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£ U. GA. MAIN LIBRARY |£3fci*| V ATHENS, GA 30602 Ivl ■ Kiease see rage /a 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 Ip ■ >' msm jjl pL i w £ . /Wa. VD m mom r §r V mKr rH j . Us HB '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 W * || ■ %: ■Tv „ '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