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PAGE 2A —THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL THURSDAY. AUGUST 27. 2009
Madison County BOC to meet Monday
The Madison County Board
of Commissioners will meet
at 6:30 p.m., Monday, Aug.
31, in the county government
complex.
Agenda items include:
•Chairman’s report.
(Chairman Anthony Dove)
•Report from IDA - Marvin
White.
•Statements and remarks
from citizens on agenda
items.
•Consider proclamation
for Scott Edwards, Owner
of Fertile Crescent Gardens.
(Chairman Dove to recognize
Mark Wiles)
•Consider proclamation
for 2010 Census. (Chairman
Dove)
•Consider vendor recom
mendation for E-911’s new
computer aided dispatch sys
tem. (David Camp)
•Consider ACCG 7.5 per
cent safety discount verifica
tion. (Donna Sisk)
•Consider personnel policy
amendment, vacation allow
ance. (Donna Sisk)
•Consider renewing con
tract with Edimis for EMS.
(Chairman Dove)
•Discuss the removal of
bats from the old courthouse
and the Strickland House.
(Chairman Dove)
•Consider ACCG Inmate
Medical Program. (Chairman
Dove)
•Discuss2009budget amend
ments. (Chairman Dove)
•Consider contract with
Northeast Georgia Regional
Commission. (Chairman
Dove)
•Consider adoption
of Spratlin Pond Road.
(Commissioner Mike
Youngblood).
•Discuss curfew for
Madison County Memorial
Park for amplified sound.
(Commissioner Pete Bond)
•Discuss amending
county noise ordinance.
(Commissioner Bond).
•Roads update.
•Urgent matters.
•Review Sept. 8 agenda for
business meeting.
•Statements and remarks
from citizens.
•Closed session to discuss
land acquisition, personnel
matters and/or potential litiga
tion (if needed).
Seasonal flu vaccine available Aug. 31
Seasonal flu vaccines will be available Aug. 31, while
swine flu vaccines are expected to be available in
October.
Routine seasonal flu
vaccines will be available
a month early this year,
according to local health
department officials.
Health departments in the
10-county health district sur
rounding Athens (Barrow,
Clarke, Elbert, Greene,
Jackson, Madison, Morgan,
Oconee, Oglethorpe,
Walton) have flu vaccines
available for the public
beginning Monday, Aug.
31.
The usual high-risk patients
should get the shot as they
have every year, according
to health officials. People
over 65 and people with
high-risk conditions are at
greatest risk for complica
tions from seasonal flu.
However, as has been rec
ommended for several years,
the shot is also recommend
ed for people of all ages
from 6 months old and up.
(The Vaccine for Children
flu shots for children 18
years of age and younger
will arrive later - call the
Madison County Health
Department to verify VFC
flu shots have arrived.)
Just as for the last several
years, flu shots cost $25 and
are covered by Medicare
and Medicaid. No appoint
ment is necessary, officials
said, just walk in to your
local health department.
Hours are: Monday 8-11:30
a.m. and 1-6 p.m.; Tuesday
through Thursday 8-11:30
a.m. and 1-3:30 p.m. and
Friday 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Officials say the shot
contains antigens for the
three flu viruses believed
by experts to be the most
likely to affect the United
States this fall and winter.
This seasonal flu vaccine
does not protect against the
pandemic strain of the new
H1N1 (swine) flu virus,
officials stress. Vaccine for
that virus is being devel
oped and tested but is not
expected to be released until
late in the fall.
Symptoms of flu include
sudden onset of fever, head
ache, fatigue, dry cough,
sore throat, nasal congestion
and body aches. In the U.S.,
flu usually peaks in late fall
or winter.
In addition to getting the
annual flu shot, public health
officials recommend these
steps to prevent the spread
of flu: wash your hands,
especially before you touch
your face or eat, or use an
alcohol-based hand sanitizer
when soap and water are
not available; don’t breathe
where someone has just
coughed or sneezed; cover
coughs and sneezes with a
tissue or your upper sleeve
and stay home from work if
you are sick to avoid spread
ing germs to others.
Information on other clinic s
can be found by calling the
Public Health Information
Line at 1-800-4PD-HELP,
or by visiting www.
PublicHealthAthens.com.
Budget .cont’dfrom 1A
Board of Education/Extension Office.
They were also scheduled to discuss
their own county commission and chair
man’s budgets.
The group has met with department
leaders, trying to shave expenses from
the 2010 budget. County revenues are
projected at $13 million for 2010, while
requested expenses currently stand at
approximately $14.9 million.
But commission chairman Anthony
Dove said Monday that the $13 million
estimate is a conservative guess. He
noted that budgets are typically set based
on a 97-percent property tax collection
rate. But the $13 million revenue projec
tion is based on a projected 90-percent
collection rate.
“We still might adjust that 13 num
ber when we get closer to setting the
entire budget,’’ said Dove. “That was the
number we had to go on probably two
months ago when we first started the
budget hearings. But if they (revenue
projections) still hold, we’ll have to
make some adjustments.”
If expenses significantly exceed rev
enues, will the board raise the tax rate,
cut jobs or dip into the county’s fund
balance (reserves that the state suggests
counties maintain at 15 percent or more
of their operating budget)?
