— 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. i '«• .' CK • ' ' ' 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 I'kl MillM C i A S C . K I 1 I S The Most Durable Grill Known To Man! roilmaster is the only permium gas grill rated "Best Buy" by a leading consumer products magazine. 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 1. YOU CALL US. 2. YOU GET A WEB SITE. Open your biuinew to million* of potential customer*. You can have • web flu custom-built for you uxUy. Contact ihe on-line ulei department at StviiuutiNow. : 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 at www.p6rformahceauction.com AUCTION & REALTY COMPANY (912) 681-8595 Fax (912) 681-8597 Performance By Professionals Tommy Childi, Broker/Auctioneer G.A.L. 1819 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.