Document 6511351

— Savannah Morning News • Friday. April 28,2000 ••
J1EADS UP
Athletic boosters for South
, Effingham High School and South
Jtffjngham Middle School will
meet at 7 p.m. Monday at the
high school.
^» Effingham County chapter of
the American Cancer Society will
hold its "Bank Night" fund-raiser at
6 p.m. Tuesday in the board room
. of Bank of America in Springfield.
Organizers are asking teams to
bring in their money at this time.
The Guyton City Council will hold
a workshop to discuss forming a
city police department at 5 p.m.
Tuesday at City Hall on Magnolia
Street.
,
The Effingham County
; Commission will meet at 8:30 a.m.
Tuesday in the County
Administrative Complex on Laurel
Street in Springfield. For details,
tall 754-2101.
; The Consumer Credit Counseling .
; Services of Savannah will offer a
; free workshop on debt
jnanagement at 6;30 p.m. Tuesday
', at the Springfield library on Ga.
•J19. To reserve a spot in the class,
l 691-2227.
,
.
The Effingham County Hospital
• Authority will meet at 7:15 p.m.
Tuesday in the board room of
"Effingham Hospital on Ga. 119. For
details,
call 754-6451. ext.
160.
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Committee ponders how to govern water, sewer services
By Charlts Cochran
Savannah Morning News
When several members of-a water
and sewer committee complained
about the county government's decision to provide water to a subdivision
on Honey Ridge Road. Dean Moss
had heard it all before.
"The talk around this table is very
familiar to me. This is a very political
business," said Moss, general manager of the Beaufort-Jasper Water and
Sewer Authority,
Moss, who is overseeing a $14 million operations budget and an $11
million construction budget thisyear,
attended an Effingham County water
committee meeting to explain how
independent utility authorities work.
One advantage of creating such an
authority, Moss said, would be to
minimize the role that politics plays
in providing water and sewer service
to homes and businesses.
Effingham's water and sewer committee includes officials from the
county government,".the county's
three cities, the school board, and the
industrial authority. It is grappling
with the.question of how to provide
water and sewer service to county
residents over the next 50 years.
The creation of a governing utilities
authority is one option the committee is considering, along with various
sorts of agreements between city and
county governments.
Several committee members were
irked when they learned that county
commissioners —. in a vote that was
taken without first mentioning anything to- the committee — decided
April 4 to build a well and lay water
lines to a subdivision on Honey Ridge
Road west of Guyton.
Commissioner Larry Weddle
acknowledged that commissioners
probably should have said something
before the vote. But the county government has been talking about
installing water wells for at least a
year, Weddle said.
"We probably, in all honesty,
should have said something first But
some issues came up that we had to
deal with," Weddle said. "It is not the
intent of the commission to sidetrack
this committee."
. Developer Mike. Stewart is proposing to build upscale homes in the
, $200,000 to $300,000 range along the
scenic road south of Ga. 119, inside
the area where the state Environmental Protection Division put a five-year
cap on new water systems in April
1997.
Weddle said the proposed well site
about one mile northwest of Money
Ridge Estates will also serve other
subdivisions, with water lines eventually running back toward Guyton
and up nearby Old Louisville Road.
"The project is, quite frankly in our
opinion, complementary to what
we've been discussing in this group,"
Weddle said.
.
Guyton Mayor C.D. Dean said he
had last discussed the Honey Ridge
project with county officials about
two months ago, and had been left
with the impression that it would be
taken up with the committee first. "1
don't mind telling you there are
some City Council members who are
upset about this," Dean said.
The availability of county water
could interfere with the city's hopes
of annexing property in 'the area,
Dean said.
The county's failure to discuss its
plans with the committee in
advance didn't sit* well with Rincon
City Council member Paul Wendelken. "I feel like this is an undermining of the whole process, and
I'm very frustrated and disturbed by
it," he said.
Wendelken has questioned
whether the county's waiter project is
legal under a state-mandated services delivery agreement that the
county government has with the
cities of Rincon, Springfield.and
Guyton,
The agreement is being renegotiated, but it currently states that only
city governments can deliver water
to homes, Wendelken said;
The state Department of Community Affairs has said the county isn't
violating any rules,County Administrator Lamar Crosby said. '. .
