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THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2008
BOC again postpones filling planning commission seats
BY SHARON HOGAN
The Banks County Board of
Commissioners postponed, for
the third time, filling two seats
on the planning commission.
Filling the seats held by Albert
Ward and Sammy Reese has
been on the agenda at two previ
ous BOC meetings.
Commissioner Rickey Cain
made the motion at Tuesday's
meeting to again postpone
any action on the matter. BOC
Chairman Gene Hart seconded
the motion. Commissioner Joe
Barefoot was absent from Tues
day's meeting.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business at Tuesday's
meeting, the commissioners:
•agreed to several change or
ders related to work at the Banks
County Courthouse Annex and
Courthouse, one of which was
replacing existing windows at
the courthouse at a cost not to
exceed $1,000.
•unanimously approved a res
olution for Board of Health rules
and regulations.
•approved the annual Georgia
Probation Service Plan for court
probation services.
•met in closed session for ap
proximately 40 minutes to dis
cuss land acquisition. No action
was taken when the meeting was
opened back up to the public.
The next regularly scheduled
commissioners meeting will be
held at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec.
9, in the meeting room at the
Banks County Courthouse An
nex
DFACS continues to see an increase for economic support
BY SHARON HOGAN
Banks County Department of
Family and Children Services
(DFACS) Director Kenny Jarvis
said on Wednesday, Nov. 19, that
the caseload for economic sup
port continues to increase.
Jarvis told board members
at the monthly meeting that
DFACS has seen a decrease in
the caseload for social services,
however.
Jarvis said Banks County
DFACS has a total of 2,050 ac
tive cases. 695 of these cases
are Food Stamp cases totaling
$192,066, one year ago Food
Stamp cases were at 519 totaling
$127,787, Jarvis added.
Family Medicaid cases total
777 this year compared to 658
one year ago.
Jarvis said, “ I would expect it
to continue to grow,” in relation
to economic support cases.
DFACS has 36 Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families
(TANF) cases compared to 34
one year ago. Childcare cases are
at 22 this year compared to 10
one year ago, Jarvis said.
Jarvis said Banks County
DFACS handled the following
applications for the month of Oc
tober: 80 Food Stamp, 11 TANF,
68 family Medicaid, 2 childcare
and 28 ABD.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business at Wednes
day’s monthly meeting:
•Jarvis said DFACS requested
$2,147 in county funds for the
month of October. A total of
$ 11,353 of the county budget has
been spent thus far, this is 33%
of the budget, Jarvis said. “This
is right on target,” Jarvis added.
•Jarvis said DFACS received
19 child protective services
referrals in October, four of
which were screened out, nine
were accepted for investigation
and six were accepted as diver
sions. Banks County DFACS
has 10 children in legal custody,
Jarvis reported. There are five
foster homes in the county and
one adoption home, Jarvis said.
Banks County has two children
free for adoption, Jarvis added.
•Jarvis said he attended a plan
ning summit in Jefferson on
Tuesday, Nov. 18. The summit
was a collaboration of several
organizations discussing ways to
get kids in more permanency sit
uations faster. Jarvis said, “Banks
County wants to work to get kids
in more permanency situations
faster.”
•Jarvis said the state reduced
furlough days for county direc
tors from two down to one on
Tuesday, Nov. 18.
The next regularly scheduled
monthly meeting of the Banks
County DFACS board will be
held at 2 p.m. on Wednesday,
Dec. 17, at the DFACS office in
Homer.
Baldwin approves election ordinance
BY SHARON HOGAN
The Baldwin City Council
approved at Monday’s meeting
the first reading of the ordinance
providing for the 2009 General
Election for the mayor’s seat
and two council seats.
The council seats for Post
4, currendy held by Ray Hol
comb, and Post 5, currently
held by Robert Bohannon, will
be up for grabs.
The ordinance sets the elec
tion for 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tues
day, Nov. 3, 2009. The election
will be held in the lower level
of city hall. Airport Road, Bald
win.
Qualifying will be held from
8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., except
for a one-hour lunch, on Mon
day, Aug. 31, 2009, through
Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2009.
Qualifying will be held at the
administrative office in city
hall.
The qualifying fee is $35 for
mayor and $35 for each council
seat. The qualifying fee is to be
paid to the election superinten
dent.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business at Monday's
meeting:
•Mayor Mike Kelly said
there is an issue with the heat
ing in city hall. The heating
in the administrative offices
is inadequate. “They're run
ning electric heaters and we’re
concerned about that running
up an electric bill,” Kelly said.
Kelly added he did not think the
council had enough information
to make a decision on the mat
ter. The issue will be discussed
at the work session at 6:30 p.m.
on Tuesday, Dec. 2. “We want
to be careful and mindful as we
spend the city’s money,” Kelly
said.
•council member Jeff Murray
said the fence at the roadside
park has been completed by
Zach Slaton as his Eagle Scout
project. “The fence looks really
good,” Murray said. Kelly made
a suggestion to bring Zach back
before the council to recognize
him for this project.
•Kelly reminded everyone
about the upcoming public
hearings on the proposed mill-
age rate set for 10 a.m., 2 p.m.
and 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Dec.
