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VOLUME CVIII — NUMBER V
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. P 3 PO
. Bridge Piers Completed
Piers to support widening of the U. S. Highway 27
bridge over tfie Chattooga River south of Summerville
have been completed on the south side of the current
bridge. Simpson Bridge Co. officials said the bridge
shov.fid be completed in late summer or early fall. Work
by the Charleston, Tenn. firm is part of a widening {)ro
ject from Maßle Drive to the north foot of Taylors
Ridge. (Staff Photo).
Council Okays Water Projects
Lawson Granted Hearing; Meeting Day Changed By City
By TOMMY TOLES
Editor
*
The Summerville City
Council has given final ap
proval to the installation of
new water lines on Wildlife
Lake Road and in the Frontier
Estates area.
The panel has also changed
its meeting day to the first
Monday in every month.
Councilmen also agreed to
hold a hearing for an employee
who was fired in April, 1990.
Those were some of the
items handled by the panel dur
ing its monthly meeting Mon-
Board Would Allow Citizens To Create Future
Says Group Pushing Five-Member Panel; Newspaper Hit On ‘Conspiracy Of Silence’
This is the third in a series
¢g reports about a proposal that
hattooga County’s sole com
missioner form o}y overnment
be changed to a gve-member
board ofgcommissioners. Addi
tional reports will cover all
aspects ot the fropgsal.
‘A sole commissioner form
of government is a good
fovemment for a county that
ears the future. A multi
member commission is a good
fovemment for a county that
8 willing to create their
future.”
That's the view of a Chat
tooga Countian affiliated with
“Get Involved,” a political ac
tion committee formed to d)ro
mote amnl of a five
member bg' the county's
voters on March 3.
Jcrrn?rown. Gore, summ
ed up views on the dif
ference between the current
Chattoogan Killed
--See F :
Th Summerville News
day night at city hall. The
meeting lasted for three hours
and 11 minutes.
OTHER ISSUES
Among other matters, the
council:
— Tabled a proposal that
individual councilmen act as
‘“advisors” to specific city
departments.
— Agreed to discuss per
sonal leave, daily break times
and locations anX other policies
followin% an employee appeal
hearing this evening.
— Decided to seek bids on
a new truck for a city meter
reader.
— Named a new person as
the city’'s solid waste manage
ment committee
sole commissioner form of
government and the proposed
ive-member board form with
that comment. ot
He was one of several Get
Involved Eeosple to meet recent
ly with The Summerville News
to discuss the issue. Others in
volved in the discussion were
Michael Veatch, Trion; Fon
dren Wright, Teloga; James
Lewis, Benl?'ton; and Farril
White, Holland. Wright is
treasurer of the group. Sid
Ponder, the Get Involved
chairman, was unable to attend
the get-together.
THE NEWS HIT
Veatch and Brown also
mnw)art of the time blasting
3 ews fotr’ what they torm' th;
hudotiua coverage o
five-mem commlu.g\ issue,
and other county government
related events and activities,
They accused the newspaper of
SUMMERVILLE, CHATTOOGA COUNTY, GEORGIA — THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1992
Schools Near Loan Limits
Board Pushes For Quicker Tax Collections
By BUDDY ROBERTS:.
Associate News Editor
+
The Chattoga County
Board of Education may bor
row as much as $200,000 this
month to pay for its normal
operating expenses.
Superintendent Don Hayes
was authorized to obtain a
bank note for $200,000 “to get
us throu%h Februar_\i),; he said.
The board agreed to borrow the
money as it is needed, up to the
Jury Seeks County Works Clean-Up
The February term Chat
tooga County Grand Jury has
recommended that the coun
ty's lpublic works degartment
be cleaned up and old equip
ment be discarded. It also sug
gested that the ambulance ser
vice's facilities be combined
with those of the civil defense
or emergency management
agency building.
Those were among the
recommendations handed
down Friday afternoon by the
julg to Judge Joseph Loggins
of Chattooga County Superior
Court. The panel completed its
gvorl; for its six:gorzt};lh pe(rim,
arring a request by the judge
that itie recalled to hear adgi
representative.
— Agreed to set up a
meeting with the county
government to discuss ;});o
--viding water to the Chapel Hill
Road-Butler Dairy Road area
because of the existing county
landfill.
— Decided to proceed with
installing a larier drainage line
along I;mrt of Ramey Street.
— Placed on first reading an
amendment to strengthen the
town’s anti-burning ordinance.
— Discussed the city’s
golicies for turning utilities
ack on for customers who are
delinquent and have had those
utilities cut off by city
employees.