"lust as Guytbn, Springfield and
SHORT-TERM
Effingham County's water management plan offers both^hort-term and
longer-term solutions for getting water to subdivisions in the southern .
part of the county, where the state EPO has put a cap on new community
water systems. •
'
•
In the short-term (through 2010), it proposes a $4.2 million system of .
wells to supply water from north of Ga, 119 - outside the capped area. ,
Groundwater wells could also be drilled in the south end of the county, .
but that would require offsets from industrial users in Chatham County.;
LONG-TERM
A water and sewer committee is also looking at ways to provide water
and sewer service to fast-growing subdivisions in the southern part of the
county through 2050:
.
Water options:
.
• Surface water from the Savannah River. Through 2030, would cost an _
estimated $31 million to build it and $4.8 million per year to run it : .
• Hooking into Savannah's water system. Costs through 2030: $5.6 million
to build it, and $3.25 million per year to run it.
Stwtr options:
• A county wide sewage treatment system that discharges effluent into,
about 75 acres of wetlands. Would cost $28.1 million by 2050.
• Land application, spraying effluent over about 1,000 acres. Cost: $57.7;
miilidn by 2050. including land.
;
• Piping effluent to the Savannah River, which is not seen as a politically
realistic option. Cost: $343 million.(
Rincon are moving forward with
planning, we are doing the same,"
Crosby said. "We can't wait a year for
this committee to make a decision
before moving forward,"
Meanwhile, Moss offered the
vision of an independent utility
authority would make decisions in
an environment relatively free of
politics. "We've taken one argument
off the table for city and county governments, freeing them up to deal
with other issues," he said.
Also, managing all of the county's
through one central authority makes
sense* financially, Moss said: "It
brings an economy of scale that's
hard to argue," he said. "There's no
way to get around the fact that bigger is better. Size matters."
••
"The Effingham County Board of
Education will meet at 2 p.m.
-Wednesday in the board room of
the school system's central office
«n Ash Street in Springfield. For
details, call 754-6491.
:
0 REACH US
Mail: P.O. Box 217, Rmcon. GA
31326
_Phone: 826-1290
Fax:826-1293 *
Email: Region reporter
•Charles Cochran
at [email protected]
Or visit us:
, Rincon Bureau
293 Columbia Ave.
Rincon, GA 31326
Today is the
last day to file
for the July 18
primary. The
general
2000
election will be Nov. 7.
SHERIFF
Duties: County's chief law.
enforcement official, supervising
more than 80 employees.
Maintains peace, protects life and
•property, services and executes —
warrants, provides courtroom
security and related duties.
Serves summons, subpoenas and
BROILMASTER
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ERN FIRBPLACfi ft MARBLE
S55-3090 • 7176 Hodflfon MMnoital Dr,
other civil processes.
Term: 4 years
Salary. $46.150
Lloyd C. Fulcher Sr.
Party: Republican
Occupation: Retired
Background: Was hired as a deputy
in 1965, and served as sheriff 19721979. As a noncommissioned
officer in the
Army Air Corps
in the 1940s.
helped to train
soldiers for the
27th Bomb Wing
stationed at
Savannah Army
.Air Base (later
known as
Fokher
Hunter Army
Airfield). During
the1950s.he
worked in military intelligence,
helping to interrogate German
prisoners of war returned from
the Soviet Union. Following his
retirement from in the military in
. the early 1960s, put in a stint as
Springfield's police chief.
THE PROCESS FOR GETTING A
BUSINESS WEB SITE CAN
BE PRETTY INTIMIDATING:
the Rincon Noon Lion's Club.
Personal: Age 80, married 58 years
to Matra Fulcher. Member of
Personal- Married to Rebecca,
attends St. Johns Church in
Springfield First Baptist Church.
Top issues: Reorganization of
Savannah.
Top issues: Continuing to look for
sheriff's department; Would cut
the budget, reducing staff and
ways to become .more efficient
'and provide better service, and
eliminating the job title "chief
continuing to work on reducing
deputy." Top priority is "taking
care of our children."
. the number of burglaries and
other crimes. Keeping deputies
Quote: "They're spending too much
visible by hiring new officers as
money in the sheriff's department
needed to keep up with the
and not getting the job done." '
county's growth.
.••;.••
Opponents: Incumbent Jay Space,
Quote: "Due to increased visibility in
and former deputy Jimmy
residential areas, burglaries have
McDuffie
'
declined and violent crimes have
Jay Space
remained low despite the county's
rapid rise in population."
