By Jimmy Ezzell
True Citizen Editor

The 2002 budget includes a 2 percent salary increase for all county employees. $216,000 was added to the original spending plan crafted by former county administrator Billy Hopper to finance the salary increases. In order to balance the budget the commission trimmed budget requests from department heads' "wish list" and those recommended by Hopper to give the pay hikes and keep the budget in balance. Other revenues will come from user fees approved by the commission. They authorized the drafting of a resolution that will establish a 911 fee of $1.50 per telephone line that will yield approximately $200,000 in new revenues. However, at the same time county taxpayers will receive credit for the new fee with a tax rollback that will help offset the additional cost to them. The 911 fees will apply to the nearly 10,000 individual and business telephone lines in the county. Another 500 lines will be exempt from the fees because they are government lines and not subject to the fee.

Implementation of the 911 charge cannot begin until 90 days after the commission formally approves the resolution. The fees will be collected by Southern Bell and they will receive a 3 percent fee for doing this on the monthly telephone bill. The commission also agreed to charge a tipping fee each time someone uses the county landfill. This will also include the city of Waynesboro. The amount of the tipping charge has not been determined yet. The commission agreed to establish a garbage collection charge to all residents in the county. This will affect approximately 12,000 individual homes and businesses. Waldrop said the charge, which has not yet been determined, but is expected to be in place by the Jan. 10 public hearing, will be included in the county tax bill that they receive in the fall from the tax commissioner's office. The vote on the 911 fee and the garbage collection charges was unanimous.

To balance the budget was not without pain and sometime dissenting votes on the part of some commission members. In order to fund the salary increases, much less than department heads had requested, the commission had to reduce the original budget and few departments were spared from the knife. They also added to some budgets new equipment that was not included in the original proposal and did so only after department heads had shown a need. All dispatcher salaries and telephone service relating to 911 were cut from the budget and will be financed by the 911 fees. Waldrop explained that a special 911 department budget will be established because the 911 fee can only be used for 911 related expenses. They cannot be used in the general operating budget. The commissioners cut out several appropriations that some felt did not fall under the scope of county funding. This included $5,000 for the Community In Schools program; $7,300 for the Burke County Child Development Center; and $2,400 for the National Guard. They also cut out a part-time yardman assigned to the armory in the public buildings budget saving $5,000 annually. These appropriations had been in previous budgets for a number of years. In the sheriff's office budget, $68,269 was deleted from the overall request. When Sheriff Greg Coursey appeared before the commission several weeks ago, he told them he did not plan to fill two vacancies he will have in his department. One of his chief deputies is retiring in early January, and Coursey has a logistics slot he is not filling.

The budget also contained three new cars for the sheriff's office but one of them was deleted for a savings of another $22,000. Commissioner Wayne Crockett said he thought the sheriff's office had too many people. "They (the sheriff's office) are top heavy and they have too many people." He also said he thought the office had too many cars and too many mid-management people, questioning why some of these people cannot fill in when there are shortages on shifts thereby cutting down on the overtime for the sheriff's office. Waldrop and Hopper both reminded the commissioners that the sheriff is a constitutional officer and the only control they have on the operations is in the bottom line in the budget. "You cannot tell him how to run his operation," Waldrop said. The road department budget for new equipment was cut by $111,000. However, the equipment requested will be purchased from proceeds from the Special Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) since the equipment will be used in paving new roads. The Superior Court clerk's office, the office of the chief magistrate and the office of state court solicitor each received an additional $5,000 to pay for position upgrades in these three agencies. The county landfill budget was increased by $64,500 for new equipment, which is one half the cost of a new garbage packer to be financed over two budgets. This was not included in the original budget presented in November, according to Hopper.

The Burke County Emergency Management Agency had requested more than $100,000 in new equipment, but Hopper had reduced it down to $40,000. During the all-day budget session last Thursday, the commission added $40,000 to the equipment requests including air packs and a new vehicle for the duty chief. Funds were also added to the fire budget to continue the lease on the vehicle used by EMA Chief Earl Porterfield and other needed equipment. The tax assessors' office also received an additional $22,000 in their budget with $6,000 earmarked for contractual services and the remainder to replace a vehicle. The Burke County Library budget was reduced by $20,027 that is a position they will not be filled because of movement of personnel brought about by the retirement of Velna Glisson in October.

(Editor's note: The selection of the top 10 stories in Burke County for the year 2001 was difficult. However, without a doubt, the terrorist attacks on our country on Sept. 11, is the top story.

