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June 4,2008
The Banks County News
504^ Homer, Banks County, Georgia 30547 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. • mainstreetnews.com • 22 Pages, 3 Sections Plus Supplements • Vol. 39 No. 43
Concerned citizens' group formed in
Budget, code enforcement among concerns aired to council
BY SHARON HOGAN
A citizens’ group has formed in Baldwin
and their concerns include the budget and
code enforcement.
Several members of the group, named
Concerned Citizens of Baldwin, attended the
council meeting on Tuesday night, May 27, to
offer their services in addressing these issues.
“I am here to let you know that a group of
concerned citizens have gotten together at a
meeting at my house and we want to offer you
our services,” said Andrea Harper, who lives
on Willingham Avenue. “We are concerned
about certain issues, such as code enforce
ment and budgets.. .We are here to help you
and support you. We don’t have any issues
with ya’ll individually. We’re just concerned
about Baldwin and want to make it a great
Baldwin.”
Another member of the group, Elsie
Sumner, of Crooked Pine Trail, said, “I want
to echo what Andrea said. I think our con
cerned citizens’ meeting was to share ideas.
We want to work with you and support you. I
personally have faith in each and every one of
you and I believe all of us do.”
Sumner said the citizens’ job is to attend
city meetings and city workshops and learn
from the council.
Sumner also said one request she has is to
have a minister come to the council meet
ings to give the invocation. Sumner said this
would help to involve churches and perhaps
church members.
“There is just no better people to get to work
than people who are involved in church,” she
said.
An invocation is already given during each
council meeting by someone in attendance.
At Monday’s meeting, acting Mayor Ray
Holcomb gave the invocation. Holcomb said
he had already started to work on this.
“I have already started implementing this,”
he said. “Pastor Craig Lee, Fellowship Church,
was invited tonight, but was a little late getting
here.”
Holcomb asked Lee to lead a second invo
cation during the meeting.
Sumner also asked the council about the
possibility of the citizens’ group being able
to hold their meetings in the courtroom at the
police department.
“Just consider it and if you have to vote on
this, OK,” Sumner said. “Would it be a good
thing to incorporate concerned citizens’ meet
ings with council work session meetings?”
Holcomb told Sumner that work sessions
and council meetings are both open to the
public.
“It’s a very good idea to get the citizens
involved and we’d like to see more of it,”
Holcomb said.
City attorney David Syfan said the coun
cil would like to accommodate the citizens’
group because they are 95 percent of the citi
zens. He added that it is “the five percent that
Baldwin
ruins it for others.”
“If you start allowing public facilities to be
used for public speech and we don’t charge
you, anybody with cause can request to use
the same facilities,” Syfan said.
Syfan said the city might be able to work
it out but would have to put some regulations
in place to help with the five percent that may
cause problems.
Pastor Lee said, “We allow the use of our
church facility. All you have to do is call and
request it.”
Council member Robert Bohannon asked
Syfan if the citizens’ group was considered a
“planning committee” whether that give them
the opportunity to use the facilities.
“If it’s about a board, then yes, but you’d
have to create the board,” he said.
Baldwin plans
special election
for Sept. 16
The City of Baldwin will have
a special election on Sept. 16 to
fill the mayor’s seat. Mark Reed
resigned recently as mayor to seek
a seat in the Georgia House of
Representatives.
At a meeting last week, the city
council unanimously approved the
second reading of the special elec
tion ordinance. The ordinance sets
the special election for Tuesday,
Sept. 16, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at
city hall, located at 130 Airport
Road.
Qualifying will be held on
Monday, July 21, through
Wednesday, July 23, from 8:30 a.m.
to 4:30 p.m. with a one-hour lunch
break beginning at 12:30 p.m. each
day. The qualifying fee is $35.
The last day to register to vote is
Monday, Aug. 18, by 5 p.m. The
ordinance allows for a write-in can
didate. The individual would have
until the week after qualifying to
become a write-in candidate.
Folk potters coming to town this month
POTTERY FESTIVAL PLANNED JUNE 21
The eighth annual North Georgia Folk Potters Festival will be Saturday, June 21, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Banks County Middle School
gym, 712 Thompson Street, Homer. There will be 40 potters from across the southeast, as well as from the Banks County arts depart
ment, selling their creations. There will be also a giveaway for the Banks County art department. Each potter who attends donates one
of their creations to the art department. The art department will be selling $1 tickets.
