Newspaper Page Text
50<t •
Homer, Banks County, GA 30547 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. • 24 Pages, 2 Sections Plus Supplements • Vol. 49 No. 25
Index
•Crime
— 5A
•Obituaries
— IIA
•Classifieds
- I0B-I2B
•Legals
— 8B
•Sports
— 6B-7B
Banks Co.
graduation
ahead Friday
The Banks County High
School graduation will be
held at 8 p.m. on Friday May
26, at Leopard Stadium.
There is no reserved seat
ing permitted in the stadium
and gates will open at 6 p.m.
Valedictorian is Hunter
Payne. Taylor Anderson is
salutatorian. First honorarian
is Catherine Boyer.
Honor graduates are:
Taylor Abernathy, Taylor
Anderson, Abby Baird, Han
nah Baker, Stetson Boswell,
Catherine Boyer, Ben Brown,
Shayla Carney Kate Cham
bers, Jadon Clark, London
Cochran, Sadie Coley, Sam
uel Davidson, Davis Day,
Kelsey Eliason, Savannah
Eller, Taylor Freeman, Chris
topher Funez, Alex Garrett,
Griffin Goodwin, Abigail-Lee
Harned, Miguel Haron,
Andrew Hill, Gabrielle Ken
nedy Zachary Lehotsky, Sky-
lah-Brooke Mahan, Heather
Malone, Hunter Martyn, Trin-
isha Mitchell, Michael Mize,
Brittany Neveils, Dylan Nix,
Cassidy Overacker, Kelyn
Parson, Hunter Payne, Judd
Roberts, Edward Robertson,
Avery Rylee, Jordan Saville,
Ashley Seay, Whitney Sher
idan, Easton Staton, Kendra
Stephens, Meagan Steverson,
Ciara Turner, Hollie Wagon
er, Demetrius Walker, Jared
Warren, Kaylee Whitfield and
Anna Williams.
Memorial
Day service
planned
A Memorial Day service
will be held on Monday at
10 a.m. at Veterans Memorial
Park in downtown Homer.
The American Legion and
Auxiliary Post 215 will be
remembering those who have
served and are now gone.
Those attending are asked
to bring their lawn chairs.
Alto Spring
Fling is June 3
The 14th Annual Alto
Spring Fling is coming up
from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on
Saturday, June 3.
For more information, call
Mike or Stacie Ivie at 706-768-
5834; or Alto Town Hall at
706-778-8035.
NEW SET OF WHEELS
FIRE TRUCK TO SERVE BANKS CROSSING AREA
A new fire truck has been purchased to serve the Banks Crossing area. Shown with the truck are (L-R) fire chief Steve Nichols,
board of commission chairman Jimmy Hooper, commissioners Charles Truck, Danny Maxwell and Sammy Reece and Capt.
Scottie Mathis. Photo by Angela Gary
Budget hearings continue
BY ANGELA GARY
The Banks County Board of
Commissioners agreed to allo
cate money for an update of the
personnel policy and for a train
ing officer at the fire department
when budget hearings continued
on Thursday.
Finance director Randy Failyer
requested that $12,000 be added to
the human resources department
budget to cover the consulting
costs for rewriting the county per
sonnel policy. The BOC approved
the request.
The BOC also approved a
request from fire chief Steve Nich
ols for $20,000 for a part-time train
ing officer.
Also at the budget hearing, the
BOC heard from Leslie George
about the need for a new baler at
the recycling center. BOC chair
man Jimmy Hooper stated it would
be replaced when needed but did
not feel the need to budget for the
purchase since the existing baler
is still in service.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business at the meeting
on Thursday, the BOC:
• approved a GIS Flyover Grant
Local Match of $10,000. County
clerk Jenni Gailey stated this was
for a Lidar Imaging flyover and was
discussed in a prior budget meet
ing. The match would be shared
between the Tax Assessors Office
and the GIS Department.
