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VOLUME CIV — NUMBER IX
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Staff Photo By Rich Jefferson
CHS PRINCIPAL JACK CATRETT (ARROW) LISTENS TO COOK
Board Chairman Faces Crowded Board Room Monday Night
S&L ‘Business As Usual’
FSLIC Takes Over Operation Of Institution
By TOMMY TOLES
Editor
*
It was still “‘business as
usual” for customers of the
financially ailing First Federal
Savings and Loan Association
of Summerville at mid-week
although the institution was
taken over by the Federal Sav
ings and Loan Insurance Corp.
(F‘%LIC) late last week.
That's according to the new
managing agent of First
Federal, as we%l as its current
president, Ron Hollis. All of
the institution's operations are
now under the control of
Frederick H. Connell, a field of
fice supervisor and bank ex
aminer with the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corp.
(FDIC).
EXPERTISE
The FSLIC reached an
agreement this past week that
the FDIC would supply its
management expertise and
operate the institution, pen
ding final resolution of its
financial difficulties. Hollis as
well as First Federal's board of
directors are under the direct
control of Connell.
First Federal of Summer
ville was one of two Georgia
thrifts taken over by the
FSLIC and FDIC this past
Thursday. The other was I?irst
Federal S&L of Atlanta. Con
nell and Hollis also said that
the local institution was one of
45 insolvent S&Ls taken over
Thursday under a plan devised
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FIRST FEDERAL S&L ASSN. TAKEN OVER BY FSLIC-FDIC
But ‘‘Business As Usual”’ For Institution’s Customers
Dogs Whip Dogs
--See Page 1-C
© Copyright 1989 By Espy Publishing Co., Inc. — All Rights Reserved
by the administration of Presi
dent George Bush.
Both Connell and Hollis,
who have been acquaintances
for a decade, emphasized Tues
day that the ‘‘full faith and
credit of the United States
government’’ is behind the in
stitution and that no depositor
of SIOO,OOO or less will lose any
money. Rebecca Vail, vice
president of the Federal Home
LLoan Bank Board (FHLBB)
also told the News last Thurs
day ‘‘as far as depositors are
concerned, it was%usiness as
usual. The institution was not
closed in any sense of the
word.”
FIRST ACTION
It was the first action in
Georgia and in Summerville
since President Bush announc
ed plans in February to rescue
the S&L insurance fund. The
Administration is betting that
the FDIC's management can
grevent further losses at the
summerville S&L and at about
200 other thrifts around the na
tion until after Congress acts
on Bush's $162-billion bailout
of the FSLIC. There are about
350 insolvent S&Ls around the
nation. The one in Summerville
is one of the smallest.
Hollis wasn't aware that
the FSLIC would be named
conservator of the institution
and would informally contract
with the FDIC to run the
business. ‘lt didn't surprise
me, but no, I didn't know they
were coming,” he said Tuesday
afternoon.
UNANNOUNCED
Connell and six other
SUMMERVILLE, CHATTOOGA COUNTY, GEORGIA — THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 1989
FSLIC and FDIC officials and
lawyers arrived unannounced
at First Federal in Summerville
at 10 a.m. last Thursday. It
took just ‘‘a few minutes’ for
Hollis and FDIC and FSLIC
officials to sign the necessary
papers to turn the institution
over to the FSLIC and FDIC,
he said.
Connell and Ron Lamaree
of the Atlanta FDIC office will
be in Summerville full time
while they assess First
Federal's problems. Connell
said he will also bring in
specialized personnel ang ex
aminers to go over the books
and prepare analyses of its pro
blems for his study and even
tual recommendations. Some
of the examiners were already
at work early this week.
Connell and his family
reside in Decatur, Ala., where
he is supervisor of the FDIC's
field office. However, he plans
to move to Chattooga County
in the immediate future and
return home on alternate
weekends. He was still staying
in Rome early this week. He
has been employed with the
FDIC for 22 years and worked
in Georgia from 1967 to 1981
and became acquainted with
Hollis after moving to Decatur.
Hollis was employed by finan
cial institutions in Alabama
prior to becoming president of
First Federal in June, 1986. It
was Hollis who discovered its
financial problems.
