Newspaper Page Text
Swords: Menlo’s Well
Might Not Work Correctly
Engineer Says Busbin Behind On Construction At Site
By D.J. LAAN
Staff Writer
The Menlo Cit{l Council
meetinfi buzzed with citizens
asking the panel to allow them to
connect to Menlo's water lines.
Much of the meeting was
devoted to discussions on how
citizens and the town could work
together to provide water to
people living near Sunnydale
Road east oFMenlo and other
areas south of the city’s limits.
However, the consensus re
sulting from the talks was not
popular with those seeking wa
ter.
It appeared that a delay in
getting Menlo's new well project
in operation, plus inadequate
existm%water lines might signifi
cantly delay expansion of water
service to those residents.
WELL DELAYED
Mayor Theresa Canada said
John Schrock, the town's engi
neer, recently sent a letter to J.
W. Busbin Jr., contractor for the
new Menlo well project. Schrock
is with the Rome engineering
firm of Williams, Sweitzer &
Barnum.
Schrock wrote Busbin about
alleged “lax construction” on the
pump station building and the
overall well project, tie mayor
said.
“FALLING BEHIND”
The letter stated in part:
“your work forces are falling be
hind schedule on the (well)
project.”
Schrock said he asked
Busbin for a new schedule that
would explain changes in the
completion date, which was
originally set for next Thursday,
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black spots. Has one black
eve and one white eye. A
little chubby, weighs about
35 Pounds.
She’s wearing a red nylon
collar and answers to the
name of Buffy.
She was last seen at her
home on Ninth Street in
Trion. If you have any
information, please call the
Harris residence at 734
7292. Our boys miss her a
great deal.
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Saturday . . ... 8 am. - 11 p.m.
Feb. 10.
Schrock also recommended
to Busbin in the letter that he
increase his work force to meet
the deadline of the original
agreement.
PENALTIES
The letter advised Busbin
that the “supplemental general
conditions” Sause of the original
agreement between Menlo and
Busbin stated in paragraph six
that “liquidated damajes in the
amount of S3OO per day are to
be paid to the City of Menlo for
each calendar day that the
completion of the contract is ex
ceeded.”
“Busbin Construction has
been hurt by the foul weather
and also because some parts of
the well equipment have not ar
rived on &e job site,” said Sid
Swords, Menfo’s general super
intendent.
Onlookers told Swords that
in the Council’s early January
meeting, he reported the well
was “on-track.”
“Well, I thought it was but
you can't help what the weather
does,” he rep‘ied.
Swords said the foundation
is completed but the concrete
walls and roof had not been com
pleted.
BUILDING
Swords said the well project
would likely not be completed
sometime this summer.
He said Busbin’s part of the
deal would consist oFan addi
tional estimated four to six weeks
more work. Several weeks of test
ing would then have to be done
by Menlo water officials on the
new well system, Swords added.
That would be followed by more
extensive testing by the filter
company and further testin
later by the state F.nvironmenta%
Protection Division, he contin
ued.
NO GUARANTEE
All that must testing must
be suecessfully completed before
the well can be placed in opera
tion, he said.
Swords also reminded the
Council and audience there were
no guarantees that the new well
would function.
“This is a prototype well, an
experimental process that has
never been done in the United
States before,” he said, “and we
have no assurance that it will
work. We hope it will and we
think it will.”
“Are you kidding?” asked
Councilman J. P. Thornberry in
apparent disbelief.
DOUBT
Councilman Charles Powell
told Thornberry that the filter
company had guaranteed that it
would refund Menlo’s money in
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the Eroject if the well does not
work as projected.
“There is a chance that it
might not work,” Powell said.
Elsie Cooper, who lives on
Sunnydale Road, told the Coun
cil she had been to many of its
meetings, trying to fiet water in
her area during the past six
years.
“I've heard a variety of rea
sons as to why people two or
three miles from here can't Eet
water and now you say it’s be
cause of this new well?” she
asked. One f)erson attending the
meetin§ told the panel that he
and his family had no longer had
a water source since his well had
stopped producing water.
