About The Banks County news. (Homer, Banks County, Ga.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (April 16, 2008)
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16, 2008 THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS PAGE 3A Baldwin officials approve police vehicle purchase Baldwin council says 'No' to waste disposal facility BY SHARON HOGAN Baldwin City Council members unanimously approved the purchase of a Ford Explorer to be used by the investigation division of the poli ce department at Monday’s council meeting. Assistant Police Chief Shawn Rhoades presented the proposal to the council at the work session on Thursday in the absence of Police Chief Daren Obsorn. Rhoades said the proposal called for purchasing the Explorer and equipping it for an investigator’s vehicle at a price of $23,633. The cost to purchase a Dodge Charger as a police cruiser would be approximately $29,000. Rhoades said the chief wants to take the money saved and buy com puters and other equipment nee ded by the police department. The purchase will be made with grants funds received from the United States Department of Agriculture. Mayor Mark Reed questioned the purchase of the Explorer over the cruiser at Thursday’s work session. “I thought we wanted to purcha se safe cruisers,” Reed said. “The Explorer may be what we want, but I’m not sure it is what we need. It is our responsibility to provide the equipment to keep the public safe.” Council member Ray Holcomb made the motion to approve the pur chase of the Explorer at Monday’s council meeting and the motion was approved. Holcomb said, “We can save enough money to buy some much- needed equipment. OTHER BUSINESS In other business at Monday’s meeting, the council: •approved the renewal of the pro perty liability insurance on the fire department with VFIS as presented by Gail Harrell at the work session. The premium renewal amount is $10,444 compared to $10,188 for the current premium. This policy covers all equipment and vehicles operated by the fire department. Reed said an agent will be up this week to look at the old city hall and COUNCIL MEMBERS AT WORK Members of the Baldwin City Council are shown at Monday's meeting. Shown (L to R) are: Council members Beverly Holcomb, Jeff Murray and Robert Bohannon, Mayor Mark Reed, Council members Rodney King and Ray Holcomb and city clerk Brandy Kyle. Photo by Sharon Hogan some vehicle values before a deci sion is made on the city’s insurance renewal at a price of $74,992. There are some questions on the values placed on the old city hall building and some of the vehicles covered, Reed said. •approved payment of a $5,280 invoice to Angela Steedley for design engineering on the Park Avenue water project. Reed said 82 percent of design engineering is complete on the project. The invoice will be paid with CDBG grant funds for the project. •agreed to establish two checking accounts for USDA grant funds, requiring two signatures. •agreed unanimously to transfer funds from several deposit accounts into Certificates of Deposit (CD) accounts in order to receive a higher interest rate. The CDs will be at United Community Bank because they offered the best interest rate. Financial officer Betty Harper told the council at the work session on Thursday, “We are not utilizing the accounts like we should.” •agreed to a legal services con tract with Hulsey, Oliver & Mahar, LLC., Gainesville, for David Syfan to handle legal paperwork on the USDA grants for the police and fire vehicles. The city will pay $75 per hour, not to exceed $500. Syfan will handle the paperwork for the USDA grants. The council signed paperwork at the council meeting verifying each member’s terms of office. •unanimously approved an emplo yee travel expense policy to be inclu ded in the personnel policy. One item covered in the travel expense policy is the maximum amount to be paid for meals. Breakfast will be paid at $4, lunch at $6 and dinner at $10. The policy states that under no circumstance will be city pay for alcoholic beverages and the city does not pay for snacks. Receipts will be required from the employee for reimbursement of meals. Travel in a personal vehicle will be reim bursed at 40 cents per mile. •met in closed session from 7:53 p.m. until 9:17 p.m. to discuss per sonnel. The council also met in closed session for 45 minutes at Thursday’s work session meeting to discuss personnel. No action was taken. •heard a report from Reed that the city has received notification that the Department of Natural Resources has received the city’s application for renewal of its existing permit to discharge wastewater into the waters of Georgia. Reed said the notice is posted at city hall as required for 30 days. He said the permit is doubling most of the testing requirements for the city. The next regularly scheduled coun cil meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Monday, April 28, in the courtroom at the police department. Baldwin hears request to locate mobile home BY SHARON HOGAN Chuck Armour, Baldwin Falls Road, appeared before the Baldwin City Council at Monday’s meeting requesting to locate a new dou blewide mobile home on five acres of property he owns on the road. The property is located at the dead end of Baldwin Falls Road and is currently zoned R-1, single family residential. Council member Ray Holcomb said, “We will have a lot of opposi tion from the neighbors if we try to rezone it.” Mayor Mark Reed said, “We have zoning to protect adjoining property values and protect uniformity in the neighborhoods.” Reed informed Armour that his option is to apply for a rezoning special use permit. Reed said, “We will have to post it and have a public hearing.” He added that the public com ments the council has received in the past have been “pretty tough.” “It’s within your rights to ask