Dove said he won’t recommend a tax
rate increase. He noted that property
owners will already get a tax increase
thanks to the state government’s decision
to eliminate the Homeowners’ Tax Relief
Grant, which will add roughly $230 to
tax bills for Madison County homeown
ers this year.
“We’ll have to see when we get there
(at the end of the budget process),” said
Dove. “I wouldn’t recommend a tax
increase. We’ll have to do some cut
ting.”
Bats ..cont’dfrom 1A
for the summer to get done,”
he said.
County commission chair
man Anthony Dove said the bat
problem is more severe at the
vacant Strickland House than at
the courthouse.
“It's worse at the Strickland
House,” he said. ‘That thing is
really damaged.”
But he said the situation needs
to be addressed at the courthouse
for safety reasons.
“It could potentially be (a
health hazard) if it goes on
unchecked,” he said.
Chamber of Commerce presi
dent and industrial authority
director Marvin White, whose
office is at the courthouse, said
the downstairs air quality is fine,
but upstairs at the courthouse
could be another matter.
He said a bat will sometimes
find its way downstairs.
“We’ll occasionally see one
if someone leaves a door open
upstairs,” he said. “We usually
just put them out and they go on
their way.”
White said the chimneys were
sealed off in recent years, which
helped with the bat problem, but
didn't eliminate it.
“It’s been a problem for a long
time and we’d like to get rid of
them,” said White.
Of course, the bats have made
more use of the upstairs in the
historic county courthouse than
people in recent years. The coun
ty government moved its office
from the old courthouse to the
former Danielsville Elementary
School in 1997. But the build
ing's downstairs has been reno
vated in recent years and the
rustic old building with high
ceilings and pretty wood floors
is home to the county’s Chamber
of Commerce, water department
and the mentor program.
Dove said he would like to see
the upstairs renovated at some
point, too. The county tagged
$90,000 in the most recent
Special Purpose Local Option
Sales Tax (SPLOST) for court
house renovations.
‘That’s a valuable room,” said
Dove of the old courtroom. “I’d
like to see the upper floor refur
bished. It could be used for a lot
of different things.”
Eliana (front), an 11-year-old lab shepherd mix, and
Santa (back) a 4-year-old lab mix are available for
adoption at the shelter.
Jojo (left), a 5-year-old spaniel mix, and Heidi (right)
a 9-year-old boxer mix are available for adoption at
the Madison Oglethorpe Animal Shelter.
Adoptions .cont’dfrom 1A
old lab mix; Lizzie, a female 6-year-old cattle dog; and Foxy
Gretchen, a female 7-year-old retriever.
Madison Oglethorpe Animal Shelter director Susan Fomash
said she expected there would be increased adoptions after
recent media attention at the shelter. But she said that hasn’t
been the case.
“I told the staff to be ready; we had several phone calls,” said
Fomash. “But for whatever reason, they didn’t come.”
Fomash said the shelter has seen a drop in adoptions as the
economy has gone south.
“Adoptions are down; donations are down,” she said. “The
only thing up is surrenders (pets left at the shelter).”
The Oglethorpe couple's seven dogs are available for a
reduced “last chance” price of $45 each, down from the stan
dard $75. For more information on the dogs, call 706-795-2868
or visit the shelter on Colbert-Danielsville Road, next to the
county transfer station.
Meanwhile, the Athens Humane Society, 706-353-2287, has
the couple’s 20 cats.
COLBERT CITY HALL
Closed Labor Day, September 7
TRASH PICKUP Tuesday, Sept. 8
SEPTEMBER 14 PUBLIC HEARING
on Re-Zone at 6:30 P.M.
COUNCIL MEETING
at 7:00 p.m.
LANDSCAPING & HORSE ARENAS
• RIVER SAND
• TOP SOIL
• RIVER ROCK
• WHITE SAND
• FILL DIRT
•PEA GRAVEL
WILLIAMS SAND
770-967-6501 OR 706-789-3779
Danielsville, GA • www.williamstransportco.com
Highway 106 to Jot-em Down Rd. to Young Harris Road to Serenity Lane
NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC
City of Colbert
A petition has been filed requesting that the
property located at 5846 Highway 72 West
in Colbert, GA be changed from C-1 to C-2.
A public hearing will be held at the Colbert
City Hall on Monday, September 14 th at 6:30
p.m. All those having an interest in this
petition should be present.
City of Colbert
City of Comer
MUNICIPAL ELECTION
The City of Comer will hold municipal elections on November
3, 2009. The following offices are scheduled for election:
Mayor:
Incumbent: William E. Burroughs
Term of office will begin on Jan. 1, 2010 and end Dec. 31, 2011.
Councilperson District 1:
Incumbent: Melissa Yarbrough
Term of office will begin on Jan. 1, 2010 and end Dec. 31, 2013.
Councilperson District 4:
Incumbent: Laquita Bridges
Term of office will begin on Jan. 1, 2010 and end Dec. 31, 2013.
Candidates for Councilperson must be a resident of the
district for which they qualify. Qualifying will begin on
Monday, August 31, 2009 at 8:30 a.m. and will close on
Friday, September 4, 2009 at 4:30 p.m. at the Comer City
Hall at 70 Hwy. 72 E. during normal business hours. Section
21-2-131(a)(l)(A) of the State of Georgia Municipal Election
Code requires a qualification fee of $60 for mayoral
candidates and $45 for councilperson candidates.
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