Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2008
THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS
PAGE 5A
Other Views
2008 session to face serious issues
T he 2008 General Assembly
began with facing seri
ous issues such as the
House over-riding 12 vetoes by the
Governor and sending them over
to the Senate, a state-wide water
management plan, gun rights, and
the budget. As to the over-rides, the
Lt. Governor, Casey Cagle, referred
the Bills to the Senate Rules
Committee for consideration. Other
issues are:
Water: The statewide Water Plan
passed the Senate and I supported
the measure. The bill will promote
an unbiased and conservative man
agement of our State’s costly water
resources. Conservation of our
water is of critical importance to
all Georgians and this Water Plan
provides upgrades in infrastructure
that will provide a more efficient
use of our resources. Provisions
were added to the legislation to pro
vide management to both the water
quality and quantity. Important
to me in supporting the legisla
tion was the fact that the legisla
tion did not allow for water basin
transfers. This legislation will help
in protecting the water rights that
many Georgians feared would be
removed. This is a good first step.
The plan calls for a three-year study
and the creation of an oversight
committee.
Guns: Once again we in the
Senate dealt with the right of indi
viduals to bring their guns into pub
lic access parking lots. H. B. 89, as
passed by the Senate, is designed to
protect the many Georgia residents
who possess a Firearms License
while, at the same time, not infring
ing on the rights of the property
owners. License holders will also
be allowed to carry their guns to
State parks and to other facili
ties. The bill provides also better
processing of the firearm license
application by the Probate Courts. I
feel strongly always about protect
ing our Second Amendment right to
bear arms.
Budget: During the second week
of General Assembly we were out
of session to conduct hearings on
the State budget. These hearings
of course are well intended and
are set for the purpose of passing a
balanced budget, which is required
under our State Constitution. Think
how good it would be for our
country if
a balanced
budget were
required
on a fed
eral level.
Georgia citi
zens expect
our Georgia
legislature
to be a good
steward of
their tax
dollars and
be discerning as to how money
is spent. As a member of the
Appropriations Committee, I am
committed to the prosperity of our
State and continued progress.
Several of Governor Perdue
Budget Proposals are:
Transportation: The Governor
called for $131,204,202 for local
roads. He also called for $50 mil
lion in total funds for the State
Transportation Infrastructure Bank,
which is a revolving fund for local
communities.
Water and Land Conservation: In
both the FY08 and FY09 budgets
the Governor proposed $70 mil
lion to fund reservoirs, $42 million
to fund statewide water and sewer
loans, $5.6 million to match federal
drinking water funds and $30 mil
lion to acquire lands for preserva
tion and conservation.
Health Insurance: The Governor
requested $17 million for the
Health Insurance Partnership. This
will serve as an incentive for small
business to partner with employees
to provide low cost health insur
ance. Complete with Medicaid fed
eral funds, the total of $46.5 million
will insure about 25,000 employees.
Tax Relief: The Governor called
for a constitutional amendment
to eliminate the state portion of
property taxes that residents pay
on homes and automobiles. This
will eliminate the state quarter mill
ad valorem tax, providing approxi
mately $94 million in tax relief to
Georgia property owners beginning
fiscal year 2010.
A bill that would freeze property
values and stop residential tax
assessments from growing more
than 2 percent a year is being
pushed by Lt. Governor Casey
Cagle. This legislation will require
voter approval of a referendum
before local governments could
increase tax assessments at a higher
rate.
Education - K-12: The Governor
called for $14,250,000 for a Very
Important Parent (VIP) Recruiter
program for at risk elementary,
middle, and high schools. This is a
serious program to recruit parents
to be involved with their children’s
education. He also requested $65
million in one-time funds for
school buses and technology in the
amended FY08 budget. The $100
gift card for teachers to buy materi
als for classrooms will continue.
Georgia teachers will remain the
highest paid in the Southeast due to
a pay raise of 2.5% for K-12 teach
ers taking effect September 2008.
Safety: Governor Perdue called
for an increase in the size of
Georgia State Patrol (GSP) by
establishing a Regional Cadet
Program and providing additional
trooper schools. This would result
in 200 more state patrol officers on
the roads.
The Governor as well as the
Senates and House Economic
Development Committees are eager
to promote economic development
across the state, which also involves
tourism. Tourism is economic
development and is very important
to the prosperity of Georgia.
