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Viewpoints
Our Views
Teams served area well
Members of basketball teams at the two
local high schools did their community proud
with their participation in recent subregion,
region and state tournaments.
While the various teams from Perry High
School and Westfield Schools did not advance
to the final rounds of state competition, they
did represent the community well both during
the regular season and during the tournament
season.
The players on these teams, and their coach
es, deserve community praise for working
hard and achieving, sometimes over-achieving
simply because they had desire. That is a com
pliment to the character of the young men and
women who made up these teams, to their par
ents and their extended parenting from the
community.
Thanks, members of the Hornet and Panther
teams, both male and female, for representing
us so well and upholiding the name of Perry in
the area around us.
Praise for legislators
The current session of the Georgia General
Assembly is nearing completion. While most
readers would find some things to cheer about
and some other things to cry about, one cannot
fault the effort of our local delegation to repre
sent the community well and to. where possi
ble. obtain favorable funding for projects in
the area.
Certainly the work of local representative
Larry Walker, along with the other county del
egation members, Roy H “Sonny” Watson Jr..
Sonny Perdue. Johnny Floyd and Robert Ray,
has resulted in items in the state budget which
benefit the community.
Additionally, these men have kept the name
of Houston County predominant before the
legislature. Walker and Perdue are major offi
cers in the House of Representatives and the
Senate They hold these jobs because they
have demonstrated to their fellow legislators
then Willingness to work hard during the 40
days of the General Assembly sessions.
We thank these men for their efforts. While
we don't always agree with every measure
they support, we find that they generally rep
resent the opinions and views of their con
stituents quite well.
About our letters
Elsewhere on this page are several letters to
the editor representing the views of some of
our readers.
Although we publish a brief letters to the
editor policy at the bottom of this page each
week, we occasionally like to bring attention
to the letters to the editor column.
The Houston Times-Joumal welcomes let
ters from our readers. We especially like to
receive letters from readers concerning local
issues, and we give first preference to those
letters when preparing this paper.
While we like to hear from others, we gen
erally limit the scope of letters on this page to
issues ot a local nature or issues which have a
direct bearing on the lives of Houston County
residents.
We rarely print form letters or machine gen
erated letters which w ; ere mailed in mass to
other members of the media.
We generally do not print letters or respons
e’s to letters orieinallv published in other news
papers.
We check verification of senders on letters
and request that all letters be accompanied by
a telephone number for that purpose. These
numbers are not shared with other readers.
All letters must be signed. The deadline for
letters for each Wednesday is noon on Monday
prior to publication. Letters received after that
deadline are usually held for the following
week.
Send letters to the Houston Times-Joumal
at RO. Drawer M, Perry, 31069, or bring them
to the newspaper office at 807 Carroll St. in
downtown Perry, from 8:30-5:30 p.m. any
Monday through Friday.
Houston Times -Journal
P.O. Drawer M • 807 Carroll Street • Perry, Ga. 31069
(912) 987-1823* (912) 988-1181 (fax)
Bob Tribble President
Jj Johnson Editor and General Manager
Sherri Wengler Advertising Manager
News: Larry Hitchcock, Pauline Lewis; Sports: Phil Clark;
Composition: Lynn Wright, Sue Sapp; Classified Advertising:
Melanie Bullington; CircuJatitmCT. ri 6 Zcttftfs: Bookkeeping: Judy
Morrow; Photography: Hric Zellars.
Weyerhaeuser hits new environmental high
I don’t know how many of our readers
have ever driven up 1-75 past
Chattanooga, headed for Knoxville, and
ran into the foul smell that comes out of
the Bowater Paper plant at Calhoun, Tenn.
Another prime spot for odors is on I
-40 in the mountains of western North
Carolina near Canton when the
Champion paper mill is in operation.
The rotten-egg aroma those two plants
produce will make one feel nauseous.
Both plants are considerable distance
from the interstate highways, but that
smell doesn’t lose any of its aromatic
content on the way.
Having been gassed several times by
each of those mills in my lifetime, I must
admit I was a bit apprehensive two weeks
ago when Jj asked if I would like to
attend the Weyerhaeuser rededication
party at the Flint River Operation at
Oglethorpe.
The thought of eating and then listen
ing to speeches in the shadow of those
tall smokestacks really didn’t sound
appealing.
Well, neighbor, I’m here to tell you I
could not have been more pleasantly sur
prised.
The tall stack was releasing an
absolute minimum of steam into the sky.
Positively NO odor.
