Newspaper Page Text
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The Summerville News, Thursday, March 30, 1989
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COMMISSIONER JIM PARKER (L), MAYOR SEWELL CASH
Discuss Proposed Financial Aid By County To Recreation Dept.
Recreation Accord
include Summerville as well as
the county's other recreation
departments or areas, Parker
said. Because it has the
greatest number of par
ticipants, he continued, Sum
merville will likely receive the
larglgst share of funds.
he commissioner indicated
some irritation at comments by
Stanley and others at last
week's recreation board
meeting at the beginning of his
meeting with Mayor Cash
Thursday. "I don’t understand
some of the things that were
said the other night, but I
haven't been sitting on my
can,”’ Parker said.
Cash said the public doesn’t
always understand the time re
quired for government to act
on a matter. He said the city
wasn't trying to pressure
Parker although there was a
need to work out some sort of
agreement for the city's
1989-90 fiscal vear recreation
budget. ““....Me and you
know what we've done,”” Cash
added.
COUNTY FINANCES
The commissioner said he'd
been trying to ‘‘get a handle”
on county income and respon
sibilities since assuming ogfice
on Jan. 1. He said he had
checked with three other Nor
thwest Georgia counties to
determine how they handle
recreation funding. Walker
doesn’t provide any recreation
money to any group, he said,
while Catoosa provides SIO,OOO
annually to each of four or five
recreation areas. The county
operates a recreation depart
ment in Dade, he indicated.
Parker said he intends to
budget recreation funds next
year ‘‘but it may not be a
recommended percent that
they want to see, or a percent
that I want to see.” He was
asked at the March 21 meeting
if he would pay for at least one
half the city recreation budget
since 72 percent of its par
ticipants are non-city
residents.
CITY-COUNTY?
Mayor Cash promoted the
concept of acity-county recrea-
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tion department several times
during the conversation but
Parker never responded direct
lv to that proposal. Cash also
said he thought 20 percent
county lparticipa\tion would be
acceptable to him and the coun
cil. Former Commissioner
Powell gave $21,000 or $22,000
to the city for recreation last
year, Cash said, but SIO,OOO of
that amount went to repairs on
the Bolling Road swimming
pool.
Parker noted that although
Summerville's recreation
department played host to a
greater number of county
students, the Trion depart
ment had a higher percentage
of non-Trion 'resi(Fents tafie
part in that town's recreation
programs.
TIPPING FEES
The mayor and City
Manager Grady McCalmon
had afgo earlier broached the
subject of the city not paying
tipping fees at the new county
landfill during the rest of this
calendar year. Commissioner
Parker hinted that if Summer
ville and other cities par
ticipated in the cost of
operating the new landfill, tip
ping fees might not be
necessary. But he didn’t in
dicate a willingness to allow
the city to use the facility free
as a Frp quid quo for county
use of citv recreation facilities.
Although the city bought
the land for the current landfill
on Penn Bridge Road some 20
years ago, costs for a landfill
have skyrocketed since that
time, the commissioner told
Cash. ‘“*We're talking big
dollars.” Cost of getting the
new landfill ready to accept its
first load of garbage may be
$250,000 to $300,000, Parker
said. “You can gfet some idea
what the tipping fees are goin
to have to gg Logoffset sorgne o%
the cost,”” he added.
Cash indicated that Sum
merville would be willing to
pay its pro-rata share for using
the landfill if the county paid
its pro-rata share for use of ci
ty recreation programs by non
city residents. Commissioner
Parker said he didn’t yet know
what the landfill operating
costs will be.
CITY PAVING?
Cash pointed out that none
of the some $4.1-million raised
by alocal one-cent local option
sales tax for roads and bridges
had been spent inside the City
of Summerville during the past
three years. He noted that ci
ty residents ‘‘are county
residents, too."”
Commissioner Parker said
he couldn’t do anything about
the past but said in the future,
"I can assure you that fairness
will prevail'” on paving of
Reached
streets and roads. However, he
said he couldn’t promise at
that time to use the sales tax
revenues for such things as
parking lots and wa%king
tracks. He wanted to find out
if that would be legal. He was
awaiting a written legal opi
nion from Hyden late Tuesday
afternoon. Parker said he
thought parking lots could be
paved but not a walking track.
Parker said changes in the
county, including recreation,
aren't ‘‘going to happen over
night"" but if everyone has “‘the
proper attitude of coopera
tion, agreements can be reach
ed to benefit the entire countv.
PERCENTAGE
Cash had mentioned on
March 21 that when he became
involved in city government 18
vears before, the county was
putting about SI,OOO per
month into the annual city
recreation budget of SBO,OOO to
SIOO,OOO. Commissioner
Parker said that would amount
to 10 to 12 percent of the total
budget and those percentages
“'would at least be a starting
Foint" for new county funding.