The Senate has passed a balanced
budget that has allowed us to cut
waste and continue progress in our
state and plan for the future.
This session of the General
Assembly appears to be a session
dealing with very important issues.
Ethel Blackmon is my secretary
and Wanda Miller is my assistant
this year. Please call if you need
me. As always, I receive hundreds
of emails and it is very hard to read
all of them. We can address most
all of your concerns if you will call
the office at 404-463-1367.
Nancy Schaefer is a state senator
representing Banks County.
Meetings citizens can attend in county
The following local government
agencies hold regular meetings
which are open to the public:
•Maysville City Council, 7 p.m.,
first Monday of each month at the
Maysville Public Library.
•Banks County High School All
Sports Booster Club, 6:30 p.m.,
first Monday of each month, BCHS
library.
•Maysville Beautification
Committee, 7 p.m., fourth Thursday
of each month at the Maysville
Public Library.
•Banks County Planning
Commission, 7 p.m., first Tuesday
of each month at the courthouse.
•Gillsville City Council, 7 p.m.,
first Tuesday of each month at city
hall. A work session is held at 7 p.m.
on the third Thursday of the month.
•Banks County Board of Education,
7 p.m., third Monday of each month
at the BOE office. The work session
is held on the Thursday prior to the
regular meeting.
•Baldwin City Council, 7 p.m.,
second and fourth Monday of each
month at city hall. A work session
is held at 6:30 p.m. on the Thursday
preceding each regular meeting.
•Homer City Council, 6 p.m., sec
ond Tuesday of each month at city
hall.
•Banks County Board of
Commissioners 6:30 p.m. second
Tuesday of each month at the court
house. A work session is held at 3:30
p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of the
month at the courthouse.
•Alto City Council, 7 p.m., second
Tuesday of each month at city hall.
•Lula City Council, 7 p.m., third
Monday of each month at city hall.
A work session is held at 11 a.m.
on the Thursday preceding regular
meeting.
•BJC Medical Center board of
directors, 1:30 p.m., third Monday
of each month in the conference
room of the hospital.
•BCMS Booster Club, 6:30 p.m.,
third Monday of each month at the
lunchroom.
Pruning fruit improves harvest
H ome fruit orchards are
often neglected when it
comes to the annual train
ing and pruning of the fruit plants.
Without training and pruning, how
ever, fruits will not develop proper
shape and form.
Properly trained and pruned
plants will yield high quality fruit
much earlier in their lives and live
significantly longer. A primary
objective of training and pruning
is to develop a strong framework
that will support fruit production.
Another goal of annual training
and pruning is to remove dead,
diseased, or broken limbs. Proper
pruning and training also opens up
the tree canopy to maximize light
penetration. The following briefly
describes the pruning process for
blueberries, figs, muscadines and
apples.
Once your blueberry plants are
established or if you have some
older, overgrown plants, you will
not need to prune them much
until they reach six to eight feet in
height. You will then want to begin
a cane renewal program. You need
to start by pruning out one to three
of the largest canes each winter and
cut them at anywhere from zero to
24 inches from the ground level.
Prune back any tall canes that can
be cut back to six to eight feet tall.
After repeating this process for
about five years, the bush should
be totally renewed. The results will
provide new, more productive canes
that will sprout from the old canes
and will sprout below the ground
level.
Begin training
your fig plants
to grow in the
bush form at the
tune of plant
ing by cutting
off one-third of
the young plant.
This forces
shoots to grow
from the base
of the plant. Let
these shoots
grow through the first season. Then,
late during the winter after the
first growing season, select three
to eight vigorous, widely spaced
shoots to serve as leaders. Remove
all other shoots. Be sure the lead
ers you select are far enough apart
to grow to be three to four inches
in diameter without crowding each
other. If more branching is desired,
head back the bush each spring
beginning the second year after
planting, after danger of frost is
past but before growth has started.
Do this by removing about one-
third to one-half the length of the
last year’s growth. Also, prune all
dead wood and remove branches
that interfere with the leaders’
growth. Cut off low-growing lateral
branches and all sucker growth that
is not needed to replace broken
leaders.
Muscadine pruning needs to be
done in February or early March.
Once the main trunk of a vine
produces two to four main arms to
grow out onto a wire trellis, then
small shoots will grow from them.
