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Banks County News
www.BanksNewsTODAY.com d Banks County’s Legal Organ
WEDNESDAY, JULY 26, 2017
50<t • Homer, Banks County, GA 30547 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. • 20 Pages, 2 Sections Plus Supplements • Vol. 49 No. 34
Index
•Crime —6A
•Obituanes — IIA
•Classifieds —4B-5B
•Legals — 6B-7B
•Sports —IB-2B, 8B
Local farmers
market open
Every Friday afternoon
from now through October,
local farmers are invited to sell
their harvest on Main Street
in Downtown Lula. “Locally
Grown or Locally Made” is the
theme.
The hours are 3:30-6:30 p.m.
Fruits and vegetables, as
well as original art or locally
made craft items, are included
in the items to be available
for sale.
The Farmers Market is a
community event sponsored
by Around the Corner Florist
and Gifts.
The market will be locat
ed in downtown Lula in the
parking lot on Main Street just
south of the Athens Street rail
road crossing.
There is no charge for booth
space but sellers are asked to
register in advance. There are
some prohibited items to keep
with the “Locally Grown or
Locally Made” theme. Locally
grown fruits, vegetables, flow
ers and locally made crafts are
encouraged.
For more information, con
tact, Patti Thomas of Around
the Corner Florist and Gifts,
at 770-869-3516 or by email
at: AroundTheCornerFlo-
rist6003@gmail.com.
Sunday school
event ahead
The 140th annual Banks
County Sunday School Cele
bration will be held on Satur
day, July 29, in the downtown
park. The program will begin
at 9:30 a.m.
Schedule of Events
9:30 a.m. Opening
9:45 a.m. Rock Springs Bap
tist Church
10:00 a.m. Bethany Chris
tian Church
10:15 a.m. Homer Presbyte
rian Church
10:30 a.m. Homer United
Methodist Church
10:45 a.m. Hickory Flat Unit
ed Methodist Church
11:00 a.m. Beaverdam Bap
tist Church
11:15 a.m. Temple Baptist
Church
11:30 a.m. The Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
Saints Commerce
11:45 a.m. Recognize
Memorials
12:00 p.m. Lunch
There will be a break from
noon to 1 p.m. for lunch. For
lunch, meat will be provided.
Everyone is asked to bring a
covered dish to go along with
the meat.
Sims Bridge Road Fire station reopens
BY ANGELA GARY
Banks County Fire/EMS leaders have announced the
reopening of Fire Station 32 on Sims Bridge Road.
Due to age, Station 32 was shut down last year and has
been under renovations by the county building maintenance
department.
“Through long hours and dedicated work by building main
tenance, the station is re-opened and looking great,” fire chief
Steve Nichols states. “By the work being done in-house, the
county commissioners were able to save our taxpayers a huge
amount on the construction project.”
Nichols adds that replacing this station with a new facility
is estimated to cost $400,000 The cost of the renovation was
$30,000.
“The board of commissioners, building maintenance
supervisor Kenny Crumly and his staff all are commended on
approving and causing this project to move forward,” Nichols
said. “We are pleased to have this facility re-opened and serv
ing our citizens in the Sims Bridge, Hwy 59, area.”
FIRE STATION REOPENS
The fire station at Sims Bridge Road has reopened following a renova
tion.
CHEER TIME
GETTING A BOOST
Mitchell Shull (left) and Sidney Maloy (right) hold up cheer camper Landri
Love during a practice routine at last week’s Banks County Cheer Camp at
the Banks County Parks and Recreation Department. Shull and Maloy are
Young Harris College cheerleaders and were assisted by the Banks County
High School cheerleaders. Photo by Charles Phelps
Comprehensive plan
update coming up
BY ANGELA GARY
The Banks County Comprehensive Plan will
be updated over the next year.
Scott Ledford, chairman of the Banks County
Development Authority and Todd Hubbard will
lead the effort to update the plan. The Georgia
Mountains Regional Commission will also assist
with the project.
