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THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. OCTOBER 8. 2009 — PAGE 3A County program wants your shoes By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews.com Beware. The Keep Madison County Beautiful program is after your soles. The local community better ment organization requests the donation of lightly-used shoes that might be taking up closet space in an effort to collect footwear for the needy. “We’re asking people to get a box — maybe churches can have their own collection — and then just get them to us at the recycling center by the end of November,” KMCB direc tor Sandra Webb said. Webb is asking for those gently worn, good-condition shoes. County residents can dropoff these unwanted shoes from Oct. 12 to Nov. 30. The drive is actually part of a regional effort — “Soles 4 Souls” — to collect 250,000 pairs of shoes. Other counties participating include Oconee County and Clarke County. “We’re all working together on this,” Webb said. Donated footwear should be bound together by shoestrings or rubber bands. Webb hopes the word spreads to local organizations and institutions about this event. “I’m hoping the schools will get involved and start collect ing them and the churches and the businesses,” she said. Webb believes the surplus is out there, noting that she sees several pairs of salvage able shoes thrown away at the Madison County transfer station. In fact, she said she ran across a pair one day that was still in the box. “You wouldn’t believe some of the shoes that come through here that are just perfect,” she said. KMCB hosting shredder Saturday; river clean-up runs all month Those needing to rid them selves of top-secret documents can safely dispose of them at Saturday’s “Super Shredder Event” at the Madison County Government Complex from 10 a.m. to noon. Webb said county residents can bring “any sensitive docu ments they want destroyed.” “They can bring up to two boxes, kind of the size of copy paper boxes, per vehicle,” Webb explained. This is the first time the shredder has come to Madison County, though a regional shredding event was held recently in Athens. Documents will be shredded on a truck supplied by The Lindsay Group, an agent of Mayflower Transit. “You can watch by camera as they shred your papers,” Webb said. The shreds will be recycled. Meanwhile, KMCB attempts to tidy up the Broad River this month. The organization is asking for volunteers to pick up trash along the riverbanks. "We’re asking people to get their friends and family and go out on the river and find a location and do clean ups,” Webb said. Several are already chipping in. Webb said several MCHS students looking for com munity service projects have already signed up. “I’ve had some students come and find their own cleanup location .... I thought that was great, the teenag ers getting involved in this and motivating their friends to come out and help,” Webb said. Madison Animal Hospital to hold grand opening Madison Animal Hospital By Margie Richards margie@mainstreetnews.com Madison Animal Hospital in Danielsville will hold a grand opening Saturday, Oct. 17, to correspond with the festivities of the Danielsville Fall Festival across the road in Madison County Memorial Park. The grand opening will be held from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and includes a chance to win a number of door prizes, such as dinner at the Tanner House restaurant next door, a free spay or neuter, free grooming, heartworm pre ventative or Frontline flea protection. Teddy bear surgery will also be performed and there will be lots of treats for the kids. The clinic opened its doors in its new location in the historic Griffeth House (circa 1925) in May, though the business, and veteri narian/owner Dr. Allene Phillips, are not new to the county. Dr. Phillips first opened her clinic on Moriah Church Road north of Danielsville in the fall of 2002. “I always wanted to be in town (Danielsville) and I always loved this house,” Dr. Phillips said of the move. In addition to Dr. Phillips, Dr. Heather Fields is also on staff part-time. Together, both doctors treat small ani mals (dogs and cats), as well as exotics, such as birds and reptiles. “The response to our being here has been over whelming and we’re glad to be part of the community,” Mary Anderson, business manager for the clinic said. In their new larger 4,000-square-foot location (their old clinic was 1,800 square feet), they are also able to “spread out” to offer expanded services such as boarding and grooming. Lisa Andrews, an expe rienced groomer from K-9 Kutz of Commerce, is on hand Monday through Friday to