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Bennett Resigns As Chief
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VOLUME CVIII — NUMBER VII
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The Chattooga Indians won the 7-AA North Sub-Region
tournament gaturday, defeating West Rome, 62-54. The
Indians will play at 8:30 p.m. today in the first round
of the region tournament at Floyd College. Displaying
the sub-region trophy during an after-game celegration
Landfill Problems Eyed
Parker: Polk Errors Won’t Be Made In Chattooga
By TOMMY TOLES
Editor
Commissioner Jim Parker
said this week he plans to make
sure that mistafles made in
building a Polk Countfi' landfill
aren’t repeated in Chattooga
Counti;.
Tribble & Richardson Inc.,
a Macon-based engineerinlfi
firm that designed the Po
facility, is Chattooga’s
engineers for a firoposed new
landfill site at Chattoogaville.
The Georgia Environmen
tal Protection Division (EPD)
has refused to allow Polk Coun
ty to start using its new land
fill until corrective steps have
been taken by the county.
Tribble & Richardson
(T&R) engineers and represen
tatives of Ground Improve
ment Techniques Inc. (GIT)
glan to meet today with Polk
oumg' officials to %o over a
?}lan eveloped by T&R and
IT to correct deficiencies in
the landfill.
HAPPY
a Kenneth McElwee,hPolk
ounty manager, was haj
over tfi'e develgpment last W
day. The Polk County Board of
Commissioners had been told
in mid-February by another
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Staff Photo
EAST END OF LANDFILL CELL REMAINS UNCOMPLET'ED
» '
County Manager Checks Liner, Protective ‘‘Sandy Material
Th Swmmerville News
Sub-Region Champs
engineering firm that it would
take $600,000 to repair the
facility.
Wagne Gammon, Cedar
town, Polk County’s attorney,
had earlier estimated the
remedial cost at about
$250,000.
Polk’s commissioners had
hired Hensl?'-Schmidt Inc.,
Marietta, to develop remedia
tion ;)lans for the facility. But
T&R'’s Jeff Jones, the engineer
for both the Polk and Chat
tooga firo;scts, said on Feb. 14
that the firm did not plan to
‘“desert” Polk County. T&R
was at work at that time with
GIT to develotp plans to open
the Polk landfill, he said.
LEARN
“I think anybody can say
with certainty if a person or
group makes a mistake, they
would learn from that mistake
and it wouldn’t be made a se
cond time, Commissioner
Parker said Monday when ask
ed about the Polk County
problems.
“Chances of this happeninfi
in Chattooga County are muc:
less than it happening in Polk
County,” Jones said.
Gammon, Parker and Jones
all said that the Polk landfill
was to have been the first Sub
title D publicly owned landfill
built in Georgia. It was con
structed in the late winter, ear
ly spring, summer and fall of
SUMMERVILLE, CHATTOOGA COUNTY, GEORGIA — THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1992
are, from left, Sigmund White, Julius Finley, Kevin
Perry, Raymond Young, Cedric McClinic, Maurice
Brown, John Fain, Mike Sellers, Carlos Morris and
David Tudor. See story and more photos on Page 9-B.
(Staff Photo By Earl McConnell). ;
1990 by GIT.
A Subtitle D landfill refers
to a section of the federal
Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act (RCRA). Regula
tions were first published on
Oct. 9, 1991, almost a year
after the Polk County landfill
was completed.
STATE RULES
Jones said Georgia had
g;ssed the Solid Waste
anagement Act of 1990 (and
amended in 1991). State rules
refiarding liners and leachate
collection systems were in ef
fect in 1990 when the Polk
landfill was being built, he
added.
While T&R is an ‘‘excellent
engineering firm,” said at
torney Gammon, Polk County
has had ‘‘spme significant pro
blems with this project that I
think have to be attributed to
them.”
As for GIT, Gammon
would say only, “I would not
recommend them.”
Ted Hoey, president of
GIT, Kissimmee, Fla., did not
return telephone calls.
Jerry Brown and Michael
Veatch, members of the Get In
volved political action EOUP'
presented some material they
said they obtained from the
EPD on the Polk situation to
The Summerville News in
December, 1991. They contend
ed that Chattooga County
Trials Continuing
; --See Page 9-A
© Copyright 1992 By Espy Publishing Co., Inc. — All Rights Reserved
should worry about similar pro
blems because of the T&R
connection.
Part of the Veatch-Brown
material was an EPD violation
memorandum, dated April 23,
1991. The eight-page single
spaced tyf?ewritten memo
outlined deficiencies that EPD
inspectors found in the Polk
facility.
COMPLAINT
The EPD’s %rimary com
plaint was that the first cell in
the landfill was not built accor
ding to the design and opera
tion plan submitted to the
EPD %y T&R.