While the events occurred in New York City, Washington and Pennsylvania, they had a sudden and shocking effect on our community and will continue to do so in the years to follow. Had it not been for these cowardly attacks by terrorists, the continuing saga of the plight of our Burke County farmers once again would have taken the top spot as it has for the past several years. It is our second most important story. Here are what we at The True Citizen believe to be the top 10 stories in Burke County for 2001.)

No. 1 The terrorist attacks Word of the hijacking of four domestic airlines on Sept. 11 resulting in two of them crashing into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center and a third, minutes later into the Pentagon in Washington spread quickly in the Burke County community. Many Burke Countians were glued to their television screens and saw one of the airlines hit the second tower. Word spread that a third had hit the Pentagon and a few minutes later that a fourth aircraft had crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. The community was in shock. Our country was under siege by terrorists, it wasn't happening in another country, but here in the United States.

That was all that the community was talking about. Within hours after the attacks security at Plant Vogtle, the nuclear generating power station in northern Burke County, was beefed up with deputies from the Burke County Sheriff's Office and Georgia State Patrol troopers. City police launched an immediate patrol of the city's water treatment plant to be on the safe side. Many events were canceled for several days. As the weeks passed, fund-raisers for the families of victims of the disaster that claimed several thousand lives were underway. In the CSRA Augusta Mayor Bob Young set a goal of raising a million dollars in a week for the Sept. 11 Fund. More than $1 million was raised, and Burke Countians contributed more than $30,000 to it. Then in mid-October, the anthrax scare hit Burke County. A number of residents called local law enforcement officials about receiving mail containing a white powdery substance they thought might be anthrax. Since that time more than 50 instances of people receiving mail with suspicious substances on it have called authorities. All cases thus far have been negative so far as being anthrax. The Sept. 11 attacks today remain a concern in the community with everyone asking where the next attack may be.

No. 2 Farm losses Burke County farmers continue to write off farm losses because of the continuing drought of the past few years. However, the year 2001 has not all been negative to some county farmers, depending on what area of the county they live in and whether crops were irrigated. Richard McDaniel, the Burke County coordinator for the University of Georgia Extension Service, said farm income "on the whole" will be around $65 to $70 million dollars which is up from last year's disaster season of around $60 million. However, he said, "It is still well below the norm of $90 million." Despite the lack of rainfall in many areas of the county, McDaniel said crops have been pretty good. He noted that this year the county is 15.35 inches below the normal rainfall for the year. This year is the second driest year on record.

The driest came in 1999. McDaniel said the corn harvest this year was excellent with the county yield of 130 bushels per acre. Cotton yield this year was slightly below average producing about 650 pounds per acre. Another major crop, peanuts, was good and bad, depending on where the crop was in the county. One local farmer, Joey Flakes, produced nearly 7,000 pounds per acre, which McDaniel said is probably a county record.

No. 3 Plant closings The year 2001 saw the announcement that two longtime industries, Gary Safe International and Globe Business Furniture, were closing down - a move that resulted in the loss of 205 jobs. Globe announced in 1995 it was coming to Waynesboro, and in December of 1997 the company announced it had produced its one-millionth table at the plant. In the February announcement of shutting down, company officials said it was being done because the wood tables this plant produced were no longer the choice of the customers who now favored the more light weight plastic type tables. They employed 130 people. The 125,000 square foot building remains empty today but is on the market.

A month after the Globe announcement, officials of Fire King International based in New Albany, Ind., said they were closing the local plant and moving its operations to New Albany. The closing meant 75 workers were out of jobs. Gary Safe opened in Waynesboro in 1991 as Allied-Gary Safe Company and remained that until 1997 when it was purchased by NKL Industries out of Chesapeake, Va., which later sold to Fire King.

No. 4 Minister's stabbing The Jan. 26 armed robbery and stabbing of the Rev. Wayne Dixon in the carport of his home shocked the community. Those involved in the crime, Travis Osborne, 20, of Lovers Lane in Waynesboro and Charles Collins, 25, of Highway 25 in Burke County, pleaded guilty to the aggravated assault and robbery of the 54-year-old pastor of Botsford Baptist Church. Chief Judge William M. Fleming Jr. sentenced both men to life in prison for armed robbery, 20 years in prison for aggravated assault, 5 years for possessing a firearm in the commission of a crime and 5 years for possession of cocaine, all to run concurrently with the life sentence. The incident occurred early that Friday night after Dixon had arrived home. The pair had been hiding waiting for him to come home. When they confronted Dixon, one of them pushed a gun to his chest and told him he was going to shoot him. Dixon started struggling with the man, and the other man pulled out a knife and stabbed him several times. Dixon had thrown his wallet into the yard and after he was stabbed both men ran but picked up the wallet. A passerby gave Burke County Sheriff's Office investigators a description of the getaway car and several days later saw it in Waynesboro. He told authorities, resulting in the arrest of the pair The unidentified informant later received a $3,065 reward after the men were convicted.