WATER LINES
Swords said connecting to
existing Menlo water lines with
out knowing for sure that the
new well will work properly
would pose a risk of limiting or
eliminating water for current
Menlo customers.
“Another serious Problem
besides whether the well will re
ally work as it is supposed to is
that the existing two-inch water
line is already overloaded with
customers,” he said. “The volume
of water that the line is able to
carry is too small to meet the
potential demand of added cus
tomers.”
He pointed out that water
lines now in place could not
handle the added pressure of
more water pumped to addi
tional customers, even if the new
well operates as designed.
Swords said the cost of re
})lacing the two-inch line with a
our-inch or six-inch delivery
system would require significant
funds.
BEST MFG.
“Best Manufacturing Co.
performed a feasibility study
about replacing those lines when
it built its warehouse down by
Cox’s Store on Ga. 48 a few years
ago,” Swords said.
They decided to do their
own water system, separate from
the town’s,” he continued.
Swords suggested that a citi
zens committee might want to
talk to Best representatives to
review the particulars of the
study.
“See if they (Best) would of- ,
fer to help in a renewed project
to replace existing lines,” he
asked, “since the company would
Local VFW Post 6688 To
Host 17th District Meet
Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6688 and its Ladies Auxil-
Lary will host the 17th District VFW meeting at 10 a.m. Sun
ay.
Special guests will be Voice of Democracy District win
ners, VFW State Commander Bill Johnson and Ladies Auxil
iary State President Vickie Shemery.
Registration begins at 10 a.m. at the Chattooga County
Memorial Home.
Lions District Governor
To Speak At Menlo Club
Paul R. Johnson, 18-A
(Northwest Geor%ia) District
Governor of Lions Clubs Interna
tional, will address the Menlo
Lions Club at 7 p.m. Monday at
the Menlo Elementary School
cafeteria.
Johnson will discuss his
goals for the district and present
the international president’s
program for the year. He will also
report on various international
activities inc]udinf Sight First,
the Lions’ $145 million-plus ini
tiative to rid the world of pre
ventable and reversible blind
ness.
The Menlo Lions Club, led
by President Anita Willingham,
provides eyeglasses for needy
people in the area and is very
active throughout the Menlo
community.
Johnson has been a mem
ber of the Dalton Lions Club
since 1987, and is a senior mar
keting representative for
Colbond, Inc.
Lions Clubs International is
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benefit from added fire protec
tion provided by an improved
water delivery system to its
plant.”
SOUTH SIDE
Swords said the intersection
of Sunnydale Road with Ga. 48
is located about three miles from
the center of Menlo. The homes
of many people who are asking
for water service would be at
least a mile farther than that and
possibly even farther from
present water lines.
“I don’t know the dollar fig
ure that Best came up with from
their study to get water to their
new plant, but I know it would
be more thansso,ooo,” Swords
indicated.
The existing two-inch water
line owned by Menlo is located
on the south side of Ga. 48, he
said.
“Every part of a project like
that is expensive from boring
under the highway to contract
ing with a professional to do the
work,” he said.
TEAMWORK
Ronny Hill, another
Sunnydale Road resident, asked
the Council to clarify its position
about approving a water project
iflocal citizens did the “leg-work"
by getting the project under way.
“I think we need you to say
one way or another whether you
would support us in this project
if we do the research work and
locate funding sources,” Hill
said. “We don’t want to spend a
lot of time on this if there’s a
chance you are going to knock it
down. Where do you stand?”
MOST SILENT
Although each Council
member did not respond to Hill,
Councilman Thornberry said, “If
you go do all this work and show
us how to Fet the funds to bring
it about, I'll vote in favor of it.”
Council members and the
audience discussed contacting
Rep. Barbara Reece, D-Menlo, to
see if she could get state grant
money to replace the outdated
water lines.
“You should also talk to
Commissioner Jim Parker be
cause this is a county problem as
well as one that concerns the City
of Menlo,” Swords said.
The Council’s next sched
uled meeting is set for 7 p.m.
Tuesday, March 7 at City Hall.
