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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2008 THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS PACE 3A Drag race continued from page 1A was stopping, and was sur prised when it kept going east toward 441, given the black, swerving streaks on the road, and the crowd. “I called 911 and asked for an officer to come to the loca tion. I explained what was going on, and remarked that I didn’t feel very safe. About eight or 10 minutes later, an officer still had not arrived, so I called 911 again. About four or five minutes later, an officer arrived. Some of the kids were leaving, but there were still at least 20 trucks and cars in the field - many of them custom ized big wheel pickups. “The mother’s brother came over to my car and talked to me for a few minutes. He said ‘She’s not thinking right.’ As I was giving the officer my statement, a man identified as Gene Hart, a Banks County commissioner, pulled up. I approached him to discuss the problem, and I believe it was at that point that the mother said I was ‘ruining her son’s day.’ I understood that to mean that she was allowing and condoning drag racing in front of her house, as a way of honoring her son’s memory. “I started to speak to Mr. Hart, but he told me he was not going to talk to me, told me to get back in my car, that ‘the officer would take care of it.’ “I walked back to my car and continued to give the officer my statement. I said I wanted to know what was going to be done, and the officer said I could contact the Banks County Investigations department on Monday. “An accident would very likely have occurred if I hadn’t stopped — and Mrs. Bush would have been liable for the injury to or death of more people. Those kids were unsupervised, unaccompanied by parents or teachers, and out of control - emotionally and physically. Mrs. Bush was also out of control - certainly no parent in a rational state of mind would have allowed teenagers to participate CROWD GATHERS A large crowd reportedly gathered to watch drag racing following the funeral of Tyler Bush. Several trucks can be seen off Sims Bridge Road. in such an illegal and dangerous way of expressing their feel ings at the death — I believe in a car accident — of their classmate. “The Banks County High School website top story is about Superintendent Chris Erwin’s pride in the success of the Banks County High School driver education pro gram. “That story needs to be replaced right away with a story about the death of Tyler Bush, and the near deaths of his classmates and other innocent drivers, because of the failure of these children’s parents, teachers, county offi cials and school system. I request that the school system hold a meeting with Tyler’s classmates, their parents, and teachers, and discuss what happened as soon as possible. Here are some questions I have: •Did Tyler Bush’s class mates and friends receive any counseling after Tyler’s acci dent and subsequent death? •Were the parents of Tyler’s friends called to ask them to make sure their children were handling his death safely, with phone numbers to call if they felt that professional counsel ing was called for? •Did those parents who Kelley continued from page 1A made where the best interests of our city are not being considered first.” Kelley said he supports having a city man ager for Baldwin. “Much of the day to day functioning of Baldwin can and should be done by a pro fessional city manager,” he said. “I have the experience and skills necessary to rebalance the current budget in order to hire such a quali fied individual. Next we may have to change the city charter to allow for a city manager and give them appropriate power to conduct busi ness for the city. The current situation has been years in the making and cannot be changed overnight. The hiring process warrants taking the time to hire someone who is not cutting their managerial teeth on our city. We need Drought assistance available for local farmers The U.S. Department of Agriculture has an nounced an additional 3-day signup period for poultry and livestock producers in Jackson, Madison and Banks counties suffering from the drought. The disaster program is administered by the USDA Farm Service Agency, which pro vides cost share assistance to eligible producers if the damage is so severe that livestock cannot survive without additional water. A producer qualifying for the program may re- hiomer approves -r / BY JUSTIN POOLE The City of Homer approved a $457,000 budget at its Sept. 9 meeting, which is up over last year’s budget of $427,100. A final public hearing on the budget was held before the council meeting. There were no public com ments at the hearing. The council approved the budget unanimously. In other business at the meet ing, the council approved : a resolution to support the Homestead Exemption Tax. City attorney Gary Freeman presented a resolution that would support the county in reapplying for the tax relief from the state. The county applies for the Homestead Exemption grant and the city’s support helps to strengthen