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THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS
WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2008
Baldwin responds to complaints
Annexation talk in Baldwin
Council discusses 'islands' in city
BY SHARON HOGAN
B aldwin interim mayor
Holcomb responded to
allegations at Thursday’s
work session that a Baldwin prop
erty owner made against him after
a July 1 meeting.
Holcomb said that Baldwin prop
erty owner, Phyllis Marshall, has
made some charges and accusa
tions against him.
The charges and accusations
stem from an incident at the July
1 council meeting held to vote on
the proposed FY 2009 budget in
which Holcomb asked Police Chief
Daren Osborn to escort Marshall
out of the room. Marshall was
escorted from the meeting after
Holcomb asked her repeatedly to
cease talking because she was out
of order.
At the work session on Thursday,
city attorney David Syfan explained
to those in attendance the meeting
procedures followed by munici
palities in Georgia.
Syfan said all public entities in
Georgia have two types of meet
ings, a public meeting and a public
hearing.
At a public meeting, everybody
has a right to come in and sit down
and listen to everything the city
does but they are not given the
opportunity to participate in what
is going on.
“Baldwin, being a small town,
has been good about letting peo
ple make comments from time
to time,” he said. “That’s entirely
up to the presiding officer of the
meeting.”
Syfan said that is typically up to
the mayor.
“Typically, the mayor doesn’t
have to do that, but we’ve done
it fairly regularly in the past,” he
said.
The other type of proceeding
that is regularly held is a public
hearing.
“A public hearing is designed
to inform the public and, at the
public hearing, we allow anyone
and everyone in a regular order
to come up and ask questions that
they want to ask,” Syfan said.
“I can’t disrupt a meeting, you
can’t disrupt a meeting. In fact,
it’s a misdemeanor in the State of
Georgia to disrupt a public meet
ing.”
“You can’t let just anybody dis
rupt the meeting or pretty soon
it’ll be a hockey game with fights
breaking out,” Syfan said.
In a public meeting, the presid
ing officer has the right to keep the
meeting under control, Syfan said.
“I would say that Ray and the
council are really, really lenient
about letting people speak,” Syfan
said.
Holcomb said, “It was announced
before the meeting that it was a
special called meeting.”
Baldwin resident Linda Caudell
said, “I feel like that, with that,
there would be no concerns for us
citizens to be here.”
The budget is a major part of
those concerns, Caudell said.
Caudell said the citizens have had
statements made to them several
times from the council that “you
don’t come to the meetings so you
shouldn’t say anything.”
Caudell added, “But when we
come, we try to express what we
feel as concerned citizens. I feel
like there was a misunderstanding
that everybody can learn from.”
Holcomb said the council did
have the public hearing and
Caudell and Marshall both spoke
at the hearing.
Caudell said, “You are elected
and you represent us. The reason
we haven’t come is because we’ve
trusted you.”
Caudell said she felt like if the
situation could be calmed down it
would be much better for the town
and the citizens and the elected
officials.
Syfan said, “I’ve been coming
to meetings for 14 years and this
is the first time I can remember us
having to escort somebody from a
meeting.”
Referring to a letter to the edi
tor submitted by Marshall that
was printed in an area newspa
per on July 8, Holcomb said, “A
lot of you read the letter to the
editor.” Holcomb asked Baldwin
Finance Director Betty Harper to
read the letter as it was printed in
the paper.
After this Harper said, “I would
like to address some of these com
ments and make some correc
tions to errors she said have been
made.”
Harper said the city has a thor
ough audit of its finances annually.
Harper read from a prepared state
ment concerning the issues raised
by Marshall.
“The city can and does account
for all of the money we take in and
spend,” she said.
Caudell said: “I hope we can
put this to rest. I just don’t want
to keep this stirred up. I think it
would be better to leave it alone
and move forward.”
Baldwin resident Elsie Sumner
said, “I would like to thank you,
Betty, for that.”
Baldwin resident, Andrea Harper,
questioned the general fund bud
get that was approved at the July
1 meeting. Harper said, “The bud
get approved was with a one mill
increase.”
Betty Harper said, “If our tax
digest comes in over what we’re
projecting, we won’t have to have
a full mill.”
Another resident, Frances
Haynes, said, “Why are you rais
ing the water bills?”
Holcomb said the legislature says
the city has to implement a tiered
rate increase to encourage people
to use less water.
“We had an engineer do a rate
study,” Holcomb said.
Baldwin resident Hoyt Wilson
said, “When we are in a drought
you put a restriction on our water
use and then you don’t make
money and the rate goes up and
when you go back to normal the
rate doesn’t come back down.”
Holcomb said, “I would like to
point out that the millage rate has
been lowered in Baldwin in the
past.”
Andrea Harper said, “I hope
what you see coming out of all
this is to stop spending money and
think about the taxpayers and try
not to spend money. Just because
you have money doesn’t mean you
have to spend it.”
BY SHARON HOGAN
The Baldwin City Council is look
ing at annexing some “islands” of
unincorporated property into the
city limits.
At a work session on July 10, City
Attorney David Syfan said he was
instructed by the council to look
into the possibility that the city can
annex this property into the city
limits. Syfan said an “island” is an
area that’s never been brought into
the city and it’s an unincorporated
county area, either in Habersham
or Banks County, that’s surrounded
completely by city property.
Two areas in question current
ly are Sunset Oaks in Habersham
County and Hamby Mountain Park
in Banks County.
Syfan said the legislature approved
a statutory process that allows the
city to annex those islands.
