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Council To Purchase Machine '
-- See Page 3-A
VOLUME CXIV — NUMBER V
State Criminal Probe Of
Insurance Plan Continuing
Summerville Council Dissolves Its Own Committee
State insurance fraud inves
tigators have turned their atten
tion towards possible criminal
activities surrounding the City of
Summerville's previous em
plovee health insurance pro
gram, according to city officials.
State fraud investigators
continue to inform Herbert
“Buzz” Franklin, Lookout Moun
tain Judicial Circuit district at
torney, about possible criminal
findings, officials said.
That information might im
plicate former elected and ap
pointed Summerville officiaQS
with imgroi)er handling of em
ployee health insurance, they
said.
Hospital Authority Slating
Statement, Report In April
Grand Jury Seeks Publication Plus Notice To August Jurors
The Chattooga County Hos
pital Authority will publish its
statement of purpose and fi
nances this spring as sought by
the February term of the county’s
Grand Jury, the chairman of the
Authority said this week.
Susan Floyd, who heads the
hospital panel, responded to
comments included in this court
term'’s presentments.
PRINT REPORT
“ ... We recommend that
the Hospital Authority publish a
statement of purpose and fi
nances in The Summerville
Board Hears
Merger Report
By GENE ESPY
Editor
A committee of parents,
teachers and administrators
from North Summerville and
Pennville Elementary Schools
presented the Chattooga Board
of Education Monday with “food
for thought” about the possible
merger of the two schoo?s.
Kevin Lee, a parent, read the
committee’s findings, which
were favorable about the pro
posal. They will meet again and
make another presentation at
next month’s Board of Education
meeting.
Lee read,
“Recently, a committee
made up of parents, teachers and
administrators from North Sum
merville and Pennville Elemen
tary held a series of meetings to
discuss the feasibililz of merging
the two schools and building a
New Industry Will
Locate Near Lyerly
An industry owned by a
Summerville councilman ti:at
the City of Summerville failed to
attract to its industrial park has
decided to locate near Lyerly.
Officials of Chattooga Inter
national Technology Inc. decided
to locate the facility on a 3.5-acre
Elot outside the Lyerle'v’l’own
imits near Smith Iron Works.
The company will hire 15 to
18 peogle initially and within five
years that number could grow to
more than 25 emgloyees, said
Milford Morgan, the com%aonay's
president, chairman of the board
and treasurer.
NEW JOBS
Summerville officials an
nounced last month that a new
industry was looking at the Sum
merville Industrial Park to locate
a new business that would bring
new jobs to Chattooga County.
“One of the items I wanted
you to be aware of is the indus
Che Summeruille Ne
“CRIMINAL”
“I'm not aware of anythin
being brought before the Grans
Jury vet,” said Albert Palmour,
Summerville city attorney. “Of
course, this is with the insurance
commissioner now. It's a crimi
nal investigation.”
State investigators from In
surance Commissioner John
Oxendine’s office obtained infor
mation that showed missing city
records concerning emplovee
health insurance benefits, offi
cials said.
Palmour pointed out those
omissions to S\(’ state fraud in
vestigators.
Earlier last vear, the Sum
News,” the presentments stated.
“We also recommend that said
Authority report on the state of
that organization to the Grand
Jury of ChattooEa County Supe
rior Court for the August term,
2000.”
“Draffin and Tucker of Al
bany, continues as our hospital
auditors, who recently com
pleted our 1996 audit,” Ms. Floyd
said this week.
TRUST
“The Authority had some
$2,725,300 in a trust at the
Farmers and Merchants Bank as
new facility. They discussed the
interest in such a project, as well
as the configuration of such a fa
cility. Their primary goal was to
act in the long-range interest of
the students from both of the
present schools.
“The consensus reached by
the committee was that the best
possible plan would be to merge
the two schools and build a new
K-5 elementary school. This new
school would house approxi
matel{ 450-470 students. The
size of the facility would benefit
students in several ways.
“The state would provide a
full-time librarian, a full-time
physical education teacher, a
full-time music teacher and a
full-time art teacher for a school
of this size. This would enhance
the education of all the students.
The building of a new facility
see BOARD HEARS, page 9-A
trial prospect that we were work
ing with to locate in the city’s in
dustrial park,” Cit{ Manager
Grady McCalmon told the Sum
merville Ci?' Council on Feb. 10.
“Because of some conflict of in
terest with grant applications
and possible funding for the
project, it has been dropped and
terminated any further negotia
tions.”