8. The proposed millage rate
shows an increase of .25 over
the previous year.
Online test tutorials available from libraries
Residents of all three coun
ties of the Piedmont Regional
Library System, Banks, Barrow
and Jackson, now have access to
Learning Express Library free
of charge. This internet-based
test preparation resource can be
accessed through any of our 11
libraries, or from home with a
library card.
Learning Express Library is
an online resource that allows
users to take practice versions
of standardized tests. Among the
many tests available are GED,
SAT, GRE, ACT, ASVAB, and
Advanced Placement (AP) ex
ams. Other exams available in
clude the Postal Exam, Nursing,
Police, Corrections Officer, Fire
fighter and Civil Service.
For younger students. Learn
ing Express Library includes
elementary, middle and high
school tests in math, reading and
writing. These tests are specifi
cally geared toward improving
skills in all these areas.
Also included are resume and
interviewing skills tests, citizen
ship, and Test of English as a
Foreign Language (TOEFL).
Many e-books are available for
downloading to help users pre
pare for these tests.
Tests are scored immedi
ately, giving the user feedback
on the areas that need improve
ment. This resource is particu
larly helpful for those who like
to use a computer, but might be
more reluctant to study using a
book.
A free account takes seconds
to set up. All you need is a free
library card from any of the
eleven libraries in Banks, Bar-
row or Jackson Counties. Ask
any staff member to give you a
demonstration. Visit www.prlib.
org and try Learning Express Li
brary today.
Maysville awards bids
The Maysville City Coun
cil awarded a pair of bids at a
called meeting last Thursday
night.
The first was for a fence for
the rescue building. Chatham
Fence, Jefferson, won with a
low bid of $3,746.97, which
edged out the second-lowest
bid by $29.
The second was for patches
to Jade Way in preparation
for resurfacing by the Depart
ment of Transportation under
the LARP program.
Boswell Enterprises sub
mitted the low bid of $2,000,
beating out J.D. Paving by
$25.
Funding for that project will
come from the 2005 Banks
County special purpose local
option sales tax (SPLOST)
revenue.
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Christmas party planned
at Maysville library Dec. 2
A community Christmas
party will be held at the
next Maysville Friends of
the Library meeting.
It will be held at 6 p.m.
on Tuesday, Dec. 2, at
the Maysville Public Li
brary.
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DROP BOX AVAILABLE AT BANKS
COUNTY TAX OFFICE
Lori Slaton, Banks County deputy tax commis
sioner, is shown at the newly-installed drop box
available to all Banks County taxpayers. The box
is secured and correspondence dropped in the
box goes into the inside of the tax commissioner’s
office, Slaton said. The drop box can be used for
anything a taxpayer would normally mail to the tax
commissioner’s office. The box is checked twice
each day - morning and afternoon. The drop box
was installed to offer more convenience to taxpay
ers, Slaton said. The drop box is located next to the
glass doors at the side entrance to the new Banks
County Courthouse Annex building. Normal office
hours for the tax commissioner’s office are 8 a.m.
to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. “We don’t close
for lunch,” Slaton said. Photo by Sharon Hogan
BJC to get $640,000
BY MARK BEARDSLEY
Financially beleaguered
BJC Medical Center got some
good news this week.
It stands to receive almost
$640,000 in cash reimburse
ments from various programs.
Meeting Monday afternoon,
the authority voted to allow
CEO Jim Yarborough to take
the steps necessary to meet the
“matching funds” it must put
up to receive the government
reimbursements.
But the lion’s share,
$350,000, will come from the
federal government’s Medi
care cost report. Essentially,
the auditors have concluded
that BJC was under-reim
bursed over the year for the
Medicare services it provided.
The two other reimburse
ments are for “disproportion
ate share” services under
Medicare, a program designed
to compensate hospitals for
higher costs for Medicare pa
tients. States pay into the fund
in order to get money back, and
BJC must pony up more than
$245,000 for its part of Geor
gia’s match for which it will
receive more than $535,000.
Yarborough indicated he
would try to find the money
for the match without borrow
ing money, but if he cannot, he
is authorized to tap the hospi
tal’s line of credit.
In other business Mon
day, the authority approved
courtesy staff privileges for
Drs. Byron Kelly and Travis
Whitehead, in the emergency
department, and consulting
staff privileges for Drs. Mark
Matthews, cardiology: Mark
Ellis, pain management; Rob
ert Kushner, radiology; and
Rick Thornton, podiatry.
OB CLOSURE
Relating to the decision to
cease offering obstetrics ser
vices — the delivery of babies
— Maura Cobb told the board
that more than 11,000 babies
were born at BJC Hospital
since 1960.
She added that surrounding
facilities have been informed
that BJC will deliver no ba
bies after Dec. 1, but said the
Medical College of Georgia
will provide an “educational
program” for staff in the event
that someone arrives in labor
at the emergency room.
Health board to meet
The Banks County Board
of Health will hold their
regular quarterly meeting
on Tuesday, Dec. 9, at 9
a.m. in the conference room
of the health department.
The public is welcome to
attend, leaders said.
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