You should prune back the canes
that grew the previous year, leav
ing about three inches of growth,
which forms a spur off of the main
ann. After making the pruning
cuts, don't be alarmed to see the
vines bleed out some sap. Bleeding
does not harm the vines. If you
leave too many buds on the vine,
the plant over produces fruit and
extra vine growth, and the fruit is
small and poor in quality. Be sure
to leave spurs that are on the top
of the arms. And, cut out any dead
wood from the vine to help prevent
disease. On older, overgrown vines,
use the same procedure to get the
growth back to the main arms of
the vines.
The main objective in pruning an
overgrown apple tree is to try and
open up the interior to allow good
light penetration. The first step is
to remove all the upright, vigorous
growing shoots at their base that
are shading the interior. As with
young apple trees, it is necessary
to select three to five lower scaf
fold branches with good crotch
angles and spaced around the tree.
Limbs with poor angles and excess
scaffold limbs should be removed
at their base. In some cases it is
advisable to spread the corrective
pruning over two to three seasons.
When severe pruning is done in
the winter, do not fertilize the trees
that spring. If you would like more
information on caring for fruits,
come by or call the Banks County
Extension Office at 706-677-6230.
Bob Waldorf is the Banks County
extension agent.
bob
waldorf
Letter to the Editor
Animal control a need for Banks County
Dear Editor:
Every day, I see a new sign about
another missing dog in the neigh
borhood — even a goat. What is
happening to our pets? We also have
people shooting shotguns all hours
of the day and night which is not
safe because there is a lot of homes
close together and a lot of children
all around.
It is both our children and our pets
who are in danger here people. Most
of you have children yourselves so
put the guns away unless you are
trying to keep your kids safe from
all the dogs running loose, which by
the way, seems like a lot. What do
you do? Keep them locked up dur
ing the day and when they are not
barking all night like a dog fight is
going on, do you not feed them and
let them go tearing up other people’s
trash and eat their pet’s food.
It is something to think about
because I know other people it is
happening to and we are getting a
little concerned. So, if you have a
child or a pet please, please safe
guard them.
Mr. Hart, I along with other peo
ple, think we need animal control in
this end of Banks County. I do not
even let my grandkids come to my
house any more because there are
too many pit bulls running loose. I
know because I have run more then
I can count away from my house. I
thought the Georgia law was that if
you had one of these dogs that you
had to have $50,000 home insur-
ance.
I just know that something has to
be done about this or people will be
taking matters into their own hands
to get rid of the problems.
Please do something before it gets
to that. I, for one, will protect
myself and my family if one of these
dogs get vicious toward myself or
family.
Mr. Hart and other board of com
mission members, I hope you really
listen. If not now, believe me, I
will be at the next meeting, along
with others, to address this problem
before the board.
Sincerely,
Emily Ray
Commerce
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Banks County
Board of Commissioners
REQUEST FOR BIDS
BID NUMBER (208-0227)
Sealed bids will be received at the Commissioners’
Office Banks County Courthouse, 144 Yonah-
Homer Road, Suite 1, Homer, GA 30547 up to 10:00
A.M. February 27, 2008, at which time they will be
opened for the following:
BANKS COUNTY RECREATION DEPARTMENT
2008 BASEBALL / SOFTBALL UNIFORMS
Bid packets may be obtained from:
Banks County Recreation Department
607 Thompson Street
Homer, GA 30547
706-677-4407
All bids must be submitted in a sealed envelope
and marked with the words, Bid Number 208-0227,
Opening 10:00 A.M. February 27, 2008. Any bid
received after 10:00 A.M. will be rejected.
The Banks County Board of Commissioners
reserves the right to accept or reject any and all
bids and to waive any formality or informality in
the bid process.
City of Maysville
Notice of Property Tax
Increase/Decrease
The City of Maysville has proposed the
adoption of a millage rate which will require
an increase in property taxes by 14.08% for
Banks County residents living in Maysville,
and a reduction in property taxes of 14.59%
for Jackson County residents living in
Maysville. These changes are due to
differences in sales taxes received. The gross
millage rate will remain unchanged. The net
millage rate is based upon the amount of
reduction from sales taxes.
All concerned citizens are invited to public
hearings on this tax increase/decrease to be
held at Maysville Library at 6:00 P.M. on
March 13, 2008, and March 20, 2008, and
at 6:30 P.M. on March 24, 2008.
The Maysville City Council plans to consider
final adoption of the millage rates at a special
called meeting to be held at the Maysville
Library at 7:00 P.M. on March 24, 2008.