Ie might be able to increase
that amount after the first
vear, Parker told Cash.
Mayor Cash said he felt
that percentage would be a
“reasonable start.” He said,
however, that a final decision
would be up to the city council
on Parker's offer to in essence,
exchange checks and for the
county to do some city work
during the rest of this calendar
year. Such an agreement this
year would give Parker more
time to determine the county's
finances, Mavor Cash said,
“although that's not enough
actual dollars.” Cash said he
would present the proposal to
the council. Cash said Tuesday
nilght that all but one coun
cilman agreed to the proposal.
The council will meet at 5:30
p.m. Friday to further consider
the recreation issue.
Commissioner Parker said
it would also be good for a
future meeting to involve other
elected officia%s in the county.
Vandals Hit
Tombstones
Vandals have again hit
beleagured South Carolina
Cemetery.
A Sunday evening visitor to
the cemetery, Highway 100,
found that 15 to 20 tombstones
had been knocked over, accor
ding to a report filed by Chat
tooga County Dep. Sheriff Lisa
Howell.
The cemetery has been hit
by vandals several times in the
past two years.
Recreation Board Approves Budget
The Summerville Recrea
tion Board Tuesday evening
adopted a s4l 4.484.68({)r0p05~
ed budget for the 1989-90 fiscal
vear,
The proposal was approved
without discussion and for
warded to the Summerville Ci
ty Council for its consideration
in its budget deliberations. The
1988-89 budget is $353,107.
Action on the proposed
budget came after a lengthy
discussion of recreation issues
with Summerville Mayor
Sewell Cash. The city official
met last Thursday with Chat
tooga County Commissioner
Jim Parker and worked out a
tentative agreement on im
mediate recreation funding.
(See related story).
SUBSTANCE
The mayor outlined the
substance of the meeting to the
Hospital Finances Better
from front page
The old budget shows that
the hoseital recorded a surplus
of 825,598 in Februaty, con
trasted to a projected loss of
$22,821. Sweitzer's budget
showed net surplus of $29,098,
com{)ared to a projected
surplus of $15,400.
REDUCED
The additional unexpected
revenue in January and
February has reduced the
hospital's accounts payable to
$64,674, Sweitzer's budget
showed, below a projected
SBB,OOO. Without t?le Chat
tooga Cares drive, accounts
payable were expected to hit
almost $200,000 by June 30 of
this vear.
February was a profitable
month although contributions
for the month hit $26,342,
down from a projected $30,000,
according to Sweitzer's budget.
However, he noted, Medicare
deductions were $9,740 as op
posed to a projected $30,000.
Overall, Sweitzer's budget
showed, net revenue was upgby
$9,807 while expenses were
$3,891 under his budget. The
surplus in February was
$13,698 more than he had pro
jected late last year.
NURSING COSTS
The cost of providing nurs
ing services was higher in
February, he said, because a
shortage of nurses forced the
hospital to pay more overtime.
The hospital has since hired
one new nurse and has had in
quiries from others since the
authority increased the base
pay for nurses in late February.
The hospital recorded a
deficit of $72,197 last
November and $25,159 in
December, based on the old
budget.
And while the hospital's in
patient occupancy rate was in
the profitable 82 to 35 percent
range in January and
February, it dipped to 9.68 per
cent last November and to
10.41 percent in December.
Sweitzer said Monday
night that the hospital's oc
cupancy rate was down to an
average of about eight patients
so far this month, or around 25
percent of capacity. Financial
figures for March will be
available at the authority's
April 24 meeting.
Sweitzer said the hospital's
assets to liabilities ratio in
February was 1.04:1:00. "*We
finally got it up above one,’" he
said, although the ideal ratio is
two to one.
DONATIONS
Sweitzer had also projected
that the hospital wourd receive
$20,000 in contributions in
March and $3,000 for each
month thereafter through June
:30. Based on the latest figures,
it appears that the Marcfiugoal
won't be reached.
Charles Farrar, chairman of
¢he Chattooga Cares drive, told
the authority Monday night
that a total of $72,285 had been
raised as of that day, represen
ting 36.1 percent of the original
$200,000 goal. “‘Everything's
kind of trickled 0ff..." he
said. The drive began last Nov.
15. Although no formal an
nouncement has been made,
the panel has lowered its sights
to a goal of SIOO,OOO by May 1.