TOP OF UMBRELLA
Referring to Connell, Hollis
said, ‘‘Looking at an umbrella,
he's on top of the umbrella, in
see S&L, page 12-A
Motorist Killed
--See Page 7-A
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FDIC OFFICIAL FREDERICK CONNELL (R)
With S&L President Ron Hollis
BOE Expenses, Salaries
Hit $16.000 In One Year
According To Trion And Chattooga Records
By RICH JEFFERSON
Staff Writer
*
A review of reim
bursements for travel expenses
regorted by the Trion Board of
Education during the 1987-88
fiscal year, and of comparable
record); compiled by the Chat
tooga County School Board
show that Trion spent more on
travel than the county board
during a 12-month period.
Chattooga records made
available to The Summerville
News were for the 1988 calen
dar year.
Trion's board has a policy
not to qay board members for
regularly scheduled meetings
or calred meetings, but
members of the Cfiattooga
County board were paid a total
of $8,150 for various meetings
and board functions, records
show.
Chattooga's board received
$2,170 for travel expenses, and
Catrett Not Rehired
As Principal At CHS
BOE, Hayes Refuse To (ite Reasons
By RICH JEFFERSON
Staff Writer
Jack Catrett had big plans
for Chattooga Hiih School. In
an interview with The Sum
merville News last August, the
new Frincipal said he was look
ing forward to tackling Chat
tooga County's dropout pro
blem, boosting morale at the
Don Hayes, superintendent of
Chattooga County Schools,
was reimbursed $598.12 for
traveling on school business.
COUNTY BOARD
The total paid to the coun
ty school board and to Hayes
for attending meetings and
traveling in 1988 was
$10,918.12.
Bill Kinzy, superintendent
of Trion Schools, was reimburs
ed $2,165.46 for traveling on
school business, and Trion's
board spent $2,869.72 for at
tending out-of-county meetings
during the 1987-88 gi,scal year.
TRION TRAVEL
Chattooga’'s board and
superintengent were paid
$5,882.94 more overall than
Trion's, but the Trion board
and superintendent were reim
burse(f $2,267.06 more for
travel expenses than their
Chattooga counterparts.
Joyce Johnson, a Chat
tooga County board member,
received more in reim
bursements than any board
school, and establishing good
community relations.
From the outside,
everything seemed to be going
well for him, but last Friday,
Catrett found out he would not
be tenured principal at Chat
tooga High. Don Hayes,
sugermten ent of the county
schools, told Catrett Friday
morning that he would not
recommend that Catrett be
rehired by the board of educa
tion for the following school
year.
SIX OF SEVEN
Monday night, Hayes made
good on that promise. Six of
the seven principals in the
county system were recom
mended for another year at
their current positions, but no
recommendation was made for
the post of principal at Chat
tooga High.
According to Georgia law,
a school board may not over
rule a superintendent and hire
a principal without the
superintendent’s recommenda
tion, board chairman Joel‘Cook
told the crowd at the central of
fice Monday night. Some of
those attending the board
meeting asked that Catrett be
Parker Exercises
Option On Landfill
Says Tests Indicate Site Acceptable
Chattooga County Commis
sioner Jim Parker this week ex
ercised a $5,000 option on 155
acres of land in the Chat
toogaville community for a
new landfill.
Hill-Fister Engineers Inc.,
Clarkston, gave him a report
late last week that indicated
the site would be satisfactory
for a sanitary landfill, the com
missioner said. The firm was
member in either system. She
received $2,150 for attending
school board meetings, as well
as meetings of the Regional
Educational Service Agenc
(RESA) in Rome. Althoug%
Mrs. Johnson received no reim
bursement specifically for
mileage, she was paid SSO for
each RESA meeting she
attended.
According to records at the
county board office, Mrs.
Johnson received $650 for at
tending 13 RESA meetings
during 1988.
RESA SESSIONS
School boards in Northwest
Georgia usually appoint the
system's superinten(f;nt to the
RESA board, but any member
of the school system's staff, ac
cording to state law, may be
appointed, said Jim Holloway,
director of the Northwest
Georgia RESA. Other RESA
groups in Georgia have more
board members who are not
superintendents, he said.
Hayes represented the
Chattooga schools on the
see BOE EXPENSES, page 12-A
Prison Work Pushed
--See Page 3-A
rehired, but Cook said the
board could do nothing without
arecommendation from Hayes.
One woman expressed con
fusion about the way Hayes
and the board conducted Mon
day night's meeting.
**At a previous school board
meeting you practically threw
a teacher out of this county.
There were no charges filed
against him. We shouldn’t be
kept in the dark. I can’t believe
how quickly this meeting end
ed with all this business,”” Pat
Strange said.
