Newspaper Page Text
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Houston Times- Journal
Official Legal Organ for Houston County, City of Perry and the State of Georgia
Perry, Ga.
this week
Volume 125—N0. 68—16 Pages
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14,1994
50 CENTS
Good eating habits...
Improvements in Houston
County's nutrition program will
soon see the implementation
of not only breakfast programs,
but improvements across the
board. Page 2A.
Lottery neglect?
Despite multi-million dollar win
ners and increased sales,
Georgia lottery monies may be
taking priority over family ne
cessities, believes Mayor Jim
Worrall. Page 6A.
School elections set
The Houston County School
Board received good news
Tuesday. The U.S. Attorney
General's office has approved
their district plan for school
board elections. Page 6A.
Stevens sails to win
Kelly Stevens became the first
junior champion at the club to
win a major championship by
taking home the Ladies Club
title. Page 7A.
Martial artists invade...
This Saturday, Perry will be
overcome with over 450 mar
tial artists as the PAK team
hosts the 3rd Annual Fall Re
gion Championship at the Geor
gia National Fairgrounds. Page
7A.
A special addition
The late Miss Frances Couey,
a retired school teacher and
principal, deeds her Duncan
Ave. home to Perry United
Methodist Church. Page 18.
Couples announce
Johanna Compton and James
Wessells, and LaDonna
Chamlee and Thomas Watson
announce their engagements.
Page 28.
Top students named
Houston County Schools
name their top students in the
weekly "Student of the Week"
category. Page 38.
'Finding his niche'
The Perry area has lots of
horses, enough to keep a full
time farrier busy. Jim Brown
should know. He's the man
doing the job. Page 38.
The community's sympathy
is extended to the families of
those who recently died. They
include: Virginia Murray Duke,
Junnie Akins, John W. White
and Arthur James Lester, Sr.
See details page 2A.
Classified 3B
Family News 1B
Legal notices 5B
Letters to the editor 4A
Pauline Lewis 1B
Obituaries 2A
Police report 3A
Remember when 4A
Veto Roley 4A
Sports 7 A
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'Bagging It For Kids... 1
Perry Mayor Jim Worrall (center) and Westfield Schools headmaster Dr. Michael
Drake practice their skills at bagging groceries with Kroger Co-Manager Jim Busby
last week. Worrall and Drake are just two of a handful of "celebrity baggers" from the
Perry community who will participate in the annual "Safe Kids in Georgia" fundraiser
this Saturday. The event is held to raise money for the Houston County chapter. All
funds raised on Saturday will be used to purchase child safety seats, bike helmets,
smoke detectors and other child safety equipment. For more on the event, see page
6A. (Times-Journal photo by Pauline Lewis)
Dispute over who owns airport
hangars creates rift at meeting
By VETO F. ROLEY
Staff Writer
The divorce between the Perry-
Houston County Airport Authority
and Register Aviation is becoming
bitter.
The authority's meeting on
Monday, Sept. 12, turned acrimo
nious with Register Aviation and
the authority disputing who owned
the T-hangars at the airport The au
thority was supposed to enter into
an agreement with Register
Aviation allowing the airport to use
Register's trucks and other equip
ment while the authority searched
for a new fixed based operator.
In a late August meeting be
tween authority chairman Ralph
Dorsett, Perry mayor Jim Worrall,
authority attorney Skip Hulbert,
Register Aviation owner Lowell
Register and other members of the
authority, a preliminary agreement
was worked out where the airport
would use Register ’Aviation's fuel
trucks and other equipment in ex
change for Register getting free rent
in the airport's maintenance hangar.
The agreement was to run from
month-to-month, with each side
having to give 30 days notice if
they choose to end the agreement.
At that particular meeting, the
authority and Register Aviation
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'Listening 1n...
Kivoiidra Marshall prepares to get tested for hearing at Perry Elementary School by school
audiologist Liz Tillery. Houston County students have been undergoing ear and eye testing since
returning to school. Marshall is the daughter of Angela Askew. (T-J photo by Jimmy Simpson)
Our worst enemy
Please see Page 4A
agreed to continue to disagree about
the ownership of the T-hangars, and
keep any mention of those hangars
out of the agreement.
At a subsequent authority meet
ing on Sat., Aug. 27, which went
into executive session to discuss
Register Aviation, the authority de
cided to direct Dorsett to write
Register Aviation a letter stating
that it was the authority's position
that the T-hangars belonged to the
airport; but, if Register Aviation
thought they owned the T-hangars,
the company had until Oct. 1,
1994, to tear them down.
In response to this threat,
Register added a clause io the pre
liminary agreement reached between
the two parties, giving him the
right to the land underneath the T
hangars as long as the agreement
was in effect
Because of the addition to the
agreement of the T-hangars, Dorsett
refused to sign the agreement say
ing it was not what was agreed to
in the meeting between the author
ity and Register Aviation. "The (T)
hangars were excluded all together
(from the agreement)," said Dorsett.
Register responded that he only
put the clause in the contract about
the T-hangars after he received the
authority's letter telling him he had
to take the hangars down by Oct. 1.
"There is no way that is going to
happen," said Register.
Register told the authority that
the contract to use his equipment
was a good deal. He said that his
company, at one point, leased three
fuel trucks, costing his company
over SBOO per month. The current
rent on the hangar where Register
keeps his airplane is $l5O per
month.
"I'm giving a lot more than I am
getting," said Register. He said that
he was doing this to help the au
thority make a "smooth, easy tran
sition" from Register Aviation to
the city to the next FBO. "The first
day of the takeover, you'll have fuel
trucks and furniture."