News - 2-3A
•Investigation continues
at BCES — page 2A
Op/Ed
• ‘Motivation, quality
teaching keys to success’
— page 4A
Feature
•Jackson County, N.C.,
a get-away spot
- page 10A
Other news
•Social News — pages 5-6B
•School News — page 7B
•Public Safety — page 6A
• Legals — page 8-9A
• Church — page 4B
• Obituaries — page 7A
Antique Corvette stolen from local motel parking lot
Florida resident in county for Super Chevy Show at Atlanta Dragway
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
A Florida man arrived in Banks
County late last week with a
prize antique Corvette, but some
one decided to help themselves
to the classic car valued at more
than $100,000.
Banks County sheriff Charles
Chapman said his office received
a call early Saturday morning
from a guest at the Hampton Inn
who went outside at approxi
mately 7 a.m. and noticed his
truck and the trailer which con
tained the 1965 Corvette gone.
The man was driving a 1983
Chevrolet truck and pulled an
enclosed trailer with the Corvette
inside.
Everything together was val-
ued at $121,000 although the
Corvette accounted for the bulk
of that amount. The man was able
to give the license plate numbers
and identification numbers for
the missing vehicles.
Alerts were put out immedi
ately for the missing truck, trail
er and Corvette, Chapman said,
although nothing has material-
ized at this point.
The sheriff said theft of vehicles
during the Super Chevy Show
has become a problem in recent
years. He noted several of the
vehicles have been recovered.
Anyone with any information
concerning this theft is asked
to contact the sheriff’s office at
706-677-2248.
Maysville Downtown Development Authority sets goals
Town park, clean-ups, recording history planned by city's new group
BY JUSTIN POOLE
A new citizens’ group in
Maysville formed to guide the
development of the downtown
area listed the Veteran’s Park,
community clean-up and record
ing the history of the town as
among issues to be addressed.
The first meeting of the
new Maysville Downtown
Development Authority was
held Monday and the goals for
the group were among the items
discussed.
Other goals discussed by the
DDA included seeking grants,
stimulating pride in the com
munity, contacting residents to
encourage input in meetings,
setting objectives to overlap with
the city council, working with
Banks and Jackson counties to
garner better working relation
ships, settling issues from the
previous DDA and starting a
website or other ways to increase
community involvement.
The Maysville City Council
earlier approved six residents
to serve on the DDA, includ
ing Mary Hart, Kay Daniel,
Catherine Daniels, Charles
Floyd, Melody Stancil and
Marilyn Sherry. Council mem
ber Lyn Villyard will serve as
the city council representative
on the DDA.
All the appointed members of
the DDA were at the first meet-
ing, as well as resident Kathy
Nix.
Mayor Jerry Baker addressed
those in attendance, but did not
stay for the meeting.
“The DDA is very, very
important to our town,” he said.
“Without the DDA acting func
tional like it should, our town is
lacking greatness.”
The next meeting of the DDA
will be June 9 before the regular
city council meeting.
40 BCMS
students to
retake CRCT
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
Banks County School
System officials said Monday
approximately 40 eighth grade
students will have to retake
portions of the Criterion-
Referenced Competency Test
(CRCT) in order to advance to
the high school level.
Summer school was sched
uled to begin Monday and
school officials were looking
for most, if not all, of these
students to be attending.
These students will have to
retake portions of the math
and/or reading sections.
An estimated 62 percent of
the state’s eighth grade stu
dents passed the math portion
of the CRCT test while 80
percent of the eighth graders
in Banks County successfully
passed the test.
Only preliminary data is cur
rently available on the CRCT
results from this past school
year.
Overall, BCMS had the
highest passing rate among all
area schools, local officials
said last week. This includes
match, reading, English/lan
guage arts, science and social
studies.
Chamber plans
political forum
The Banks County Chamber
of Commerce will hold a politi
cal forum from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
on Thursday, June 19, at the
Banks County High School
auditorium.
Health board
to meet Tues.
The Banks County Board
of Health will hold its regular
quarterly meeting on Tuesday,
June 10, at 9 a.m., in the confer
ence room of the health depart
ment.
The public is invited to
attend.