The excellent barbecue luncheon was
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Beard responds to recent column
Editor:
You have the reputation of being just
and fair. Therefore, I feel you allowed
Mr. Larry Hitchcock to malign Mr. Hal
Cotton on March 19, 1995. Maybe
maligned is a little strong, maybe not, but
certainly colored with a negative brush,
I know' you personally are aware of
Mr. Cotton's contributions to his country
and his community.
Your article of March 1. 1995. on Hal
Cotton, is evidence of what Dee Dee
Myers was taking about in a recent
address at the University of Nevada. She,
being free of her job as press secretary for
President Clinton, took the opportunity to
criticize the press, saying, “What's wrong
is all those nattering nabobs of pseudo
journalism. No. 1: Be first rather than
right; No. 2: Never let the facts stand in
the w'ay of a good story; No. 3; When in
doubt analyze, and No. 4: Good news is
no news, so create conflict.”
Mr. Hitchcock did ineed utilize Ms.
Myers’ philosophy when he said Hal
Cotton “effectively doused the torch that
shed light on the operation.”
It is difficult to understand how a man
who has been in this county only three
months, coming here from Tennessee,
could make such a statement about one of
Houston County’s most decorated and
respected citizens.
For your information, Mr. Hitchcock,
Page 4A
Wednesday, March 8,1995
Our Policies
Unsigned editorials appearing in larger type on this page under the label of
Our Opinions reflect the position of the Houston Times-Journal. Signed
columns and letters on this page (and elsewhere in this newspaper) reflect the
opinions of the writers and not necessarily those of this newspaper.
Signed letters to the editor are welcomed. Please limit letters to 300 words
and include address and a telephone number for verification purposes. No let
ters will be published without verification. Letters should be sent to P.O. Drawer
M, Perry, Ga., 31069, or brought to the newspaper office at 807 Carroll St.,
Perry.
Our liability for an error will not exceed the cost of space occupied by the
error.
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Our Goal
The Houston Timcs-Journal is published proudly for the citizens ol Houston
Larry
Hitchcock ,
News Editor
held on the front lawn of the plant, under
a huge circus-type tent. The whole affair
lasted almost three hours and not once
did I get even a whiff of sulfur fumes.
After the ceremonies, I was privileged
to get an extensive tour of the plant with
Russell Stevenson, plant environmental
manager, and Janet McElmurray, public
affair assistant, as my guides.
The Flint River Operation has won
three major environmental awards,
according to information in the press kit
prepared by McElmurray. The Georgia
Business and Industry Association’s Air
Quality Achievement Award and the
Georgia Lung Association’s Clean Air
Award were both received in 1983 and
the Georgia Wildlife Federation present
ed the plant with its Outstanding Air
Quality Control award in 1986, the first
time ever the Federation had so recog
nized an industry.
“Because of its effective odor control,
the plant has been recognized as lacking
the distinct aroma associated with the
Mr Cotton has received the President's
award for Distinguished Federal Civilian
Service and additionally, three
Decorations for exceptional civilian ser
vice, the first at age 31.
Houston County Hospital Complex
could not afford to hire the services of
this man unless he chose to perform the
job without compensation, as he did.
The Sunshine Law you refer to was
written to protect public institutions and
wisely so! It also serves to protect the
public when needed! The “loopholes”
you refer to are not "loopholes” but law.
How can you give the press the budget
when it is not completed? How can you
give the press information about quality
control which includes criticisms of our
personnel that could lead to a liability in
this litigious society? How can you give
the press information about our strategic
plans when it would give advantages to
our competitors and greedy individuals?
I can see the line waiting to purchase
the Sears property had we announced this
prior to the purchase. If you think that
“strategy,” i.e., strategic planning, has
been important for the board to protect in
the past, wait until the future, not next
year, but tomorrow, when the changes in
medicine in an attempt to curb the rising
costs will be occurring almost daily.
I concur on your favorable comments
about Mrs. Barbara Calhoun. I also
I
kraft pulping industry,” McElmurray’s
information sheet says.
I agree lOO percent.
“We want the community to know we
are here,” Stevenson said, “but not
through their noses. We collect the odor
ous steam and incinerate it.”
There is an overall environmental
investment of S7O million at the Flint
River plant, Stevenson said.
The plant has completely phased out
chlorine in its bleaching process, a chem
ical that has brought the rath of environ
mentalists down on other paper mills
because of suspected discharges of diox
in. Flint River uses chloride dioxide.
“We have never detected dioxin in our
effluent or our product,” Stevenson said.
