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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 Now you can place a classified ad or browse classified listings on-line. Whether you’re buying or selling, you’ll click with success when you use the on-line classifieds. Your 25-Word Classified Ad Goes Into 5 Newspapers & On The Internet For Just $10.00 CALL 367-5233 or ONLINE at mainstreetnews.com 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.