for that but I’m not confident , the way things have been going,” he added. OTHER BUSINESS Other rezoning and annexation issues at Monday’s meeting were: •the council unanimously approved the first reading of an annexation request from James and Krystal Trotter for 2.0 acres located in Banks County at 205 Crooked Pine Trail in the Smoke Rise Subdivision. The Trotters are seeking to have the property annexed into the city and zoned R-1 residential. In order to get city water service to the property, the annexation is needed. The second reading and a hearing on this request will be held at the council meeting at 7 p.m. on Monday, April 28. •the council unanimously approved the first reading of the rezoning request for property owned by James and Kristy Woltz and located on Willingham Avenue. The property was recently rezoned with a special use permit to place a new doublewide mobile home on the property. The Woltzes proceeded with the demolition of an old house on the property. However, they were not able to secure the loan on the doublewide and they are currently living somewhere else. The Woltzes were notified by certified mail of the city’s intention to rezone the proper ty back to its original R-2 zoning to remove the special use permit. They were asked to attend the meeting if they had any objections. The second reading and the hearing will be held on April 28. •the council held the first reading on an annexation request from Kaye B. Wilkes for 13.5 acres located on Hwy. 365 and Wilbanks Road. Wilkes is requesting to have the property zoned highway business. The use of the property will be model log homes sales. The first reading was unanimously approved and the property will be posted and advertised. The second reading and the public hearing will be held at the council meeting at 7 p.m. on Monday, May 12. Bows to be sold for Relay for Life Everyone is asked to paint Banks County pink and purple with Relay for Life bows. “Put them on your mailboxes, fence posts, doors and trees in your yard or place of business,” organizers state. “Pink bows indicate breast can cer and purple bows are for all other kinds of cancer. Placing the bows around the county is a wonderful opportunity to honor a cancer survivor, as well as to remember a loved one.” Glory Baptist UMU has large weatherproof bows available for $10 each. Contact Wanda Logan at 706-677-3207 or Charlotte Maxwell at 706-335-6948. Leave a message and calls will be returned, they say. All proceeds go to the Banks County Relay for Life. BY SHARON HOGAN A developer likely won’t apply for a rezoning to locate a waste disposal facility in Baldwin because town leaders are not receptive to the proposal. Jesse Nix, North Georgia Sewer and Drain Company, Cleveland, appeared before the Baldwin City Council at a March 6 work session seeking approval to locate a septic and grease trap disposal facility in the City of Baldwin. He had not officially applied for a rezoning but wanted to find out if the council would approve his plans. Nix was not at a work session held last Thursday but several Baldwin residents attended to oppose the proposal to locate a waste disposal facility in the city. At the March 6 meeting, Nix said he was looking at two possible sites for the facility — a 32-acre tract on Duncan Bridge Road and a three- acre tract in the industrial park. “ I guess most of you are here about the proposal from Jesse Nix,” Mayor Mark Reed said at the Thursday work session. “I talked with him today and told him it was a dead duck here. There’s a potential for inconvenience for some citizens and some environmental issues for the feed mill. I don’t think it is what the citizens of Baldwin want and I think this is the feeling of the council.” Reed said Nix did put a contract on the Duncan Bridge Road site. He is also looking into bringing waste from a White County site to the Baldwin plant. “I talked with him about some thing at our treatment plant,” Reed said. “Nix plans to construct some thing in White County and pos sibly truck some waste over to be put in Baldwin’s system. We will need to make sure it doesn’t nega tively impact Baldwin’s wastewater plant.” The discharge into Baldwin’s plant would have to be approved by Woodard and Curran. “His intentions are good, but his plan hasn’t been proven,” Reed said. Reed said the city received numer ous calls about this issue. Reed thanked the media for reporting on this issue and the citizens for their participation. “It’s not worth the risk to Baldwin at this time, Reed said. “We get opposition to just about everything we try to do.” Council member Ray Holcomb said, “We owe it to anybody to listen to his or her proposal. We listened to his proposal. We didn’t promise him anything.” Citizen Sandy Evans, Mallard Pond Subdivision, said, “I don’t think we should only come to com plain but most of us have our great est investment in our homes and we want to protect them.” Brenda Garcia of the Habersham Retreat thanked the mayor and coun cil for taking “thoughtful consider ation for the citizens of Baldwin.” City of Lula receives confirmation of $200,000 DOT grant BY JUSTIN POOLE Lula leaders learned Monday that the town has received a $200,000 grant for a streetscape project. City manager Dennis Bergin spoke on the grant during a work session Monday. The grant provides the city with $200,000 for use on the streetscape project that also includes the veteran’s park. The grant will help for the first phase of the project and increases the chance for more phase funding later on to help with additional phases, city leaders said. Bergin said it was through the efforts of Mike Evans, Lula’s DOT district representative, that the town received the grant. Also at the work session Monday night: •resident Joe Means told the council that he would speak at the public hearing before