provide grooming services by appointment. Both Dr. Phillips and Dr. Fields are Madison County residents with an investment in the community, Anderson said, and each complements the other in the practice. “We believe in individual pet care, we don’t just treat our patients all the same,” Dr. Phillips said. “As the pet population grows and ages, the need for pain control and geriatric care is going to increase and we want to provide that to our clients.” And Dr. Phillips stresses that veterinary care is not just about the animals they treat, but is also about pub lic health for citizens. “We want every client made aware of what diseas es can pass between owners and their pets,” Dr. Phillips said. As for the historic Griffeth House, the staff considers it a landmark and has worked to preserve and bring out the charm of the old home. “It’s a matter of blend ing the old with the new,” Dr. Phillips said. “We’re preserving this old historic home, and at the same time bringing in to it new, inno vative veterinary care and technology.” Comer to keep tax rate steady By Frank Gillispie frankgillispie67 l@msn.com Comer will take in eight- percent less property tax revenue for 2009 than the previous year. The city council will approve its millage rate at 2 p.m., Oct. 22, at city hall. The tax rate will remain at 4.4 mills, which will gener ate an estimated $103,537 in property tax revenue for this year, down from $112,516 for 2008. The city had seen a steady growth in its property val ues between 2004 and 2007, with the city digest growing from 17.76 mil lion in 2004 to $24.77 mil lion in 2007, an $8 million or 45 percent increase. But the digest dipped this year by $521,000 or two percent, which meant that city property tax revenues would drop without a tax rate increase. Comer’s city council held its regular monthly meeting Monday night, with mayor pro tern Kevin Booth presiding over the meeting, since Mayor Billy Burroughs was unable to attend. Booth noted that the city’s tax rate will be set Oct. 22. In other matters, the council received a request for clarification of the brush and limb pickup dates from the Royal Oaks Homeowners Association. Booth responded that no exact date has been set, but with the reduced mowing schedule due to the onset of cooler weather, city crews will have more time for debris pickup. But he was unable to name a specific date for the service. A petition from residents on Laurel Avenue request ed speed bumps. The city has looked at bumps in the past and found that rules have made them too expen sive for the city to build at this time. Council mem bers suggested that the city police department should increase patrols in the area with the purpose of sup pressing speeders. The Nov. 2 meeting of the council has been moved up to 1 p.m. from the regularly scheduled 6 p.m. Sanford Men’s Club to sponsor forum Oct. 20 The Sanford Men’s Club is sponsoring a forum with Madison County commissioner chairman Anthony Dove on Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 7 p.m. The forum is being held to discuss and answer ques tions about issues facing the county and the Sanford Community, organizers said. The forum will begin at 7 p.m. in the Sanford Community Center. Everyone is invited, club members said. Dowdle Gas 275 Athena Drive Athens, Ga. 30601 PROPANE For Service & Installation Call 706.546.8181 Your Locally Owned Propane Supplier WATKINS MONUMENTS Monument Sales & Date Engravings We are here to provide all your cemetery needs. Serving Madison and surrounding counties for over 30 years. BUCK WATKINS 706-283-7326 CASH CALL AND COMPARE PER GRAM 706-369-0000 ■n);l ww 1 GREG REEVES Fine Jewelry 613 Hawthorne Ave. • Athens PREGNANT? WORRIED? We Can Help! FREE PREGNANCYTEST Strictly Confidential 795-5012 -NEW HOURS - Mondays 9-2:30 p.m. Tuesdays 10-4:30 Wednesdays 10-4:30 Thursdays 9-2:30 p.m. 245 General Daniel Ave. (next door to Danielsville Methodist Church) Colbert to save homeowners small cost City passes $514,000 budget By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews.com Colbert approved a $514,110 budget Monday night, including enough money to cover dollars lost through the state cutting the homeowners’ relief grant. Colbert collected $43,765 in ad valorem taxes last year, $4,500 of which came via the state’s homeowners tax exemption program. That amounted to about $35 per household in Colbert. That state money is gone now, but Colbert leaders felt the city’s finances were strong enough to save city residents that cost. “I think we can afford to absorb that $4,500 if y’all so desire,” mayor John Waggoner told the council before approving the budget. “Because we’re all going to get