According to County
Manager McElwee and at
torney Gammon, the major
problems at the landfill are
these:
* An aerial torographical
survey of the landtill area was
incorrect by as much as three
to four feet, when usual errors
are no more than a couple of
feet. That caused heavy use of
more fill material and berms or
embankments steeper than the
EPD limits.
* The bidding specifications
prepared by T&lge?:ontained
several typographical errors
that led to significant cost
overruns and landfill problems.
They included use of the terms
“soil rock” instead of ‘‘solid
rock,” “sandy material’’ in
stead of “sand.” v
* T&R specifications called
for rocks no larger than one
fourth inch in diameter and no
angular rocks under the plastic
liner in cell one of the landfill.
The EPD contends that the
material under the liner con
tains ‘“‘fist-sized’’ rocks.
* The leachate collection
&‘ond was not built according to
&R specifications.
LEGAL ACTION?
Polk County may take legal
action against those responsi
ble for the problems, Gammon
said. The g‘arties could include
GIT and T&R, he said in late
January.
The aerial survey that led to
problems with grading, fillinfi
and the construction of a so
berm around the first landfill
cell was “nobody’s fault,”
Gammon said. It was not the
fault of T&R or GIT, he added.
Polk County's commis
sioners thought they could
save $20,000 by having an
aerial survey d¥)ne, the at
torney said, but it ended up
costéi:ag them more than ex
pected. ‘“We ran the risk but
fift caught,’”’ is the way
cElwee put it. Even if a
Eround survei' had been used,
ammon said, the county
would still have had to paf'
more for grading and fill
material because bfds were on
see LANDFILL, page 156-A
Moderately Heavy
Turnout Possible
Referendum, Presidential Primary
A moderately heavy voter
turnout is expected at tfie polls
next Tuesday, sFurred by in
terest in a referendum on
whether Chattooga County’s
form of government should be
changed. :
While little interest has
been exgressed in the county
over the Democratic and
Republican presidential
preference primary, candidates
on both sides of the aisle are ex
pected to benefit from the turn
out caused by the referendum
question.
Polls will be open from 7
a.m. .to 7 p.m: i all 13
precincts: Alpine, Cloudland,
Coldwater, Dirtseller, Dirt
town, Haywood, Lyerly, Penn
ville, Seminole, Subligna, Sum
merville, Teloga and Trion.
VOTERS
A total of 9,299 voters is
eligible to cast ballots in the
referendum and election. No
write-in votes will be allowed in
the primary under state law.
Voters do not have to
“register” as a Republican or
Democrat to vote in the
grimary, according to Jon
ayne, election superin
tendent.
““It does not matter how a
gerson has voted in the past,”
ayne said.
A voter may, for exam(f)le,
vote for one (farty‘s candidate
in the presidential preference
primary next Tuesday, for
Panel Wants Yes Vote On Tuesday
GI Says Board Would Boost Chattooga’s Future
The Get Involved group favors replacing the current sole
commissioner form of government with a five-member board
and county manager. Members of the group were asked by The
Summerville News to produce an opinion iecle\[or this week’s
edition of the newspaper. It was pennedp by Michael Veatch
and Jerrly Brown, members of the Get Involved group. The
essay follows:
e
How would you like to live in a county with a bright, ex
citing future? A county with beautifu{ mountains, clear
streams, lush farmlands and proud, hard-working people. You
do. Chattooga County, where we live, is such a place.
How would you like to live in a county where the govern
ment spends the tax money on its friends, and does not treat
citizens equallfi'; a county where unannounced or closed
meetings are held often and your job security and your
children’s future may depend on whether the county govern
ment likes you or not? gou do live in such a county. Chat
tooga County is such a place. ;
We have the opportunity to make our government fairer
and our future more secure. A five-member county commis
sion is not magic but it will, at the very least, be fairer and
treat citizens more equally.
How would you like to live in a county with a bright, ex
citing future? A county with rich, natural assets that have
Group Favors Sole Commissioner
GGG Opposed To Changing To Five-Member County Board
The Good Government Group favors retaining the sole
commissioner form of government. It is opposed to creation
of a five-member board of commissioners with a county
manager. Members of the group were asked by The Summer
ville News to produce an opinion giece for this week’s edition
of the newspaper. It was penned by Robert Evans, chairman,
and treasurer of the group. The essay follows:
Why Chatt.oogg Countians should vote against the propos
ed fivemember board: | .
1. Chattooga County would be divided into five districts.
This would tear our countg into five separate pieces with a
commissioner from each whose loyalty and priority would be
the benefit of the district rather than the county as a whole.
Instead of workin% together under a single leader, a five
member board would aggravate the differences between the
districts making it harder to work toward a common goal.
