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THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, 2008
Baldwin council to seek grants for fire, police
BY SHARON HOGAN
The Baldwin City Council held a public
hearing in February to review the appli
cations for United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA) grants by the city’s
fire and police departments.
Fire Chief Joe Roy told the council
that the grant money the fire depart
ment is applying for would be used to
purchase a heavy rescue truck. The fire
department is applying for $180,000
with a possible 55 percent grant. If a
total of $180,000 is spent on the truck
and the city receives the grant. it will
pay up to $99,000 of the $180,000. This
will leave $81,000 for the city to pay,
Roy said.
Roy said this amount will become a
low interest loan at approximately 4.25
percent which the fire department would
like to secure with Habersham County
Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax
(SPLOST) 5 funds.
Roy said that once the fire department
is approved by the USDA and city coun
cil, two of the older rescue trucks will be
advertised and sold.
“We would anticipate that we would
be able to sell these with a combined
total of $75,000, which would offset
the loan, leaving a balance of around
$14,000 give or take, depending on the
sale,” Roy said.
According to Roy, this would leave a
balance in the fire department’s SPLOST
5 funds of around $151,460 to be used
for the purchase of a ladder truck.
“If this project goes as planned, this
would allow the fire department to
house a much-needed rescue truck and
ladder truck which in return would help
lower our ISO rating with no cost except
for upkeep of the vehicles to the city,”
the fire chief added.
Roy said that the purchase of a lad
der truck alone with not lower the ISO
rating, but with “a lot of other items” it
would.
Roy clarified for the council that both
the vehicles being proposed for pur
chase are used.
Roy told the council that the two
vehicles being proposed to sell were
paid for with funds from Habersham
County SPLOST 4 revenue.
Baldwin financial consultant Beth
Grimes asked Roy whether Habersham
County has a ladder truck that Baldwin
could use to help defray the cost. Roy
told Grimes that Habersham County
has a ladder truck that is stationed at the
Hollywood Fire Station.
Roy said the city currently has six
buildings in the city where a ladder truck
would be needed in the event of a fire.
The ladder truck will only be used in
structure fires, Roy said.
City Attorney David Syfan asked Roy
where the ladder truck would be kept.
Roy said provisions were made for a
ladder truck when the new fire station
was built and it would be kept at the new
fire station.
Roy told the council that the current
rescue truck will not pull the weight it
needs to. Roy said he has had the truck
worked on and it still isn’t any better.
Council member Ray Holcomb asked
Roy if he had considered purchasing
a new chassis for the rescue truck.
Roy said this had not been considered
because the box on the current rescue
truck is too small to carry all the neces
sary equipment.
On another matter, Police Chief Daren
Osborn reported that he has also applied
for a USDA grant of 55 percent of
$65,000 to purchase two new police
vehicles.
Osborn told the council that this would
mean if the grant is received that the city
would be getting two police cars for the
price of one. The grant money would
pay for one car and the city would pay
for the other one.
Osborn also said that the cost of one
new police vehicle needs to be included
in next year’s budget.
“If we budget for one new police
vehicle each year, maybe we will not be
in this situation again,” Osborn said.
Council member Robert Bohannon
said, “We need to try to work in one car
per year to the budget.”
No one spoke in opposition to the
grant applications at the public hearing.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business at the council meet
ing held after the public hearing, the
council:
•approved the purchase of 1,500 feet
of four-inch fire hose at a cost of $6,840
from American Safety & Fire House,
Inc., Atlanta. Roy also received bids
on this from: FireLine, Inc., Winder,
for $7,125; Anderson Fire & Safety,
Anderson, SC, for $7,122; and Nafeco,
Inc., Decatur, AL for $6,900.
•agreed to spend $468 for 10 gauges
for the fire department. The low bid was
received from FireLine, Inc., Winder.
A bid in the amount of $664 was
also received on this from Thuemling
Instrument Group.
