Three Frigidaire heavy duty commercial chest freezers, 25 cubic foot, one, 6 months old and the others a year and a half old. Bought new for over $500 each, will sell for just $200 each. See them at Howard’s Seafood, Hwy 21 in Rincon, or call Howard at 826-1613. tfnSH

New Pride Jazzy Scooter, model #1107, paid $6000, asking $3000. Please call 748-6216.

Letters to the Editor

Regarding Flea Market Pets....

Dear Editor,

I am writing this letter in hopes that others can be spared the hurt and pain that my daughters and I have experienced.

My story actually started in 2004 when I purchased an English Bulldog puppy from a breeder at a local flea market. I purchased the dog for a total of $1500 (which was due before the puppy was ready to come home) and the puppy died before I was able to take her home. I didn't get a refund, by mutual agreement, I decided to wait for another puppy.

The same breeder contacted me in 2005 and said he had a litter of 9 purebred English Bulldogs, born on December 29th. I met with the breeder on February 18, 2006, in Metter and got my puppy, and my daughter also paid for a puppy, $1200. Both puppies, believed by us to be purebred. A few days later, my youngest daughter purchased a puppy from the same breeder, believing it to be a purebred English Bulldog as well. Her puppy turned out to be a mixed breed, but sold as a purebred, and ended up having parvo as well as coxaitta. She died from her illnesses.

We went to meet the breeder at the flea market to get a replacement for this puppy. This replacement puppy was a mixed breed too. So, all 3 of our puppies, after they were seen by our vet in Springfield, were found to be of unknown origin. The last puppy, the one that we got to replace the sick puppy that died, is now at the vet's office being treated for parvo. Our local flea market was notified and has banned this breeder from selling there.

What alarms me the most, is out of this litter, 1 has died, 1 is still at the vet's office and 2 seem to be fairly healthy. I don't understand how he can sell these puppies and not care who he hurts. It's the same as stealing, and lying just to make money. Who does the victim call for help? And what about the rest of the puppies, are they ill? What breed are they? I think mine is Boxer and American Bull mixed - even the vet doesn't know.

And, what about the honest breeders? Why should they have to pay and have the public mistrust them? I blame the breeders of these puppies and myself for my blind trust and faith in a breeder's lies. This man, to this day, will not return my phone calls. I know my path will lead me to court, as I am out of $3500, and still no Bulldog puppy.

As for my husband ... He has me in the "Dog House".

Becky Carter

Guyton

Regarding Water Bills In Pooler....

Dear Editor,

It is a little embarrassing to be writing this because I have to admit that we forgot to pay our water bill one month last year. For whatever reason, our October water bill went unpaid. Of course when our November bill came, we immediately corrected the error and made our account current, or so we thought.

On Monday November 21, 2005 our water was shut off for "nonpayment." We were able to get the service back that evening and had to pay a $50 reconnection fee. My wife attempted to repay the water bill that had not been received yet, but was told to just wait and see if the payment came in that day’s mail, and golly gee it did. We chalked it up to a lesson learned at that point and our bank was gracious enough to reimburse the reconnect fee since we utilize their online bill paying services.

The memories of that event were brought to mind again recently when a neighbor commented on getting hit with a late fee because the city claimed that his bill was late; he also uses online bill paying. Then last month we were charged a late fee even though the bank mailed our payment on the 13th of the month. Of course the city did not process the payment until the 21st, thus the late fee. This got me curious as to what is "late" and what is "on time."

This is what the current city ordinance says about the subject:

Sec. 86-40. Meter reading; billing; collection.

Bills to consumers for water and sewer service shall be mailed out on such day of each month as may be determined desirable by the city. Bills shall be paid at the city hall and a failure to receive bills or notices shall not prevent such bills from becoming delinquent, nor relieve the consumer from payment of such bills. The failure of water users to pay charges duly imposed shall result in the automatic imposition of the following penalties:

(1) Nonpayment within 15 days from the due date will be subject to a penalty of ten percent of the delinquent account.

(2) Nonpayment within 45 days from the due date will result in the water being shut off from the water user's property.

Now I am not a lawyer, but this seems to imply that a 15 day grace period is given for payment before the late fee is assessed. I assume this is to take care of mail problems, holiday and weekend schedules, and the fact that payments may not be processed immediately because of volume. Our February payment was processed well within that 15 day window.

Also, while researching this issue I found that water shut offs are not suppose to happen for 45 days. This is interesting because our late payment in November was received on day 37. I am sure that if this is happening to us it must be happening to other people. I thought perhaps a letter to the editor or even a phone call from an entity such as yours might be in order.

I checked with City Clerk Maribeth Lindler on the city’s rules and policy on the water billing. She explained that the water bills become due on the billing date, which is normally around the last day of the month when they are mailed out. Citizens then have 15 days, normally the 15th of the month, to pay their water bill on time. After the 15th, they are subject to the late fee assessment.

Maribeth also said the city is looking into changing the wording on the city’s bills to clarify the city’s actual policy. Online bill paying presents another problem. It often takes ten to twenty days for the city to actually receive those payments, as your bank sends the payment to a processing center in Iowa. After they’ve processed it, a check is sent to the city, resulting in a delay. If you’re paying your bill online, you need to do it as soon as you get your bill.

Regarding the Developer’s Road Near St. John the Divine Baptist Church....

We the members of St. John The Divine Baptist Church feel as though we have been betrayed by our city government. We are asking the people of Pooler to support our cause.

The Mayor, Council, and City Manager informed us that they would talk to the developer to work some type of agreement to avoid putting this road right in front of our church.

Pastor Alphonse Piper

Readers- This letter was written in response to developments of Wednesday afternoon when contractors began tearing down trees after members of the church were told that a satisfactory agreement with the church would be in place before construction began.