the application. Also during the meeting: •Mayor Doug Cheek said that the city’s comprehensive plan is in the regional and state review phase and until the review process is over, the city has to sit and wait. •Congressional candidate Bobby Saxon introduced him self to the council during the meeting. CPA presents proposal to Baldwin found out that some of their children were drag racing on a public road at 4 in the after noon in front of Tyler Bush’s house, four hours after his funeral — did they take action to counsel their children, and help them get in a more sane frame of mind? “According to the article in The Banks County News last week, Tyler died in an auto mobile accident while riding in an open Jeep. He fell out of the vehicle, which means he likely wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. Do his friends and family really believe drag racing down a county road is the proper way to honor his memory and support the Banks County driver’s educa tion program? “Is Banks County commis sioner Hart going to respond to the situation as an elected public official for the good of all those other children and passerbys? “I stopped an illegal, dan gerous situation so another family wouldn’t have to bury a child. Our children must receive better care and guid ance in the future, and our elected officials, school board, and parents must act respon sibly and swiftly to confront the reasons this situation was allowed to occur.” BY SHARON HOGAN The Baldwin City Council discussed the annual 2008-2009 cost estimate from Beth Grimes, Certified Public Accountant, Bates, Carter & Co., Gainesville, at the work session on Thursday, Sept. 4. Grimes presented a total cost of $35,000 for 163 hours of work. This equates to $214.72 per hour. Interim Mayor Ray Holcomb said. This is the cost if she does all of the work listed on the pro posal, this doesn’t mean she will do all of this, Holcomb said. “The price could be less,” he added. Holcomb said, “I think the estimate is the same as last year.” No action was taken on this at Monday’s council meeting. OTHER BUSINESS In other business at the work session: •council member Jeff Murray said the City of Demorest has contacted Tim Hall, Baldwin Public Works Director, about changing out the master water meter on J. Warren Road. Murray said Demorest agreed to go in halves with Baldwin to change out the meters at the water plant and at J. Warren Road. “They asked if they could go ahead and pay to get both meters changed out and then Baldwin could pay the City of Demorest back for half the cost,” Murray said. Don Boaen, Woodard & Curran, said the water meter at J. Warren Road had the head replaced in 1998 and the body was installed in 1987. The cost to pull the meter out and have it re-calibrated is $1,032 and a new meter will cost $2,509 plus taxes and shipping, Boaen said. The head on the meter at the water plan was purchased in 2005, Boaen said. The cost to pull the meter out and re calibrate will be $1,274 and a new meter will cost $3,501, Boaen said. The council asked Murray and Boaen to get with Hall for additional informa tion on this. Holcomb said Hall thought the city might be able to go to a smaller meter at the J. Warren road site. •Murray said, “Rodney (King, council member) and myself went up and met with one of the landlords on Wells Street about washing during this last rain we had.” One of the places that washed out was a driveway for one of the houses. Murray said this used to be an old road that went through there that the city still owns. Murray suggested abandoning this portion of Wells Street. “It’s grown up, it has full grown trees growing in it,” Murray said. Murray added, “The public works director says if we don’t abandon it we’ll have to start maintaining it.” Murray said the city’s public works depart ment is going to put a ditch in on a small portion of the road. Mayoral candidate Mark Reed said, “We’ve abandoned some little streets before and later we wished we hadn’t. I don’t know what the answer is.” Holcomb said the council would need to gather some additional information on this before any decision is made. •Baldwin resident Polly Ayers complained that she is not able to drink the city’s water at her house. Ayers said the same is true at her mother’s house. “We have to buy water and ice,” Ayers said. Ayers asked, “Can we dig a well and still be on city sewer?” Holcomb instructed Ayers that she would need to check with Habersham County to get a permit for a well. “We don’t regulate wells,” Holcomb said. •Reed reported that a total of $132,000 was raised during this year’s Habersham County Relay For Life. “I want to thank the city for participat ing,” Reed said. •the council met for one hour in closed session to dis cuss potential litigation. No action was taken. Maysville prepares for sidewalks to look for an individual with both maturity of experience and professional demeanor.” Kelley is a small business owner and partner in Kelley Asset Protection & Investments, LLC. The company provides investment advice to businesses and individuals. He has been a licensed stock