WATER PROJECT
On a 3-2 vote, the council
bei::f involved in “‘a conspiracy
of silence’’ to keep those issues
from being brought to the at
tention of Chattooga County’s
residents. They were arso
critical of the newspaper’s
editorial stands, the editor, and
the dmblisher of The News.
ne of the biggest advan
tages of having a multi
member board, Brown said,
would be that the public's
business would have to be
discussed in public.
Residents of the county
would know in advance how
their tax monefi' is fi:ing to be
:fent rather than finding out
terward how it was “?ent or
misspent,”’ Veatch said.
'l’g: board s‘vutom would
allow for mful onal mm:ge
ment of coun%y'l affairs,
Veatch continued. Today's pro
blomru:.r; muchdmoro complex
than were during Colonial
days when the sole commis-
© Copyright 1992 By Espy Publishing Co., Inc. — All Rights Reserved
full amount.
- The loan will leave the
school system within $200,000
-of its debt limit of $1 million.
' . Hayes told the board that
58.33 percent of the fiscal year
is past, and 10.33 percent of
the bltlg(fet revenue has been
collected. The lack of income,
he continued, is due to low tax
collections and the amount of
property tax appeals.
The school system’s ex
penses for this month will be
$910,000. Revenue is estimated
at $90,000 in sales tax receipts
and $630,257 in state funds.
The schools had received
tional cases in the future.
The county works depart
ment area is “‘in desperate need
of an overall clean-up,” the jury
wrote. ‘‘Specifically, the front
lot of the work camp needs
cleaning and an area
designated for employee ;mrk
ing on the south end of the
camp.”
PAINTING
The interior and outside of
the buildings should be
painted, the jury recommend
ed, and windows needed to be
boarded up if they aren’t going
to be used. All trash around the
buildings needs to be removed,
the panel insisted.
agreed to install 5,628 feet of
four-inch water main in the
Frontier Estates area to serve
residents, as requested by
Charles Norton.
Councilmen Ralph Stanley,
Ed Bush and Ira Pollard voted
in favor of the request. Coun
cilmen Mike King and Earl
“Red” Parris opposed the
measure.
Cost of the profect is ex
pected to be about $14,548 plus
the cost of excavating rock.
Norton and residents to be
served by the line are to pay
the cost.
Parris said he opposed the
move because it woul?i cost the
residents too much.
King said he felt the town
should accept the advice of its
sioner (then called probate
judge) form of government was
instituted, he said.
“It’s an archaic system,” he
said.
Some oversights have oc
curred under the sole commis
sioner form that might have
been caught under a more ?en
form of government, he added.
OVERSIGHTS
Brown said two examgles of
those oversights were the tax
§ r%evaluation pm;m. and tht;
“han or andling o
the 1233& situation” by the
current sole commissioner.
Veatch said there was a
double entry on the revenue
side of the county's tax books
that resulted in a shortfall in
the bm{rt and additional .&ro
blems. He blamed the situation
on it being handled by one
person,
Had the budget matters
Cupid’s Arrows
--See Page 1-B
$46,000 by Feb. 6, Hayes said.
- He reported that the
schools received $93,996 in
sales taxes during December.
Vice Chairman William
Mitchell moved to borrow the
money. Charles Elsberry
seconded and the vote was
unanimous.
LETTER
Chairman Leroy Massey
told board memgers that
Branch Connelly, the board’s
attorney, wrote a letter to the
Chattooga Tax Commissioner
and board of tax assessors call
ing for a quick end to the coun
‘““Also in need of cleaning is
the area behind Farrar Drive
and the civil defense (emergen
cy manafement agency —
EMA) building,” the jury said.
“The eguipment needs to be
groupe in some type of order.
1d equigment is spread
around and is an eyesore. We
would recommend an inven
tory be made of this and
discarded accordingly. A tree
line along Farrar Drive would
enhance the physical ap
pearance of the area.”
The jury went on to propose
that an area behind the public
works department be used to
build a new emergency medical
(ambulance) service (EMS), or
engineers and install a six-inch
main, rather than a four-inch
line.
John Simmons, city
manager, had pointed out that
the town's engineer, Ron Har
ris of Welker & Associates Inc.,
Marietta, had recommended
that the city not install any
more lines of less than six in
ches in diameter.
If the city isn’t going to ac
cept the advice of its engineer,
King said, the engineer should
be fired. He expressed concern
that the city may have to go
back in 10 years and install a
larger line to serve additional
development.
COLLAPSE?
Johnny Edwards, city
see COUNCIL OKAYS, page 10-A
been discussed at a public
meeting, Brown said, the error
might have been discovered by
the public or by one of five
commissioners.
The $251,000 beinfi entered
twice over two years has caus
ed ‘‘a real big problem’’ in this
year's county budget, Veatch
said. The total represents more
than the local share that would
be required for a new head
%l:arters library building. The
shortfall may keep the county
from obtaining state funds for
a new library, he indicated.
