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PACE 2A THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2008 Art in the Park set Sept. 20-21 Alto approves purchase of building Police department to use location for storage SATURDAY, SEPT. 20 10 a.m. Festival opens 11 a.m. Crystal River Bluegrass Gospel Band, The Ray Family performing at stage in park 11 a.m. Jackson County High School Comprehensive Band performing in amphitheater Noon Southern Travelers performing at stage in park 1 p.m. East Jackson Comprehensive High School Jazz Band performing in amphitheater 1 p.m. 2 p.m. 2:45 p.m. 3 p.m. in park 4 p.m. 4 p.m. 6 p.m. Lamberts performing at stage in park Kyle Long Pickers at stage in park Children's art winners announced Johnny and Carmen Ayers performing at stage Dedication of new miniature golf course Crystal River performing at stage in park Festival closes for day Noon 12:30 p.m. 12:45 p.m. 1 p.m. 1:30 p.m. 2:15 p.m. 2:30 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3:45 p.m. 4 p.m. 5 p.m. 5:30 p.m. SUNDAY, SEPT. 21 Shiloh Singers perform at stage in park Booths open Southern Travelers at stage in park Registration for run/walk The Lamberts performing at stage in park Kyle Long Pickers at stage in park Fun RunAValk 5K Mill Race Johnny and Carmen Ayers at stage in park Crystal River at stage in park Race Awards in amphitheater The Duck Dash Festival closes BY SHARON HOGAN In a 3-1 vote at a meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 9, the Alto City Council approved the purchase of an 8x10 metal building to be used for storage by the police department. Council member Cathy Armour voted against the motion to spend $1,300 to purchase the building from Condor Portables, Cornelia. Mayor Audrey Turner said the building will be used for document storage and this will free up some space in side the police department building. “Instead of building onto the existing building, we are looking at this building for storage,” Turner said. “We are not financially able to build on at this time.” The $1,300 price for the portable building includes as sembly, delivery and set-up. “This is a lot cheaper than building on,” Turner said. Turner said the city re ceived three bids on a storage building but this is the only bid that included assembly. OTHER BUSINESS In other business at Tues day’s meeting: •the council tabled action on yard sale permits and business licenses. The coun cil asked Joe Davidson, Alto Building Inspector, to gather additional information on this and report back to the council in October. Turner said they have residents who have a yard sale every weekend and they need to look into this. •the council unanimously approved a resolution on re imbursement for Homestead Tax Relief Grants (HTRG) and future funding of HTRG program. Alto Financial Officer Lisa A baseball clinic for pitch ers ages 14-19 will be held Saturday, Oct. 11, at the Banks County Parks and Rec reation Department Complex in Homer. The ProThrow event will be offered in two sessions at a cost of $75 per session. The first session will be from 9 Turner said the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) recom mends that counties include the homeowner tax credit on county property tax bills. “I recommend that we leave it off the 2008 tax bills in De cember," L. Turner said. “If we get it, we can give the property owners a credit.” L. Turner said she is projecting 18 percent less in revenues for the coming year. •the council tabled action on waters rates for over us age. Mayor Turner said, "We need to decide if we want to penalize our customers.” The city is buying water daily, Turner added. Turner said the city has some residents that are wa tering when they shouldn’t be, but they have to be caught breaking the rules in order for action to be taken. L. Turner said she should have some figures for the council by the end of the month on what is coming in in water payments and what is being spent. Mayor Turner said, “We are struggling, but we are man aging right now.” •the council unanimously approved a new purchase or der (PO) form to be used by every department in the city for any purchase that is made. The PO will have to be ap proved prior to the purchase being made. Any purchase over $100 requires council approval, Mayor Turner said. •Mayor Turner said the city playground was vandalized again recently. The equip ment that was vandalized has been