Walker County’s elderly, poor, and disabled who don’t have vehicles or cannot drive depend on Walker Transit busses to get to the doctor, to shop, and for social activities.

Last week, in order to save funds for her pet projects, Bebe Heiskell delayed renewing a contract to keep those busses running. The contract was set to begin on July 1 – today. That means a loss of about two dozen jobs and people who could literally DIE because they couldn’t get to the store or go the doctor for things like dialysis or cancer treatment.

WQCH Radio, 06/28/13: “THE WALKER TRANSIT BUS SYSTEM MAY FALL VICTIM TO DECLINING COUNTY REVENUES. COMMISSIONER BEBE HEISKELL IS DEBATING WHETHER TO RENEW A CONTRACT FOR THE BUS SERVICE.

“THE BUSES HAVE BEEN IN OPERATION FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS, BUT WALKER COUNTY TOOK OVER THE DAILY OPERATION 6 YEARS AGO. IT IS FUNDED BY A 50-50 GRANT FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT – AND DELIVERED TO WALKER THROUGH THE STATE D.O.T. THE LOCAL SHARE IS 348-THOUSAND DOLLARS, AND THAT’S THE AMOUNT THAT THE COMMISSIONER SAID COUNTY GOVERNMENT MAY NOT BE ABLE TO AFFORD.

“SHE STRUCK APPROVAL OF THE WALKER TRANSIT GRANT OFF THE AGENDA AT THURSDAY’S MEETING, SAYING SHE WOULD MAKE THAT DECISION AT A LATER DATE.”

Reading about Heiskell’s decision on LU Facebook, outraged citizens called the Commissioner’s Office and personal cell phone, demanding she fund the transit system.

Callers were initially told that two other transit services – Lookout Mountain Community Services and Angel Medical – could provide similar service. That proved untrue: Lookout Mountain only provides transportation for its own enrolled clients going to its own facilities, and Angel Medical (owned by coroner DeWayne Wilson’s family) charges $40 per trip plus mileage. (Walker Transit charges a flat rate of $2 per trip.)

During a call with reporters from Channel 3 late Friday afternoon, Heiskell backtracked and said she will sign a “temporary” contract funding Walker Transit through July 31. That gives citizens a month to either force Bebe to renew the program for another year, or make plans to replace it when she shuts it down permanently.         

Downtown LaFayette looks nice, but all the new concrete, narrower streets, and new signage/poles make it difficult for larger vehicles to navigate. Thursday a truck knocked something over at the intersection of Villanow St. and Main, and it’s not the first time this has occurred.

In response, LaFayette is (per WQCH) pushing to have GA 193 declared an official truck route and “discourage” large trucks from driving through downtown.

“Discourage” isn’t an outright ban, and they can’t legally prohibit trucks from using Villanow St. or Main St. because both are state highways – but by “discouraging” large vehicles the city (both in the street project and in these statements) is discouraging businesses that need truck access.

Our beautiful downtown will really shine when we run off UPS, FedEx, Franks Trucking, Syntec, Fred’s, ShopRite, Bi-Lo, Dollar General, and any other businesses in the area that regularly get large truck deliveries. Making downtown LaFayette look like downtown Chickamauga is going to result in downtown LaFayette having the same number of viable downtown businesses Chickamauga has – zero.

And what about school busses?   

Dozens of people called Walker 911 on June 20th to report the Happy Valley Farms fire. Audio from some of those calls has been released to the media.

Investigators have ruled out a lightning strike and have found no evidence of arson; an electrical engineer will visit Happy Valley Farm today to see if an electrical problem might have sparked the blaze.

Investigators say it could take several more weeks to decide what caused the fire since the extreme heat left little evidence. Authorities are still hoping someone has a video or photo that can verify which part of the barn caught fire first.     

A huge fire last Thursday night at Happy Valley Farms in the Rossville area killed 35 horses and caused millions of dollars in damage. Two barns on the complex were spotted ablaze around 8:30 Thursday on the farm near Ridgeland High School. Walker County fire crews and farm employees responded quickly, but due to the nature of barn fires both buildings and all but one of the horses inside were lost.

Fortunately the 45-year-old farm has over 100 surviving horses, including 25 new foals. The farm is expected to remain in business and rebuild.