broker since 1997. He is also an Army Reservist, serving in an Individual Military Augmentation (IMA) position as a Civil Affairs Officer. His current orders have him assigned as an instructor at Ft. Bragg, N.C., teaching Civil Affairs Officers and NCOs. He plans to retire from the Army Reserve in the near future. Kelley and his wife, Victoria, have five chil dren and three grandchildren. ceive reimbursement for up to 50 percent of the eligible cost of permanent measures, such as in stalling pipelines or other facilities for livestock water, constructing and deepening wells and de veloping springs or seeps for livestock water. Producers forced to acquire supplemental emergency livestock water may contact the lo cal FSA office, 1458 Ila Road, Commerce (706-335-8111), through Oct. 21, to sign up for the program. BY JUSTIN POOLE Residents of Maysville are a step closer to seeing work started on the transportation enhancement (TE) streetscape project. The project began late in 2006 and amid state hold ups at the DOT level and right- of-way issues. The project has slowly continued. William Shealy of the Jaeger Company attended the Sept. 15 city council meeting to update the council and residents on the progress and what is left to accomplish. “We have our design plans off to GDOT for review,” said Shealy. “Within the next three weeks, we should be able to finalize the plans. Hopefully, we will have final plans by the end of the month.” Shealy also said that one continuing issue would be the 50-foot right-of-way with the railroad. If the railroad is unwilling to work with the project, Shealy suggested that the sidewalk be extended along Hwy. 98. The next steps are to check on right-of-way certifications or easements then proceed into the construction phase, including finalizing plans and bid documents. Shealy said that he hopes the project is out to bid by the first of the year and that Maysville residents would see work beginning in the spring. DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT In an attempt to clarify the confusion over the current legality of the DDA, city attor ney Gary Freeman informed the council that he had spoken with the GMA and also an unaffiliated party to seek an opinion on the wording that four of the seven officers must have an economic interest in the downtown. The same matter was the main topic at the DDA meet ing before the council meet ing. According to Freeman, the term economic interest applies to people who either own a business or operate a business in the downtown area, which is currently set as the entire city area. Melody Stancil, chairperson of the DDA, requested that Freeman send a copy of his opinion to her for the DDA’s records. Mayor Jerry Baker said that it was his goal to push forward and work with the DDA for the betterment of I Maysville. OTHER BUSINESS During Monday's meeting, the city council took the fol lowing actions: •approved annexation of property in an industrial park and voted to not have commer cial businesses pay for the fire line flat monthly rate charge. Commercial businesses will only pay for water usage. •accepted bids for a lawn mower, $3,247.27 from Wesley’s Farm and Garden; weedeater, $244.86 from James Short Tractor Supply. Other bids included $3257.34 on the mower from James Short Tractor Supply and $263.45 on the weedeater from Swineharts. •accepted a bid for water line upgrades along Cemetery Street, $21,412 from Dale Construction Company, to be paid out of SPLOST funds from Jackson County. Another bid from Griffin Brothers, Inc. was for $24,185. •approved the transfer of city accounts to Community Bank and Trust, once the bank opens. 1 W&W METAL ROOFING “We Got You Covered” 1 Agricultural Residential * Commercial * • Ship Anywhere In The USA • We Stock Your Metal Needs • Visit Our Showroom www.wwmetalroofing.com Warranty 30 Year 1 Paint ^ IU 706-654-5836 Hwy. 60 / Candler Hwy. • Pendergrass, Ga. Sales Service Installation Dr. Neelagaru, M.D. (Dr. Neel) N. Neelagaru, M.D. (Dr. Neel) is now associated with Northeast Georgia Medical Center, Gainesville, Georgia and will do all Invasive Cardiology Procedures at this facility. Commerce Cardiology Clinic Call 335-2000 for appointment Commerce $roo 5 OFF Ticket 01*20“° Or More. Valid with coupon Mon.-Thurs. only. La Hacienda Commerce La Hacienda Braselton 173 Steven B. Tanger Blvd. 5391 Highway 53 706-335-7458 706-654-0070 The Original Mexican Restaurant! Not affiliated with any other restaurant. We Buy All Gold & Silver BALLENGER REUNION The descendants of the late Joseph Nathan Ballenger will hold the first annual Ballenger family reunion at 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 21, at the home of Tommy and Helen Venable, 1665 Sanford Road, Nicholson. Family and friends are asked to bring a covered dish, along with scrapbooks, old photos and any mementoes they wish to share. For information, call Helen Venable at 706-757-3879. Including: Class Rings • Wedding Bands • Coins • Broken Jewelry • Dental Gold GiunemilU 770-532-2592 1020 Jesse Jewell Pkwy. • Gainesville, GA Mon.-Thurs. 10-6:30 • Fri. - Sat. 10-7