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WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 2008 THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS PAGE 3A Robert Bohannon to serve Baldwin as mayor pro-tem BY SHARON HOGAN The Baldwin City Council unani mously agreed at the May 12 meet ing for council member Robert Bohannon to serve as mayor pro- tem while Ray Holcomb is serving in the mayor’s seat. Holcomb is serving as mayor in the seat vacated by Mark Reed. Reed resigned his position on April 28 to run for a seat on the Georgia House of Representatives. OTHER BUSINESS In other business at the council meeting on Monday, May 12: •the second reading on the annex ation and rezoning request from Kaye B. Wilkes for 13.50 acres located on Hwy. 365 near Dairy Queen was unanimously approved. The zoning for this property is highway business. •the council unanimously approved the annexation and rezoning request from James and Krystal Trotter for property located in Smoke Rise Subdivision. The Trotters are seek ing to annex into the city in order to receive city water service. •the second reading on the rezoning request for property on Willingham Avenue owned by James and Kristy Woltz was unanimously approved. The property was rezoned back to R-2 without a special use permit. The Woltzes had received a special use permit to place a doublewide mobile home on this property and the deal on the mobile home could BOHANNON HOLCOMB not be closed so the city sought to have the property rezoned back to its original zoning. •the council unanimously approved payment of an invoice in the amount of $2,880 to Engineering Management, Inc., Lawrenceville, for professional services on the Park Avenue project. Grant funds will be used to pay this. •the council approved changing the regularly scheduled council meeting from Monday, May 26, Memorial Day, to 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 27, in the courtroom at the police department. •the council unanimously approved a beer and wine license for Uzma Imran, BP Quick Stop, located on Hwy. 365. R. Holcomb said, “They have gone through all the state checks, background checks, everything comes back good.” •the council met in closed session for 30 minutes to discuss personnel. No action was taken. BCES... continued from page 1A Speaking for the concerned par ents, Segars said the group wants Rylee relieved of all of her duties and removed from school prop erty. They also want Rylee to have her accreditation removed so she can no longer work in education. Segars said all teachers should receive training on how to chal lenge authority when they see something taking place they know is wrong and that the principal should receive training on biohaz ard issues. In addition, Segars asked BOE members if the water fountain in question had been tested or if any health experts had been con tacted. “Where is the water fountain now,” Segars asked. The parents’ group said they expected a response by the end of the business day Thursday or other action would be taken. “Silence and inactivity will send a message our voices have not been heard,” he said. Morton McInvale, a teacher at BCES, also spoke to the BOE dur- ing the public comment portion of Monday’s meeting. McInvale said he supported Rylee because she supported him as a teacher. “Are we perfect?” McInvale said. “I wish we were. We make mistakes. However, she has been in our school system for 13 years and has always done a great job.” When McInvale finished talk ing a large contingent of teachers stood and applauded to show their support for Rylee in the situation. Rylee released a statement Tuesday morning through her law yer Stan Baker of Athens. “Ms. Rylee is extremely thank ful for the overwhelming support shown to her at Monday night’s School Board meeting. She is par ticularly grateful that her support ers pointed out her stellar record and her 13 years of experience as a teacher and administrator in Banks County. We are confident that the Board’s investigation will reveal that this whole incident arises from a misunderstanding and that Ms. Rylee will be cleared of wrongdoing.” The Carolina Clash Super Late Model Series is coming to Hartwell Speedway May 31!!! Gates Open at 3 p.m. • Racing Starts at 7p.m. Admission Grandstands $20 • Pits $30 Be sure to bring the whole family. Located on Speedway Road in Hartwell, GA. The Banks County News MEMORIAL DAY AD DEADLINE Classified and Display Ads 12 Noon, Friday, May 23 for the May 28 publication 33 Lee Street • P.O. Box 908 Jefferson, Ga. 30549 (706) 367-5233 www.mainstreetnews .com Department heads make requests at BOC budget hearings BY SHARON HOGAN Department heads met with the Banks County Board of Commissioners last week to present their “wish lists” for next year. The BOC