Newspaper Page Text
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2008
THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS
PACE 3A
Development Authority working with BOC
BY SHARON HOGAN
The Development Author
ity of Banks County ap
proved at a meeting on Oct.
15 a change in the wording
of the agreement with the
board of commissioners on
the distribution of industrial
development funds.
DA chairman Wayne Ab
ernathy said he is very much
concerned with “having a
paper trail” for the funds that
are generated from a one mill
tax designated for economic
development for the county.
Abernathy said he is aware
the money is accounted for
by the commissioners and in
cluded in its audit, but, in the
event the DA is audited there
needs to be accountability
and a paper trail, also.
“The development author
ity doesn’t actually spend the
money, the commissioners
do,” Abernathy said, “but we
need some accountability.”
Abernathy asked clerk
Erin Decker about the status
of the agreement that was on
the commissioner’s agenda
for consideration at the Tues
day night, Oct. 14, meeting.
Decker said the matter was
tabled.
Abernathy said he wants
to get this agreement passed
and he asked what the con
cerns of the commissioners
are at this time. BOC chair
man Gene Hart attended a
previous meeting and pro
vided input on the wording
in the agreement and seemed
to be in favor of the agree
ment at that time, Abernathy
said. Banks County Attor
ney Randall Frost drew up
the agreement, Abernathy
added.
After Decker informed
Abernathy that Hart was in
another meeting on Wednes
day and would not be atten
dance at the DA meeting, a
conference call was placed
to commissioner Rickey
Cain to discuss the issue that
the commissioners have with
the agreement.
Cain said the problem he
has is with the paragraph
that deals with a budget fig
ure for an economic director
position. In the current draft
of the agreement, there is no
amount in this paragraph for
the total budget for an eco
nomic development coordi
nator. Cain said he is con
cerned with a figure being
placed in the agreement for
this position.
The development author
ity revised this portion of
the agreement to read, “The
county anticipates hiring a
full time economic develop
ment coordinator to promote
economic development in the
county. If the county hires an
economic development co
ordinator his/her salary shall
be paid by the county bud
get. The economic develop
ment coordinator shall have
a budget provided by the au
thority for expenses incurred
in promoting the county and
entertaining industrial pros
pects which shall be paid
from the Industrial Develop
ment Funds.”
The agreement also states,
“Before any Industrial De
velopment Funds are dis
bursed by the county, the
county and the authority will
discuss the disbursement of
the Industrial Development
Funds and will use their best
efforts to mutually agree on
the disbursement of the In
dustrial Development Funds.
If the county and the author
ity cannot mutually agree on
the disbursement of the In
dustrial Development Funds,
the county shall make the
final decision on such dis
bursements.”
DA members agreed to
attend the next regularly
scheduled commissioner’s
meeting on Tuesday, Oct.
28, to answer any questions
the commissioners might
have about the proposed
agreement.
In the only other business
item on Wednesday, the DA
met in closed session for ap
proximately 15 minutes to
discuss land acquisition. No
action was taken.
v/
GENERAL ELECTION
November 4, 2008
For Tax Commissioner
VOTE
BECKY TAYLOR
There IS A DIFFERENCE! I love what I do and I am good at what I do and I
do care about YOU! I have YOUR best interest at heart. Remember...YOU
are and have been worth my time and I will be worth YOUR vote!
On November 4th, YOU get to decide what's best for YOU! VOTE BECKY
TAYLOR as YOUR NEXT TAX COMMISSIONER!! Together, we can make a
difference for Banks County!
VOTE FOR AND ELECT
BECKY TAYLOR
YOUR NEXT BANKS COUNTY TAX COMMISSIONER
VOTE NOVEMBER 4, 2008
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BOE approves loan until tax revenues come in
BY SHARON HOGAN
The Banks County Board
of Education agreed Thursday
night to get a loan to cover
expenses until tax revenue
comes in.
The BOE unanimously ap
proved the tax anticipation
note resolution.
“We need to borrow some
money to hold us over until
the taxes come in,” financial
director Mike Beasley said.
The board approved the loan
from First Georgia Bank at a
five percent fixed rate with a
$4.8 million line of credit.