New industry standards are being
developed by the Environmental
Protection Agency from standards that
are standard operating procedures at the
Flint River plant.
The air quality awards aren’t the only
ones the plant has won.
Water pollution is probably the second
most-often heard complaint about pulp
processing plants.
The Flint River plant’s outfall pipe
empties into the Flint River, but you
wouldn’t know it.
I’ve seen other discharge pipes and
you knew exactly where it was because
Letters to
the Editor
would hope that we could occasionally
adopt the philosophy that “good news is
indeed good news.”
Carl L. Beard M.D.
Warner Robins
D.A.R.E. graduation woes
Editor:
Recently I attended the D.A.R.E. grad
uation at the Agricenter in Perry. It was a
wonderful evening and we are so appre
ciative of Officer Bill Hathcock for all of
the hard work he put into the program.
Our daughter was so excited to be a
D.A.R.E. graduate that she bubbled all
night.
Unfortunately, it was also one of the
worst examples of adult leadership and
patience that we have ever observed.
During the slide presentation, a third
of the parents got up and left the auditori
um with their children. Granted, there
Houston Times- Journal
(See LETTERS, Page SA)
and adjoining counties by Houston Publications Inc., Perry, Ga. Our goal is to
produce quality, profitable, community-oriented newspapers that you, our
readers are proud of. We will reach this goal through hard work, teamwork,
loyalty and a strong dedication toward printing the truth.
Member of Georgia Press Association and National Newspaper
Association.
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prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of
the press, or of the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition
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address changes to the Houston Times-Joumal, P.O. Drawer M, Perry,
Ga. 31069. ISSN: 1075-1874.
foam surfaced immediately and the water
was always discolored for a long way
downstream.
At Oglethorpe, there are hundreds of
acres of settling ponds that the water
passes through before it gets close to the
Flint.
The water quality awards the plant has
won include the American Paper
Institute”s and the National Forest
Products Association’s Water Pollution
Control awards in 1982, the Georgia
Water Pollution and Control Association
award in 1985 and the prestigious Izaak
Walton League award in 1986.
The pbnt even uses the by-products of
the wood it buys the bark, knots and
other leftovers not suitable for making
pulp and generates 85 percent of the
plant’s power needs, enough to supply
25,000 homes. It even has some left over
to sell to commercial power companies.
Weyerhaeuser purchased the plant
from Procter & Gamble in late 1992.
P&G is still the plant’s biggest customer,
since it makes 300,000 tons of processed
pulp that eventually becomes Pampers.
There must be an omen there some
where. What else would you call it when
the Weyerhaeuser Flint River Operation
treats the environment the same as its
product treats the bottoms of millions of
babies with tender, loving care.
Bill
Chambless
City Building Official
Enforcement is
part of job
As director of the Planning and ■
Zoning Department, I welcome this
opportunity to share with the public the l
role we play in maintaining the “quality
of life" standards which all of us enjoy in
Perry. <’
This first article will focus more on
the specific responsibilities and duties of?
Planning and Zoning in an effort to gen- * -
erate questions which may be responded :
to in subsequent articles.
First is the administering and enforce
ment of the Perry Land Development •>
Ordinance. This ordinance establishes
requirements for land use, parking, land- <•
scaping, site development, stormwater •’
management, subdivision design, soil
erosion and sedimentation control, flood
damage prevention, sign ordnance and ’
other items.
Several of these requirements are
mandated by the State of Georgia for
local governments to enforce. They, in
part, have resulted from many years of
irresponsible stewardship toward our
ecology.
The Flood Prevention Ordinance
ensures that structures are not placed in J
flood hazard areas and further protects *
these areas so their purpose and effec
tiveness will be maintained.
Stormwater management ensures that
the increase in runoff due to development
will not impact downstream areas. Soil
erosion and sedimentation control
requires developments to install neces
sary measures to contain soil and sedi
ments onsite, thereby minimizing pollu
tants and siltatidn in our streams and
rivers.
These and other related state mandates
place the responsibility directly on the
developer
Second is administering and enforce
ment of construction codes, including the '
following: the Standard Building, ..
Mechanical, Gas, Plumbing, Housing,
Unsafe Building Abatement and
Swimming Pool Codes; the National
Electrical Code, Life Safety Code, One ;
and Two Family Dwelling Code, Georgia
State Energy Code and the Water ’
Conservation Standards.
The department also enforces the'
Code of the City of Perry Nuisance ‘
Ordinance which regulates abandoned
vehicles, overgrown lots, junk and so ■
forth.
(See CHAMBLESS, Page SA) ;R
