LARGE CROWD ATTENDS FESTIVAL
A large crowd was on hand for the 32nd Maysville Autumn Leaf
Festival in the city park last weekend. The event included a
parade, entertainment, food and arts and crafts. It was sponsored
by the Maysville Community Improvement Club.
Maysville works toward improving water
system
BY SHERRY LEWIS
Maysville officials want to know how they can better serve their
existing water customers and plan for future growth.
The city council voted Monday to hire Precision Planning to do
a complete water and sewer analysis to give them suggestions
on how to improve the water supply. Jerry Hood, of Precision
Planning, has not given the council an estimated cost of the
project but the council and water superintendent Ralph Sailors
all agreed that the work needs to be done. Mayor Richard Presley
said the city has Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST)
funds available that could most likely cover the cost of the
project.
Sailors told members about the history of the system that was
built around 1950.
"We have a very old water system," he said. "It
has been patched, repaired and kept going. The only improvement
we've done over the years is add one storage tank."
He told the council that the system has gone from serving 300
to 650 customers in the last five years. Presley agreed that
the city needs to take care of those customers and plan for growth.
"We've got to start somewhere," he said. "We can't
do anything until we come up with a water source. The growth
is here. The growing pains hurt but we've got to deal with it."
Sailors went a step further and asked the council to place a
moratorium on all future development except subdivisions that
are already in the planning stages and single-family dwellings.
Sailors based this request on discussions with Precision Planning
following a request to extend water lines up West Ridgeway Road.
Property Development Group wants the city to annex a piece of
property and supply water to a proposed 50 house subdivision.
The property is currently owned by Robert Holland.
"We are in very serious condition due to the availability
of water and water storage," Sailors said. "We don't
need to jeopardize our fire rating. There are areas where the
flow is just not there. We have two and three inch lines that
were put in a hurry just to get water to a certain area."
The city attorney advised members not to consider a moratorium
until after the complete analysis is done.
"A moratorium is a sticky issue," he said. "There
is a lot of litigation on that right now."
He also reminded council members that they are not required to
provide water or annex the property.
"The city is not required to annex anything," he said.
"In fact, they have the absolute right not to. You don't
have to provide the water. That is a discretionary service."
Precision Planning conducted a study on providing water to the
proposed subdivision. Their suggestion was to install a new 10-inch
water main from the six-inch main at Oak Ridge Subdivision to
the new subdivision, continue it through the subdivision to Mangum
Bridge Road and connect it to the city of Commerce water main
on Yarbrough Ridgeway Road to loop the system. Also, they suggested
that the city replace the existing six-inch main from the elevated
storage tank in town to the entrance of the proposed subdivision.
The estimated cost of this project is $275,000.
The council agreed to delay any action on extending the water
to that area until the complete analysis
is done.
News wins five national awards
The Banks County News won five awards
in the National Newspaper Association's Better Newspaper Contest.
The awards include: first place sports feature; second place
best writing; third place freedom of information; third place
best sports pages; and honorable mention excellence in layout
and design. The awards were for newspapers with circulation of
5,000 or less.
The awards were presented at the annual NNA convention last weekend
in Boston, Mass. Only six other Georgia newspapers won awards
in the contest, including three others owned by MainStreet Newspapers.
The Commerce News won honorable mention for best editorial. The
Jackson Herald won second place for public notice and promotion
and The Madison County Journal won third place for community
service and honorable mention for best feature photo.
BOE considers
how to move on supt. search
BY SHERRY LEWIS
Getting professional help to find a new superintendent could
cost the Banks County Board of Education from $3,500 to $10,000
or more.
The BOE is mulling over whether to hire a professional search
company to find potential candidates or conduct the search themselves.
On Thursday, Russ Cook, regional director from the Georgia Department
of Education, gave the BOE three possible candidates to do the
search. The Georgia School Board would conduct a search for $5,000;
the Institute of Continuing Education for School Leaders' price
tag would be from $3,500 to $6,000; and Rogers, Hight and Associates
would charge $10,000. The prices do not include the cost of travel.
The BOE will hear a presentation from each of the groups later
this month before making a decision on how to proceed.
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