re-painted. •Turner said she and coun cil member Margaret Beau- pre are working on budget amendments for this year and a.m. until noon with the sec ond being from 1:30 until 4:30 p.m. Registration will be held 30 minutes before the camp. The staff camp will in clude Jeremy Loftice, a Ma jor League Baseball scout and certified strength and conditioning specialist; Jason Johnson, a former Division I all departments were asked to get any budget amendment requests turned in by the end of the week. •Mayor Turner said the cit ies of Cornelia and Clarkes- ville are seeking help to maintain the county libraries located in these two cities. •Turner said the compre hensive plan has been ac cepted and the council has a public hearing on the plan scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 14, prior to the regular council meeting. •Mayor Turner reports that the Banks County road proj ect is currently being worked on. "I am talking with Haber sham County about patching on B.C. Grant Road. We have some other roads needing work such as rights of way cutbacks.” •Alto resident Colin Hin son, a senior at Habersham Central High School, attend ed the meeting as a require ment for the HCHS leader ship program. •Alto resident Ronnie Johns voiced his concern with the Waste Authority’s garbage truck leaking a smelly sub stance onto his street. “Our street smells and I do a lot of walking on the street,” he said. •Johns requested that the city put some gravel in the ditch on the city’s right-of- way on his property. The ditch is washing away, Johns said. •Johns complimented the police department for patrol ling his street. “I like seeing the black cars running up and down our street,” Johns said. The next regularly sched uled council meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 14, at city hall. pitching coach and recruiting coordinator and Trey Hodges, a former Atlanta Brave now pitching in the Texas Rangers organization. For additional information call 770-316-4110 or pick up an application at Hibbet Sports at Banks Crossing. En try deadline is Oct. 8. A silent auction and min iature golf are new additions for the Art in the Park festival. The 18th annual event will be held Sept. 20-21 at Hurricane Shoals Park, located between Jefferson and Maysville. The festival hours will be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20, and noon to 5:30 p.m. Sun day, Sept. 21. Silent auction items will in clude two Georgia-Tennessee football game tickets, a kids bicycle and a canoe made from trees at the park. The silent auction will be held at the Tumbling Waters Society booth. The new “Spirit of the Riv er” miniature golf course at Hurricane Shoals Park will be open during the festival. Carved bears. Native Ameri cans and replicas of the chapel and cabins at the park are de picted in the course. A wide variety of food, in cluding barbecue, hamburg ers, bratwurst, fried pies, fun nel cakes and boiled peanuts, will be offered. Tours of the chapel, log cabins and other buildings in the Heritage Village will be offered. A blacksmith will be at his forge and there will be soap-making, quilting demon strations and a beekeeper with his honeybees. James Mathis will display his arrowhead col lection and a video on Clyde Freeman will be on view. Craftsman from all over North Georgia will demon strate their work and have handmade items for sale. Chil dren’s art will be displayed in the round pavilion. Children’s activities will include a Moon- walk, obstacle course and gi ant slide, ponies and a petting zoo. Games and activities for The Georgia Senior Famers Market will be offered at the Banks County Senior Center on Wednesday, Sept. 24. To qualify to receive a voucher ($20 value), partici pants must meet the following criteria: •be 60 years of age or older •Live in a private home (not in a personal care home or as sisted living facility ) •Have a household income children will also be offered. Splash, the festival mas cot, will entertain children throughout the festival. Enter tainment featuring area bands will also be offered both days. The 5K Mill Race will be held at 3 p.m. on Sunday. A one-mile Fun Run or Walk will take place at 2:30 p.m. Fees are $15 to pre-register and $18 on race day. For more information, contact Keith Ariail at 706-335-5519. The grand finale will be the Duck Dash on Sunday. Ducks can be sponsored for $5 each or as follows: •$1,603 or less monthly for a one-person