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PACE 2A THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 2008 Baldwin looks at bid from auditors Council to moke decision at Thursday meeting BY SHARON HOGAN The City of Baldwin is reviewing three bids from auditors and a deci sion is expected to be made at an Aug. 14 meeting on the firm that will handle the city’s audit. City of Baldwin Financial Officer Betty Harper presented three bids from auditors to council members at Thursday’s work session meeting. The council will approve the bid at the council meeting on Thursday, Aug. 14, immediately after the financial meeting scheduled for 6:30 p.m. “In the past, we have gone with one auditor year after year,” Harper said. “This year, we have decided to bid it out.” Three bids have been received for this service. The bids are: J. Green CPA, Toccoa, $8,000; Joe Kitchens, Clarkesville, $10,000; and Rushton and Company, Gainesville, $13,000 to $14,000. Council member Jeff Murray asked whether the auditors will be changed each year and whether the price for doing the job would go up after the work has been done. Murray said Rushton gave the city a price of $9,000 and then there was a lot of work that had to be done and they went up on the price. Murray voiced concern that if there is more work to be done than they initially thought, they might increase the price at the end of the year. Murray said the auditors said there were some problems with some informa tion coming from Beth Grimes, the city’s financial consultant, and this caused the price to go up. “Grimes said it was the other way around,” Murray said. Interim Mayor Ray Holcomb said, “If we have a contract with them for a certain price, then that is all they should get.” Harper said all the auditors have the same guidelines they have to go by. “All of the bidders will have a clause in their contract that says if they find something that they are going to have to investigate further they can increase their price, but they should contact us about this,” Harper said. Murray indicated that Rushton and Company told Grimes about the price increase prior to the close of the audit and she did not inform the city of the increase. “Rushton went through Beth (Grimes) and she didn’t let us know,” Murray said. This item will be on the council's agenda for action Thursday. OTHER ITEMS •Harper presented three bids for the council consideration for a secu rity system for city hall. The sys tem will cover both the inside and outside of the building for an alarm system and video surveillance. The funds for the security system will come from Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) reve nues. Bids were received from: Elite Security, Chestnut Mountain, $4,995; Ansley Communications Group, Cornelia, $9,300; and Electronic Sales Company, Gainesville, $6,651. Harper said she would like to have Baldwin Police Chief Daren Osborn look over the bids before action is taken on this. This will be on the agenda for Thursday’s council meet ing. •Harper said the city has received several complaints about animals, mainly dogs, running around in the city. Harper said she contacted the Habersham County manager to pro vide some information to Baldwin and the other cities around concern ing the county providing animal con trol to these areas. The county sent a proposal out to all the cities located in Habersham County. The proposal shows the county hiring an addition al officer and purchasing an addi tional truck at a total cost of $69,096. Each city would pay a fee based on their population and the cost for Baldwin would be $15,040 per year. The city’s population in Habersham County is 2,311; this would make up 21.77 percent of the total cost for this position. Harper said, “The first problem with this is it has not been budgeted in the budget we just passed.” Murray said, “Doesn’t the citizens who pay taxes in Habersham County already pay for this?” Harper said, “Yes, this would be like paying for it twice.” Murray also mentioned that this would only affect half of the city. Baldwin resident Victoria Kelley said, “Is there any way to get Banks County to help with this for the Banks County citizens?” Mayoral candidate Mark Reed said, “In the service delivery strategy there is an agreement that Habersham County should be providing this service, they are just refusing to do so. Same goes for fire protection.” •Holcomb announced two upcom ing state A Georgia Department of Transportation workshops on Tuesday, Aug. 12, in Gainesville, and Wednesday, Aug. 13, in Cleveland, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Holcomb said the workshops are important for local governments for state A projects. Some of the items covered are roads that are not paved, bridges and drainage, intersections and side walks. Holcomb said state A projects are in addition to LARP projects. Holcomb said he planned to attend if no other members were interested. •Harper reported that she is look ing into getting the city’s zoning map updated. Joe Walter, Precision Planning, created this map and updated it for the city, Harper said. “He still has it in digital format and he will charge up to $800 to update the map,” Harper said. Harper rec ommended waiting to see what hap pens with the annexations the city is considering before making the updates. Mayoral candidate Mike Kelley said, “We need to get a good working map.” Harper said, “I think we have a grant that would allow us to do some of that mapping, but we would have to purchase a system to run it.” Banks-Jackson Emergency Food Bank Area citizens rely on service for assistance LOW STOCK Banks-Jackson Emergency Food Bank manager Christa Shumake stands in front of the nearly empty shelves. The downturn in the economy is sending larger numbers of families to the food bank for short-term emergency help. BY MARK BEARDSLEY Business is booming at the Banks- Jackson Emergency Food Bank in Commerce. That is never a good thing. So many people have come to the food bank that its shelves are nearly bare. “It’s the lowest I can remember, and I’ve been here 14 years,” remarked Christa Shumake, manager. The slack economy has dealt a double-whammy to the food bank. More people are out of work — and food — so they appeal to the food bank, and donations of both food and money are also down, for the same reasons. And, said Shumake, August is always the food bank’s worst month. Located on Georgia Avenue in a building provided by First Commerce Bank, the food bank sup plies the short-term emergency food needs of people referred by a local church or by the Jackson or Banks Departments of Family and Children Services. Recipients typically get a one-week supply of food. “We’re having so many families come in,” said Shumake. “We’ve been having more than 100 a month.” The food comes from a number of sources. Food Lion in Jefferson and Quality Foods in Commerce, for example, donate leftover perish able items. Pizza Hut and Taco Bell at Banks Crossing provide pizzas, which are frozen, and Longhorn’s donates baked potatoes, which are frozen. Those donations are also down, but they remain a crucial part of the food bank’s supplies. Other groups hold food drives, and the food bank uses donations from individuals and churches to buy food from the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia in Athens. Donations of cash have also fallen off, due to the economy, according to Shumake. “I had a couple in here Monday, they were so hungry I warmed them a pizza, and they stood here and ate it,” she recalled. “They hadn’t had anything all day. He was out of work and she couldn’t find work.” A lot of the recently unemployed are in the construction business, which has been devastated by the mortgage crisis. Shelves aren’t bare, but the food bank’s inventory is critically low, Shumake said. Stocks of rice, macaroni and cheese, soup, peanut butter, canned fruits and vegetables are crucial to meeting the nutritional needs of families, as are dried beans, grits and oatmeal, and instant mashed potatoes. Those items are purchased by the pound from the regional food bank at a steeply discounted price. The food bank is open from 9:30 to 1:30 Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Get e-mail alert every time Banks website updated Be sure to sign up to get an e-mail alert every time something is added to The Banks County News website. The new website, www.BanksNewsTODAY.com, is updated several times each week with the latest informa tion about what is going on in Banks County. Updates are often posted on a daily basis. “This gives our readers the ability to find out the latest about what is going on in their community,” said edi tor Angela Gary. “This is a new venture for us and we appreciate any comments and input on the process.” To sign up to be notified when the site is updated, go to the top of the page and click on “email alert” and sign up. The new BanksNewsTODAY.com site will also allow viewers to add comments to articles. Input on the new website may be sent to the editor at AngieEditor@aol.com. 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