CONFLICT
The city manager later ex
glained the conflict of interest
etween Morgan’s duties as a
councilman and Morgan as
president of the new company.
Initially, McCalmon said the
city was going to see if the Coosa
Valley Regional Develoglment
Center (RSC) could help the city
obtain grants to help imE'ove the
infrastructure at the park. In par
ticular, McCalmon mentioned
creating access roads and utili
see NEW INDUSTRY, page 17-A
© Copyright 2000 By Espy Publishing Co., Inc. — All Rights Reserved
SUMMERVILLE, CHATTOOGA COUNTY, GEORGIA — THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2000
merville City Council appointed
athree-man committee to inves
tigate what caused the city’s in
surance %remiums to skyrocket
to more than sl.l-million annu
ally. It consisted of Palmour, City
Manager Grady McCalmon and
Summerville Police Chief Stan
Mosley.
NO INFO
“We have had some recent,
well, not recent — several weeks
ago, now — contact with the in
surance commissioner’s office to
get some information. It is an
ongoing investigation,”
McCalmon said. “The last infor
mation I had from one of the
of June 30, 1999 and it will re
main there until the hospital
pays off its bonds on July 1, 2000
and with all outstanding liabili
ties settled,” she said.
“The remainder of the
money will be disbursed as the
law requires with discussion of
the disbursement to take place at
our next regular meeting on
April 24,” she said. It will be%’xeld
at 7 p.m. Monday, April 24, at the
Chattooga County Courthouse
Annex.
TO CONTINUE
“The Authority will continue
to remain after disbursement of
funds for the sake of overseeing
health records as the law re
quires, such as x-rays, lab reports
of patients who were in the hos
pital prior to its closing,” Ms.
Floyd said.
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Can You Spell ‘Heavy’
Lucas Jennings, a Trion Elementary School first grader,
seems to be weighted down with his prizes for winning
the first grade Spelling Bee at the Countywide Spelling Bee
Tuesday in Summerville. All elementary schools
g;(i)rtlmpated in the event. Jennings won a trophy, Savings
nd and a certificate for his efforts. He is the son of Russ
and Linda Jennm%?, Trion. See story and additional photos
on Page 8-A. (Staff Photo by Gene Espy).
agents working on the case —
they are investigating it crimi
nals; and they cannot discuss it
with anyone but law enforce
ment officers. I asked the chief
(Mosley) to see what he could
find out and he couldn’t find any
thing.”
One of the omissions that
investigators are evidently res
viewing involves the city paying
premium increases for employ=
ees’ dependents’ dental ana
medical supplements. A letter
dated on Feb. 1, 1995 features the
signatures of three Council
members, giving their OK for
paying those coverages.
see CRIMINAL PROBE, page 9-A
Originally known as Chat
tooga County Hosrital, the tacil
ity was 48 years old when it was
%orn downin late 1999.
TALMADGE
It was dedicated by then-
Gov. Herman Talmadge at a cer
emony held on Wednesday, Dec.
19, 1951. It began accepting pa
tients in January, 1952.
According to an ad in The
Summerville News on Dec. 13,
1951 and other issues of The
News:
Fred Allred was elected
president of the Chattooga
County Chamber of Commerce
for 1949. In his acceptance
speech, he said his ;i;ml would be
having a hospital built for the
county’s residents.
Allred formed a committee
see HOSPITAL, page 9-A
' Ten Injured In Local Mi‘sha"psil e
SR -- See Page 7-A
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Scott Layfield, head of the LaFayette district office of the
U.S. Forest Service, holds one of tKe small balls used to start
a 950-acre controlled forest fire on Taylor Ridge this past
week. About 3,500 of the specially designed and treated balls
were dropped from the helicopter to start the controlled
‘Hot Balls’ Start Controlled
Fires In Chattooga Forests
Official: Federal Agency Boosts Woodlands’ Ecology, Productivity
The U.S. Forest Service will
start additional controlled fires
in Chattooga County this year,
according to Scott Layfield, %ead
of the LaFayette district office.
A 950-acre “controlled
burn” on Tafilor Ridge on
Wednesday, Feb. 9, drew the at
tention of numerous Chattooga
Countians, especially those trav
eling along U.S. 27 that after
noon. One motorist stopped by
the office of The Summerville
News to inquire about the cause
of heavy smoke resulting from
the blaze.
GUIDELINES
Forest Service officials fol
low state fiuidelines to minimize
the smoke effect on people,
Layfield said.
