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THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. JULY 30, 2009 — PAGE 5A Opinions Water: the earth’s supply and distribution Dear Editor: Ninety seven percent of all water is saline or salty and is in the oceans; three percent is fresh. Of this three percent, two percent is frozen and locked in ice caps and glaciers. One percent is available fresh for our use. Of all the fresh water: 30 percent is ground water, 67.7 percent is frozen and .3 percent is in rivers and lakes. Yet, rivers and lakes are the water we can see, and the water we seek for our fresh water supply. It is the most contaminated and polluted of all fresh water for the rivers are the gutters and sewers of the earth and contain the once fresh water on its way back to the oceans to begin its cycle over again. All of our fresh water comes from rain. It is evaporated from the oceans, swamps and wetlands by the energy of the sun, and comes suspended as vapor in the air, riding on the prevailing winds. For it to rain, this vapor must be cooled to the point of condensation, when it falls, either back into the ocean or over land. Over land, this cooling is assisted by the rise in elevation and the green and growing vegetation. Of the vegetation best available, trees contain the most mass, providing shade, and in addition, cooling by their endothermic reactions. Trees replaced by grass cannot provide enough water to sustain itself, not to mention constructed pervious surfaces which is negative. This endothermic reaction is powered by the sun's energy through its ultra-violet rays striking the leaves and needles. This process involves the breakdown of carbon dioxide from the air, sequestering the carbon in the limbs and trunks of the trees and releasing the oxygen back to the air to be used again by our carbon cycle. In all the talk about reducing carbon emissions, not one word is spoken for the return of the oxygen taken from the air to make these emissions possible. Here is a system that operates free and without atten tion to reverse the carbon dioxide creation, but we cannot remove one of the elements necessary for its success, to use for other unrelated purposes. We can no longer use 40 percent of our fresh water to transport our human wastes, to any destination, and then expect to clean it for reuse. Sincerely, Jim Warren Danielsville jimwarren27 @ windstream.net Crawford .cont’dfrom 4A A look at the 2010 sheriff’s budget It's that time of year again for the county, budget time. This is a particularly tough year with the current econ omy. I turned in a budget for next year and I know that anyone who saw it probably thought I was crazy. Well, I promise that I am not crazy and that I don’t expect to get everything that I asked for on that budget. Budgets are turned in and then worked and reworked numerous times before they are approved for the next year. I know that what I turned in will be done the same way. I did have a reason for turning in the budget that you have read about and I would like to take this time to give more explanation of the larger items that I have asked for. The sheriff's office is a vital part of the county and there are certain things that are necessary to function, while also reducing the liability on the county. A big part of the proposed budget increase is vehicle replacement. I have vehicles with over 200,000 and 300,000 miles on them that are actively on patrol. The county’s insurance company and the Grand Jury has stated that these vehicles need to be replaced. The county is taking a risk of a lawsuit if any of these vehi cles are involved in an acci dent, along with the problem that the cars are not consid ered safe in certain situations From the Sheriff’s Desk By Kip Thomas that a deputy may find him self while on duty. It’s not that I want new vehicles for my office: it's that I am trying to prevent future problems, both physi cally and monetarily. I realize that because of the econo my, replacing all the needed vehicles may not be feasible in 2010. It is my hope that the budget talks between the commissioners and myself will give opportunity for a plan or timeline to be put into place for the replacement of these vehicles in the not-so- distant future. During my campaign, I stated that I could run the sheriff's office adequately with the current number of positions. I have been able to do that with the patrol divi sion, but unfortunately, the current number of employees in the jail is not adequate. Beginning on Jan. 1, my staff has been working towards making the jail a safer place for the employees and the inmates. Currently there are four people on each 12-hour shift. Two of these positions are stationary posi tions, which means that per son cannot leave that position unless someone is there to take their place. That leaves two employees to control and monitor an average of 70 inmates. This includes meals, medications, visitation, book ing of new inmates, along with many other supervision duties. It was my feeling that the number of jailers needed to be increased but before including this in my budget proposal, I asked the Georgia Sheriff’s Association to con duct a jail study on my facil ity. In their study, they also suggested the increase of the number of jailers per shift. In this past spring, the Grand Jury echoed those findings as well. There are many state and federal mandates that require us to provide cer tain things for inmates. If we aren’t adequately doing so, this can allow for many problems to arise. Along with these two major budget items, I inher ited a problem with my cur rent budget. A budget was set in December of 2007 for 2008. In February of 2008 a raise was given to the sher iff's office employees and was to be retroactive to the first of that year. The payroll piece of the 2009 budget was kept the same as the initial 2008 budget, which did not include the raises given later within that same fiscal year. This budgeting error from a year ago accounts for almost $200,000 that is included in the 2010 budget request. The employees of the sheriff’s office have been getting paid for these raises for a year and a half even though it was not included in the finance department’s numbers. I hope that this closer look into my budget requests helps to explain my department’s needs. I want you to know that I am sensitive to our county’s budget concerns. With that I also want to make known the items that I feel are falling short of upholding the level of safety that I want for Madison County. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to discuss them with me. I am here for the citizens or our county and your con cerns are important to me. On a lighter note, I would like to encourage everyone to visit our new website at www.madisoncountysheriff- ga.org. On this site you can obtain various forms, view the sex offender registry, and locate contact information for the office. Along with the CHAMPS program get ting started in our elemen tary schools, there are several other initiatives that I will be starting in the near future. I look forward to sharing more about them with you in the coming months. Kip Thomas is the sheriff of Madison County. Want to submit a letter? Email us at zach@mainstreetnews.com, fax us at 706-795-2765 or mail us at P.O. Box 658 Danielsville, GA 30633. Please include your first and last name, town of residence and phone number for verification purposes. move the state’s northern boundary line and take water from the Tennessee River. It would be a better idea to negotiate with Tennessee about buying some of that water, even though that will be an expensive proposition. There are negative and positive possibilities for the state’s future because of the Fanier water crisis. If our political leadership is smart enough, they may be able to move us in the more positive direction. Tom Crawford is the editor of Capitol Impact’s Georgia Report, an Internet news service at www.gareport.com that covers governmen t and politics in Georgia. He can be reached at tcrawford@capitolimpact.net. The Madison County Journal is your source for local news. Subscribe by calling 706-795-2567. Apple Specialist Taxes: None. Savings: Huge! Save BIG during the Tax-Free Holiday Event Thurs, July 30 - Sun, Aug. 2! 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