Newspaper Page Text
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2008
THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS
PACE 3A
Christmas in Lula Rec >' dm s changes announced
TALKING TO SANTA
Alex Myers (L), 5, Lula, gave Santa his Christmas list on Friday night at the first
annual Christmas at the Depot in Lula.
Photo by Sharon Hogan
The problems with the na
tion's economy have had an
unexpected impact on the re
cycling community. This has
led to planned recycling for
county residents.
“The Southeast has been a
leader in the recycling indus
try due to the fact that there
are many carpet manufactures,
paper plants and bottlers in the
South” said Leslie George,
executive director of the North
Georgia Resource Manage
ment Authority. “With the
turndown in the economy, that
picture has changed. Due to
the slowdown in the building
and remodeling trades, car
pet manufacturers are closing
their doors either permanently
or for 30 days. Newspapers
are cutting their distribution
and having a larger presence
online. Manufacturers are
not producing the quantity of
products and shipping less.”
George said this affects
recycling in Banks County
because plastics from Banks
were used to make carpets, the
mixed paper was used to make
new newspaper and other pa
per products and the old cor
rugated cardboard was used to
make shipping boxes.
“With no markets for these
products, many of the recy
cling companies are losing
money and, in an effort to stay
afloat, they have to make ad
justments in the materials they
take, if they take them at all ,”
George said. “For the resi
dents of Banks County, this
means that the way we recycle
will have to change.”
Beginning on January 5,the
following changes will be in
effect.
•Mixed paper: George said
they can only accept the fol
lowing items in the paper bins
and at the recycling center —
Newsprint, office paper, mail
and magazines. They can no
longer take paperboard (cereal
type boxes, beer wrappers)
brown paper bags or any pa
per that does not have a white
base. Paper recycled through
Banks County will be used
only to make newsprint and,
as the brown or colored paper
creates problems in the news
paper making process, they
cannot market those types of
papers.
•Plastics: They can no lon
ger take plastics of any kind.
“We are being told that this is
temporary, and we hope that is
true, but until we can market
our plastics we are unable to
take them into our facility”
George said.
“Banks County appreci
ates the commitment of the
citizens who recycle and are
working to locate new mar
kets,” George said. “Accord
ing to industry leaders, the
picture changes not daily but
hourly. I hope things will ease
up in the next few months but
until then these new rules are
required to enable the county
to move materials through the
center.”
Leslie asks that the citi
zens of Banks County “bear
with them during this time of
change and help keep the re
cycling center open by adher
ing to the new guidelines.”
“If we can keep the center
open by producing a product
we can market, then when
things ease up we hope to be
able to go back to the old stan
dards” said George. “We are
going to focus our education
efforts on reducing and reus
ing rather than recycling at
this time.”
Water agreement with Toccoa
topic of development authority
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to 24 months out. The City of
Toccoa deal is a quick fix.”
Board of Commission chair
man Gene Hart said, “You can
buy water cheaper than you
can high rate the plant.”
Sheppard said the City of
Toccoa wants Banks County
to commit to a minimum of
$1,000 per month.
Hart said, “I don’t think Toc-
coa’s agreement is something
we need to snub our nose at,
but I think it is something we
need to move forward on. I
know it is $1,000 a month, but
that is not a lot.”
DA member Bill Griffin
said, “This is like an insurance
policy.”
Hart said in the event the
county ever had to shut the
water plant down this would
be a good back-up.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business at the
meeting last week, the author
ity:
•asked Erin Decker, devel
opment authority clerk, to
check the document that the
authority has on property in
the Industrial Park that was
purchased by Dr. Keith Ash.
DA member Scott Ledford
asked, “If he doesn’t do any
thing down there, will the
property revert back to the
authority at the price he paid
at purchase?” Sheppard said,
“We would need to check with
Randall (Frost, county attor
ney) on this. I don't think that
is the case.” DA member Jack
Banks said, “That was the in
tent, but I may not be aware of
something in there. We don't
want anyone to be able to sit
on the property and then profit
on it.” BOC member Rickey
Cain is attempting to get in
touch with Dr. Ash about this.
•heard from Chuck Ans-
ley, Ansley Communications,
about wireless Internet op
tions for Banks County busi
nesses.
•voted unanimously to con
tact the Georgia Department
of Transportation about the
problem with traffic at the en
trance to Industrial Park Drive
off Highway 441. There is a
problem with visibility in this
area. Banks said, “Industrial
Park Drive is a problem if you
are going North on Highway
441. You are on the road be
fore you realize it.”
•met in closed session for
over an hour-and-a-half to
discuss land acquisition. No
action was taken.