The Service had burned 200
to 300 acres of forestland in
Walker County on Feb. 8 and 9
but the Chattooga fire was the
largest and drew the most atten
tion, he said.
Some environmental stud
ies have concluded that regular
controlled burns help strengthen
oaks, he said.
The fires don’t harm grown
pines and they get rid of storm-
More Bogus Bills In Region
A Summerville Police De
gartment detective and a U.S.
ecret Service agent continue to
round up a larfie sum of coun
terfeit money that was released
into the area’s economy.
Summerville Det. Terry
Williamson said reports of coun
terfeit slo’s and s2o’s have sur
faced in neighborinf Walker
County and Fort Oglethorpe.
Williamson this past week ar
rested two Summerville resi
dents for allegedly making bo
gus money.
PAPER CREDITED
The Summerville detective
credited The Summerville News
for the latest breaks in the coun
terfeiting case. He said law en
forcement officials reading the
newspaper at the Walker County
ghfn‘:'t": (():ffic; lam})e Fort
glethorpe City Police Depart
ment spotted t?:e front page ar
Small Balls Set Forest Fires
damaged trees, pine straw, fallen
leaves, limbs and general forest
debris that could fuel an inferno
during a drought, Layfield indi
cated.
MORE FOOD
In addition, when the
burned areas “green up” in the
sprinfi, they provide more food
for wildlife, he said studies have
shown. Because a thick carpet of
leaves and straw doesn’t hamper
the growth, it spreads more eas
ily and is thicker, he explained.
CONTROLLED
When controlled burns are
conducted during ideal weather,
they are easier to contain and
don’t lget into treetops, he added.
Any fires that start later in the
year in an area that has been part
of a controlled burn are less viru
lent and easier to extinguish, he
said.
Later fires in a previously
controlled-burn area usually
burn in a lane about a foot wide
while fires in leaf and limb-lit
tered areas burn in three- to
four-foot lanes, Layfield indi
cated.
see ‘HOT BALLS', page 17-A
ticle about the crime ring.
Williamson was in court
earlier this week and was not
able to travel to the other golice
departments and match the
counterfeit bills to the locally
made counterfeit bills.
Another SIOO bill was
turned in this week by one of the
parties involved, Williamson
said. So far, police have recov
ered $520 in mgus money. The
two suspects claimed about
$6,000 worth of money was
counterfeited.
Police officials suspected
that the mone{ was mainly dis
tributed in Floyd County and
fmrts of Alabama. The newest
eads show the money might
have been passed in counties
farther north of Chattooga as
well.
REGION
“It looks like the money was
burn. The fires help prevent larger fires during dry periods
and help create more green material in the sprinfi for wildlife,
such as deer, to browse, Layfield said. (Staff Photo By Earl
McConnell).
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More Counterfeit Currency Found
The Summerville Police has found more counterfeit cur
rency here and have determined it was not fiart of the bills
found last week in Summerville and this week in other parts
of North Georgia. The investigation into these bogus bills
is underway. (Staff Photo By Jason Espy).
spent all over the region,” Det.
Williamson said.
Williamson said he be
lieved %art of the money mifi!‘xt
have been passed at the
Collinsville Trade Day, which is
held each Saturday.
Robert Sweet, 25, was ar
rested on seven counts of first
degree forgery and An§ela
Sutton, 27, was arrested on four
counts of first-degree forgery.
RAID
Police officials raided a
Summerville Gardens Apart
ment on Feb. 1, and found coun
terfeit bills and computer equip
ment to make the illegal cur
rency, according to Det.
Williamson.
The investifiation began on
Jan. 17, when the initial report
was made to the Summerville
Police Department. Around the
same time, business owners be
ONLY
25¢
gan reporting illegal money be
ing passed at their stores.
Although police were re
ceiving information that illegal
bills were beinEspassed, it took
about two weeks to get enough
evidence to obtain a search war
rant.
It was the end of January
when Det. Williamson said Mag
istrate Judge Tracy Maddux
gave him a search warrant.
“We needed to be ‘able to
connect the counterfeit monsy
to the same apartment,” accord
ing to Williamson.
On Feb. 1, police entered
two Summerville Gardens
Apartments and collected a per
sonal computer, a color copier,
a flatbed scanner, a digital scan
ner and other pieces of undis
closed evidence.
Det. Williamson says the
two were allegedly making
l(:)(_)l\lmtert'eit $lO, S2O and SIOO
ills.