hit hard by the county. It’s going to cost about $235 each.” To make that happen, the city intends to lower its mill- age rate to 3.5 from 3.95. Colbert can’t set its millage rate until next month. “I say we try to absorb it if we can and give the hom eowners as much help as we can,” councilman Chris Peck said. This year’s budget package also includes $18,000 to add 1,300 feet of sidewalks on Second Avenue and a five- percent increase for employ ee salaries. Colbert also budgeted $69,600 in SPLOST money this budget year. The city des ignated $20,000 of that go to water projects, $20,000 to old school building and $29,600 be saved in a reserve fund. As for water projects, Waggoner noted that the city needed to apply SPLOST money to replace substan dard waterlines with six-inch water lines along a section of Second Avenue. “That would take care of all of our substandard lines in Colbert,” Waggoner said. “That’s where I think we need to probably spend that $20,000.” New cemetery lot prices OK’d Colbert will charge $850 for four-grave lots and $500 for two-grave lots that have been created with the expan sion of the city cemetery. The city has already cleared and surveyed a new 2.5-acre portion of the cemetery, cre ating 257 new lots. It also added 18 two-grave lots to extra space at the old section of the cemetery. The city will now advertise for bids to grade 450 feet of streets in the cemetery. In other news, Colbert has hired an engineer to fix a drainage problem in Crystal Creek subdivision. Meanwhile, Waggoner said the city needs to hire a car penter to perform repairs to some dilapidated floor areas of the city’s old school build ing. Those upgrades can be funded through the $20,000 the city set aside in SPLOST for that facility. Danielsville police officer resigns By Margie Richards margie@mainstreetnews.com Danielsville is losing one of its two-member police force. The council accepted a let ter of resignation from police man Henry Hicks Monday night. Hicks’ resignation is effective Oct. 18, the day after the town’s fall festival. The council agreed to hire officer Steve Gary as a temporary replacement for Hicks, who primarily works night-shift patrol. Gary is a former deputy with the Madison County Sheriff’s Office. Gary will start the week Hicks leaves and will be paid $14 per hour. The council agreed to advertise for the position for the next three weeks and dis cuss applicants for the job at their next council meeting on Nov. 2. In other business, the coun cil voted to have county engi neer Phil Munro go ahead with an engineering study for the Madison Street sewer lift station. The council previ ously signed an intergovern mental agreement with the county industrial authority to utilize Munro’s services / \ THANK YOU I want to thank each person who made a financial contribution to my son, Stan Graham. Also, especially for your prayers, visits, calls, and cards. He spent 3 months in the hospital with many health problems. His place of employment closed, so had no income or insurance. He is home now and much better, looking forward to getting his leg prosthesis. Thank you Rotary Club for building the ramp for him. God bless! Sincerely, Bea Graham Comer, GA V J when needed. The council also agreed to hold a budget work session Tuesday, Oct. 13, at 6 p.m. The council discussed that it may have to raise the millage rate this year. Councilwoman Junne Temple said she wants the council to participate in the budget “work up” and that she is concerned that the millage rate may need to be raised. The council amended the agenda to hire Fanita Johnson to serve as a poll worker dur ing early voting for the may or’s election, which will be held Oct. 13-30 (Monday - Friday) from 8 a.m. - 1 p.m. Police chief Rodney Christian reported that he and officer Hicks have stepped up patrols in the Northridge Drive/ Crawford W. Long area and have issued several tickets for speeding. Christian said they will continue to monitor the area in the morn ings and afternoons. Founder’s Corner by Buhl Cummings ALUMNI... It was good to see many ACS Alumni who came back to their Alma Mater for Homecoming recently. The 35-year class of 1974 had a special weekend reunion. It is always good to see our Alumni and their growing families. Many of them have their children at ACS. We appreciate the opportunity that we had to work with them in helping with their training and preparations for life. ACS is sometimes called “The Life School." We are dedicated to helping prepare children and young people for useful, purposeful, godly lives. ATHENS CHRISTIAN SCHOOL “Affordable Quality Education Since 1970” K3-12TH CALL (706) 549-7586 www.athenschristian.com