Party: Republican
Occupation:
Opponents: Former sheriff Lloyd
Incumbent
Fulcher, and former deputy Jimmy
sheriff
McDuffie
Background: Was
COUNTY COMMISSION
the sheriff
department's
Hubert Stpp
chief
Position: County Commission,
investigator
Space
District V
when he was
Duties;
One of five district
elected sheriff
commissioners, representing
in 19%. Served
on an advisory committee for
constituents in District 1. County
commission sets millage rates;
Treutlen House; member of the
appropriates budgets for each'
board of Effingham County United
county department; establishes
.Way. Active in many civic clubs,
land uses and zoning for
including a stint as president of
unincorporated
Effingham
County; builds*
and maintains
roads and
bridges; and
makes . ' . ' • appointments
to county
boards and
commissions.
Term: 4 years
Salary: $6,000
Party: Republican
Occupation: Semi-retired, selfemployed businessman
Background: A resident of Meldrim
most of his life. Member of
Richard T. Turner Masonic Lodge
and of the Meldrim Civic Club.
Personal: Married to letitia Sapp for
37 years, with four adult children.
Attends Meldrim Methodist
Church.
Top Issues: Development of a
countywide water and sewer
system.
Quote: "What a lot of people don't
understand is that tax dollars are
not spent on water and sewer. You
secure loans that the water
, system and sewer system stand
good for."
Opponents: None
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for you uxUy. Contact ihe on-line ulei
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STATE
Gov. BARNES SIGNS ANIMAL
CRUEUY BILL THURSDAY •
E-mail us today) gtmlkyOsayannahnawLcom
H O M E COLLE6TION
SAV/
_
www.savannahnow.com
Saturday, May 13 at 10 a.m.
Gentleman's Country Retreat
2101 Acres Bulloch County
Statesboro Georgia
C S r t » ; . t DrVt'lopnuMit Pot iMit nil!
(Cottvehicirt Loo^ofi to O^.tr,to(l
East Georgia Regional Medical Center)
To be sold in 4-20 acre tracts or offered as a whole.
Directions: From Siaicshoro. lake Mwy 67 South, one mile from Veteran's Memorial Parkway, turn right on Rurkhalter
Har> ille Road. Go one tenth of a mile, turn right on Ungslon Chapel Road. Property located (wo tenthsof i mite on left.
Stk Site: AUCTION TO BE HELD ON PROPERTY SITK
Rwl Rtlile Tfrrrw: Purchaser \\ill deposit 2fH of the purchase price down on Auction day, sign a real estate sale*
contract with the balance due at closing on or before 6/13/00.
10% Buyers Premium Added
Call for A FREE Brochure or Visit Our Website
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AUCTION & REALTY COMPANY
(912) 681-8595 Fax (912) 681-8597
Performance By Professionals
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Wayne Deloach, Site Manager
Tht Associated Prtss
FRIDAY ft SATURDAY ONLY
9am-6pm
Scratched, Dented, Discontinued Items
Warehouse Items
All Drastically Reduced
• Coffee Tables * Solas • Tables
• Chests • Dressers • Chelrs
•PLUS -
Specially Marked Items
Throughout the Entire Storel „.„
EASTERN FURNITURE MART
232-3399 £S, ail
HlA/V 17 SOUth (2 Miles South oi Sams CluD)
ATLANTA — Beginning next week,
there will be new and harsher pe&alties for extreme cases of animal crjjejty under a bill signed into law Thursday by Gov. Roy Barnes.
• |•
The measure, approved by the Lfgislature before it adjourned in March,
takes effect May 1.
"We shouldn't tolerate animal cruelty" Barnes said. "One of the tilings
that we found out is those that Jare
cruel to animals generally end 5 up
being cruel to humtuu later. I think
... we needed to have increased
penalties."
I
Sen. Robert Brown, D-Maoon,
introduced the bill after news reports
last year told of boys setting a kitten
on fire, a puppy who was muujed
with wire wrapped around his fjbse
and a cat shot with a bow and arnjw.
Even so, the initial proposal fitted
serious resistance from some legflators, particularly House members.
During debate hi that chamber, fene
lawmaker wondered if his daughter
could be charged with abandonment
for setting a canary;free. Anoffcer
asked If he could be prosecutedjjfor
castrating a bull.
£
The measure eventually passef in
a compromise version after exrtptions were made for shooting threatening dogs and for fishing.
Cruelty to animals now is a mjsdemeaner in Georgia. The bill would
make the most serious cases ofjanimal tonure and dismemberment
punishable as felonies, with a maximum sentence of five years in prison.