Beasley said five of the lo
cal banks were asked to sub
mit a proposal on this. Other
bids were: Regions Bank,
6.62 percent variable rate; and
Northeast Georgia Bank, 3.75
percent variable rate daily.
Community Bank and Trust
and Freedom Bank both indi
cated they were not interested
in bidding this year.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business at the work
session on Thursday:
•the board unanimously ap
proved a spending resolution.
The resolution is needed for
another month because the
budget has not been set yet.
•Beasley reported that
$302,761 was received in Sep
tember for Education Focal
Option Sales Tax (EFOST)
revenue. This is the 10 th high
est of 73 checks the system has
received, Beasley reported.
•assistant superintendent
Donna Reed told the board
that this is the planning year
for the district accreditation
with the Southern Associa
tion of Colleges and Schools
(SACS) and next year will
be the visit. The board unani
mously approved seeking dis
trict accreditation this year.
•the board met in closed ses
sion for 90 minutes to discuss
personnel. When the meeting
was open to the public, the
BOE agreed to hire the follow
ing: Nancy Bezemes-Farley as
a teacher for the remainder of
the 2008-09 school year and
Shaner Johnson and Sandy
Ridley, both as paraprofes-
sionals for the remainder of
the 2008-09 school year. The
BOE also agreed to fire Cassi
dy Hughes, paraprofessional,
Banks County Pre-K.
In other personnel busi
ness, the BOE approved the
following resignations: Tracy
Burchett, bus monitor; Eloise
Wade, food assistant, Banks
County High School; Mike
Brown, Rita Chapman, Jen
nifer Fitzgerald, Georgia Hen
dricks, Kathy Holcombe, Kim
Standridge, Vicki Veldhuis,
Wendy Collins, Stephanie
Simmons, Thelma Hart, aide,
and Erica White, student aide,
all after-school instructional
staff at Banks County Middle
School; Angie Fangston, Ran
dy Krumnow and Kathy Free
man, after-school bus driv
ers; Kim Miller, BCHS, and
Kathy Sheridan, BCMS, both
after-school SFN staff; and
Gary Goodson, Brent Howell,
Patsy Jordan, Tammy Kenne
dy, Jean Facey, Amanda Fam-
oreaux, Fynn Suggs, Cindy
Vandiver and Joe Walsh, all
after-school instructional staff
at BCHS.
Alto police chief resigns effective Oct 31
BY SHARON HOGAN
Alto Police Chief James R. “Robin”
Krockum has resigned.
The chief presented a letter of resigna
tion, effective Oct. 31, to the council at its
regular meeting last week.
“It has been my honor to have created
the Alto Police Department and to help it
grow over the past few years,” Krockum
wrote in his letter of resignation. “I hope
you are as proud of the department as I
and will continue to help it go forward. I
would like to continue to be a part of the
police department and will assist in any
way possible in your transition to a new
leader.”
developing
leaders of
COMPETENCE
CONSCIENCE
COMPASSION
CONFIDENCE
and COURAGE
Monsignor Donovan
CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL
FALL TOURS
Nov. 5th & 19th
Drop-in from 11:00am - 1:00pm
590 Lavender Road • Athens, GA
706.433.0223 • www.mdchs.org
Monsignor Donovan Catholic High School shall admit students of any race, color, sex. national and ethnic origin to all the nghts. privileges, programs, and activities generally
accorded or made available to students. Monsignor Donovan Catholic High School shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, nationality and ethnic origin in the administration
of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic or other school-administered programs. Monsignor Donov an Catholic High School is an
independent Catholic school serving the families of northeast Georgia. MDCHS is not affiliated with the Archdiocese of Atlanta.
VOTE • VOTE • VOTE • VOTE
On Tuesday, November 4, 2008, you will be making
important decisions in not only the Presidential
election but also locally. Since taking office January
1, 1989, I have strived to provide the best possible
customer service in a courteous and professional
manner. We’re proud of the accomplishments we
have made to make our office more efficient and
assessible to the public. As you go to the poll on
election day, vote absentee or early voting which
you can do now, remember there’s
NO SUBSTITUTE FOR EXPERIENCE.
Re-Elect Margaret Ausburn
Banks County Tax Commissioner
Your Support and Influence Will Be Greatly Appreciated!
Paid for by the candidate