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PACE 2A 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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