No citizen input at Maysville budget hearing
BY SHARON HOGAN
The Banks County Devel
opment Authority discussed
Banks County water issues
at its monthly meeting on
Wednesday, Dec. 17.
Banks County administra
tive officer Angela Sheppard
said Rindt-McDuff & Asso
ciates, engineers, have been
doing some preliminary work
and have determined that
the county’s water plant on
Mountain Creek can be high
rated from a 1 mgd plant to a
1.75 mgd plant.
The BOC agreed at a meet
ing on Tuesday, Dec. 9, to
have Rindt-McDuff start the
engineering process on this.
Sheppard also said the
county has received a sale
agreement to purchase water
from the City of Toccoa.
“There are still some issues
in the agreement that we need
to discuss with them,” Shep
pard said.
The contract is for 250,000
gallons per day, but can be
increased. The contract price
is $2.53 per 1,000 gallons. It
is a 15-year agreement split
into three five-year renewals,
Sheppard said.
Sheppard said, “High rating
the plant will probably be 18
posed budget allots $1,354,000 to
cover the cost of running the city.
No citizens attended the meet
ing.
Also available at the meeting
was a print off detailing the ad
opted water and sewer rates for the
coming year.
COOKIES WITH SANTA IN LULA
A.J. Kelly, 3, Lula, enjoys cookies after having his picture made with Santa at
the first annual Christmas at the Depot in Lula on Friday night. The event was
sponsored by the Lula Area Betterment Association.
Photo by Sharon Hogan
PICTURES WITH SANTA IN LULA
A large group of children and parents gathered at the depot in Lula on Friday
night for the first annual Christmas at the Depot event sponsored by the Lula
Area Betterment Association. Santa Clause was on hand for pictures with the
children. A.J. Kelly (L), 3, Lula, takes a turn with Santa.
Photo by Sharon Hogan
By Justin Poole
A public hearing in Maysville
last week on the proposed budget
had one glaring omission, the pub
lic.
The City of Maysville held a
public hearing on its 2009 budget
Thursday evening. Council mem
bers and the mayor were ready to
field questions from concerned cit
izens about the proposed budget,
which is increasing by six percent
over the 2008 budget. The pro-
FOR ONLY $5 PER MONTH,
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• The Jackson Herald • The Commerce News • The Braselton News
• The Banks County News • The Madison County Journal
BANKS COUNTY
HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC.
meets first Monday each month
7:00 p.m. in the Banks Co. Historial
Courthouse at 105 U.S. Hwy. 441
North in Homer pd,-07/09
Citizens Organized for
Pipeline Safety
investigating the health risks to citizens from
underground pipelines and booster stations in
Madison Co. Meetings 6:30 p.m. at the Colbert
Grove Baptist Church the 2nd Thurs. of each
month. 706-783-4702. Pd.04/09
JH JEFFERSON
HP AMERICAN LEGION
Albert Gordon Post 56
Each 3rd Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.
Harvie Lance, Commander
Phone (706) 654-1274 aio
White Plains Baptist Church Pd 02/09
Faith Bible Class meets every Sunday morning
at 10:00 a.m. It is a place where strangers
become friends and friends become family.
706-367-5650
White Plains Baptist Church
3650 Hwy. 124 West, Jefferson, GA 30549
The Jackson Co. Republican Party
Would like you to meet us for
breakfast the second Sat. of each
month, 8:00 at The Jefferson
House. For more information, call
706-652-2967 or email
fishyglass@yahoo.com Pd.ii/os
jife BANKS COUNTY
lip AMERICAN LEGION
Post 215
Meets each 3rd Thursday, 7 p.m.
In Homer, GA at the
American Legion Building on
Historic Highway 441 Pd.06/09
r§§7 VETERANS OF
W FOREIGN WARS
Post 4872, Hurricane Shoals Convention Ctr.
Each 4th Tuesdasy, 7:00 p.m.
Lamar Langston, Commander
Phone 706-652-2627 263
JEFFERSON EIONS CEUB
Meets 2nd & 4th Monday
Jefferson City Clubhouse
6:30 p.m. *(706) 387-1156
Mack Cates, President
542
A UNITY LODGE
JPf F&A.M.
No. 36, Jefferson, GA
1st Tuesday of each month, 7:30 p.m.
Dwayne Potts • 706-367-4449
Borders St. behind Tabo’s 260
JEFFERSON ROTARY CLUB
Meets Tuesdays
Jefferson City Clubhouse
12:30 p.m. -(706) 367-7696
Gina Mitsdarffer, President
547
4860 Atlanta Highway • Bogart-Athens
One Mile West of Sam’s Club • 770-725-1977
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