Newspaper Page Text
o
o
$1.00
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 20,2023
Homer, Banks County, GA 30547 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. • 16 Pages, 2 Sections Plus Supplements
Vol. 58 No. 1
Banks
County
Extension
offers tax
assistance
The Banks County Exten
sion Office is offering tax
assistance.
Through the Volunteer
Income Tax Assistance
(VITA) program, IRS-cer
tified preparers can pre
pare your federal and state
tax returns, free of charge.
VITA is designed to assist
qualified taxpayers and to
ensure that seniors, limited
income families, and others
receive every available ben
efit.
The process consists of
two appointments. In the
first, you will meet with the
tax preparer and give them
all the documentation and
information they need to
prepare your return. About
a week later, you will return
for your second appoint
ment, in which you will
review, sign, and file your
return.
Appointments will be
gin February 1st. You can
schedule your appointments
starting January 2 by calling
the Banks County Exten
sion office at 706-677-6230.
There are limits on which
kinds of returns we can
prepare, so be sure to call
ahead of time. Questions
can be directed to susie.bur-
ton@uga.edu.
COMMUNITY
MEAL
Lots of food choices was of
fered at the annual commu
nity Christmas meal in Lula
last week. See Page 2B for
more photos.
MAILING LABEL
Maxwell to again serve as vice
chairman of Banks County BOC
Qualifying for Alto
Town Council seat
By ANGELA GARY
The Banks County Board
of Commissioners agreed
last week for Danny Max
well to again serve as vice
chairman.
In other business at the
meeting, the BOC:
•recognized the Banks
County High School FFA
Environmental Natural Re
sources team for being the
national runner up.
•recognized the Banks
County High School FFA
Forestry CDE team for be
ing the national champions.
•agreed to a request from
fire chief Steve Nichols to
purchase a LUCAS chest
compression system with
the opioid settlement funds.
The total cost is $66,196.
•approved the 2024 alco
hol licenses.
•agreed to a request from
Linda Garrison to increase
the board of elections pay to
$15 per hour.
•agreed to increase the
salary for the planning
board to $50 per meeting
and the chairman to $60 per
meeting.
•approved the gravel
hauling contract to Triple H.
•agreed to purchase a ser
vice body truck for the road
department to be funded
with special propose local
option sales tax (SPLOST)
funds.
•named Charles Turk and
Keith Gardiner to a one-
year term on the Chestatee
Chattahoochee RC&D.
•named Becky Carlan and
Dock Sisk to a six-year term
on the board of health.
•approved the 2024 qual
ifying fees, which will be
three percent of the base
salary.
•agreed to hold a work
session before approving
the 2023 comprehensive
plan.
Qualifying for the March 12, 2024, Town of Alto Spe
cial Election for Post 1 will be held through Friday of this
week.
The election is to fill the unexpired term of Carolyn
Cabe.
The horns of qualifying through Thursday will be from
8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. (except for a one-horn lunch
break each day), and from 8:30 a.m. to noon Friday, Dec.
22.
The last day to register to vote for the March 12, 2024,
Special Election is Feb. 12, 2024.
The qualifying fee for the Post 1 Council seat is $35.
Prospective candidates may qualify at the Office of the
Election Superintendent being Habersham County Office
of Elections and Voter Registration, in the basement of the
Habersham County Administrative Building located at
130 Jacob’s Way, Suite 101, Clarkesville.
The seats may be filled by any resident of the Town.
Live Nativity presented at Beaverdam Baptist
A live nativity was presented by Beaverdam Baptist Church. There were several stops for visitors to check out. Several church members represented the people
in the Christmas Story, including Mary, Joseph and the three Wisemen.
Gillsville sets venue fees for Frankum Building
By SHERRY LEWIS
The Gillsville Town
Council met last week and
approved venue pricing for
the newly-renovated Fran
kum Building.
After reviewing research
from similar venues, Coun
cilman Kody Rylee pro
posed a $300 per day fee
for Gillsville residents
and a $350 per day fee for
non-residents. He also sug
gested a $350 cash deposit
refundable upon inspection
along with a 72-hour can
cellation window.
The council also agreed
to write up a rental contract
which will require a copy of
the renters’ driver’s license
prior to rental.
In other business, the
council approved a propos
al by local web designer,
Joseph Canada, to create a
new website for the town.
The one-time set up fee will
be $2,400 and it includes
web server hosting space,
domain, website set up and
design, web content and
email transfer along with a
Gillsville Facebook page.
The annual cost for support
is $1,200 yearly and in
cludes web and email host
ing, email support, website
backups, publishing month
ly updates for website,
Facebook page and a reser
vation calendar.
In other business the
council:
•approved the second
reading of an annexation
ordinance to annex Kev
in Merck’s 66.74 acres on
5245 Cromartie Road in the
city of Gillsville. The prop
erty is currently zoned agri
cultural.
•heard from Mayor Wade
Dale who presented an Hon
orary Certificate to the fam
ily of the late Town Council
member, Richard Ferguson,
and recognized the family
members present.
•heard from Sherry
Strange who made sugges
tions for the center light in
the Frankum Building. The
lighting was tabled until the
January meeting.