•approved spending $13,953 for 10
sets of turn-out gear for the fire depart
ment. The gear will be purchased from
Nafeco, Inc., Decatur, Ala. Roy told the
council that the fire department has old
turn-out gear that poses a danger to the
firefighters. Some of the gear the city
currently use is 10 years old and the
life of turn-out gear is three years, Roy
said.
In other business, Baldwin resident
Andrea Harper, Willingham Avenue,
spoke concerning the placement of a
modular home on Willingham Avenue.
The modular home was approved as a
special use permit at the council meeting
on Feb. 11.
“I am really disappointed with what
happened here two weeks ago,” she
said. “You were elected to serve to ben
efit all the citizens of Baldwin, but only
one person benefited from your actions
that night. You drastically reduced my
property values.”
Lula council honors former mayor Talmadge Pless
BY SHARON HOGAN
The Lula City Council honored for
mer mayor and councilman, Talmadge
Pless, with a plaque at its monthly
meeting on Monday, Feb. 18.
Lula Mayor Milton Turner said Pless
has just turned 90-years-old. He was
recognized for “outstanding accom
plishment, attainment and achievement
to the benefit of our fair city and com
munity,” Turner said.
Turner said Pless was being honored
for his diligent service over a period
spanning better than half a century
serving his community in “a tireless
effort of providing strong sound lead
ership for the benefit of the City of
Lula.”
Turner told Pless the council was
expressing their sincere thanks and
appreciation for a job well done.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business, the council:
•recognized the February Yard of
the Month winners: Howard Collins,
Cobb Street, district 1; Harold Wehunt,
Hemlock Court, district 2; Doreen
Nash, Belton Bridge Place, district 3;
Margarita Rodriguez, Happy Hollow
Court, district 4; and Laverne McClure,
County Line Road, district 5.
•proposed a final offer in the amount
of $4,000 to Chad Warner for services
he paid a private contractor to relocate a
water line on his property into the pub
lic right-of-way. The council offered
Warner $3,000 at a meeting in January,
but Warner said that was not acceptable.
At the February work session meeting
of the council, city manager Dennis
Bergin told the council that Warner was
willing to accept $4,000, but no less.
•unanimously approved water and
sewer write-offs in the amount of $972
for the months of November, December
and January.
•agreed to adhere to Governor Sonny
Perdue’s new watering restrictions.
Watering can be done for 25 min
utes between the hours of midnight
and 10 a.m. once a week for vegeta
tion. Bergin told the council that three
people had called city hall on Monday
asking if the city would follow these
guidelines. Even with these watering
conditions the city still has to maintain
a 10 percent water reduction and the
city is still under Level 4 drought limi
tations. Councilman Larry Shuler voted
in opposition to this motion.
•agreed unanimously to pay Delta
Municipal $17,500 for 100 new radial
read water meter to change out old
meters.
•approved the new month to month
lease for the old city hall building in the
amount of $325 per month.
•approved city attorney Brad Patten
to check on the Georgia Power assign
ment of rights request the city has
received. Once Patten has cleared the
request, the council authorized Turner
to sign off on this. Georgia Power is
seeking to run a three-phase under
ground line on the city’s rights-of-way
through the Hagen Creek property.
•approved the conservation pricing
rates for new water and sewer custom
ers to take effect on April 1.
•approved a three-year contract,
renewable every year, with MBIS, Ray
Campbell, Clermont, the city’s building
inspector contingent upon Campbell
showing proof of workers compensa
tion and general liability insurance.
There is no increase in Campbell’s fees
this year.
•tabled any action of the adoption
of the official amended city map and
city zoning map and the Dwntown
Development Authority boundary map.
•asked Kirk Adams to fill the vacant
seat on the Downtown Development
Authority. Adams accepted this posi
tion.