Another man told Hayes he
owed the parents of county
students an explanation.
Hayes said that after con
sulting with a lawyer he had
decided to make no comments.
LEGAL?
“Is it a legal reason?’’ the
man asked. "If it's not a legal
reason then that's a bunch of
crap. You're dodging a bullet.
We elected you and you have
no comment. You're not man
enough to give us a reason.”’
Several asked Hayes if he
planned to make his reasons
for not recommending Catrett
clear in the future. “I don't
know,”” Hayes said.
also ‘‘leaning” toward the
possibility that it wouldn't
need a plastic or clay liner, he
added.
The option was exercised
although Parker received a
petition Monday containing
119 signatures from residents
of the area opposing the site for
a new county landfill (see
related story). Cherokee Coun
ty, Ala. officials have also ques
tioned the wisdom of that par
ticular site.
NO EPD RULING
The Environmental Protec
tion Division (EPD) of the
Georgia Department of
Natural Resources has not yet
ruled on the suitability of the
location, Parker said Tuesday.
The EPD has required Hifi-
Fister to plot its 15 test bore
sites on a map of the 155-acre
tract, he said. That work was
being done late last week and
this week.
The firm wasn't aware that
the boring sites had to be in
dicated on a map of the site,
Parker said, and the EPD’s re
quirement may have delayed a
possible state decision by
about a week. He also em
phasized that if the state issues
a permit for the site, the EPD
will have the final decision on
whether a liner will be
necessary. He hopes to have a
decision from the EPD on the
acceptability of the site within
about two weeks.
CONFIDENT
But the commissioner said
he felt confident enough from
the Hill-Fister report %o exer
cise the option and Elay the
Busbin estate $5,000 this week
to hold the property until May
15. The deadline for exercising
the option was Wednesday.
The asking price for the
tract is SI,OOO per acre, which
Parker has said was high for
that area of the county. Most
proyerty in that section hasn’t
sold for more than about SBSO
per acre, he said. However, if
there is sufficient clay in the
PRICE 25¢
When asked later about
rumors that Catrett had not
told the board the truth about
some personal matters, Coqk
said, ‘' Ask Mr. Hayes.”” When
Hayes was asked about the
possibility that Catrett had not
revealed correct personal infor
mation, Hayes said that not
renewing Catrett's contract
was strictly an issue of
professionalism.
In an interview Tuesday,
Catrett said there are no ap
peals to make, and nothing he
can do.
NO TENURE
“The deal is I'm a non
tenured principal. I haven’t
received my second contract or
I would be. Donnie gave me no
reason. He's smart to do that.
I know the Fair Dismissal Act
and there's nothing I can do.”
Catrett promised that he
would do the best job he could
to continue running the school
in an orderly, disciplined way.
“I'm a capable fiigh school
princiFal. I'm captain to the
end of the eontract. That's all
I have to say.”
Catrett said there was some
problem with coaches, and that
see CATRETT, page 9-A
soil so that no liner would be re
quired, the property would be
“‘a bargain,”” he said on Jan. 30,
when he announced that the
site was under consideration.
The state has estimated
that it could cost more than
$50,000 per acre to install a
liner an(f leachate collection
system.
PRIVATE FIRM
Parker on Jan. 30 paid SIOO
to the Busbin estate to hold the
property until March 15, to
give the county sufficient time
in which to have the site tested.
The commissioner said at the
time that he was going to ob
tain the services of a firivate
compan¥ to expedite the pro
cess. Although the Georgia
Department of Transportation
(DBT) might do the work at
less cost, it couldn’'t be done
quickly, Parker indicated in
January.
Immediately after assum
ing office on Jan. 1, Parker re
jected a 50-acre tract in the
Perennial Springs community
for a new landfill. He said he
was concerned about pollution
of an underground reservoir in
the area, the cost of a liner and
his assessment that only about
half the steep site wou{d have
been suitabll)e to use as a
sanitary landfill. Parker said he
sought a large tract so that it
would be many years before a
commissioner had to worry
about solid waste disposal.
DEADLINE
Parker has been given until
July 1 by the EPD to close the
current landfill on Penn Bridge
Road. He said he hopes to have
a new facility in operation by
that time.
The state last week issued
a ‘‘public advisory’’ on the
count‘y's application for a per
mit for the Chattoogaville
tract. ‘‘The final application
will include a letter o? site ac
ceptability, an approved design
and operational plan and local
zoning approval prior to mak
see PARKER, page 9-A