b 3S TR
L ReRL mb W PF s R L, GA i
| b | BRSO e eBOT ag i ) i TR i v
BBa2 % 1 e e B L VR b%5 AR RIR A
. '.M'J AsBN) SR MY A e W O “r
OB R R 8,0 SR . o EhA, e
.TR eB ot PRy 4 o ol A SR Lvy
FETTR LS ) T B e
vB T 4 Sty AR ; g P e
@ Lsk e L P B PO TL To g )
S. s 5% 254 W AN o g "[ W% g p
g 2 TR e s
goo< g ; Abt | oAR ¢ Z & & ~‘? YXN
)&Ibe4o |.e T ¢ g : T A
Sipr iSR e |\ ASO7 OSI ; =
LYok _, iy ; e W PN ‘ 4
» : % ‘ak : S A DR, 2
A, o rORE B . . g
! P 3 b\ 2%‘ Ay %, 4 e
- 4' 3 Y ¢ 4
G o R%7 5 i '
: é‘.: . 5 3 e
s . o ( \g 3
P 7 R o y
& )’:« .i % g u’,é S g » 3 5
se.l o' 5 ‘ . . : /
2 ,;f:’ :~tz'}"v.?¥ifi, ’ : e o? e b &”%;W v x
’ ,%’ o/ ‘/ o ,f‘:‘ %3 b g 7 555 './;{0“’/',"»@”’?6‘”' .‘ M
o /. . £ G B C Y
{ g %/“M‘f Wo . 2y ; Say T
‘e s W 0 e i S
. L e ; i e Lbo
o 2 p¢ # i I vke 4 7
:i i e
i ¥ 5 it e
L | i W /i i TN e L
WOODEN COVERS PLACED ON WATER INTAKE LINES
Designed To Keep Leaves Out Of Water System
Water Conservation Asked
Raccoon Creek, Spring Levels Already Low
from front page
dustries and business went
back in operation.
BAN NEXT
If the city has to implement
a mandatory water conserva
tion program, the first step will
be an outright ban on outdéor
watering between 6 a.m. and 9
p.m. daily, the city manager
said earlier Monday.
The city started Tuesday
morning building up the height
of the water intafie dam on
Raccoon Creek by another
eight inches, McCalmon said.
That will give the city about
three more days of reserve, he
said.
There is still adequate flow
over the dam, he said, despite
the drought.
At some point, the state
will require the city to protect
a minimum flow in Raccoon
Creek, he said.
Councilman Ira Pollard ask
ed whether consideration had
been given to longterm storage
sources.
NEW SOURCE
McCalmon said the city
needs an additional source on
the north end of its system.
The ideal solution woultr be for
Waymond “Sonny" Huggins
have indicated that the city
could likelg obtain $20,000 in
rant funds for the project,
g’lcCalmon told the Council.
“We can't finance the whole
project,” Mrs. Howell said
when told about the costs.
ANNEXATION?
Councilman Pilcher asked
Mayor Cash why he was oppos
ed to annexing the Pennville
property owners who want
sewerage into the city. Cash
replied that the city would then
have to furnish all city services
within ‘‘a reasonable time'’ and
with a low propertir tax rate,
the annexation could cost the
city more than it would gain
over the long run.
Councilman Ed Bush, who
later proposed that the city
commit to paying $30,000 of
the cost if the state and proper
t{ owners could come u% with
the remaining $70,000, in
dicated that he didn't want the
project to die Monday night.
The Council adoi)ted his pro
posal unanimously.
Mrs. Howell said she would
contact other Eroperty owners
along U.S. 27 to acquaint
them with the Council's
progosal.
he Council also agreed to
install 14,260 feet of six-inch
water main along Berryton
Road if 64 residents who say
they want water will come up
witi $760 each to pay towards
the estimated $50,050 cost of
the project. The panel also
agreed to forego its usual $250
cut-in fee if the residents came
up with the money.
POWELL
McCalmon said Chattooga
Commissioner Harry Powell
had called to discuss the pro
ject and indicated that it might
be eligible for some state
funding.
Benjamin Blalock, a resi
dent of the area, presented a
list of the names and addresses
of the 64 residents who said
they want Summerville water.
At least one of the residents
wants two cut-ins, he said.
