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THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2008
EJCHS band
to march
in televised
parade Sat.
THE EAST Jackson
Comprehensive High School
Marching Band has been
selected to participate in
the 2008 Atlanta Children’s
Healthcare Parade. The
parade will be televised on
Saturday, Dec. 6, on Channel
2, WSB-TV. The open
ing ceremony begins at 10
a.m., the parade kicks off at
10:30 a.m., and band director
Jeffrey Rowser said “the band
should be marching across
your TV screen between 11
and 11:30 a.m.”
This will mark the first
televised live performance
of the East Jackson band,
and directors Rowser and
Ashley Wright said they
“are very pleased that the
East Jackson band has been
chosen to represent Jackson
County Schools with class
and style.”
PUTTING THE GIVING INTO THANKSGIVING
Volunteers from the Baptist Tabernacle in Nicholson prepared approximately 600
plates to give to the needy and elderly around Jackson County last Wednesday.
This is the seventh year the church has organized the Thanksgiving charity which
is sponsored through food donations. The plates included turkey, dressing and
gravy, green beans, applesauce, cranberry sauce, a dessert and an inspirational
tract. Photo by Justin Poole
New hospital proposed for Maysville Road complex
Pending on sale of BJC Medical Center
By Mark Beardsley
SHOULD negotiations for
the sale of BJC Medical Center
to an Adanta group bear fruit,
the new owners plan to build
a new BJC Hospital as part
of a medical complex on the
Maysville Road.
Kevin Attarha, senior devel
opment executive for EDT,
Inc., indicates that Doctors
Hospital of Georgia would take
advantage of an offer of land
made to BJC Medical Center
by Dr. James Bouchard, who is
developing Commerce Medical
Village on the Maysville Road.
Bouchard, a podiatrist,
had offered to donate up to
65 acres to the BJC Medical
Center Authority in 2007 after
the authority announced plans
to build a new hospital. The
authority ultimately decided to
build on land donated by David
Chatham between U.S. 441
and old U.S. 441 at the north
ern terminus of Hospital Road.
That plan fell through when
the Jackson County and Banks
County boards of commission
ers declined to back bonds for a
$35 million construction proj
ect.
Last May, when the
Commerce City Council
approved rezoning of two tracts
for the Bouchard project, the
group announced its intention
of constructing a hospice facil
ity, two 48,000-square-foot
medical buildings, a pharmacy
and other retail space, all part
of a first phase. Dr. Peter Lee,
chairman of the group’s mem
bership committee, predicted
that work would begin “in four
to six weeks.” To date, con
struction has not started.
Details of the project can be
found at http://commercemedi-
calvillage.com.
EDT Inc. is the developer
of the Commerce Medical
Village.
“If everything works out,
our intention for the future
is to move the hospital to the
Commerce park,” Attarha con
firmed. He said that Bouchard’s
only involvement with BJC
Medical Center is in the dona
tion of land.
A FAMILIAR NAME
The project manager
for EDT’s BJC plan is Bill
Williams, who resigned this fall
as BJC Medical Center’s chief
financial officer.
Williams said EDT’s inves
tors are Adanta area physician
members, but adds that local
investors will also be solicited
among local physicians.
He also stated that BJC’s
financial condition is a concern
for the new group.
“They are bleeding red ink
big-time,” he pointed out. “The
$300,000 loss in October really
caught the investors’ intention.
They may be a little skittish at
this point.”
Both Williams and Attarha
projected that the matter would
come to a head in 90 days.
“We’re in due diligence at
this point, but we’re going to try
to get the deal done,” Williams
said. “We’ve got to bring in
doctors to turn things around...
It’s going to take better man
agement, more doctors and
some money.”
Water group approves
$7 million budget
BYANGELA GARY
THE UPPER Oconee
Basin Water Authority
approved a $7 million budget
Wednesday, Nov. 26, with
the two Jackson County rep
resentatives voting against it.
Representatives from Clarke,
Barrow and Oconee County
all voted in favor of the bud
get, which reflects a 9.5 per
cent increase from the year
before.
