Newspaper Page Text
THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 2008
THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS
PAGE 3A
COUNTY OFFICES MOVE TO ANNEX
All of the Banks County offices located in the
courthouse on Yonah-Homer Road, Homer, moved
into the new Banks County Annex Building on Fri
day. Employees of the tax commissioner’s office
shown packing for the move are: Debbie Lacey,
Margaret Ausburn, tax commissioner, and Shir
ley Brownlee. The offices opened to the public in
the new annex building located on Hudson Ridge
on Tuesday morning. Directions to the new loca
tion from Thompson Street are: Turn onto Hudson
Valley Drive (formerly Eagles Nest) and then turn
right onto Hudson Ridge.
Photo by Sharon Hogan
Chambliss continued from page 1A
the recycling of nuclear waste.
“We have to explore for more
oil domestically,’' Chambliss
said. “We've got to drill. We
need to drill more on shore,
as well as off shore. That is
not the total answer but is cer
tainly the first thing we’ve got
to do is to address the supply
of petroleum that we have in
this country.. .Over the next 10
years, we need to make a huge
change in the amount of oil we
are importing into this country,
as well as the amount of oil we
are using."
The senator said mak
ing more gasoline should be
another priority.
“We need our refineries to
produce more," he said. “They
tell us they have the capacity
to do it.”
Chambliss also said find
ing alternative fuel sources is
another area to explore.
“The third thing we need to
do is continue down the road
VISITS WITH CHAMBLISS
Sen. Saxby Chambliss visted Banks County Saturday
afternoon. Shown with him are: (L-R) Tara Fulcher,
chamber director; Helen Hewell, chamber president;
and Jodi Kephart, manager of Holiday Inn Express.
of finding alternative fuels,”
he said. “Biodiesel and etha
nol are critical components in
the long-term solution to this
problem but they are not the
only answer.”
Chambliss also encouraged
conservation efforts.
“Lastly, we need to imple
ment conservation efforts...
to encourage manufacturers
to produce automobiles that
run off of alternative methods
whether it is battery or natural
gas or propane gas, or what
ever it may be,” he said. “We
need to look at alternatively
powered vehicles...We need
to make sure we are producing
more electricity from nuclear
resources. We need to recycle
the nuclear waste we have
today. “
In order for legislation to
pass, 60 senators have to vote
in favor of it. Since there are
only 49 Republican senators,
Chambliss said it is important
that the effort be a bipartisan
one.
“The only way to get any
thing done in the United States
Senate is to work in a biparti
san way,” Chambliss said.
The Banks County Chamber
of Commerce sponsored
the legislative update with
Chambliss.
Tornado continued from page 1A
line through the area, and electric service
was out.
The smell of natural gas was evident
around the Bonds’ house. Water from
a severed service line poured onto the
ground.
“We saw it coming from Hill Street,”
said Nathan Anderson. “We saw it form
and go down."
Several other residences in the immedi
ate area suffered lesser damage. A tree fell
on a mobile home, whose elderly occupant
was shaken up but not injured. Downed
tree limbs or other damage were report
ed on Cole Court and Ashworth Mobile
Home Park.
Officials closed Old U.S. 441 (Homer
Road) at 5:10 to keep onlookers out.
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Baldwin continued from page 1A
regular council meeting
Thursday night was the con
sideration of a new alarm
system for city hall.
“We just can’t continue to
spend,” Reed said. “Buying,
buying, buying and we can’t
afford to any more."
Interim Mayor Ray
Holcomb said, “We haven’t
bought any vehicles other
than police and fire depart
ment. We’ve surplused vehi
cles.”
Holcomb said the city has
cut a lot of insurance pay
ments out, the employees are
required to pay a lot more of
their insurance costs.
“We’ve changed our
policy on vacation and sick
leave, we’ve cut that to the
bare bones,” he said. “We
have limited the mileage that
police cars can be driven
home for new employees to
25 miles.”
Grimes pointed out that
public safety — police and
fire departments — are the
town’s largest expenses.
The total of 2008 expenses
for public safety was $1.14
million, 59 percent of the
city’s total expenses. Total
revenues were $1.85 million
and total expenses came in at
$1.93 million in FY2008.
Baldwin mayoral can
didate Jerry Neace said, “I
have talked to several citi
zens and all the citizens think
that fire and police are the
two services that need to be
cut back."
Grimes said the City of
Baldwin has not been dip
ping into its water and sewer
money to fund the town’s
general fund, as some cities
do.
Baldwin officials also
heard from the town’s audi
tor, Chris Hollified of Ruston
and Company about the
recently released 2007 audit,
which showed the town was
in the red $177,000 last year.
Hollifield went through a list
of “significant deficiencies'
outlined in the audit and
discussed the problems of a
small town having enough
people to do some of the
internal accounting.
MONDAY NIGHT
Monday night, Baldwin
officials continued their dis
cussion about the town’s
shaky financial picture with
a review of the water fund.
The water fund was in the
red $48,600 last year.
Even removing deprecia
tion, which is a non-cash
expense, from the mix
Baldwin still didn’t gener
ate enough revenue last year
to cover both its operating
expenses and its debt service
payments. The water fund’s
debt service last year was
$515,000, but the water sys
tem only generated $424,800
in cash.
Unlike the town’s gener
al fund, however, the water
fund had some reserves to
draw on to make up the dif
ference.
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Suspect continued from 1A
Ruff. At approximately 2 a.m. the room was forcibly entered
although Ruff was not inside. The television was on and Ruffs
possessions, including clothing and shoes, were inside.
Chapman said it is his belief that Ruff left the scene several hours
earlier, perhaps not long after his girlfriend told South Carolina offi
cials where he was. The sheriff said a team had to be assembled to
apprehend the fugitive, however, since he was believed to be armed
and dangerous.
Ruff was believed to be in possession of a cell phone and in con
tact with his girlfriend after arriving in the Banks Crossing area.
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