No. 5 Administrator's retirement The announced retirements by Burke County Administrator Billy Hopper and Waynesboro City Administrator Jack Brantley took the No. 5 top 10 slot. Hopper, who served 28 years as county administrator and nearly eight years as city administrator before coming to the county, officially retired Monday, Dec. 31. His original retirement date was Oct. 31, but he was asked to stay on as an advisor in the transition period with the newly hired administrator Merv Waldrop. Brantley announced in mid-November he was retiring at the end of February 2002. Brantley, who replaced Hopper as the city administrator has served for 23 years. He came to the city after a 22-year hitch in the U.S. Army where he was a finance and accounting officer.

No. 6 Dixon loses suit The No. 6 story was the No. 8 story in 2000 and centers around a federal suit filed by Joanne Dixon claiming gender discrimination in the filing of a board of education seat in 1999. In late September of 2001, 17 months after her suit, a federal judge in Augusta dismissed the suit. The order of Judge Dudley A. Bowen Sr., chief judge of the United States District Court in Augusta, in essence cleared Burke County, Charles Perry, the foreman of the grand jury which named a school board replacement, and Augusta Judicial Circuit District Attorney Danny Craig who advised the jury.

In November, an attorney for Dixon filed notice in federal court that she was appealing Judge Bowen's dismissal of her suit to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. The attorney said he did not expect the appeals court to take the case up until later this year (2002).

No. 7 New county leadership For the first time in eight years the Burke County Commission gained a new chairman. Jimmy Dixon of District 4 was elected chairman on a 3-0 vote with newcomer Wayne Crockett of District 3 casting the deciding vote. He succeeded Ellis Godbee who had been chairman since 1993 but was defeated in the 2000 election by Crockett. Commissioner Frank Williams was elected unanimously as vice chairman. But before that vote, Williams had been nominated for the chairmanship by Herman Lodge, but the nomination did not receive a second. Woodrow Harvey than nominated Dixon, who seconded his own nomination. On the vote Lodge and Williams abstained making it necessary for Crockett to cast the third winning vote.

No. 8 State Court solicitor A new State Court judge took office Jan. 1 of 2001 and by mid-March, the veteran State Court Solicitor Marion Cotten had submitted his resignation after 33 years in the position. In a one-sentence letter dated March 13 to Gov. Roy Barnes, Cotten said, "Please be advised that I have decided to resign as Solicitor General of Burke County Georgia, effective at midnight April 20, 2001." Cotten was first elected to the job in 1978 and took office in January of 1979 and had been there ever since. He ran unopposed in 1998 and his present term expires Dec. 31 of this year. He has never given any reason for his resignation, and the new State Court Judge Jerry Daniel said he talked with Cotten and was told the resignation was for "personal reasons." On July 18, after several months' delay, Gov. Barnes appointed Waynesboro attorney Jackson E. Cox to fill Cotten's unexpired term. When Cotten resigned Cox immediately expressed interest in the position. He had the support of Daniel who had written a letter to the governor endorsing Cox for the post.

No. 9 Dalenberg terminated Waynesboro's Assistant Police Chief, Phil Dalenberg, was abruptly terminated Feb. 12 when the city council eliminated his position. His termination came on the recommendation of Police Chief Karl E. Allen who said the city no longer needed an assistant chief's slot, so it was abolished by council. Dalenberg had held the post since June of 1997 when Alfonzo Williams, then the assistant police chief, resigned to accept other employment. Since his termination Dalenberg has filed a suit in Burke County Superior Court saying his dismissal was without merit and without warning. Thus far, no court date has been set for trial of the suit.

No. 10 Fair record Good fair weather in October resulted in record-breaking attendance for the Waynesboro Exchange Club's 42nd annual fair. The five-night run ended on Oct. 13, with a paid attendance of 9,796. The previous high attendance was recorded in 1996 when 9,388 tickets were sold. The last day attendance, a Saturday, saw 4,296 persons buy tickets for admittance to the grounds. This was short of the record attendance for a Saturday set in 2000 when 4,590 people crowded the grounds. As a result of the record-breaking attendance the Exchange Club will be able to fund its many community projects such as the Empty Stocking Fund and provide scholarships for students attending Burke County High School and Edmund Burke Academy. The fair is the club's only fund-raising event.