Rotary Report 9/11/08

Marianna Rotary Club Activities, September 3 Meeting
By Sid Riley & Byron Ward, Club Media Representative

At the regular Wednesday, September 3, 2008 meeting of the Marianna Rotary Club held at Jim’s Buffet and Grill in Marianna, this week’s program was introduced by club member Joe Alday, whose speaker was our County Commissioner from District 4, Jeremy Branch. Prior to the introduction of Commissioner Branch a special presentation was made by Rotarian Walter Spence.
Spence began: "Our Paul Harris fellow honoree today is Mr. Troy Tidwell. Troy is accompanied by his daughter, Kay Nichols, Kay is a teacher for the Jackson County School District. His son, Ritchie Tidwell, Ritchie is a charter member of the Rotary Club of Lake Murray- Irmo, South Carolina and his wife Susan is Albert Milton’s sister.
Troy is originally from Malone, retired April 30, 1982 from the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys after 39 years of service. As Supervisor of Homelife, he provided guidance and help with hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of young boys so that they might have a better future. He had the respect of staff and young people. He is still contacted today by some of the men whose life he influenced at an early age and who have had successful careers. I believe and his family believes that he truly experiences our Rotary Motto, "Service Above Self"!
Commissioner Branch gave a two part presentation to the attending members. He first gave an updated report on the Georgia-Florida-Alabama "water wars" over the management of the Chattahoochee River System. Branch happens to be the local area representative in this matter, and has taken an active role in the judicial, political, and public negotiations and decision making that has transpired.
He stated that he had initially thought that the Corps of Engineers was the villain in the matter, and had made water allocation decisions based on political pressures from Georgia representatives. However, he now feels that the Corps was only acting in a manner prescribed by their regulations and restrictions. The real problem seems to have emanated from unilateral decisions made within the state of Georgia. Since the upper waters of the system are not part of the river control network and the river is totally within the boundaries of the state of Georgia, they then exercised total authority and control over the waters at that point. "The ultimate correctness of this approach will ultimately have to be decided by the Supreme Court", Branch prophesized.
The second portion of his presentation provided an update of the preparation of the County Budget for next year. He informed the group that although ad valorem revenues were down by about one million dollars, the millage was not changed. "Numerous cuts were made, but no significant reduction in the level of services provided by the county is anticipated", he stated. Byron Ward won the football pool for last Saturday’s games.