Newspaper Page Text
VOL. 132 NO. 31 44 PAGES 5 SECTIONS PLUS INSERTS A PUBLICATION OF MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. JEFFERSON, JACKSON COUNTY GEORGIA 30549 50« COPY
— Inside —
Area news:
•Maysville mayor, council
sworn in page 2A
•Reservoir filling up with
rain page 3A
Op/Ed:
•'We get the kind of
government we deserve'
page 4A
Sports:
•Local rivals set to face off
Friday in hoops... .page 1B
Features:
•Guide dog a welcome
addition at JES . .. . page 1C
Other News:
•School News
pages 8-11B
•Public Safety
pages 7-8A
•Region Round-up
page 12B
•Legals
pages 7-2 OC
•Church News
page 7B
•Obituaries
page 6B
Plug to be pulled on radio?
WHAT IS THE future of the con
troversial Radio Jefferson?
The Jefferson City Council may
discuss that at its meeting next week.
Currently, the radio station is off the
air, having been put on hold by city
officials until the council meeting.
The council is reportedly going to
consider whether or not to pull the
plug for good on the venture, sell it, or
give it an additional infusion of cash.
Radio Jefferson has come under
fire over financial losses, the diver
sion of city recreation SPLOST funds
to pay for its start-up, and for its weak
broadcast which cannot be heard in
most areas of town.
When the venture was approved last
April at the recommendation of recre
ation director Ben Dillard, the council
was promised the station would net
the town $300,000 per year in profits
from advertising sales.
Instead, the station has faltered
with high expenses and little revenue.
Through November, the station was
in the red $136,000 and sales had
totaled less than $10,000.
Despite the losses, Dillard had paid
himself $2,150 in sales commissions
through November out of a total
$9,200 in advertising sales. Another
$2,050 was also paid in sales com
missions to Shannon Petering.
Although Dillard told the council
in April that no new staff would be
needed to operate the station, some
$16,500 had been paid in part-time
staff salaries through November on
top of the sales commissions.
When the council approved the
station, it allotted $17,600 in gen
eral funds in addition to recreation
SPLOST money to underwrite the
venture. Those funds were to be paid
back when the station began making
a profit.
HIGH FEES
Meanwhile, a review of the costs
associated with the creation of the
station reveal that most of the city’s
recreation SPLOST used to under
write the venture went to pay consult
ing and installation fees.
Out of nearly $99,000 paid by the
city to consultants Multi-Dimensional
Media of Sandy Springs, only $37,600
went to purchase actual equipment.
The rest of the funds paid for consult
ing fees at $ 125 per hour, travel time of
MDM staff from Atlanta to Jefferson
at $75 per hour and reimbursement of
other consulting expenses.
A review of 28 invoices sent to the
city by MDM also revealed the fol
lowing:
•MDM billed the city twice for con
sulting fees even before the Jefferson
City Council approved the venture
in mid-April 2007. MDM billed the
city in February and early April for
a total of $4,140 in fees, including
time spent meeting with Mayor Jim
Joiner, city manager John Ward and
recreation director Ben Dillard. The
council approved the venture April
16.
•The largest capital expenditure
was to set up three studios in an old
house the city owns for the radio sta
tion. One main studio, two produc
tion studios in addition to one mobile
studio were created. Renovation of
the house cost about $12,000 in addi
tion to $16,424 of production equip
ment, $1,405 in telephone equipment
and $3,660 for five computers.
•Jefferson spent $949 in printing
to have advertising rate cards for the
station created.
Bypass light
to be in use
next week
THE NEW traffic light on the
Jefferson bypass has been installed and
is expected to be in operation by next
week.
The traffic signal at Hwy. 129/
Jefferson Bypass and Old Pendergrass
Road in Jefferson has been installed and
testing will begin Wednesday, January
9. Weather permitting, the new signal
should be operational Tuesday, January
15. If weather is inclement, the signal
will be turned on Wednesday, January
16.
“Please slow down and use extra
caution until you get familiar with
the new stop situation,’’ said Georgia
Department of Transportation spokes
man Ten Pope. “Please slow down and
give yourself and other drivers plenty of
time to react as we all get used to the
new signal at this intersection.”
The DOT and the Jackson County
Sheriff’s Office will monitor the area
to ensure that drivers are following the
new stop situation. Pope added.
continued on page 3A
FATAL ACCIDENT
Gilmer Glenn, Maysville, was killed when he pulled into the path of a train Friday afternoon near
the intersection of King Road and Mt. Olive Road in Commerce. Glenn was pronounced dead at the
scene shortly after 4:30 p.m. A witness said Glenn, traveling north on King Road, pulled onto the
tracks and then appeared to stop just before the westbound train struck the passenger side of his red
Ford F-150.The blow drove the truck off the north side of the tracks. Glenn reportedly was not wear
ing a seat belt. Glenn was retired from First Commerce Bank. He was the father of former Jefferson
police chief Darren Glenn.
— Election Updates —
Absentee voting
now under way
ABSENTEE voting for the Feb.
5 election is going on now in the
Administrative Building in Jefferson.
