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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2023
Homer, Banks County, GA 30547 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. • 12 Pages, 1 Section Plus Supplements
Vol.57 No. 49
9th District
offers home
heating help
Brenda Dalin, program
director of Ninth District
Opportunity, Inc. has an
nounced that home heating
help for the elderly and
medically homebound in
Banks County..
Households in which ev
ery member is age 65 and
older — OR — is medically
homebound due to health
reasons may apply for as
sistance with their heating
bills beginning on De
cember 1, 2023. One-time
payments will be made by
check issued to the home
energy suppliers. Eligibility
for the program is based on
the income of all household
members.
When applying for assis
tance, persons will present
verification of age for ev
eryone in the home, ver
ification of all household
income received within the
past 30 days (check stubs,
public assistance checks,
unemployment checks,
etc.); verification of Social
Security numbers for every
one in the home, verifica
tion of citizenship (driver’s
license, state ID, etc.), and
the most recent heating bill
and electric bill.
“Please bring all docu
mentation as we can no lon
ger obtain the information
for you,” leaders state.
All eligible applicants
are asked to contact Ninth
District Opportunity, Inc.’s
scheduling system Decem
ber 1, 2023, beginning at
8:30 a.m. by telephone at
855-636-3108 or go online
to https://ndo.appointment.
works/ea. Phone lines and
website for scheduling will
not be active until the open
ing date of the program and
no appointments will be
made by telephone or on
line until this time.
No walk-ins will be tak
en.
Appointments will be
scheduled until all funds are
exhausted.
Additional information
will be made available on
line at www.ndo.org.
Only households 65 years
of age and older or medi
cally homebound may ap
ply beginning December 1,
2023.
Applicants that do not
meet the required criteria
will be denied.
The general public may
apply on January 2, 2024,
beginning at 8:30 a.m.
MAILING LABEL
Christmas events planned
across the county in December
By ANGELA GARY
The Christmas season
will kick off in early De
cember as the first of area
holiday events takes place.
The first holiday event
will be in Baldwin, with
Home, Maysville and Gills-
ville also holding special
events in December.
BALDWIN
The City of Baldwin will
be hosting a Christmas tree
lighting on Friday, Decem
ber 1, at 6:30 p.m.
There will be free hot
cocoa, photos with Santa
and Christmas carols by the
Baldwin Elementary School
Choir.
All are welcome to at
tend. The link to the Face-
book event page is https://
lb.me/e/uWAYSgS5.
MAYSVILLE
The Maysville Commu
nity Club will hold Christ
mas in the Park on Satur
day, Dec. 2, from 11 a.m.
to 6 p.m.. The event will
include vendors, hot choc
olate and music. For more
information on the Christ
mas in the Park celebration,,
email the community club at
Maysville.comclub@gmail.
com.
HOMER
The Downtown Develop
ment Authority and Town
of Homer are sponsoring
Christmas on the Farm from
9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Satur
day, Dec. 9.
The event will include
craft and food vendors, a
hay ride, games and a visit
from Santa. There will be a
parade at 10 a.m.
GILLSVILLE
Christmas in Gillsville
will be held from 5:30 p.m.
to 8:30 p.m. on Saturday
and Sunday, Dec. 2-3. Syd
ney Segars Real Estate and
Gillsville City Council will
be hosting the event.
There will be free Santa
photos and other fun events,
organizers state.
Stephanie Almagno sworn
in as mayor of Baldwin
By KARLEE CALDWELL
At the November Bald
win City Council meeting,
Stephanie Almagno was
sworn in as the new mayor
of the town.
After her appointment,
Mayor Almagno expressed
her gratitude, stating,
“Thank you to the staff and
the residents. I promise to
listen to you and to respond
honestly and work with in
tegrity. Thank you for your
faith in me.”
Former Mayor Alice Ven
ter stated, “I will pass the
gavel to yet another great
woman who will serve the
city well with experience
and knowledge.” Mayor
Almagno will be the third
female elected mayor in
Habersham County, the sec
ond female mayor of Bald
win, and the first female
elected mayor of Baldwin.
The council also appoint
ed Maarten Venter as May
or Pro Tempore after being
nominated by other council
members.
OTHER
BUSINESS
In other business at the
meeting, the council:
•held a public hearing for
the Precision Digital Special
Use Permit where the public
heard from the company’s
owner. No citizens came
forward to speak in favor or
opposition.
•approved the Wastewater
Treatment Plant heat pump
expense of $5,948.