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Staff Photo By Jason Espy
WATER (ARROW) POURS FROM HYDRANT
East Washington Fire Plug Waiting For Parts
Water Leak Costs
City 1.75-Million
Gallons Per Year
from front page
turn off the water,” McCalmon
said Tuesday.
The City of Rome, using spe
cialized equipment, reglacege a
leaky hydrant next to U.S. 27 and
Maple Drive about a year ago.
That fire hydrant had been leak
ing for about a year or more.
However, City officials con
curred that the Dunson Street
hydrant had been leaking longer
than the U.S. 27 leak.
Summerville work crews
Follow Flowers Injured By Cold
What can you do if your
landscape flowers are freeze
damageg or dead from the cold?
“Very little,” said Paul Tho
mas, and Extension Service hor
ticulturist with the University of
Georgia College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences.
Thomas offers these helpful
hints:
* Remove dead tissues soon.
They can lead to infections when
Farmers & Merchants
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lack necessarz equifi)ment to cor
rect the leaking hydrant and
must degend on Rome, city offi
cials said.
REQUEST
“The City of Rome has re
paired some for the city in the
past,” McCalmon said. “We
asked them to come up and I
don’t know if they are ever going
to do it or not. But they have a
standing re(ci]uest to come and fix
that one and one on First Street.”
the weather warms. Tan, brown
or black tissue won'’t recover. If
it’s half green, don't bother it.
* Keep plants dry if you can.
You can’t stop the rain, but don’t
water or wash the plant. And
don’t fertilize until spring. Give
the wounds time to heal.
* Watch for disease signs
such as shrinking stems, black
areas or brown patches that grow
bigger on leaves or stems.
The Summerville News; February 3, 2000 —
Summerville Gets
Coveted Approval
For State Project
from front page
of populations between 1,000 to
5,000, DCA material indicated.
Although Summerville’s popula
tion is 25 over the 5,000 mark,
according to the U.S. Census, the
DCA gave the city the designa
tion, anyway.
“From our in-house census
data, Summerville met the re
quirements of 1,000 to 5,000,”
said Cindy Thilenius, statewide
coordinator of the Better Home
town program.
Ms. Thilenius and other im
grovement/ development experts
ave visited Summerville for at
least two public meetings during
the past year to explain its details
and emphasize that local people
must do the work, not by state
officials.
TECH AID
Better Hometowns is de
signed to provide technical assis
tance to stimulate the
communi;x’s overall economic
health, said Ms. Farrar. The as
sistance includes a six-stage
planning process. It guides cities
through S\e development of an
ongoing strategy for improve
ment and economic revitaliza
tion over a period of several
years.
Former Governor Zell Miller
launched Georgia’s Better
Hometown program on Jan. 27,
1997 during Mayor’s Day by
naming Blackshear, Blakely,
Bremen, Greensboro and
Manchester “Better Hometown”
communities. The self-help com
munity development program is
intended to revitalize small com
munities, according to the DCA’s
website information.
Romance Can Last
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e 8 But We First Have
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The Better Hometown pro
gram is a public-private partner=
ship between the DCA, Georgia
Power, the Georgia Municipal
Association, the University of
Georgia Business Outreach Ser
vices, University of Georgia
School of Environmental Design,
Georgia Department of Trans
portation, MEAG Power and
Oglethorpe Power Co.
The SDDA is managing the
Better Hometown program in
Summerville.
MEMBERS
The authority consists of
President Allen “Butch” Eleam,
Bill Gilbert, Becky Groce, Earl
Parris and Brenda Burks. Ms.
Farrar, Bobby Plemons, Fran
M¥ers and Becky Groce serve as
volunteers.
Ms. Farrar and Ms. Groce
serve as co-managers of the pro
gram.
SEAFOOD SOIL
Dried, crushed shells from
shrimp, crabs and lobsters can
be sprinkled on the soil to en
rich it with calcium, safy experts
with the University of Georgia
Extension Service. A fertilizer
made from crab shell wastes is
already on the market.
FREE
GROOM'S TUX
DETAILS
FLOWERS 'N SUCH
7-A