Blalock also agreed to check
and see if each resident would
come up with the $760 each,
the city to tie on to Chattooga
Water District’s system, the ci
ty manager said, noting that
Summerville’s connection re
quest last year fell flat.
Pollard suggested that
another effort %)e made, and
McCalmon agreed.
McCalmon said last April
Houses Burn
Two houses were destroyed
by fire Sunday, according to
reports at the Summerville
Fire Department.
Firemen responded to one
call to a house on Curran Street
owned by Terry Williamson at
11:37 fi.m. Sunday, reports
said. They were on duty until
1:38 a.m. Monday.
A house off Northwest Con
ess Street owned by Randy
%l.' Smith was destroyed by fire
Saturday. Firefighters
responded to the blaze at 10:57
p.m. and were on duty until
1:22 a.m. Monday.
A woods fire was also ex
tinguished at an_unreported
location Monday, firemen said.
and whether each one is in
terested in city natural gas
service.
Tl:ie_pangl. §nlother act.ion‘E
agreed in principle to a reques
by developer Nrilford Morgan
to pave new streets he plans to
(()}pen in the city. Councilman
uinn Hankins, himself a
developer, abstained from
voting on the issue.
One would stretch from
West First Avenue to West
Washington Avenue, while the
other would be an extension of
the unopened portion of Lee
Street.
DEVELOPMENT
Morgan said he plans to
build 10 townhouse-type struc
tures in the immediate future,
plus 42 single-family homes at
a later date. All would use
natural gas, he said.
Morgan said he would
grant the city rights-of-way to
the roads and prepare them for
paving.
The city said it would ob
tain bids on paving the streets.
Members of the Council and
Mayor Cash also opened two
bids on paving Sage Brush
Lane in Hankins' Subdivision,
being developed by Coun
cilman Hankins. Head‘;ick Con
struction Co., Summerville,
submitted a bid of $3,490 for
400 feet of paving 18 feet wide.
Spriggs Paving Co., Rome,
submitted a big of $2,920 for
400 feet of paving 16 feet wide.
City Manager McCalmon
noted that the city's specifica
tions called for the paving to be
18 feet wide. ’l‘Ee C%uncil
awarded the contract to
Headrick. Hankins abstained
from the vote.
Mayor Cash, after the bids
were opened, told Morgan that
the estimated cost to the city
for paving his streets would be
around $12,000, based on
Headrick’s bid.
WATER PRESSURE
Randy Searels told the
Council Monday night that he
was in the firocess of building
a house in the Frontier Estates
area and wanted to check on
reports of low water pressure
and whether a larger line is
needed.
that the city had adequate
water for its system but need
ed an additional source in the
Pennville area to balance the ci
ty's sources.
RESERVOIRS
Cecil Reynolds, manager of
Summerville's water treatment
plant, explained at the time
that the city has several reser
voirs that are filled in sequence
from the puméxs at the treat
ment plant and Lowe Springs.
When one tank fills, a check
valve allows water to flow to
the next reservoir, and then to
the next tank.
The (Froblem last summer
occurred when water use in the
west and central part of the ci
ty increased dramatically,
sometimes making it difficult
to completely fill all the reser
voirs overnight, Reynclds said
in April.
LAST FILLED
The reservoir on Goodwin
Hill serves the Pennville area
and it is also the fartherest one
north on the system, according
to Harold Tucker, city
superintendent. It is therefore
the last one filled at night,
when water use is traditional
ly at its lowest level.
After discussion, it seemed
the concensus of Maror Cash
and the Council that
McCalmon check with
developers Ed Surles and J. P.
Smith about any subdivision
plans and whether a pump is
needed to boost pressure in the
area. Installing a larger line
without adeqluate pressure
would probably worsen the
pressure problem, McCalmon
said. Surles had called to offer
assistance on a larger line, the
city mam}ger said.
City officials told a mobile
home park developer that her
property wasn't large enough
to support the addition of three
more trailers. The property of
Carolyn in;att on ?(oberts
Street in West Summerville
currently has two mobile
homes that were ‘‘grand
fathered in'' when the current
zoning ordinance was adogted.
said %/[cCalmon and Johnny
Edwards, building inspector.