Two major fund)fraising
events remain in the drive, Far
rar said. Travis Money, a Sum
merville auctioneer, will hold a
benefit auction for the hospital
on Tuesday, April 25, and a
benefit spaghetti supper will be
held on Friday evening, April
28. Items are needed for the
auction, Farrar said.
WRESTLING?
Sweitzer said he had also
been approached by local pro
fessional wrestlers about a
benefit match for the hospital
if a big enclosed arena can be
found to accommodate a large
crowd. Authority members are
supposed to determine whether
gyms at Chattooga High
School, Summerville Recrea
tion Center or other locations
might be used for such a match
and report at an April 10
meeting of the Chattooga
Cares Committee at the M&M
restaurant.
board and said the city had
written a $14,970 check to the
county in payment for boar
ding city prisoners at the coun
ty jail for the past several
years. Parker, in turn, was ex
pected to write a check to the
city for that same amount to be
used for recreation, Cash said.
Although the money isn't
enough cash for the program,
(Cash said Parker had agreed
that the county would do some
paving and other work in the
city during the coming year in
exchange for recreation
services.
He encouraged the board to
adopt a “ti;.iht" budget for
1988-9() and forward it to the
council. Cash left the meeting
before the board adopted the
proposed $414,000 document.
ACCEPTANCE
(Cash and each member of
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HOSPITAL AUTHORITY DISCUSSES FINANCES, OAK VIEW
Sweitzer, McGinnis, Pollard, Brown At Monday Session
Inspections of Oak View's
new kitchen and dining room
were scheduled for Wednesday
by the State Fire Marshal's Of
fice, state licensing officials,
the federal Farmers Home Ad
ministration (FmHA) and the
architect, Sweitzer said Mon
day. If all goes well, the nurs
ing home and hospital should
take possession today and
begin using it to serve meals on
Friday, the executive director
told the authority. It had
originally hoped to start using
the facility on March 20 but
the fire marshal ordered some
modifications to the kitchen.
APRIL 10-15
Sweitzer said the latest
schedule calls for the nursing
home to begin accepting new
residents during the week of
April 10-15. The 63-bed addi
tion will boost Oak View's total
capacity to 151 patients. The
existing facility housed 90 pa
tients but addition of the new
wing resulted in the loss of one
room (two beds), reducing the
older section’s capacity to 88
beds. :
The only foreseeable pro
blem may involve a restroom
for the handicapped in the nur
sing home, Sweitzer told the
authority. State licensing of
ficials and the fire marshal's of
fice have made conflicting pro
posals on what to do about the
restroom, he added. If the issue
is resolved Wednesday, he said
Monday, the April 10-15
schedule will be met. If the
restroom has to meet the fire
marshal's requirements, the
new wing probably won't be oc
cupied by those dates, Sweitzer
said.
COSTS CONFLICT
Although the authority in
January agreed to allow Tri-
City Construction Co. — prime
contractor for the addition —
to build a covered walkway and
cal('iport for the nursing home,
it decided Monday to hold up
on the project. The original
authorization was based on a
cost estimate of $27,418 by
M. G. Turner, Rome, the pro
ject’s architect. But Sweitzer
said Monday night that Tri-
City had estimated that the
project will cost $54,000 —
twice as much as Turner's
proposal.
“We don’t have the money”
for the project if it will cost
$54,000, he said. There is a
question about the design for
a sprinkler system for the
walkway and carport, he con
tinued. He was also unsure
whether the FmHA would
allow the authority to contract
with another firm other than
Tri-City for the
carport-walkway.
RENOVATION
Renovation of the current
Oak View dining area and kit
chen is scheduleg to begin after
the new kitchen-dining
building is occupied, Sweitzer
said. The authority asked him
to bring a proposed design for
the renovated area to the Chat
tooga Cares meeting on April
10 after consultation with the
hospital staff.
the board indicated individual
ly a belief that Parker would
assist the city recreation pro
gram during the coming years,
“That's a step forward; it's
not a step bacfi){wurd,” said
Charles Elsberry, a board
member, in referring to the
Cash-Parker agreement.
The mayor said a “'wild
guess' was that the commis
sioner would put about $75,000
in cash and services into the ci
ty during the coming year. In
sofar as cash is concerned, "'it's
not enough but I feel like we
can work with it,”" the mayor
said.
If Parker sticks to a 10 per
cent allocation of the city
recreation budget in 1990,
Cash said, “There'll be some
hard negotiation, I guess.”” He
also acknowledged to Ralph
Stanley, recreation director,
that there would be *‘a good
Sweitzer also said concrete
ste[l)s and walkways, a concrete
garbage bin pad, and a screen
ed building for soiled linen
carts still must be designed by
Turner.