•approved the updated
version of the 2024 Coun
cil Meeting Calendar which
features council meetings,
work sessions, holidays,
and more.
•agreed to waive the nep
otism policy for Hayden
Benfield, son of Assistant
Chief Benfield, to join the
Baldwin Fire Department
in a full-time position. Due
to his “experience and skill
set,” the council approved
this under the condition that
he will skip Assistant Chief
Benfield in chain of com
mand.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
•The City of Baldwin
will be hosting the second
Baldwin Thanksgiving
Community Potluck on No
vember 23 from 2:30 p.m.
- 4:30 p.m. at the Baldwin
Fire Department. This pot-
luck is open to all Baldwin
residents. Turkey and ham
will be provided, and cit
izens are being asked to
bring their favorite family
dish to share. Reserve a seat
by emailing ewoodmaster@
cityolbaldwin.org or by tex
ting 470-208-9842.
•City offices will be
closed November 23 and
November 24 in observance
of Thanksgiving.
BOC approves
sheriffs request
for ‘flock cameras’
By ANGELA GARY
The Banks County Board of Commissioners agreed at its
November meeting to a request from Sheriff Carlton Speed
to spend $48,000 to purchase “flock cameras” to be placed
at main roadways in the county.
The cameras will not be used to give tickets but will be
used to locate “criminals” traveling through the county.
There are eight of these cameras already in place in the
county.
“These are used as crime deterrents,” Sheriff Speed said.
“We are looking for people who are committing a crime
and are a nuisance to Banks County.”
He added, “Criminals know where these are and they
avoid these areas and that is what we want. We want them
to go somewhere else to commit their crimes.”
He described flock cameras as being a network of cam
eras that is a license plate reader. It takes photo and sends it
to the officers who can look at it. He said, “We can make a
hot list, so to speak, if we are looking for a vehicle that has
been involved in burglaries or crimes.”
There will be an annual cost of $40,000 to maintain the
cameras.
The sheriff also reported that in the past 30 days, the
flock cameras already in place in the county have hit on
over 1 million vehicles. “That tells you how many people
are on the roads,” he said. “In Banks County, we have lo
cated six wanted people, recovered seven stolen vehicles
and made three DUI arrests with the flock cameras. “
In other business at the meeting, the BOC:
•approved a request from Jonathan Terry to amend the
environmental health fees as recommended by the health
department board.
•agreed to purchase a bush hog for the road and bridge
department at a cost of $23,500.
•agreed to seek bids for improvements needed on Deer-
crest Road.
•agreed to pay KCI Technologies $17,690 for handing
the road maintenance oversight and engineering for county
road projects.
BOC seeks applications
for health, tax board
The Banks County Board of Commissioners is taking
applications for several public service opportunities.
This includes: three six-year terms on the board of health
and one six-year term on the board of tax assessors.
Those who would like to apply are asked to call 706-677-
6800 or go to www.bankscountyga.org/bc. The application
may also be downloaded and submitted to the commission
er’s office at 150 Hudson Ridge, Suite 1, Homer, by noon
on Thursday, Dec. 7. The completed application may also
be emailed to county clerk Jenni Gailey at the following
address, jgailey@co.banks.ga.us.
Community meal in Lula honors local veterans
A community-wide meal was held in Lula recently with veterans being honored. The Lula
Ladies coordinates this event which brought out more than 100 people. See more photos from
the event on Page 12.
World War II veteran Mordecai Wilson is one of the veter
ans honored at the recent community meal organized by the
Lula Ladies.
Paving bid awarded by Maysville City Council
The Maysville City Coun
cil approved a paving bid to
Garrett Paving when it held
the November meeting.
The paving bids were
opened and reviewed at the
meeting. Garrett Paving
came in with the lowest bid
of $83,282. Allied Paving
Company submitted a bid of
$99,625.
The council approved the
bid of Garrett Paving Com
pany. The motion was made
by council member Richard
Parr and seconded Kimber
ly Wilmoth.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business at the
meeting, a plat at 61 Homer
Street was submitted to the
council for review. This was
tabled until the December
meeting so it could go be
fore the planning oard for
their review and to make
a recommendation to the
council.
•a bid for another Pavilion
was tabled until the Decem
ber 4 meeting.
•a bid to approve the re
placement of the air con
ditioning unit at city hall
was awarded to Nick Toney
in the amount of $3,650.
The motion was made by
council member Richard
Parr and seconded by Scott
Harper.
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