2. Each voter’s influence and Power upon the county
authority would be cut to one-fifth of what the voter now has.
With our sole commissioner, each voter has the same power
to elect or defeat the county authority. With a five-member
board each voter can elect or defeat only one commissioner,
or one-fifth of the county authority. With proposed staggered
terms, gett.in%:id of incompetent commissioners with a clean
sweeg would be impossible. The grand jury in Floyd County,
which has staggered terms, has recommended getting rid of
this restriction upon voting power.
another party’'s candidate in
the July (ieneral anary and
for a candidate of either party
in the November general
election.
Voters next Tuesday may
vote in the referendum on
whether the county’s form of
Fovemment should be changed
rom a sole commissioner to a
five-member board, and not
vote in either the Republican or
Democratic presidential
preference primaries, Payne
said.
Or, they may vote in the
primary of either party and not
GGG Raises More Money
But GI Spends More On Board Issue
A group that favors retain
ing the sole commissioner form
of government has raised more
money for its campaign than
has the organization that
wants a five-member board and
county manager for Chattooga
County. f i
The board groui) has spent
more than the sole commis
sioner organization.
Public reports on money
raised and spent by the two
groups are on file in the office
of Jon Payne, Chattooga elec
WOW! Lose Weight
' --See Page 1-B
in the government referendum,
he added. Or, they may vote in
either primary and on the
See Sample Ballots
On Page 14-A
referendum question.
ANY BALLOT
Voters will be asked
whether they want a ballot con
tion superintendent.
The reports were due 15
days prior to the election Feb.
17 but a grace period gave
them until this lg)ast: Friday to
file or mail the reports to
Payne's office. Both were
dated Feb. 17.
The Good Government
Group (GGG) — which favors
the sole commissioner —
reported receivin% $2,765 in
contributions, all but $350 of
that amount in donations of
less than slOl apiece. The lone
not been devastated by the industrial and population problems
that beset much of America. You do. Chattooga County, where
we live, is such a place.
How would you like to live in a county where the govern
ment, without public notice, decides to spray poison on the
roadsides, and goesn't even ask what poison wifi be sprayed?
A county where the locations of prisons and landfills are decid
ed behind closed doors. You do live in such a county. Chat
too%&a County is such a place.
e have the opportunity to make our county government
safer for ourselves and safer for our children. A five-member
commission is not magic, but public discussion of decisions
before they are made would, at the very least, allow us to try
to defend ourselves and our children. e
How would you like to live in a county with a bright, ex
citing future? A county where children and adults play
baseball on warm spring and summer evenings, and where the
streets are safe for women and children to wafili. You do. Chat
tooga County, where we live, is such a place.
How would you like to live in a county where the cities’
taxes must support recreation and job opportunities, while
county taxes are s%mndered on “‘special’ friends of the county
government and silly plans to get county officials re-elected?
You do live in such a county. Chattooga County is such a place.
see PANEL WANTS, page 15-A
TAXES
3. Taxes would have to rise to pay the increased costs of
salaries, expense allowances and accounts for five members
a county manager, increased office help and autos — all of
which would approximately double the cost of the sole com
missioner we now have.
4. With five members having to make decisions only at
monthly meetings — sometimes carried over to future
meetings, resultmfi in takilfig months to get anything agreed
upon and acc.omge shed, efficiency and effectiveness would
greatly deteriorate from having our sole commissioner able
to act immediately. Chattooga County is big business. Who
knows of any successful business run by a committee? Our
government requires a sole executive as president of our coun
try and governor of each state, just like every large business
has one person in charge.
You cannot go to the county manager created in the five
member board act to get any answer or decision as under this
act the county manager has no authority exeegt what the five
member board gives, is notntgondbloto and does not serve
you as a citizen of this county but is only responsible to and
serves this five-member board.
FIXED SALARIES
6. The proposed five-member board act provides for a fix
see GROUP FAVORS, page 15-A
STILL
ONLY
2 50
taining only the referendum
question, or a Democratic
ballot that also contains the
referendum question, or a
Republican ballot that also
contains the referendum issue.
They may choose any one of
the three ballots, he said.
Voters who show up at the
polls next Tuesday wilF also be
asked for the first time for their
birth date and social security
number. Elsie Echols, chief
registrar, said earlier that the
information will be needed
when the county computerizes
see MODERATELY, page 14-A
major contribution came from
attorneys Farrar & Farrar,
Summerville. It also received
S7O in non-cash, in-kind
assistance.
It reported spending
$305.28 at Sports Depot for
caps by the reporting deadline.
Expenditures since that time
are not on the report.
The chairman and treasurer
of GGG is Robert Evans, 148
Maple Dr., Summerville, accor
ding to the report.
see MORE MONEY, page 14-A