Weekly Update 01/23/2015

From Bob Schwartz, City Manager 

 

Supervision Training – Last week, Lt. James Pilgrim attended and successfully completed a 40 hour course in Supervision. This is required by the Peace Officer Standards and Training Council (POST) and was held at the Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth.

Glass RecyclingWe have attached a letter from Latham Home Sanitation concerning our contract with them for recycling as part of their contract for solid waste pickup. As explained in the letter, the recycled glass has dried up. Unless the market changes, the best solution is to eliminate glass from our single stream recycling. I checked with Oxford College. They have recently stopped using our single stream recycling and are now compacting their recyclables to be handled by a contractor that also has the contract with the main campus.

Police Report – Here’s a short report about an interesting case from Chief Harvey:

What started out to be a meter tampering incident resulted in three stolen trailers, a stolen boat, and other stolen items recovered with a suspect arrested. Dustin James and Scottie Croy noticed a meter missing from a house that they had turned the power off on the 12th. The power had been hotwired and Scottie called the Police Department. Two subjects at the location were questioned and we were able to track down the person who actually restored power to the house illegally. The suspect had plans to rent the house but had not filled out the paperwork with the owner. When the suspect came to the house, the police arrived behind him. We were joined by subjects from Jackson County who had filed a police report on the stolen items and had been informed that the items were at the location. Further investigation showed the items were stolen from Jackson County and the suspect was placed under arrest. This was the results of good team work between the Utilities Department and the Police Department, which is greatly appreciated.

Dave Harvey
Police Chief
 

Economic Outlook – Mayor Roseberry and I attended a briefing from the Terry College of Business at UGA on the economic outlook for the state for 2015. I have attached an electronic copy of the full 48 page report. Let me know if you would like us to print you a paper copy. Here are the highlights:

  • The state economy will grow faster in 2015 than in 2014. The prediction is for 3.3% GDP growth.
  • Jobs also will grow faster. The prediction is for 2.4% job growth.
  • Inflation will be less (largely because of fuel prices). The prediction is 0.4%.
  • There will be a slight improvement in the number of manufacturing jobs.
  • Home prices are going to continue to rise. We have just about made back the losses since the recession.
  • In migration from other states and countries will continue to rise for a total of about 40,000 people in 2015.

Oxford College Program – Here’s information about a program at Oxford College Tuesday night, January 27th

Emory’s King Week concludes with service at Old Church

The 2015 Martin Luther King, Jr. national holiday was January 19, a day that was the beginning of a longer observance at Emory University.  King Week 2015 has included a variety of events on Emory’s Atlanta campus, and the final service honoring the life of the civil-rights leader will take place in Oxford’s Old Church on Tuesday, January 27 at 7:30 pm. 

The featured speaker for this year’s service is Rep. Stacey Abrams (D-Atlanta), who is the House Minority Leader for the Georgia General Assembly and State Representative for Georgia’s 89th district.  She is the first woman to lead either party in the Georgia General Assembly, and is the first African-American to lead in the House of Representatives.

Says Lyn Pace, Oxford College chaplain and sponsor of the event, “It is an honor to have Stacey Abrams as the speaker for this year’s ceremony.  She brings a life-long passion for public service and civic engagement and a commitment to community that I know will infuse her words and inspire all of us, especially our students, as we gather to celebrate Dr. King’s legacy.”

Special music for the occasion will include performances by student groups Voices of Praise gospel choir and Oxapella as well as the Martin Luther King, Jr. Interdenominational Choir, composed of singers from the Covington area.

The service is free and open to the public.  For more information, contact Lyn Pace, Oxford College chaplain, at 770-784-8392.