next Monday’s meet ing about rezoning of property off Belton Bridge Road •information was given to the council an update to the town’s ordinances that the EPD has requested. •proposed topics for the council meeting April 21 were discussed, including stream buffer setback, amendments to ordinances on waste water discharge, storm water, floodplain management and flood protection, building materials for the overlay district, water fees and drought restrictions. Baldwin Elementary School students earn recognition BY SHARON HOGAN Baldwin City Council members recognized four students on Monday from Baldwin Elementary School who were winners in the T-shirt logo contest for the city’s Peach Clean Up Day event. Mayor Mark Reed said this is the city’s 12th annual Peachy Clean Up Day event and this is the third year the students at the school have designed the logo to be printed on the T-shirts. All participants in the clean up event receive a free T-shirt. “We’ve always come up with some good applicants,” Reed said. The top four designs were cho sen. Jeff Herrin, Herrin Properties, donated savings bonds for the top four students. The winners were: Aaron Crump, first place, $100 savings bond; Chase Coker, second place, $75 savings bond; William Mitchell, third place, $50 savings bond; and Melissa Chavez, fourth place, $50 savings bond. All of the winners are fifth grade students at the school. The city will hold its Peachy Clean Up Day event from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 26. All volunteers are urged to meet at Fellowship Church in the Industrial Park at 9 a.m. Biscuits will be offered on a first-come, first-serve basis at 9 a.m. and lunch will be provided by the church and Fieldale Farms at 1 p.m. Leaders state they have a lot of door prizes for the event also. T-SHIRT CONTEST WINNERS HONORED Baldwin Mayor Mark Reed (second from left) is shown with the winners of the Peachy Clean Up Day T-shirt logo contest. The winners were chosen from the fifth grade classes at Baldwin Elementary School. The winners shown are: Aaron Crump (L), first place, $100 savings bond; William Mitchell (second from right), third place, $50 savings bond; and Chase Coker (R), sec ond place, $75 savings bond. Crump's picture will be printed on the T-shirts that the participants at the annual clean up day receive. Not pictured is fourth place winner Melissa Chavez. Photo by Sharon Hogan First Annual Taste of East - A Family Affair Saturday, April 19, 6:00 - 9:00 pm Food Vendors Start at 7:00 pm Everything else starts at 6:00 pm East Jackson Comprehensive High School Band Practice Field Sponsored by the EJCHS Band Boosters Family Fun including moonwalk, slides, obstacle course, carnival games for children, craft vendors, silent auction (lots of great stuff from our local businesses), local entertainment and best of all, great food to be sampled from some of Jackson County’s Best Restaurants: Shane’s Rib Shack, Papa John’s Pizza, Redd’s BBQ and Stew, Johnny’s NY Style Pizza, Supper’s Ready, Cabin Creek BBQ, My Friend’s Place, Starbuck’s, Cracker Barrel, Sonic Drive-In, Rey’s Cuban Grill, Wendy’s, Sara’s Restaurant...just to name a few. Please join us in support of the EJCHS Band for some great fun for the whole family and a great cause! Tickets are $10/5 tastes. Tickets are on sale now. If interested, please call Karen Derochers at 404-983 8189 or Vicki Whitmire at 770-654-0260. If interested in participating as a food or craft vendor, please call Karen Derochers or Janet McDonald at 706-658-6232. Bring Ad With You For A Chance To Win In A Drawing. j Only $29 to anyone who has never been to a chiropractor before (or hasn't been in a long time). Dear Friend, My name is Dr. Kevin L. Strohman. We are celebrating our 2 year anniversary in Commerce, Georgia. To show my appreciation, I have agreed to “give away” (to anyone who asks for it) $225 worth of my services for only $29. That's right $29. We have had an overwhelming response to our new office and have already helped a lot of people feel better and live healthier, more productive lives through Chiropractic Care. And now, I'd like to introduce even more people to the many benefits our profession has to offer. For instance, chiropractic care may be able to help you if you are suffering from any of the following conditions: • Migraine headaches • Numbness in arms and legs • Lower back pain • Muscle Spasms ...And a host of other problems ranging from dizziness to ringing in the ears. These symptoms can be caused whenever the vertebrae in your spine are out of alignment, because these “misalignments” directly affect your nervous system. Fortunately, many of these and other similar afflictions may be relieved or eliminated by proper chiropractic treatments. So if you have always wanted to “check out” chiropractic and see what it can do for you, now is the best time to do so because only $29 will get you all of the services I normally charge new patients $225 for. • In-depth consultation about your health and well-being • Complete chiropractic spinal exam • Full set of specialized x-rays to determine if a misalignment in your spine is causing your problem. (Note: Nobody gives these kinds of x-rays free. They would cost you at least $100.) • Analysis of your x-rays and spinal exam to evaluate what needs to be done to correct your problem. • Answers to all your questions concerning chiropractic care and what it can do for you. What are you waiting for? Call us for an appointment Today! 706-335-2225. Tell the receptionist you'd like to come in for the special New Patient Introductory Examination. Don't delay - relief is only minutes away. Sincerely, Dr. Kevin L. Strohman Dr. Kevin Strohman 30346 Hwy 441 S. Commerce, Georgia 30530 Due to insurance regulations, Medicare and some other insurances may be excluded from this offer.