Jackson County Board
of Commission chair
man Pat Bell and Jackson
County Water and Sewerage
Authority manager Eric Klerk
voted against the budget.
Bell spoke on the $250,000
added to the budget to cover
legal expenses because of
a lawsuit filed by Jackson
County against the author
ity. She said the extra money
would not have been nec
essary if the other author
ity members had agreed for
an outside firm to study the
reservoir capacity. Jackson
County and the authority
have disagreed over the avail
able capacity.
“This could all be settled
if this body would agree to
bring in a third party to take
a look at our opinion onthe
findings of our expert com
pared to the findings of the
JJ&G expert,” Bell said after
the meeting.
The $7 million budget is up
over the current $6.4 million
budget. The budget includes
$4 million for operating
expenses and $2 million for
bond interest expense.
In other business at the
meeting last week the author
ity:
•agreed to get bids for cre
ating a website for the res
ervoir.
•approved a $271,984 bid
for a boat ramp. Each county
will pay one-fourth of the
cost. It will take 90 days to
complete the project.
Teen pregnancy rate to be
topic at Dec. 11 public forum
PUBLIC HEALTH offi
cials are interested in hearing
from parents and others about
Jackson County’s high rate of
teen pregnancy.
The Jackson County Teen
Pregnancy Coalition will hold
a discussion about the issue
Thursday, Dec. 11, from 5:30
to 7:30 p.m. at the First Baptist
Church of Commerce.
RSVP with Maria Jackson
at 770-532-6334, extension
3557.
The meeting is an informal
follow-up to the previous “teen
pregnancy summit,” explains
Beth Heath, Jackson County
nurse manager.
“At the last meeting, we had
some people say we needed
more parental input,” she said.
“We want to know what their
thoughts are and what they
would like us to try to do.”
Heath stressed that the meet
ing will be informal, discussion-
oriented. Participants may also
be asked to fill out a survey.
The most recent statistics
indicate that Jackson County
has the highest rate of births
to teenagers in the 10-county
health district — higher than
the Georgia average, which is
among the highest in America.
Light refreshments will be
served.
Boat ramp bid approved for reservoir
IF the Bear Creek Reservoir
in southwest Jackson County
doesn’t dry up first, local fish
ermen could launch their bat
tery-powered fishing boats in
the lake by spring.
The Upper Oconee Basin
Water Authority, which owns
and manages the 505-acre
regional reservoir, approved a
$271,984 bid for a boat ramp
and parking lot last week.
Each member county will pay
one-fourth of the cost. It will
take 90 days to complete the
project.
It’s been a long time
coming. The reservoir, com
pleted in 2002, was sold, in
part, on the idea that it would
be open to local fishermen
to seek the fast-growing FI
hybrid bass stocked in the lake
by the Department of Natural
Resources.
But after the terrorist attacks
in New York and Washington,
DC, the authority used “secu
rity” as an excuse to limit
access to a few hundred feet
of shoreline. To date, boats
are officially prohibited on the
lake, but a number of people
who own property on the lake
routinely launch their boats
from their property.
Jackson County Board of
Commissioners Chairman Pat
Bell has led the campaign to
open the lake to boats. The
Jackson County Recreation
Department will manage the
boat launching facility.
Under water quality con
trol conditions established by
the Environmental Protection
Division, no boats with
gasoline-powered motors are
allowed on the lake. Similarly,
neither swimming nor wading
are allowed.
The bid includes the boat
ramp, parking and a rest
room.
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Jefferson Christmas Parade
Sponsored by the City of Jefferson Better Hometown. For more information, call 706 367 5714
Featuring:
• Grand Marshal,
Corey Smith
• Bands from Jackson
County Comprehensive
and Jefferson High Schools
• Combined JCCHS and
JHS ROTC Color Guard
• Fifteemplus floats and
more!
• Santa Claus riding
Jefferson Fire Dept's.
Historic fire engine
• Extended hours for
downtown Jefferson shops
& eateries
This Saturday, December 6 * 3:00 PM
The Music &
Magic of Christmas