Katherine Camp, an
emeritus member of the
authority and its former chair
man, said open house for the
new facility has been tentative
ly set for 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday,
April 23. Sweitzer said he
would inform her whether the
addition will be ready by that
date following the inspections
on Wednesday.
CHANGE ORDERS
The authority approved
several change orders totaling
$2,847 in costs. They included
moving a water connection for
the fire department, and in
stalling four access panels to
the addition's attic.
Expenses at the nursing
home have been higher than
budgeted since the authority
ganted personnel raises last
ctober, Sweitzer said, but
Oak View should receive an up
ward Medicaid adjustment in
April. Then instead of almost
breaking even, the nursing
home should show a profit for
the rest of the current fiscal
year, he said. The nursing
home recorded a deficit of sll3
in February, he reported. It has
recorded a surplus of $31,136
so far this fiscal year,
Sweitzer's reports showed,
compared to a budgeted
$193,228.
LEGISLATURE
In another matter, the ex
ecutive director said the 1989
/R b /’74
First Presbyterian Church PCA
205 Rome Boulevard i Summerville, Georgia
— Dedication Celebration —
April 9, 3:00 p.m. ’
— Guest Speaker —
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, Presbyterian Church in America
I)ussibility" that the city might
imit recreation to city
residents alone if no more
assistance was forthcoming.
However, Cash expressed con
fidence that the county would
be generous with the city next
vear.
ONE OPPOSED
He discussed Parker's pro-
Eosal with each councilman,
“ash said, and only one — who
was not named — opposed the
agreement.
Stanley told Cash there is a
possibility that more than 100
children might have to be cut
from the spring baseball pro
gram because of a lack of
uniforms. But Cash told
Stanley to come up with a price
and not to turn any children
away. ‘We'll get the money u
or whatever,” the mayor saicfi
The board voted
session of the state legislature
approved a salary increase for
non-administrative nursing
home staffs under the state’s
Medicaid reimbursement pro
gram, effective in October. He
said the formula for allocating
the raises is ‘‘very com
plicated” and no information
was immediately available on
the amount of money Oak View
TV To Cover Hospital
WSB television in Atlanta
was scheduled to be in Sum
merville todafy to cover the
community's fight to preserve
Chattooga County Hospital.
Charles Farrar, chairman of
the Chattooga Cares fund
raising committee, told the
hospital authority Monday
night that a WSB crew will ar
rive in Summerville around 10
a.m. today. Monica Kaufman,
co-anchor of WSB's evening
news, was expected to arrive
sometime this afternoon to join
the video tape crew.
The television station has
selected Chattooga Hospital
and another facility in South
Georgia for special programs
on the plight of rural gospitals,
Farrar indicated.
Dan Sweitzer, executive
director of the hospital, was
scheduled to be video-taped
while on WGTA's “‘Feedback™
program between 1 and 2 p.m.
today, Farrar said.
“I think not only will this
give a boost to our campaign.
unanimously to accept
whatever agreement ("fash and
the county commissioner reach
regarding recreation funding.
()lfi{ly board member and coun
cilman Guinn Hankins wasn't
present for Tuesday's meeting,
The board also left open the
Fossibility that it may meet at
5 p.m. next Tuesday, depen
ding on action taken by the
council at its called meeting at
5:30 p.m. Friday.
In other action, the board
decided to offer the spring con
cession stand business to the
Chattooga High Athletic Club
and if it is refused, to offer the
business for hidding.
It also asked Stanley to
check out the feasibility and
cost of holdin%] night swimm
ing classes at the Bolling Road
pool this summer. Classes have
previously been held during
daytime hours.
will receive or exactly how the
raises will be allocated.
The legislature also approv
ed an increase in the amount of
Medicaid payments to
hospitals, he sai({ but no infor
mation was available Monday
on the amount of increase.
A mechanism for pre
certification of Medicaid pa
tients was approved by the
general assembly, Sweitzer
told the authority. That should
eliminate the annual Medicaid
Eatient limits imposed on
ospitals, he added. The pro
gram may go in effect this
summer.
INDIGENT
An indigent care study
committee was established and
its members will be appointed
by Gov. Joe Frank Harris, the
executive director added.
Medicaid funds for swing
beds was also approved by the
legislature, he continued.
Hospital swing beds may be
usecf)for a limited amount of
time by patients awaiting a bed
in a nursing home. Chattooga
Hospital is one of the few in
Northwest Georgia to have ap
proved swing beds.
Authority members at
Monday's meeting included
Eugene McGinnis, chairman;
Ira Pollard, Roy Brown and
Richard Pewitt.
but it might . . . help with some
doctors that are out there,”
Farrar said. The hospital is
seeking to attract new doctors
to the community.
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