However, three new mobile
homes now on the property
weren't there when the or
dinance was adopted, Mrs.
Wyatt was told, and can't be
added to the tract now because
of various restrictions.
SEWERAGE
The Council received an
estimate of $27,370 for exten
ding a sewer line from Maple
Drive to Hankins Subdivision.
Mayor Cash suggested, and
the Council agreed, to obtain a
least two more prices on the
project.
The city will extend natural
gas service to the residence of
0. G. Morehead for SI,OOO, the
Council agreed. The estimated
cost of the project was $1,385.
Peggy Morel)lead, who ap
peared at the meeting, said she
and her husband thought the
cost would be between S6OO
and SI,OOO, based on estimates
of two years ago. The Council
a%reed to reduce the cost from
$1,385 to SI,OOO.
SURPLUS
It sold several pieces of
surfilus city equitpment to the
highest bidders for a total of
$2,561. The equipment and
high bidders were: 1968 model
dump truck, $1,251 from
Other Chattooga Systems
Ask For Wasier Cutbacks
Officials of most other
water systems in Chattooga
County this week encouraged
their customers to voluntarily
reduce their consumption due
to a drought that has hit Nor
thwest Georgia.
Summerville customers
were asked Monday night to
voluntarily cut back their
water use (see related story).
But both Trion Mayor
Hoyt Williams and Bill Roach
of the Riegel Textile Division
of Mt. Vernon Mills, said Tues
day that the town’s water
| sKstem is still in ““‘pretty good
shape.” Trion obtains its water
from the textile mill.
TRION
A 10-inch water flow is still
coming out of the spring used
by the mill, said Roach, but if
no rain falls in the near future,
water consumption may have
to be reduced. The first step, if
that occurs, would be a vofim
tary cutback, he added.
The City of Lyerly has been
getting about half its water —
some 50,000 to 75,000 gallons
per day — through its connec
tion to the gummerville
system, said Danny Wyatt,
mayor of the town.
“We pretty much follow
Summerville’s lead,” Wyatt
said. He encouraged the town's
customers to voluntarily
reduce their water consump
tion to assist Summerville and
to ?lonserve water in the town’s
well.
WATER DISTRICT
The Chattooga Water
District board voted Tuesday
night to ask its customers for
a voluntary water reduction.
“We're getting in some serious
problems,” said Jack Thomas,
chairman of the board.
Although the district’'s
wells are pumping sufficient
water for the system at this
time, ‘‘you never know what's
%oing on underground,”’
homas noted. The state will
probably require a water ban of
some type in the immediate
future, he said.
Menlo Mayor Theresa
Canada was emphatic: ‘I can’t
stress enough for people to con
serve.”” Flow from tfie town's
wells has been adequz te so far,
she said, but the system’s
pumps operated 24 hours Mon
day. Usually, the demand
slacks enough so that the
pumps stop eight to 10 hours
eapéx night, Mayor Canada
said. ’
George Welch; 1979 model car,
$175 from Junior Trammell
1982 model car, $450 from Bil
ly Knowles; 1984 model car,
$5lO from Menlo Cars and
Parts; and a pull street
sweeper, $175 from Milford
Morgan. No bids were received
on a motor scooter.
In other action, the Council:
— Agreed to purchase a
reconditioned Motorola radio
for a new police patrol car for
$895.
- sAzgain tabled action on a
proposed police manual on pro
cedures and personnel.
ORDINANCE
— Decided to instruct Ben
Ballenger, city attorney, to
have a proposed ordinance
against trespassing on city
utility lines ready by its July
11 meeting.
— Asked Ballenger to have
a proposed ordinance ready by
July 11 against unauthorized
use of city fire hydrants, in
cludin%appropriate penalties.
— Denied a re%uest from
Mrs. J. C. Dyer, Dickeyville
Road, that she be removed
from Summerville's fire protec
tion program. The Council and
Mayor became involved in a
brief debate over whether the
city could cut off a customer’s
water for failure to pay the $4
per month fire protection fee.
Councilman Pilcher noted that
in case of a fire, Summerville
water would be used to fight
the blaze, although a Trion
truck might respond to the
blaze. Mayor Cash said he
wasn't convinced the city could
legal}y cut off a person’s water
for failure to pay the fee.