None of the lost animals were insured, and the owner will not make a statement as to their value since she considered them to be priceless. The buildings were valued at $1.1 million. Total losses, including the horses, are somewhere between $4 and $6 million – greater than the total value of all property lost to fire in Walker County last year.

Fire investigators from Walker County, GBI, and FBI/BATF have checked the site seeking to determine a cause. Sources say investigators have a theory but need photos or video from the earliest stages of the fire to verify their suspicions. So if you did happen to get something when the fire was first noticed, contact Walker County Fire.           

Per many residents, there have been vehicle break-ins and attempted break-ins all over town, again, in recent weeks. Police say 11 vehicles have been broken into or stolen outright in the last two weeks. Investigators suspect the thieves are teens.

Multiple, multiple reports of police cruisers in residential areas spotlighting in people’s yards. This isn’t the kind of thing the community wants on a regular basis, but if they have to shine a light through the fence for a few days as part of catching whoever’s doing this, we can live with it. They’re not looking in anybody’s windows. So far.

But police can’t be everywhere. Keep vehicles and gates/outbuildings/doors locked at night and report anything suspicious to 911. Maybe LaFayette needs it’s own “Glock Block.”     

Interim LaFayette City Manager Max Morrison says Walker County cut its funding promise to the library renovation project from $1.5 million to $1 million, and now can’t come up with the last $300k of that.

Mayor Florence and three present members of the council all agreed during last Monday’s meeting that the county seems to be pushing the city to pay money the county owes to finish remodeling, and Councilman Bradford suggests the county is doing something shady:

“‘The Bank of LaFayette is going to make her a loan, but put on paper that it is really us?’ council member Ben Bradford asked. ‘It sounds like (the county) is trying to use our property to get around some kind of law or regulation.'”

City council willingness to call Bebe Heiskell out on her crap just shows how politically weak she’s become. Everybody’s tired of her crooked, unaccountable leadership and tired of being bullied or threatened.

“Heiskell stated that should the SPLOST vote in November pass in Walker County, she will soon afterwards take out a loan against the SPLOST to help the library finish out the remainder of its renovation.”

That’s typical of the Commissioner’s thin threats. Pass SPLOST or your library won’t get done. Bullying, attempts at intimidation, and broken promises. That style of leadership is no longer effective or wanted; props to LaFayette leaders for finally saying what everyone else thinks and refusing to take responsibility for the county’s debts.

SPLOST sales taxes were renewed by voters in 2008 with the understanding that some county funds would go towards a library renovation. That was in the ballot language and also mentioned by advocates for the tax. Funds generated by SPLOST are supposed to be set aside for specific projects mentioned in the vote. If the Commissioner told the city or library she would commit $1.5 million to the project and then failed to do so, it could be grounds for a major lawsuit.   

According to Commissioner Heiskell, one reason the library is being shafted is the county’s lack of funds. Last week she took steps necessary to obtain a $3 million loan to fund the county through September. $3 million in June is a million more than last year’s $2 million loan taken out in August, indicating that the county’s financial position is growing worse.

Heiskell continues to blame the county’s bad finances on everything except herself. In addition to taxpayers, seniors, and the rising cost of asphalt, Heiskell also blames the money crunch on lower fines in county courtrooms. She says she has no choice but to take out this loan and furlough the county employees who reelected her last year.

LU has been warning you about a property tax increase since before last November’s election. Here comes the train:

WQCH Radio, 06/14/13: “WALKER COUNTY GOVERNMENT IS RUNNING LOW ON CASH, AND EMPLOYEE FURLOUGHS MAY BE COMING SOON.

“COMMISSIONER BEBE HEISKELL ON THURSDAY, AUTHORIZED A BANK LOAN NOT TO EXCEED 3-MILLION DOLLARS, TO COVER SALARIES AND OPERATING EXPENSES OF THE COUNTY THROUGH DECEMBER 31st OF THIS YEAR.

“COMMISSIONER HEISKELL SIGHTED [sic] AS REASONS FOR THE SHORTFALL: A DECLINE IN REVENUE FROM PROPERTY TAXES, AS WELL AS A DROP IN FEES COLLECTED IN STATE COURT. SHE SAID THAT PROPERTY VALUES HAVE DROPPED DUE TO THE RECESSION. MORE AND MORE SENIOR CITIZENS ARE TAKING PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTIONS, AND MANY ARE PUTTING IDOL [sic] LAND INTO CONSERVATION COVENANTS, THUS AVOIDING PROPERTY TAX PAYMENTS.