Register Aviation's contract with
the authority as FBO expired on
Sept. 1.
Despite some acrimonious bick
ering between the parties, they were
able to work out another prelimi
nary agreement Monday.
The authority agreed to recognize
Register Aviation's control over the
ground on which the T-hangars set,
and Register agreed to a clause stat
ing that that provision did not im
ply ownership of the T-hangars by
either Register Aviation or the au-
Please see DISPUTE, Page 10A
His niche is shoes
Please see Page 1B
Officials studying
responsibility for
rebuilding HL dam
By JIMMY SIMPSON
Staff Writer
Houston Lake property owners
could get a much-needed financial
boost soon if an inquiry into the
ownership of a dam in their
neighborhood shows the barrier to
be county-owned.
"Attorneys are going through
the process of tracking down proper
documents as of this week, and that
will determine the fate of county
involvement," said Houston
County Commission Chairman
Sherrill Stafford.
Representatives of FEMA
(Federal Emergency Management
Agency), GEMA (Georgia
Emergency Management Agency),
the DOT (Department of
Transportation) and Sen. Sam
Nunn’s office met to discuss the
issue last week.
One of the biggest concerns,
accoding to Stafford, is the 68
homeowners that live on the lake.
"If we don't put (the dam) back,
the property is going to go down in
value," said the chairman. "It would
also make a drastic impact on taxes
that are being paid to the county."
The dam here is one of more
than 200 dams nationwide that was
affected in some way by ravaging
floodwaters just over two months
ago.
Neither federal or state funding
can be appropriated, said FEMA
spokesman Johnny DeLoach,
unless the dam is deemed under the
ownership of a county or state
government.
"It's kind of a unique situation,"
Stafford said of the dam. "The
uniqueness comes about when
trying to find out who owns it and
who fits into the picture (where
repairs are concerned)."
Stafford said early estimates to
reconstruct the dam range from
$750,000 to $3 million.
"Our guess is anywhere from $l
- million," said Stafford.
The dam was originally
constructed in 1918.
The state had an interest in the
property when Georgia Highway
127 was linked to the upper part of
the dam several years ago.
But in 1970 the road was moved
east of the original stretch, where it
remains today and the state was
released from any further
obligation.
Houston County officials do
have a maintainance agreement to
the dam, but does not have a title to
the property.
At the time of the relocation, the
state agreed to maintain the dam's
now defunct roadway.
Responsibility is believed to have
shifted back to the county when
that transpired.
The question of ownership is
also a legal puzzle. A prescriptive
ownership law states that once
something is owned for a certain
period of time, the operator is
usually entitled to ownership if
there is no official title or deed to
the property.
Public access to the dam, if
government owned, would also be
required. But that mandate would
appear to be somewhat argumentive
due to a potentially dangerous
situation that would exist.
"I've never seen a dam as being a
safe place to go," Stafford said,
adding that he's already been asked
that fishing be allowed once
construction is completed.
A reconstructed dam is estimated
to take about a year and a half to
open, according to experts. If
funding could be obtained, FEMA
would foot 75 percent of the costs,
while GEMA would pick up the
remaining 25 percent.
If ownership could be
established, and the dam proven to
be a county-or-state-owned site, the
process to select an architect tor
design could be decided upon within
just a few days.
But some county residents say
the county shouldn't become
involved, said Stafford.
"There are some (residents) who
have called and think there should
be no public involvement in (the
dam)," Stafford said.
But, according to Stafford, that
attitude doesn't necessarily reflect
his or the commission's final
decision if proven that the county
does hold interest in the dam.
"My personal opinion is that the
folks who live there have a need
just like anyone else who lives in
the county," said Stafford.
The actual reconstruction of the
dam won't cost county taxpayers,
the commission chairman said, but
may demand an insurance policy
once the dam is completed to ensure
coverage if a similar situation were
to ever happen again.
City still looking
for new manager
By JIMMY SIMPSON
Staff Writer
The search for a new city
manager here should be completed
soon, and a new person behind the
desk by Jan. 1 of 1995, Mayor Jim
Worrall said this week.
More than 20 applicants have
already applied for the job,
according to Worrall, who added
another 40-50 applications should
come across his desk in the
forthcoming weeks.
"I feel sure that we will get
some extremely qualified applicants
from what we're already seeing,"
said the mayor.
Worrall said interest has already
surfaced from as far away as
Connecticut. But most of the
resumes are from Georgia, he said.
Council is not required to
advertise for the city manager post,
according to the mayor, but opted
to do so voluntarily.
, A Nov. 1 timetable has been set
as the final date to accept resumes.
At that time, Worrall said he and
council will then begin a lengthy
and in-depth process to select a new
person for the job.
Under the city's charter, the
mayor has the authority to select
the candidates he feels to be most
Please see CITY, Page 10A
Olympic trainers
may come here
By JIMMY SIMPSON
Staff Writer
The City of Perry may be added
to the list of cities included on the
1996 Olympic training schedule if
preliminary reports prove favorable
to committee members.
Michael Froehlich, executive
director of the Georgia National
Fairgrounds, said this week that he
remains optimistic that the local
628-acre site will meet
qualifications for pre-Olympic
training events.
"But my understanding is that a
decision won't be made (on the
Perry location) for at least a couple
more months," Froehlich said.
Froehlich said his group first
began work on a proposal about a
year ago. It passed the first hurdle
when the committee who studied
the information recently requested
that it be sent additional
information.
An in-house survey was then
Please see OLYMPIC, Page 10A
