Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2008
THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS
PACE 11A
Development... continued from page 1A Baldwin audit... continued from page 1A
before the commissioners for approval
at their next meeting.
The funds to be used for this depart
ment will come from a one mill tax
collected by the county for econom
ic development. These funds come
through the development authority.
The person hired for this position will
be under the county's personnel policy
and be a county employee.
DA member Stan Stewart said, “The
county is going to have to negotiate the
contract."
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business at Wednesday's
meeting:
•authority member Scott Ledford
said, “We need to solicit a new restau
rant to come to the old Regions Bank
building." Regions Bank closed the
location at the comer of Hwy. 441 and
Industrial Boulevard earlier this year.
Abernathy said he thought this building
might be suitable for a temporary loca
tion for a Georgia State Patrol division
office. Aberanthy said “We have talked
about this before.” There is no patrol
post from Villa Rica to South Carolina
along 1-85, Abernathy said.
•authority member Bill Griffin ques
tioned the status of the property in
the industrial park owned by a doc
tor who was practicing in Commerce.
Abernathy said, “I understand he has
closed his office on Hospital Road.”
Both authority member Jack Banks
and Abernathy said there are covenants
in place stating that the property can
not be held just for investment pur
poses. Ledford said he thought the time
limit for construction to begin is 12
months. The authority members asked
Banks County Administrative Assistant
Angela Sheppard to contact the doctor
to find out what his intentions on the
property are.
•Abernathy asked Sheppard, “Is any
thing lacking in water or sewer at the
Industrial Park?” Sheppard said the
county is O.K. on water. “We have a
purchase agreement with the City of
Commerce and we are talking with
the City of Toccoa as well,” Sheppard
said. As for sewer, Sheppard said the
county’s pond could not handle certain
chemicals that certain types of business
might need to dispose of.
•Sheppard reported to the council
that the county is looking at options
that are available to supply water in the
Martin Bridge Road area of the county.
Sheppard said the county is working
with an engineer and other state agen
cies on this. The county is looking at
the possibility of reservoirs, private
wells and other surrounding counties
as water suppliers.
The development authority members
will hold their next regularly sched
uled meeting at 9 a.m. on Wednesday,
August 20, in the meeting room of the
courthouse.
pated, revenues from fines and ser
vices charges were $77,000 less than
originally budgeted.
• Baldwin’s police department
spent $127,200 more than originally
budgeted and the fire department was
$56,100 over budget.
INTERNAL CONTROL
The audit also found several
problems in how the city was
handing its funds, including:
Hart...
continued from JA
their side of the story. It should be
noted they resigned. I did not ask
them to resign. There is no doubt that
is the straw that broke the camel’s
back.”
Hart once again emphasized, as he
tried to do during the campaign, that
the chairman does not make decisions
by himself.
“Decisions are made by the board,”
he said. “Very seldom do I make
decisions. I didn’t get the credit when
something good happened but I usu
ally got the blame when something
happened people didn’t like.”
Hart had stressed that the county
decisions are made by the commis
sioners as a whole during forums
before the primary election but each
of the forums were not well attended
by county voters.
Budget... continued from page 1A
Erwin said the whole budget is a guess and projection.
“School systems do wait until August," the superintendent
said about setting the new budget. “I would have to do some
research to see if some go beyond August.”
Garrison said he would like to hold off setting a tentative
budget to see if some heat could be put on the county to get
some numbers for the BOE.
Board member Ben Ramsey said it should be known that it
is not the fault of the BOE for not setting the budget.
“Mike and Chris work very hard on our budget," he said. “It
is the county that holds us up. It has been that way the whole
six years I've been on the board. We are probably the only
board in the state who is shooting in the dark on its budget.”
“We should wait until the county gets it budget so we will
know what we are working with," Garrison added.
Erwin then said the board would wait until August although
waiting until September would be difficult.
Board members Ron Gardiner and John Williams voted
to approve the tentative budget while members Neal Brown,
Ramsey and Garrison voted to deny it.
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• Fire department time sheets
didn’t have proper documentation.
• City personnel didn’t have
the correct training to understand
“generally accepted account
ing principals and the reporting
requirements necessary to prepare
the city’s financial statements."
• Some city payments didn’t have
proper authorization or accounting
codes.
• Purchase orders aren’t being
handled correctly, sometimes
being done after a purchase is
made.
• The city doesn’t have standard
operating procedures for its finan
cial accounting.
• The city didn’t amend its bud
get during the year as it increased
spending, putting it out of compli
ance with state law.
Advance voting starts Monday
Advance voting for the Aug. 5 runoff
will be held next week.
Advance voting will be held Monday
through Friday of next week. The hours
will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the
Banks County Registrar’s Office on the
second floor of the county courthouse
in Homer.
Republican races to be decided
include the district attorney race, where
Donna Sikes and Brad Smith were the
top two vote-getters, and the Senate
50 race, were Nancy Schaefer and Jim
Butterworth were the top two vote-
getters.
For those who voted in the Democratic
primary, there will be a runoff to deter
mine the U.S. Senate nominee between
Vernon Jones and Jim Martin. The win
ner in that race will face Republican
Saxby Chambliss and Libertarian Allen
Buckley in November.
Those who voted a Republican bal
lot in the primary election must vote
Republican in the runoff. Those who
voted a Democrat ballot in the primary
election must cast a Democrat ballot in
the runoff. Those who did not vote in
the primary election may choose either
ballot in the primary.
Baldwin qualifying under way
Only one candidate has qualified so
far to serve as mayor of Baldwin.
As of press time Tuesday, Mike
Kelley was the only candidate to quali
fy for the Sept. 16 special election.
