The Tri-County Journal
& Chattahoochee Chronicle
PO Box 850, 71 Webb Lane
Buena Vista, GA 31803
229-649-6397
tjournal@alltel.net

By RICHARD HARRIS (From the June 14, 2006 issue)
   On Tuesday, June 6, the Commission of the Unified Government of Cusseta-Chattahoochee County voted (3-1) to form a Municipal Police Department that will function separately from the Chattahoochee County Sheriff’s Office. The only question that remained was if officials would follow through with the funding necessary to actually bring such a new department to fruition.
   That question was answered a week later, as on June 13 commissioners passed a budget (also by a 3-1 vote) for fiscal year 2007 that calls for spending $578,744 on the new police department.
   Meanwhile, the Commission’s new budget slashes the Sheriff’s Office funding by $300,000 (leaving the Sheriff’s Office with $198,963). The Commission will be asking Sheriff Glynn Cooper which previously funded items he would prefer to be cut from his budget to compensate for the reduction in funding.
   Of the $578,744 budgeted for the new police department, $301,482 is slated to pay for salaries, and $111,170 is set aside for capital projects such as purchasing vehicles and equipment.
   The Commission is already advertising for the positions of police chief, patrol, dispatch and administrative assistants.
   Commissioners Larry Dillard, Ben Miller and James Morton each voted for the creation of the police department and for the budget, while Commissioner Wade Coleman voted against both motions. Commissioner Sonny Smith was absent from both meetings.