household ($19,240 annually) •$2,158 or less montly for a two-person household ($25,900 annually) •$2,720 or less monthly for a three-person household ($32,560 annually) •$3,268 or less monthly for a four-person household ($39,220 annual!) five ducks for $20. Prizes will be: a 26-inch LCD flatscreen TV and DVD player, a $300 Home Depot gift certificate and a $200 Home Depot gift certificate. Admission and parking will be free. The Tumbling Waters Soci ety hosts the annual event. All proceeds will be used to main tain and improve the park. For more information, con tact the Tumbling Waters So ciety at www.hurricaneshoal- spark.org or by contacting Becky Perry at 706-335-6723. •$3,823 or less monthly for a five-person household ($45,880 annually). Qualified seniors are asked to arrive at the senior center at 10:15 a.m. for a brief program presentation and voucher reg istration. Contact the Banks County Senior Center for more in formation at 706-677-3275. The center is located at 700 Thompson Street, Homer. ProThrow baseball clinc for pitchers set Free fruits, vegetables for local seniors No reason required for absentee voting Voters will no longer have to give a reason for voting early when they go the registrar’s office during the 45-day absentee voting pe riod. In the past, absentee voting was only al lowed for several specific reasons. A new law now makes absentee voting open to ev eryone regardless of the reason they want to vote early. This is also the case with mail-in absentee voting. Voters may go to the State of Geor gia election site and request that an absentee ballot be mailed to them. No reason has to be given. This ballot is then mailed to the county voter registrar’s office. In Banks County, the voter registrar office is located in the new county annex located in Homer. Early voting for the November election will begin on Sept. 22. Advanced voting will still be offered the week prior to an election. Advance vot ing for the November election will be Oct. 27-31. Send us your vacation news The Banks County News oc casionally features travel news, with first-person accounts sub mitted by locals, along with pho tographs from the trip. Articles and photographs may be dropped off at The Banks County News office in down town Homer or mailed to: An gela Gary, The Banks County News, PO. Box 920, Homer, Ga„ 30547. CASH FOR GOLD ASK FOR GREG Greg Reeves Fine Jewelry 613 Hawthorne Ave., Athens 706-369-0000 Monday - Friday 9am - 6pm Saturday 9am - 4pm ROOF DOCTOR Roofing & Repair 99 - Metal - Shingles - Flat Roofs - Flashing - Maintenance - Inspections HOMER CARVER £ OFFICE 706-677-1986 CELL 678-617-4503 FAX 706-677-1369 VISA NOW OPEN 1 ^Christian OOKSTORE & COFFEEHOUSE 706-423-9608 Hours: Mon.-Sat. 10-7, Wed. 10-5, Sun. Closed 417 Pottery Factory Drive • Commerce, GA Right behind Zaxby’s • Next to World Gym. www.booksncaffeine.com Howell Orthodontics (706) 387-0606 Dr. Emily F. Howell Providing Braces for Children and Adults! FREE Initial Exam (call and mention this ad) "Flexible Interest-Free Payment Plans Available "Convenient Hours (before AND after school hours available) "Most orthodontic insurance plans accepted For more information, visit our website: www.howellortho.com Conveniently located at: 2614 Highway 129 North in Jefferson, GA (next to Jefferson Pediatrics) www.braseltontile.com Quality Tile • Design • Installation “SAVINGS TO THE PUBLIC” 706-654-0819 www.BanksNewsTODAY.com log on for local news updates Your local source for news 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 • 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 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 Pci.ii/os BANKS COUNTY §|§ 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 JEFFERSON LIONS CLUB Meets 2nd & 4th Monday Jefferson City Clubhouse 6:30 p.m. *(706) 387-1156 Mack Cates, President BANKS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC. meets first Monday each month 7:00 p.m. in the Banks Co. Historial Courthouse at 105 U.S. Hwy. 441 North in Homer pd.-07/o< % JEFFERSON WAMERICAN LEGION Albert Gordon Post 56 Each 3rd Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. Harvie Lance, Commander Phone (706) 654-1274 jio 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 White Plains Baptist Church 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 ITIZENS IPELINE OAFETY RGANIZED for 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