The City of Baldwin will hold quali
fying for the special election to fill the
unexpired term of mayor through 4:30
p.m. Wednesday, July 23. The qualify
ing fee is $35.
The last day to register to vote in the
Sept. 16 election is Monday, August
18.
Qualifying and the special election
will be held at the Baldwin City Hall
located at 130 Airport Road, Baldwin.
The election follows the resignation
of long-time mayor Mark Reed.
Volunteer Opportunities
To be listed in the volunteer column,
send information to AngieEditor@aol.
com or mail it to: Angela Gary, The
Banks County News, RO. Box 920,
Homer, Ga. 30547.
The following are volunteer oppor
tunities in Banks County and the sur
rounding area:
•Piedmont CASA volunteers speak
for children who are in foster care. For
more information, call the CASA office
at 706-387-6375.
•The Banks County Adult Literacy
Center is seeking volunteer teachers.
They especially need math tutors,
including the areas of introductory alge
bra, geometry and Algebra I. Tutors are
needed on Tuesdays and Thursdays
from 6-8 p.m. For more information,
call 706-677-4302.
•BJC Medical Center Auxiliary is
seeking volunteers. For more informa
tion, call 706-335-1199.
•Civil Air Patrol: cadets, ages sixth
grade through 18 years old, participate
in search and rescue missions and learn
how to fly airplanes. Senior members
teach cadets and students at middle and
high schools and can also work with
emergency services. Contact Luther
McCoy, 706-677-1490.
•Adult learning center at Lanier
Technical College satellite campus
706-335-1931.
•Hope Resource Center: crisis preg
nancy support center, 706-367-5304.
•Action: help package and distribute
food to low-income families and the
elderly, 706-367-9599.
•Christian Outreach Food Bank: work
in warehouse, 335-6084.
•Girl Scouts: needs troop leaders,
assistant leaders, trainers and recruiters.
Call Terri Bear, 706-548-7297.
•Boy Scouts of America, Northeast
Georgia Council: volunteers need
to be troop leaders and assistants,
706-548-1435.
•AIDS Coalition of Northeast
Georgia: help with information line,
office support, the buddy program and
helping hands, 706-542-2437.
•American Red Cross, East Georgia
Chapter: needs help with disaster relief
and blood drives and needs first aid and
CPR instructors, 706-353-1645.
•American Cancer Society: assistance
with special events, 706-549-4893.
•American Heart Association:
assistance with special events,
706-549-0939.
•BJC Nursing Facility: needs teen
and adult volunteers to help with vari
ous activities and to visit with the resi
dents. Tracy Jones, 706-335-1305.
•Children’s Advocacy Center: assist
with clerical work in office, provide
child care during various group meet
ings and solicit donations of snacks,
drinks, paper products and various chil
dren’s items. Tina Grubbs, director,
770-868-1900.
•Peace Place: various opportunities at
the shelter for battered women and their
children, Marilyn, 770-307-3633.
•Maysville Elementary School: read to
children, Jane Scales, 706-652-2241.
•Our Daily Bread: Athens urban min
istry soup kitchen, 706-353-6647.
•Sandy Creek Park: several volun
teer opportunities. Contact the park at
706-613-3615.
•Athens Area Humane Society:
help with special events and hands-
on work in the shelter, Lisa Klein,
706-353-CATS (2287).
FOR ONLY $5 PER MONTH,
YOU CAN LIST YOUR GROUP'S MEETINGS!
Let your members know when your group is meeting!
Call (706) 367-5233 to advertise your meeting time, place and date in...
• The Jackson Herald • The Commerce News • The Braselton News
• The Banks County News • The Madison County Journal
A COMMERCE
W AMERICAN LEGION
Commerce Rec. Dept. Post 93
Carson Street - 1st Mon. night
Each Month, 7:30 p.m.
335-6400
Citizens Organized for
Pipeline Safety
investigating the health risks to citizens from
underground pipelines and booster stations in
Madison Co. Meetings 6:30 p.m. at the Colbert
Grove Baptist Church the 2nd Thurs. of each
month. 706-783-4702. Pd.04/09
JEFFERSON
IIP AMERICAN LEGION
Albert Gordon Post 56
Each 3rd Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.
Harvie Lance, Commander
Phone (706) 654-1274 310
White Plains Baptist Church Pd 02/09
Faith Bible Class meets every Sunday morning
at 10:00 a.m. It is a place where strangers
become friends and friends become family.
706-367-5650
White Plains Baptist Church
3650 Hwy. 124 West, Jefferson, GA 30549
The Jackson Co. Republican Party
Would like you to meet us for
breakfast the second Sat. of each
month, 8:00 at The Jefferson
House. For more information, call
706-652-2967 or email
fishyglass@yahoo.com Pd.n/os
BANKS COUNTY
Hgl AMERICAN LEGION
Post 215
Meets each 3rd Thursday, 7 p.m.
In Homer, GA at the
American Legion Building on
Historic Highway 441 pd.06/09
rpfe VETERANS OF
FOREIGN WARS
Post 4872, Hurricane Shoals Convention Ctr.
Each 4th Monday, 7:00 p.m.
Mike Buffington, Commander
Phone 706-335-6532 263
JEFFERSON LIONS CLUB
Meets 2nd & 4th Monday
Jefferson City Clubhouse
6:30 p.m. *(706) 387-1156
Mack Cates, President
542
UNITY LODGE
F & A.M.
No. 36, Jefferson, GA
1st Tuesday of each month, 7:30 p.m.
Dwight Wier • 706-367-5882
Borders St. behind Tabo’s 260
JEFFERSON ROTARY CLUB
Meets Tuesdays
Jefferson City Clubhouse
12:30 p.m. *(706) 367-7696
Gina Mitsdarffer, President
547