Veatch and Brown both
said a five-member board
would allow more !nople in the
county to get involved in
g:blic gervice. Leaders could
drawn from ‘‘a vnt.l{’wider
area of individuals,” Veatch
said.
MORE PEOPLE
With the sole commissioner
ty's tax equalization project
and collection of taxes.
The board heard two re
quests involving school bus
routes and drivers. Fondren
Wright asked the board if a bus
could deliver children to their
homes on a certain road with
more than one house. The bus
now leaves children in an
isolated area, and they must
walk to their homes.
The road is used as a mail
route and has county water, he
said, but Hayes replied that
the road is a private driveway
and is not maintained by the
county. Wright said the road
to expand the EMA office to
combine the EMS and EMA
offices ‘‘since these two
organizations work together
when warranted.”
Jurors also asked Commis
sioner Jim Parker “‘to explore
and evaluate means of raising
(money)” to take advantage of
a $1,045,238 grant from the
state to build a new Chattooga
; .
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Jim Purcell, a member of Trion High
School’s wrestling team, has won tie
Class A state wrestling championship in
his weight class. Purcell and seven other
form of government, Veatch
added, oxfi a few people can
seek the office from a l]:racticzs\l
standpoint: J)erhaps those who
are retired, someone who
doesn’t have a good job, or so
meone who doesn’t have a job.
Most people with %ogd jobs
may not wish to risk being out
of a job in four years when
another election rolls around,
he continued.
Brown also emphasized his
view that there would be a
wider pool of talent from which
to draw gotent.ial commis
sioners under a multi-member
board form of fovemment.
Stagesered elections, which
are called for in the legislation,
would also add continuity to
vernment, Brown said. In
5?9 past, he added, the county
has suffered ‘‘distortions’ in
its oqent.iom as the result of
a sole commissioner being
voted out of office and then
CHS Sub-Region Champ
--See Page 7-B
has previously been maintain
ed by the county.
' Hayes said that since the
road is a private drive, a school
bus may not travel on it.
Wright asked that Hayes find
out what defines a private
drive and a county roadp and to
reply to him in a letter.
The board heard arguments
about a situation involving a
substitute bus driver on a
Cloudland route. Hayes and
Wilburn Ragland, school
transportation supervisor,
agreeg to look further into the
matter.
Library headquarters building.
To get the state money, the
county must raise $347,619
locally.
NO TAX HIKE
However, the jury asked
the commissioner to not raise
local property taxes for the
library.
“\k}e, further understand
State Wrestling Champion
spending money at the end of
his term “in possibly inap
propriate ways."’
An election would be held
every two years rather than
every four years, increasing the
voice of the voters iléegovern
ment, Veatch indicated. It is
not always fpossible to find a
candidate for sole commis
sioner who has governmental
experience so that they won't
have to “train” for the job over
a period of two or more years
of a four-year term, he said.
MORE INPUT
With a multi-member
board, Veatch said, the coun
ty's citizens will be able to find
out what information is used to
make decisions, how those deci
sions are m
XX
" mn s 2 "
The public cannot know about
the decision-making process,
RACIAL REMARK
Alfred McDaniel, Lyerly,
complained to the board about
racial remarks allegedly made
by a teacher at Summerville
Middle School. McDaniel said
he represented the National
Association for theAdvance
ment of Colored People.
Hayes said that the situa
tion was handled by the prin
cipal, and a written reprimand
was placed in the teacher’s per
sonnel file. He added that the
teacher was addressing a group
rather than an indi\llxilguafr and
likely did not mean to offend
see SCHOOLS NEAR, page 11-A
that these funds should be col
lected prior to October, 1992,”
the jury said. *‘Accordingly, we
request the commissioner give
this prompt consideration.”
Tge panel had just finished
making recommendations for
repairs to the existing library
on South Commerce gtreet in
Summerville, ranging from a
see JURY SEEKS, page 10-A
Trion wrestlers competed in the state
tournament last week. Purcell is con
gratulated by his coach, Jeff Daffron. See
story on Page 6-B. (Staff Photo).
he said, even with a vigilant
press, ‘‘something I'm not sure
we currently have.”
Differences of opinion bet
ween individual commissioners
at public meetings would be a
positive development, Brown
indicated. The pressure from
special interest groups would
not be as great against a board
of commissioners as it might
be against a sole commissioner,
he added.
As an example, Brown cited
the “treatment” by The News
of former Commissioner H"R
Powell, ‘‘who could do virtual
ly nodxing r:ght.‘ and con
trasted it with what he said
was the paper's treatment of
the current sole commissioner,
“‘who can do nothing wrong,"”
according to The News.
“Neither of these situations
reflects the truth and both of
these situations has resulted in
seo BOARD WOULD, page 9-A
STILL
ONLY
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