“‘WALKER COUNTY’S TAX DIGEST USED TO EQUAL 1.5 MILLION DOLLARS PER MIL. NOW THAT’S DROPPED TO 1.3 MILLION PER MIL,’ HEISKELL SAID. ‘I’VE LISTENED FOR YEARS TO PEOPLE SAYING ‘DON’T YOU DARE RAISE MY TAXES’, AND NOW IT’S CATCHING UP WITH US’.

“THE COMMISSIONER WAS NOT READY TO ANNOUNCE SPECIFICS ON EMPLOYEE FURLOUGH DAYS, SAYING ONLY THAT IT COULD HAPPEN ‘SOON’. THE TAX ANTICIPATION LOAN WILL BORROW AGAINST NEXT FISCAL YEAR’S REVENUE, AND THE LOAN WILL BE DRAWN FROM AN UNNAMED ‘LOCAL BANK’.”

Last year Heiskell took out a similar loan, but it was for $2 million in August. This year we need $3 million in June. The county’s finances are getting worse, requiring Bebe to rob Peter to pay Paul earlier and in greater amounts each year. This can’t continue much longer without an increase in property tax. (Walker County still doesn’t have a fiscal 2013 budget; the fiscal year ends on September 30.)

Meanwhile county employees are working five days a week on Lookout Mountain doing a project for the Davenport family, and Mountain Cove Farms is being prepped for a Civil War reenactment coming in September. The county has blown millions of dollars on foolish bullshit like those projects, and now we’re taking out loans and furloughing people (likely the people needed most) before taxes go up.

Bebe and her predecessors have been saying for forty years that the BEST thing about sole commissioner government is having someone to blame when things go wrong. She’s said it’s best to have a single person in charge so the buck has somewhere to stop.

Maybe she’s right. There’s no doubt who bears full responsibility for this, and it’s none of the people/entities she’s named. Bebe can blame the state, senior citizens, Walker County taxpayers, or whoever or whatever she wants, but ultimately her pet projects and refusal to cut fat from the county budget is what got us to this point.       

Meeting Agenda

Last Monday night LaFayette City Council was asked to take out a $300,000 loan to finish library renovations, using library property as loan collateral. The idea was suggested by Commissioner Heiskell, who promised to pay the city back with 2014 SPLOST funds.

The idea was wisely rejected. LaFayette has invested more into this project than any other entity, and Bebe’s broken SPLOST funding promises are one reason why the library project ended up $300k short in the first place.

Today’s News:

During Monday night’s City Council meeting, the council discussed issues in the city electric department. Per a blurb on WQCH.net, “CITY OF LAFAYETTE EXPLORES PROBLEMS WITH NEW-TECHNOLOGY ELECTRIC METERS AND ‘MISSING REVENUE’ FROM POWER SALES.”

Sources say LaFayette electric loses about 6% of its juice a month through “system loss” – in other words, power lost through the transmission lines and equipment. Same sources say the city’s loss shot up over 10% during March or April. An employee of an unrelated power company told LU 6% is too high, and numbers at that level or higher mean the city’s power grid is inefficient, either due to poor maintenance or outdated equipment.

So a whole lot of the power bill increases recently experienced could be due to power that goes into the ground for no reason other than a problem with the grid.

The city could save itself AND us money by upgrading and repairing everything, but that would cost a lot more than the current loss. The council would have to raise rates to cover the cost of fixing things to.. avoid raising rates.

But there is a solution: electrical system upgrades and efficiency improvements within the next SPLOST cycle. Along with roads and sidewalks, LaFayette could invest SPLOST into fixing what’s broken in the power grid. SPLOST can’t go to run the city, but it could go to fixing the electric grid that the city basically makes most of it’s money from.

SPLOST won’t get any LU support unless the county makes reforms (not likely), but the tax bill will still probably be renewed. The city should add these kinds of money-saving upgrades to it’s SPLOST list before it goes to voters in November.   

Construction crews are working 12-hour shifts to get Saddle Ridge open by August. The school has a “substantial completion date” set for July 15th and is supposed to have an open house on August 13.

Saddle Ridge principal Wendy Ingram has shared her e-mail address online, encouraging parents of incoming SR students to e-mail her with any questions or concerns they might have.