is reviewing the requests as part of the budget process. Sheriff Charles Chapman’s budget request is $1.9 million, a decrease of 12 percent over the current bud get. Chapman said the reason for the decrease is because some cars were purchased in last year’s budget and no vehicles are included in the proposed budget for 2009. Chapman said his office has confis cated over $400,000 in drug money this fiscal year. The sheriff’s office has purchased three cars in recent months with seized drug money, Chapman said. Chapman did ask the commission ers to allocate $7,000 to help pay for a new radio system that will be required for the county by January 1, 2013. Chapman said Banks County Fire Chief Gary Pollard is working on a grant to help fund the cost of a narrow band radio system for the fire department, sheriff’s office and E-911 center. “We have to come up with $7,000 for this new system.” Chapman said. Requests from the other departments included the following: TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT The total proposed budget for the technology department is $293,875. Leonard Burris, technology director, asked the commissioners to include $21,000 in his budget to hire a staff member. “On a good week, I put in 50 hours, on a bad week, I put in 100,” Burris said. Work for the technology department will be increasing with the new build ing (courthouse annex) coming on line. The technology department will also begin maintaining the county’s phone system when the new building in completed. “Right now, I am reactive, with another person we could be proactive,” Burris said. Burris said he is looking for an employee to take over maintenance and is willing to train a person in this job. Commission chairman Gene Hart said, “I have a concern on this. You are only budgeting $21,000. Is this the pay plus benefits?” Burris said, “No benefits are includ ed in the $21,000.” The technology budget also includes funds to replace the county’s current accounting software. The county has received bids from three providers on this and are still looking at the best company with the most capabilities for the county’s use. FIRE DEPARTMENT The total proposed budget for the fire department is $2.1 million. Money has been included in this budget to redo the living quarters at the station in Homer and add some space to the Rock Springs station to allow separate living quarters there. Fire chief Gary Pollard said, “In the last month, we have run into some serious problems with vehicles. All front-line engines are coming up with problems.” The fire department budget also includes $135,000 to purchase a medi um duty truck for a medical unit. Pollard said the spare medical unit is an old unit. “We are having to rotate medical units out,” Pollard said. Pollard said he is going to apply for a SAFER grant this month. FEMA will pay most of the cost over a five-year period for staffing for the fire depart ment. The grant will cost the county 10 percent of the total grant amount. Pollard said, “This is a great way to get people.” ROAD DEPARTMENT The total proposed budget is $1,552,646. Road superintendent Wayne Andrews said he is concerned with the current mower the county is leasing. Andrews said he is hav ing problems with the mower and he did not feel like the county should purchase the mower at the end of the lease. Andrews said he felt the county should lease a new mower with a three-year warranty at a cost of $1,233 per month. This is a $200 increase per month over what the county is cur rently paying, Andrews said. EXTENSION OFFICE The total proposed budget is $103,670. This includes $6,000 for new carpet for the extension office. E-911/EMA The total proposed budge is $867,354. This budget includes $7,000 for the county’s narrow band radio system that will be required by the state by the end of 2012. EMA director Deidra Moore said Fire Chief Pollard is working on a grant to fund a portion of the county’s cost on this. Moore said the narrow band radios require more tower sites. PUBLIC HEALTH The total county contribution to the health department is proposed at $110,000. This is a $22,000 increase over last year’s contribution of $88,000. Dr. David Westfall, District II Health Director, told the commission ers that even with the $110,000 county contribution the health department is projecting a loss of $26,000. Westfall said, “When the state went to managed Medicaid, the reimburse ments to health departments went down. This budget coming to you is a short budget.” Westfall said the health department only has one registered nurse (RN), JoAnn Dodd, at this time. This bud get does not have any money in it to hire an additional RN. Westfall said it would cost $55,000 to $60,000 to bring in another registered nurse. Westfall said the health board would look at environmental health fees to see if any of them can be raised and report back to the BOC on this. The commissioners are consider ing allocating $100,000 for the health department in the proposed budget. DISTRICT ATTORNEY The proposed budget total is $201,066. DA Rick Bridgeman said, “We have assessed $167,000 in fines in about six months time. We are now caught up on the substantial backlog of cases in all three counties.” The district attorney’s office received $10,000 out of forfeiture funds that went to upgrading computers. Bridgeman said he would send a letter to the court clerk’s in all the cities in Banks County about sending five per cent of their fine money to the county. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE The total county contribution to the chamber is proposed at $35,000. This is a $2,000 increase over the previous year of $33,000. TAX ASSESSOR The total budgetproposalis$361,202. Tax Assessor Kevin Whitman told the commissioners that the county cur rently has one field appraiser to handle 10,000 parcels of land. The commis sioners cut $28,000 being proposed for another field appraiser and $2,250 for property re-evaluations. Whitman said the current assessments are based on property sale prices as of 2004. “Property values have definitely increased since 2004,” Whitman said. The re-evaluations would be based on sales in 2007. Whitman said the county will be about two percent below the state-mandated ratio if a re-evaluation is not done. “We could get into a penalty phase.” Whitman said. Whitman said he would check on this and report his findings back to the commissioners. RECREATION The total proposed budget amount is $447,378. The proposed budget includes $65,000 to replace the air conditioning units at the gym and $20,300 in recreation fields mainte nance. WATER DISTRIBUTION Steve Reece asked the commission ers to include funds to hire an addi tional operator in this department. Reece said, “We definitely need an additional operator, we picked up 47 acres with the new sprayfield that came on.” Reece also said another meter read ers is needed. “One meter reader has no time to do maintenance,” Reece said. “We are still having new meters coming on.” Commissioner Rickey Cain said, “You are just going to have to get by for another year.” Reece said in the water pumping/ purification department the county currently has four water plant opera tors. “This is one per shift. We need to work up to two per shift for safety reasons,” Reece said. The total budget being proposed for water pumping/purification is $690,724. SEWAGE/WASTEWATER TREATMENT AND PUBLIC UTILITIES The proposed budget amount is $209,229. WATER DISTRIBUTION The total proposed budget amount is $1,541,649. Robin Thomas said this department needs at least one more employee. “We could have two crews work ing,” Thomas said. “One crew could be doing taps and the other crew could be doing maintenance. I spend a lot of time doing locates. There is no time to take care of the system.” Thomas also asked the commis sioners to include money in the budget to replace a truck that was stolen from the water plant. Thomas said the truck is not safe to drive since it was stolen. Graduation tests... continued from page 1A Students may return and take the test again until they can qualify for a high school diplo ma. Banks County first-time test takers in their junior year had an 87 percent pass rate in English/language arts, down from last year’s 90.1 percent passing and lower than the state’s 90 percent passing in 2008. But in science, the county saw a dramatic increase in percent passing, and scored 86 percent passing, same as the state average. In 2007, Banks County had 68 percent passing in science. Banks County also saw improvements in both math and social studies. lTi& UjSiTiLONi pEagle Construction Terry Canup 706-367-3805 (office) New Homes • Basements Finished Remodeling • Additions Roofing/Gutters Window/Door Replacement Siding • Decks ♦ Grading/Hauling Patty’s Personal Touch House Cleaning & Organization Service (706) 372-4680 Free Estimates ~ Satisfaction Guaranteed When Only The Finest Will Do!!! 1 • V SUMMER JUNIOR GOLF PROGRAM The PGA Golf Staff at Double Oaks Golf Club is offering a Junior Golf Program for all local juniors this summer. Every Friday morning in June and July (except the 4th) we will provide a clinic and on course golf and instruction. The program is open to boys and girls ages 6-17 at a cost of $40.00 per junior. On August 2, we will have an Adult - Junior Golf tournament for all participants along with a BBQ and awards dinner. Call or stop by Double Oaks Golf Club to pick up an entry to this year’s program. Double Oaks Golf Club 706.335.8100 Please sign up by June 1, 2008 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.