“It allows your emergency servic
es, police services, fire services to
know who they’re serving and who
is the first responder,” Syfan said.
Syfan said if they are in the city,
then the city is the first responder
anyway.
If it is an island that has been
in existence since 1991, assuming
it’s been an island since 1991, is
a simple procedure to annex, the
attorney said. The city will need to
send a notice to the property owner
stating that the city is contemplating
annexation of the unincorporated
island.
“You don’t have to, but I’d recom
mend that you have some type of
meeting or hearing to give the prop
erty owners a chance to talk and
answer questions,” Syfan said.
The city will need to send certi
fied letters to the county, the justice
department and the Department of
Community Affairs and hold a first
and a second reading, Syfan said.
“I’d be willing to bet that most
of the islands we’re already servic
ing,” Syfan said. “They’re getting
the benefit of the city services any
way.”
Syfan said some of the people
might not be happy about coming
into the city, so the council should
be prepared to get some feedback.
“The bigger the city gets, the
more sense it makes to fill in those
islands,” Syfan said.
Interim Mayor Ray Holcomb said
one of the subdivisions is a large,
18-home subdivision, and then there
are two or three smaller ones.
“Any time you add residence
populations the justice department
makes you identify some minorities
and whether it’ll have an impact on
voting rights,” Syfan said.
Baldwin resident Linda Caudell
said, “We talk about subdivisions
costing the city, why annex?”
Syfan said if they’re in the middle
of town and the city is already pro
viding services, there would be no
reason not to annex them.
“We are not totally a business, we
are a service organization, and from
that viewpoint it makes sense to
eliminate islands,” Syfan said.
Elsie Sumner, Baldwin resident,
said, “You mentioned a subdivision
that is an island, who is providing
services to them now?”
Holcomb said the city provides
water, fire and police services.
Caudell asked if she were to live
in a subdivision and the city was
annexing the whole subdivision and
she did not want to go in would she
have to. Syfan said, “Yes.”
Holcomb said the city council
would continue to work on this.
At Thursday’s work session,
the council also held a 30-minute
closed session to discuss litigation
and personnel. No action was taken
following the closed session.
Cillsville approves bid on park upkeep
BY JUSTIN POOLE
The Gillsville City Council awarded the bid at a meet
ing last week for the maintenance and upkeep of the City
Park to Dwight Miller.
The council approved Miller’s bid, $450 per occur
rence, after a brief discussion during the meeting on
July 1.
Following the decision to award the bid to Miller, the
council discussed the tractor that was being used by the
city for mowing.
While the general thought, was that the city needs to
hold on to the tractor, there was discussion of looking
into a front-end loader attachment for it. Also discussed
was the possibility for a shed to keep the tractor. No
action was taken
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business:
•it was announced that the city is trying to set up a
second meeting for the requested assistance concerning
Highway 52 and the railroad.
•the council discussed the septic bid and an update on
the design having to go back for review due to changes.
•the council discussed hiring an overseer for the septic
project.
•the council discussed the installation of a single com
mons bathroom behind the buildings and the likelihood
of vandalism by having open access.
•the council discussed hiring an architect to plan out
the bathroom.
•the council discussed problems with lighting in the
park and a recent power outage leading to the need for a
visible street address for City Park.
•it was discussed that there has been no improvement
on the traffic control issues. City leaders said that if the
city decides to install crosswalks, the towns would have
to pay for the signs.
•the council discussed ways to slow down speeding
vehicles, including experimental alternatives.
ONE DAY SALE
SATURDAY
JULY 26 th ONLY
Latest ELOST fund check
makes for 'good month'
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
The most recent Education Local
Option Sales Tax check collected by
the Banks County School System
was for approximately $275,000,
which made for a “good month,”
according to financial director
Mike Beasley.
During last week’s July work
session, Beasley told superinten
dent Chris Erwin and BOE mem
bers that the amount, which totaled
exactly $273,740.94, was the 23rd
highest among the 70 checks col
lected for the current ELOST.
Beasley also told Erwin and BOE
members that June was the end of
the most recent fiscal year for the
school system.
Also at last Thursday night’s
work session, the BOE approved
the following personnel items
recommened by Erwin during a
closed session:
Certified personnel, new hires:
•Darla Collins, Jennifer Hanley,
Christy Pruitt and Amy Ward,
teachers, 2008-09 school year.
Classified personnel, retirement:
•Doc Savage, maintenance, effec
tive, July 1.
Classified personnel, new hires:
•Juanita Ledford, custodian,
Cassandra Lewis, para-profession
al, Kelley Roberts, part-time bus
monitor, Brooke Shubert Dalton,
para-professional, Kimberly
Bowden and June Carlan, para-
professional, all for 2008-09 school
year.
Banks County
Board of Commissioners
REQUEST FOR BIDS
Bid Number 208-0730
Sealed bids will be received at the Commissioner’s Office,
Banks County Courthouse, up to 10:00 a.m.. Wednesday,
lulv 30. 2008. at which time they will be opened for the
following:
2008 FALLS SPORTS EQUIPMENT
Bid packets can be obtained from the Recreation Office. All
bids must be submitted in a sealed envelope and marked with
the words, “Request No. 208-0730. Opening Date 10:00
a.m.. Wednesday. lulv 30. 2008". Any bids received after
10:00 a.m. will be rejected.
The Banks County Commission reserves the right to accept or
reject any and all bids and to waive any formality or
informality in the bid process.
Banks County Commission
Bid packets can be obtained from: Banks County Recreation,
Tommy Wilson, 607 Thompson Street, Homer, GA
30547, 706-677-4407.
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