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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 Paid for by the candidate. i BRASELTON ANTIQUE & HOLIDAY FESTIVAL Saturday & Sunday October 25 & 26 9 a.m, - 6 p.m. & 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Downtown Braselton Park FREE Parking • FREE Admission Join us for excellent shopping and good food and beverag Booth Space Available * For more information call 706-824-7204. Presented by: Remax of Towne Center wm Please visit ol Countryside Antique^ Antique Station, Y Prase/ton Am ' s better uv 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