Voting hours
for absentee are
8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Advance voting:
Jan. 28-Feb. I
See page 3A
for a list of local
precinct changes
Mondays through
Fridays. Absentee
voting will be held
through Jan. 25.
In order to cast an absentee ballot, a
voter must state one of the following
valid reasons for doing so: 75 years of
age or older; will be out of the precinct
on election day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.;
physically disabled; is an election offi
cial who will be performing duties in
connection with the election; religious
holiday; or is a public servant who is
required to be on duty in their precinct
from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on election day.
Advance voting will be held Jan. 28
through Feb. 1. For this type of voting,
there is no reason required to vote —
only that the voter wants to vote early.
Advance voting will also be in the
Administrative Building in Jefferson.
Hours will be from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Hwy. 15 road safety upgrade
slated to begin in spring
Right-of-way acquisition to begin in Feb.
BY ANGELA GARY
A SAFETY UPGRADE at
the intersection of Hwy. 15 (the
Commerce-Jefferson Road) and
South Apple Valley Road will final
ly get started this spring.
The plans have been in the works
for over a year. The project involves
both local and state road funds.
The area has become more con
gested due to the opening of the
East Jackson elementary, middle
and high schools, all of which can
be accessed off Hwy. 15 via South
Apple Valley Road.
County engineer Don Clerici
reported on the status of the project
at the Jackson County Board of
Commissioners meeting Monday
night. Right-of-way acquisition will
begin in February and construction
is planned to begin in late May.
Hwy. 15 will be closed for approx
imately 60-75 days to complete
the project and South Apple Valley
Road will be closed on the Hwy. 15
end for a time as well.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business at the BOC
meeting:
•Clerici gave an update of the
new jail project to the BOC. Slabs
for the facility will be poured in
March or April. The 424-bed jail
is expected to be open by the sum
mer of 2009. Commissioner Jody
Thompson asked Clerici to look
into why the cost of the Jackson
County jail, at $31 million, is so
much higher than the new Barrow
County Jail, at $17 million.
•during the citizen’s comment
portion of the meeting, Randy
Simmons spoke on his concerns
about a fixed base operator not
being at the county airport. Attorney
Alex Repasky then spoke and said
he and two other men are interested
in providing this service to the air
port. They were asked to contact
the county manager to discuss set
ting up a meeting with the airport
authority to discuss this further.
•commissioner Thompson asked
staff to look at ways to improve
the conditions of the intersection
of Hwy. 98 and King Road and
continued on page 3A
Pendergrass PD officer
arrests former mayor
MARK TOLBERT, a former
mayor of Pendergrass and son
of current mayor Monk Tolbert,
was charged with obstruction of
a law enforcement officer by the
Pendergrass Police Department
last week.
Tolbert was arrested around
10:40 p.m. on Jan. 2 by PPD offi
cer Rogers following a traffic stop
in the driveway of Tolbert’s home
on Hwy. 332.
A REZONING request by the
First Baptist Church of Jefferson
that would get a church food
bank in compliance with city
regulations will be on the agenda
when the Jefferson City Council
meets at 6 p.m. on Monday at
the civic center.
The FBC is asking to rezone
0.40 acre located at 192 College
Street from R-4 (Medium-High
Density Residential) to O-I
(Office-Institutional).
The city is also asking for a
variance to reduce the minimum
site acre to rezone to the O-I
According to the incident report,
after Rogers had stopped a car in
Tolbert’s drive, Tolbert came out
side to see what was going on.
Rogers ordered Tolbert to go
back into the house. Rogers said
that Tolbert made a “rude com
ment” after which he was again
told to go back into the house.
When Tolbert refused, Rogers
said he arrested him and took him
to the Jackson County Jail.
from 0.5 acre to 0.4 acre.
A third request from the church
is for a conditional use to allow
a food bank in an O-I District.
The issue involves a house
the church owns from which it
runs a food bank. The use is not
allowed in a R-4 zoning clas
sification.
The Quad Cities Planning
Commission recommended
approval of the requests when
it met in December. At that
meeting, several nearby prop
erty owners spoke in opposition
to the changes.
Bicknell to seek
BOC chairmanship
HUNTER BICKNELL has
announced that he will seek the
chairmanship of the Jackson County
Board of Commissioners in the 2008
Republican primary.
The West Jackson
resident earned two
degrees from Georgia
State University and
was employed by the
Sperry & Hutchinson
Company for more
than 20 years. Later,
he developed and operated Blimpie
stores and was a home builder and
owner of a construction supply
company. He retired in 2002.
A member of the Jackson County
Chamber and the Chamber’s
Economic Development Council,
he also served the community on
the Water & Sewerage Authority,
the Upper Oconee Basin Water
Authority and the Jail Advisory
Committee. He has been a volun
teer coach for youth football, base
ball and basketball and serving as
officers of their organizations.
“The Hunter Bicknell campaign
will focus on four primary areas of
concern to many citizens of Jackson
County - a county-wide master plan
for transportation, water resources,
recreation facilities and best man
agement practices for each depart
ment of county government,” he
said. “These are issues and pro
grams which must be addressed,
not only in the context of a political
campaign, but by those honored to
continued on page 3A
First Baptist rezoning to be
heard Monday in Jefferson
Food bank not allowed in current zoning