Newspaper Page Text
50<t •
Homer, Banks County, GA 30547 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. • 16 Pages, 2 Sections Plus Supplements • Vol. 49 No. 38
Index
•Crime —3A
•Obituaries —7A
•Classifieds —4B-5B
•Legals — 7B
•Sports —IB-2B, 8B
Qualifying
underway
for town
elections
BY ANGELA GARY
Qualifying is underway this
week for the Nov. 7 town elec
tions in Homer, Maysville, Gills-
ville, Alto and Baldwin.
Since the qualifying ends
past deadline for this week’s
newspaper, the list of candi
dates will be posted on www.
banksnewstoday.com Wednes
day afternoon.
HOMER
In Homer, the mayor’s seat
and five council positions will
be on the ballot.
Qualifying ends at 4 p.m. on
Wednesday Aug. 23.
MAYSVILLE
On the November ballot this
year in Maysville are council
man Ward 1 and councilman
Ward 3 seats (held by Kathy
Bush and Charlie Howington).
Qualifying ends at 4:30 p.m.
on Wednesday Aug. 23.
GILLSVILLE
In Gillsville, three seats will
be on the ballot this year: Mayor
(currently held by Larry Poole);
Post 1 (held by Roy Turpin)
and Post 2 (currently vacant).
Qualifying will end at 4:30
p.m. on Friday Aug. 25.
ALTO
In Alto, the council seats up
for election this year are: Post
1 (currently held by Carolyn
Cabe), Post 2 (empty seat due
to resignation of John Closs),
Post 3 (currently held by
Michael Me) and Post 5 (cur
rently held by P.J. Huggins).
Qualifying ends Friday
August 25, at 4:30 p.m.
BALDWIN
In Baldwin, city council seats
for Post 1,4 and 5 will be on the
ballot. Qualifying is being held
this week.
The last day to register to
vote in the municipal elections
is October 10.
Lula city
councilman
struck by car
Lula councilman Lamb
Griffin was hit by a car imme
diately prior to the council
meeting Monday night.
Griffin, who has been on
the city council for 19 years,
was struck on State Route 51
in Lula. He reportedly had no
internal bleeding but did have
some broken ribs. He was
taken to an area hospital.
We Remember 50 Years Ago:
The Floyd Hoard Assassination
Part 4:
Hunting for Hoard’s
killers as sheriff resigns
Starts on Page 4A
ECLIPSE WATCHING
Art
READY FOR THE ECLIPSE
Angie and Jaycie Bowen watched the Solar Eclipse Monday on their lawn before the Lady
Leopards softball game. Even the dog, Jake the Boxer, was ready for the historic occasion.
SOLAR
ECLIPSE
Melinda
Barnes of
Maysville
took this
photo of the
Solar Eclipse
on Monday in
Baldwin.
Banks school
board lowers
millage rate
BY ANGELA GARY
The Banks County Board
of Education took final action
at its August meeting to lower
the millage rate. The BOE
had earlier given tentative
approval to lowering the mill-
age rate.
The millage rate approved
is 15.135, a decrease from the
current rate of 15.570.
The BOE is able to
decrease the millage rate
because of the tax digest
going up 5.8 percent. It had
gone down the past eight
years.
In other action at the meet
ing, the BOE approved the
following:
• hiring Susan Cooley,
paraprofessional; and Melis
sa Payne, custodian.
• accepting the retirement
of Sam Mayfield, custodian.
• approving the class
size waiver for the 2017-2018
school year.
• approving the salary
schedule for the 2017-2018
school year.
Farm Bureau
plans annual
meeting
The Banks County Farm
Bureau will hold its annual
membership meeting at Mt.
Carmel Baptist Church, 2405
Hwy. 51, Lula, on September
11 at 6:30 p.m.
For more information, call
the Farm Bureau office at
706-677-2215 or email Julie at
jajackson@gfb.org.
Reservations will be
accepted for members until
Thursday Sept. 7.
Homer VFD
chicken-que
ahead Sept. 2
The Homer Volunteer
Fire Department will hold a
chicken-que lunch on Sat
urday, September 2, (during
the Homer Holiday Festival)
from 11 a.m. through 2 p.m.
Plates are $8 a piece.
Tickets can be purchased
from a volunteer firefighter
or the ladies’ auxiliary.
The Homer Fire Depart
ment thanks everyone for
their continued support.
Restaurants planned for Hwy. 441 Business Park
BY SHARON HOGAN
More restaurants are
coming to the Banks Cross
ing area.
The Banks County
Development Authority
announced, at the monthly
meeting on August 15, that
approximately five acres in
the Highway 441 Business
Park had been sold, with
two restaurants planned on
the property.
Three road frontage lots
in the business park were
sold to Soar Ventures LLC
for $1.65 million, with restau
rants planned for two of the
lots - one sit down restau
rant and one quick serve.
“We are very excited
some new restaurants are
coming to the area,” said
Brad Day, director of major
projects for Banks County.
The Development
Authority purchased the 109
acres for the business park
in 2012 for $1.6 million. Ear
lier this year, Diana Naturals
announced plans to locate
in the park.
Work is currently under
way on the business park
road and one of the pads,
but due to the amount of
rain in the area recently the
deadline for the road com
pletion has been extended
to October 1.
Day said he had already
received a couple of inqui
ries about the pad that is
being graded.
In connection with the
sale of the road frontage
lots, the authority approved
a quit claim deed - ease
ment agreement for Boots
etc.
In another move to boost
the economy in Banks
County, the authority unan
imously approved two
indemnification agreements
and a $60 million bond res
olution for Diana Naturals.
Day explained the bonds
would be issued on the
credit worthiness of the
company, not Banks County
or the development author
ity, and Diana Naturals will
pay the bond fees.
Day said the next step
would be for a judge to vali
date the bonds.
“This is a big step for
Banks County,” authority
chairman Scott Ledford
said.
In other business at the
monthly meeting, Ledford
reported that the Banks
County 2018 Comprehen
sive Plan Update meeting
on August 14 went well.
“It was a good start to the
comp plan update,” Ledford
said.