Time capsule

As reported 25 years ago in The Columbia News and The Martinez-Evans Times, Feb. 21, 1979:

Complaint dismissed

Judge Franklin Pierce has ruled in favor of the Columbia County Board of Tax Assessors and dismissed a complaint seeking their removal from office.

The decision, filed in Columbia County Superior Court Feb. 5, 1979, came after the Georgia Court of Appeals overturned Pierce's first ruling in favor of the tax assessors and ordered a new hearing.

The suit was brought by a group of Columbia County residents who own waterfront lots in the Leah community of Clarks Hill Lake. It sought dismissal of the board on the grounds that they failed to discharge their duties properly and impartially.

The suit charged that the assessors failed to equalize fairly and justly the valuations on taxable property.

Library fund-raiser

The Columbia County Library Board is conducting a fund-raising campaign to build two public libraries for Columbia County.

The board has set a goal to raise $200,000 by Oct. 1, 1979 and qualify for a matching grant from the state, according to Library Board Chairman Mrs. Carter Morris.

The two proposed facilities, which will be part of the Augusta Regional Library System, will be constructed in Harlem and the Martinez-Evans area, according to Morris.

Hubert Duffie of Duffie Construction Co. in Martinez donated approximately two acres of land across from Bel Air Elementary School for the Martinez-Evans library. The facility will be named for his stepfather, Warren C. Gibbs.

The Harlem library will be located on property adjacent to the Women's Club building.

Fire donation

The Columbia County Board of Commissioners approved a $1,000 donation for the Appling Volunteer Fire Department provided the Board of Education match the donation.

Fire department representative Wendell Stubbs told commissioners Appling is attempting to start a fire department in order to provide protection for citizens, and to decrease insurance rates.

Stubbs said the department needed $7,300 for equipment to qualify for a Class 9 fire protection rating. The Appling area currently has a Class 10 rating, which is the highest given, Stubbs said.

Stubbs said the rating drop would result in a 6- to 25-percent drop in insurance premiums for homes and county and education facilities in Appling.