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County hoping for revenue from cell towers
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Liberty County commissioners heard and accepted a proposal Tuesday night to assess value and related revenue opportunities of cell tower locations in unincorporated parts of the county, as well as measures to ensure the county is receiving its cable franchise fee.
Representatives of the firm CH2M HILL presented details of the project, which proposes a cell tower license permit and fee structure, including developing and recommending a local ordinance, recommending permit amounts and devleoping an application packet and processing procedure. The firm thinks the audits will provide the county with increased revenue, according to the proposal.
Once initial applications were received, CH2M HILL would conduct an audit of all cell towers and antennas to include a field inspection, recommending property assessment values and creating and maintaining a database of field inventory and assessment values until the audit is complete.
The firm also proposes conducting an audit of the local cable TV franchisee to ensure the county’s 5 percent franchise fee is being properly collected and remitted to the county. The audit would cover the current year as well as the previous three years, 2007-09. The audit will be conducted with no up-front cost, but for its services C2HM HILL would receive a percentage of the county’s audit findings as a one-time contingency fee. Long-term revenue findings will belong exclusively to the county.
In other meeting news, commissioners approved amending the pet registration ordinance, which earlier this year raised the fees for registration. The fees will remain at $6 per altered pet and $10 per unaltered pet. Additionally, the county plans to implement a registration records database that will help to notify pet owners when their registration expires.
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Early morning accident in McIntosh County kills five
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Five people were killed and another one was injured following a two-vehicle accident in McIntosh County on Sunday morning.

Witnesses told Georgia State Patrol Trooper Christopher Ashdown that a Jeep Cherokee was traveling south on Interstate 95 at a high rate of speed when it rear-ended an Infiniti. The Cherokee hit a guard rail, bursting into flames. The crash and ensuing fire killed one adult and four children.

The driver of the Jeep Cherokee has been identified a Reagan Dougan, 27. GSP troopers have learned she rented the vehicle in Raleigh, N.C., and was heading to Florida to meet her husband. The children were a 9-year-old boy, a 4-year-old boy, a 2-year-old girl and a 3-month-old boy.

Ashdown said the Cherokee was a rental and authorities are in the process of identifying the victims.  The driver of the Infiniti, from Long County, was transported to Southeast Regional Health System in Brunswick with non-life-threatening injuries.

The accident occurred at mile marker 62 around 6 a.m.

 

VIDEO: McIntosh County fatal accident

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