The update was discussed at the July 18
meeting of the development authority. Econom
ic developer Brad Day said the plan “provides
a blueprint of community priorities.” He added
that the plan can be used by county leaders to
set goals.
Two public hearings will be held to gather
input from interested citizens. An advisory com
mittee will be formed to meet four to five times
on developing the update. The final plan will
go to the board of commissioners for approval
before it is implemented.
In other business at the July 19 Development
Authority meeting:
•a “performance and accountability agree
ment” with Diana Foods was approved. Day
said, “This sets up the agreement that if they
meet the threshold, they will receive the grant.”
He added that the company would provide
jobs and capital investment in exchange for the
“grant.” The “grant” consists of the develop
ment authority “forgiving the cost of the land”
(valued at $600,000) to the company. The
company will create 88 new full-time perma
nent jobs at the facility to be located at Banks
Crossing. The company will also make a capital
investment of $45 million.
•an “indemnification agreement” was
approved that states any financial liability with
the pre-treatment sewage project for Diana
Foods will come from the Development Author
ity
• Day gave an update on the Business Park
Road project, which is several weeks behind
schedule due to the rain.
• a closed session was held to discuss real
estate. No action was taken when the meeting
was opened to the public.
Audit ends year in the red
Alto ended its last fiscal year in the red in
both its general fund and water fund, accord
ing to the town’s recently released audit.
The town showed a net loss of $17,900
in its general fund even after borrowing
$50,000 from the town’s water fund. The
general fund ended the year with reserves
of $206,000.
The town’s water fund showed a net loss
of $67,900 on the year with $50,000 of that
due to the transfer to the town’s general
fund. The town’s water fund reserves stood
at $415,500 at the end of the year.
Alto’s general fund showed income of
$613,350 in 2016 and expenses of $711,400.
Public safety and public works were the
town’s largest expense at $506,600.
Water sales in the town were $747,200 in
the year and it had operating expenses of
$692,600. But the town showed a loss of
$71,500 on the disposal of assets.
Auditors said the town had failed to amend
its budget during the year as it was supposed
to do and that it had made an incorrect
deposit of SPLOST money into the town’s
general account.
Series on Hoard
murder coming up
A 5-part series describing the
events surrounding the assassi
nation of solicitor Floyd “Fuzzy”
Hoard 50 years ago will begin in
the August 2 issue of this news
paper.
Hoard was a crusading pros
ecutor in the Piedmont Judicial
Circuit (Jackson, Barrow and
Banks counties) who targeted
the area’s organized car theft
and bootlegging gangs after tak
ing office in 1964.
He was murdered in his car
with 10 sticks of dynamite on
August 7,1967 outside of Jeffer
son.
The bombing made nation
al headlines and led to a four-
month search for his killers.
The upcoming series of arti
cles examines what led up to the
assassination and the events
that happened afterwards.
'Striding for a
Better Banks'
planned Saturday
County leaders are planning an event to provide infor
mation on community services and agencies available
to citizens.
The event, “Striding for a Better Banks,” will be held
from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, July 29, at the Banks
County Recreation Gymnasium.
The free event will include displays and give-aways
from the participants.
The organizations in attendance will include: Air Life
Helicopter, Banks County Adult Literacy, Banks County
Chamber of Commerce, Banks County private emergen
cy services, Banks County Clean and Beautiful, Banks
County Board of Commissioners, Banks County Public
Library, Banks County Recreation Department, Banks
County School System, Family Connections, Red Cross,
Sparky the Fire Dog and UGA Extension Service.
There will also be representatives at the event from
state and federal agencies and clubs, including the
Department of Family and Children Services, GEMA,
Georgia State Patrol, Georgia Forestry, National Weather
Services, Boy Scouts, Saddle Club, Rotary Club, Interact,
Family Connections and Community Resource Associ
ation.