•heard from Lula resident, Tim
Haynes, concerning a missing manhole
cover on County Line Road. Bergin
said he was already aware of this and
measures were being taken to replace
this cover on the storm drain. Haynes
also asked the council to consider plac
ing some type of lighted sign out in
front of city hall to let people know
about upcoming meetings and events.
•heard from Lula resident, Mary
Barbee, concerning a problem with
tenants moving off and leaving excess
garbage. Barbee asked the council to
consider collecting a deposit on trash
collection just like they do for water
and sewer service.
•was commended by Lula resident,
Terry Mize, for praying and pledging
allegiance to the flag before each coun
cil meeting.
The council will hold the next regu
larly scheduled council meeting at 7
p.m. on Monday, March 17, at city
hall.
County seeks use of Evans Street elementary school location
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
Banks County chairman Gene Hart made a
request to the Banks County Board of Education
at the February BOE meeting seeking permis
sion to use the Evans Street elementary school
location during the transition period while the
courthouse is being renovated.
Hart told superintendent Chris Erwin and BOE
members the county is in the process of expanding
its facilities for county government use. During
this time, a new Banks County courthouse annex
will be constructed and the current courthouse
will be renovated for exclusive judicial use.
The chairman said the county would like to
use the Evans Street location for its courthouse
judicial operations while the renovation process
is going on. The anticipated time frame would be
from August 2008 until April 2009. Offices which
would be moved temporarily into the Evans
Street location would be the Clerk of Court,
Probate Court, Magistrate Court, Superior Court
and District Attorney’s Office.
Hart said there would not be a need for any pris
oners to be inside the Evans Street building. In
fact, the probation office will be moved into the
new administrative annex during the courthouse
renovation to eliminate this possibility.
Hart said the county is willing to pay for a
proportionate share of monthly expenses at the
location, such as HVAC, electricity and water.
The county would also hire a crew to clean and,
if necessary, paint, the areas which would be
used. The chairman said he would request that the
school system relocate any of its items that would
need to be moved.
“This building would really give us what we
need in terms of size,” Hart said. “We are working
on the details of installing our phone and com
puter system now. If we can’t use this building
it will be difficult to find some other place that
would be adequate.”
Two BOE members were not present at last
week’s meeting and those who were in attendance
wanted for the decision to be made by the entire
group.
Board members present at the meeting expressed
safety for the students and staff as their number
one concern.
Hart said there should be not a concern with
safety.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business at the BOE meeting:
•BOE members heard a report from financial
director Mike Beasley that $272,612.94 was col
lected for November in Educational Local Option
Sales Tax Funds. Beasley said that amount was
the 20th highest out of 65 checks collected.
Public Hearing
Update to the short term work program and the
land limitation element of the solid waste
management plan for Banks County and the cities
of Homer and Maysville.
The Banks County Board of Commissioners and
the Cities of Homer and Maysville will hold a
public hearing to present a draft update to the
Five-Year Short Term Work Program and the Land
Limitation Element of the Banks County Solid
Waste Management Plan. This partial update to
the Solid Waste Management Plan is required by
the State of Georgia prior to completion of a full
plan update to be conducted from April 2008
through October 2008.
Date: April 1,2008
Time: 5:30 PM
Place: Banks County Courthouse
Conference Room
144 Yonah-Homer Road
Homer, GA 30547
Maysville to hold public
hearings on tax rates
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
The City of Maysville has scheduled three public hearings for citizen input on
proposed property tax rates for 2008.
City officials are proposing a 14.08 percent increase for citizens living in the
Banks County side of the city with a 14.59 percent decrease for those on the
Jackson County side of the municipality.
The changes are due to differences in sales taxes received, city officials said.
The gross millage rate will remain unchanged. The net millage rate is based on
the amount of reduction from sales taxes.
Public hearings will be held at 6 p.m. on March 13 and March 20 and at 6:30
p.m. on March 24. The Maysville City Council plans to consider final adoption
of the millage rate at a special called meeting at the Maysville Library March 24
at 7 p.m.
All public hearings will also be at the library.
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