•approved a GMRC Recreation
Planning Services Contract of
$750. Gailey stated this was for
planning and estimating cost and
quantities for conversion of Field
#4 to parking and Field #5 to a
T-Ball complex. She also stated the
fee would be $750. The contract
will expire July 30.
Two injured in
ambulance wreck
Two people were injured when an ambulance trans
porting a patient to a Gainesville hospital Saturday
night overturned at 9:20 p.m.
A Banks County EMS employee and a patient were
reportedly both injured.
The wreck occurred on Hwy. 51 East at Morris
Gardiner Road when the driver of the ambulance
reportedly overturned.
The driver, William Andrew Cline, 51, Carnesville,
said he ran off the road and the ambulance over
turned. He told a deputy that the passenger side tires
went off the pavement, causing him to lose control.
Another EMS was in the back area of the ambu
lance with the patient, who was strapped onto the
stretcher.
The injuries were reported to be non-life threaten
ing.
A Day at the Fort
coming up this
weekend in Alto
A Day at the Fort will be held Saturday and Sunday,
May 27-28, at Fort Hollingsworth-White House, located
at 2307 Wynn Lake Road, Alto.
Activities will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m.
on Sunday. The event will include music, tours of the
historic fort, food, car show, living history, dancing, Civil
War re-enactment, storytelling and more. Admission is
free.
Fort Hollingsworth - White House will host a car
show during A Day at the Fort on May 27. The entry
fee is $20. Registration will be from 10 a.m. to noon.
Awards and door prizes will be given.
For more information, check out the website at www.
forthollingsworth.wordpress.com or call 706-244-1239.
seeks grant
for well, park
Homer
money
BY RON BRIDGEMAN
Homer is looking for
money to help pay for a
new well and develop a city
park.
Three city council mem
bers met with representa
tives of Georgia Mountains
Regional Commission and
the Appalachian Regional
Commission last week to
discuss the projects.
Homer Mayor Doug
Cheek said it would cost
about $500,000 to develop a
new well on a site the coun
cil recently agreed to buy for
$125,000, if water tests for
production and quality are
sufficient.
Cheek said the city also
needs to refurbish its exist
ing well, which has a price
tag of $120,000 to $150,000.
The council agreed
to buy about 28 acres on
Evans Street. It would be
used for a second well for
the city water system and
for a city park.
Brittany Pittman, ARC
representative, told the city
officials they could apply for
up to $600,000 in a grant.
That would require a 50
percent city match. The
purchase price of the land
would count toward the
city’s match.
Daniel Martin, economic
development director for
the GMRC, said his orga
nization would fill out the
grant application for free.
The deadline to apply for a
grant is July 14.
A “pre-application” will
go first and should be rela
tively simple, Pittman and
Martin said.
Pittman said the ARC
would tell the city within a
short period of time wheth
er it should submit the full
application.
Both Martin and Pittman
were encouraging to the city
officials about submitting an
application.
“It sounds like there’s a
strong need there,” Martin
said.
The purchase of the prop
erty is contingent upon drill
ing a test well which would
provide information about
the productivity of the well.
Cheek said he would like
for a well to produce 100
gallons a minute. He said
the low end might be about
60 gallons a minute.
The city used to have
three wells to provide water,
but two of them no longer
work. The city council has
been looking for another
source of water for about
three years, Cheek said.
He added the city “des
perately” needs another
source of water.
Cheek and council mem
ber Jerry Payne said the city
has not developed its ideas
for a city park far enough.
Cheek said he would think
about a playground and
walking trail for a park.
Cheek admitted the city
may not buy the property
if water testing is not favor
able.
Martin said other sourc
es of grant funds also can
be pursued. Britt noted the
ARC would want to “see
where the rest of your fund
ing is coming from.”
The council has looked at
six sites for potential wells.
The property on Evans
Street is owned by Main
Street Holdings. The prop
erty was in foreclosure and
owned by Community Bank
in 2010.
It is valued at $86,921 on
the Banks County proper
ty tax roll now, according
to the property assessor’s
website.