Pilcher said the city should
send a letter to all customers
who have withheld payment
and demand that they pay the
charge.
‘McCalmon, when asked,
said his ‘‘rough estimate’’ was
that only three or four
customers have refused to pay
the fee.
DOT REQUEST
— Agreed to give the
Georgia Department of
Transportation the right-of
way adjacent to the city’s
natural gas office in Floyd
If a problem develops with
the pumps or elsewhere in the
system she said, the drought
coul. quickly drain the town'’s
water reservoir.
BANNED
Dick Tanner said the
Cloudland water system has
already placed an outright ban
on all outdoor water use and
asked residents to conserve as
much water as possible inside.
Cloudland’s reservoir is
‘“‘dangerously low,” he said.
Three weeks ago, the tank was
full, but it has steadily gone
down with heavy use noted on
weekends.
It apgears that there may
be problems in getting
Clougland’s first choice in a
driller to move immediately in
locating a new weil, Tanner
said. ’%he community may
therefore go to another choice
to ensure that a well is drilled
sgeedily and to help alleviate
the drought problem.
TWO SITES
Tom Crawford, a West
Georgia College geologist, and
a state geologist have iden
tified a spot near the line to the
reservoir as a good site to drill,
Tanner said. That'll probably
be the first place to which a
well driller is directed, he
added.
We can usually insure your house, furnishings, outbuildings,
mobile home or business at a big savings to you, Why? Because:
We are a Co-op Mutual Co.
We are exempt from all taxes and licenses.
We are a non-profit association and prohibited by state laws from
making a profit.
We have no agents — so you pay no agent's commission.
You deal directly with an officer of the company. You deal with
homefolk in buying your insurance and paying claims.
We are the largest and oldest Farmer's Mutual in Georgia,
organized in 1892 and insuring property in our area ever since.
CONTACT BILL TATE
AT TATE FURNITURE CO.
734-2281
WE DO NOT INSURE AUTOS
County on the Old Summer
ville Road at U. S. 27. It also
gave McCalmon authority to
ne%otiate with the DOT on the
replacement of fences and some
grading at the site. The DOT
plans to widen U. S. 27 begin
ning where the five-lane now
ends.
— Agreed to let the DOT
relocate its gas main on
Kingston Highway at Sher
wood Forest in Floyd County,
provided that the g()T pay all
expenses for the relocation.
McCalmon noted thet the line
isn’t -on the \DOT's
right-of-way.
— Authorized Welker and
Associates, Marietta, the city's
engineers, to handle the
engineering work for the
relocation provided all costs
are paid by the DOT.
— Noted that semi-annual
dues of S3O are now due for fire
protection services for non-city
residents who aren't on the ci
ty's water lines. :
STUDENTS
— Decided to hire six
students 16 years of age and
older to clear off the city's gas
line from the Floyd County fine
to Summerville. Students are
hired each summer for the
project.
— Agreed to allot the same
amount for group insurance for
four volunteer firemen that the
city is now paying on the
premiums of fulltime city
employees. McCalmon said the
firemen had previously been
covered by tl!:e city's old in
surance carrier, but that the
current carrier won't provide
the same coverage because the
volunteers don't work 20 hours
per week.
* — Approved the installa
tion of a water line extension to
property of Lewis Howard in
northwest Summerville at a
cost of $760.66.
— Tabled a request for
speedbreakers on Roberts
Street because it was unclear
what part of the street is in the
city limits.
Another spot near the East
Fork of Little River has been
identified by both geologists as
the best place to drill a well,
Tanner said, although the
water may have a high mineral
content.
If the community can drill
a new well in the imemdiate
future to help make it through
the summer months, it will
have time to try the other area
and install filtration and treat
ment facilities if the search for
water there proves to be
fruitful.
The community’'s well in
Shinbone Valley went bad ear
ly this year and an old well was
reopened.
Camp Low
Recognized
Camp Juliette Low, atop
Lookout Mountain in Chat
tooga County, will be official
ly added to the National
Register for Historic Sites this
Saturday.
The camp is Georgia's
oldest camp for girls. It has
received the highest accredita
tion given by the American
Camping Association. Several
of those running for office in
this area will be on hand for the
event.