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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2008 THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS PACE 3A Lula proclaims November as 'Family Month' ; ■ PRESENTS PROCLAMATION Mayor Milton Turner presents the proclamation recognizing “Family Month” in the city to Gainesville councilman George Wangemann during Monday’s council meeting. Photo by Justin Poole School system considers making biodiesel for buses BY JUSTIN POOLE The City of Lula is rec ognizing the month of November as “Family Month.” Mayor Milton Turner read the proclamation during Monday's regular council meeting. Turner presented the proclamation to George Wangemann and Beverly Howerton. Wangemann, a councilman for Gainesville, said that “families are the bedrock of society.” The Lula proclamation states that the “family unit is an integral part of the fabric of the community and provides a structure for children.” The proclama tion encourages families to spend quality time together to strengthen relationships. The council approved the proclamation unanimously. During Monday's meeting the council took the follow ing action: •approved a resolution for SPLOST VI funds that would bring in approximately $1.9 million for road, redevelop ment, water and sewer proj ects if Hall County approves the tax. The tax is voted on BY SHARON HOGAN Generous Hearts and Banks County Family Connection will be giving out turkeys and trimmings to needy Banks County families from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 21, at the Banks County Recreation Department. Robin Trotter, Banks County Family Connection director, asked for volunteers to help with the event at the monthly Family Connection meeting on Monday, Nov. 17. Banks County Middle School is hosting a health fair at the event. Stacey Morgan, Banks County Middle School, said as of Monday, in March 2009. •approved granting the mayor the authority to order surveys on properties affect ed by water and sewer line right of ways (ROW) depen dent on the legal opinion of the city attorney. Brad Patten, city attorney, is look ing for ways for the city to resolve the ROW issue with 15 agencies had signed up to attend the event. Groups will be offering hearing tests, blood pres sure checks, vision screen ing, taking vital signs and offering information on their organizations, Morgan added. OTHER BUSINESS In other business at Monday’s meeting: •Trotter said the Banks County Family Connection housing and transportation team is continuing to work to acquire funds through Banks County Community Resource Association to help residents with trans portation. The goal is to out surveys. The property that would be surveyed if needed is approximately two blocks. •approved sending out a notice letter to residents about residential street lights. •discussed budget amend ments, Veteran’s Park con tract and garbage services. have the program in place by January 1, Trotter added. Banks County residents who qualify could get help with Banks County Transit fees for doctor's office visits, grocery shopping trips and possibly transportation to work, Trotter said. •Trotter announced the annual career day event set for May 13 at Banks County Middle School. •Trotter said Generous Hearts has had three meet ings and seen 125 families seeking assistance this holi day season. “Lots of new families are being seen,” Trotter said. “We are really having to look at families No action was taken on any of these items. •recognized the November Yard of the Month recipi ents including Marilyn and Feliciano Mendez from District 1, Jackie Berry from District 2, Harold Caudell from District 3, Kazia Guynn from District 4, and Darryl Womack from District 5. that have been served by the organization more than three years.” The deadline for sponsor ships is December 15. The gifts will be distributed on Friday, Dec. 19. •Trotter reported the food bank served 58 families in October. •Trotter said she will be attending a summit on teen smoking on January 24. Trotter said she plans to take four or five teens with her to this event. The next regularly sched uled monthly meeting will be held at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 18, at the Banks County Recreation Department. BY SHARON HOGAN The Banks County School System is considering making biodiesel for use in its buses. Clay Hobbs, Banks County School System Transportation Director, gave a presentation Thursday to the board of edu cation on making and using biodiesel in the school system's buses. Hobbs said biodiesel is a fuel that is made from plant and animal byproducts. Biodiesel causes less carbon build-up in diesel engines and acts as a cleaning agent, Hobbs added. There are currently only two school systems in the nation that make their own biodiesel for use in their buses, Hobbs said. Hobbs said the public rela tions for a program like this would bring positive exposure to the school system and the use of biodiesel could be a savings for the school system. Biodiesel burning engines create nearly clean exhaust and this is better for the students' health and is better for the envi ronment, Hobbs said. Hobbs said one of the top issues to making the product is obtaining the fat byproduct to be used. Fieldale currently cre ates 13,000 gallons of chicken fat per day that they sell. Hobbs said he has talked with Fieldale a little bit about this project. In order to make the biod iesel product, the school sys tem would need to purchase a biodiesel processing machine, purchase storage tanks and con tainers for the feedstock and the biodiesel and purchase a build ing for storage and to house the machine, Hobbs said. Hobbs added that a plain metal building would be suf ficient. The approximate cost could be $794,439 for a 55-gallon machine or $123,799 for a 275-gallon machine, Hobbs said. Superintendent Chris Erwin said one of the main reasons to consider this project is a safety issue. “This would reduce the emis sions for our children and be a cost savings to our system,” Erwin said. No action was taken on this. OTHER BUSINESS Also at Thursday’s work ses sion: •the following board members were recognized for their years of service to the board as they begin another year on the board in January, 2009: Neal Brown, 13 years; John D. Williams, 10 years; and Ron Gardiner, 13 years. •Erwin discussed the Full Time Equivalent (FTE) student enrollment growth. Erwin said FTEs are what the system is paid on by the state. •the board adopted a spend ing resolution for the month of December. The next regularly scheduled BOE work session will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 11, at the board office. Family Connection turkey give-away set Fri. Photos cont'dfrom 1A Maysville cont'dfrom 1A GENERAL FUND Although it wasn't discussed Thursday, Maysville’s general fund budget worksheet proj ects a tax decrease and only a small increase in spending. The 2009 general fund bud get would net $657,400, a little more than the 2008 bud get of $635,100. Most of the increase in revenues would come from more electric fran chise tax income. In expenses, both the city’s police department and library would see spending increases. Salary increases are included in the budget draft. Read, then recycle! names, their city of residence and phone number. Photos submitted without all of the information may not be published. Black and white or color photos can be used, but no Polaroids or photographs printed out from a computer onto laser paper will be accepted, as they do not reprint well. Digital photos with the above information may be e-mailed to news@mainstreetnews.com. The e-mail MUST contain the subject line “Christmas Kids Photo” as a title, or the child’s photo may not be published. Also, the child’s photo and information requested above must be submitted in the same e-mail. Do not submit mul tiple e-mails for the same child. Once photos are submitted, they may not be replaced with another photo. The photos may be dropped off at or mailed to any of the newspa per offices and may be picked up there after Dec. 24. 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 YOU CAN OWN YOUR OWN HOME! 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