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THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2009
Jefferson continues to annex ‘islands’
QCPC hears requests; to be on city agenda Feb. 9
BYANGELA GARY
BOC to condemn land
for road, airport work
Development
at standstill
By Mark Beardsley
THE number of potential
industrial prospects looking at
Jackson County has slowed to a
trickle.
‘ ‘Activity is real slow right now,’'
commented Shane Short, presi
dent of the Jackson County Area
Chamber of Commerce at last
week’s meeting of the Industrial
Development Authority.
While there are still more
than a dozen unresolved proj
ects, they’re all at a standstill.
However, one new project that
visited the county a month ago
“came back’’ for more informa
tion, Short said.
The company, with headquar
ters in Germany, would invest
$18 million and hire 40 people
for an assembly operation, said
Short. He added that eventually
the company could expand into
manufacturing locally.
Chairman Scott Martin advised
the group of an inquiry from
a local developer interested in
building a $10 million freezer
operation to be leased to a local
company. The developer had
asked if the IDA would be inter
ested in providing financing for
the project.
“It’s so far in the early stages,
it may never take place,’’ Martin
said.
“It seems there is a demand for
freezer space now,’’ commented
member John Buchanan. “I think
we should explore it.’’
If the project is under $10 mil
lion, it could be financed through
tax-exempt industrial develop
ment bonds, said attorney Daniel
Haygood.
“I’ll tell them we’re willing to
talk about it,’’ Martin advised.
In other business, the authority
voted to re-elect all of its officers.
They include Martin, chairman;
Buchanan, vice chairman; Jim
Shaw, secretary-treasurer; and
Jon Milford, assistant secretary-
treasurer.
By Mark Beardsley
SEEKING access to three
potential reservoir sites, the
Jackson County Water and
Sewerage Authority will invite
property owners at the sites
to an information meeting in
February.
The authority has been seek
ing permission of 134 property
owners at three sites — all in the
Nicholson area — to do survey
ing, boring and gather data to
decide which would be the best
site for a county reservoir.
But the going is slow. Only 42
percent of property owners have
THE QUAD Cities Planning
Commission heard the second
round of annexation requests
Tuesday night from the City
of Jefferson for property that
is surrounded on all sides by
city property.
The city has already annexed
35 tracts of property that are
considered to be “islands”
because the land is surrounded
on all sides. Tuesday night,
49 more proposed annexations
were presented to the planning
commission.
The Jefferson City Council
will then hear the requests
when it meets at 6 p.m. on
Monday, Feb. 9, at the civic
center. The voting meeting of
the city council will be at 6
p.m. on Monday, Feb. 23, at
the civic center.
The annexations include the
following;
•Cemetery, 0.32 acres, 2081
Washington Street.
•Thomas Smith, 1.74 acres,
839 Holder Siding Road.
•James Michael Lynn, 1.2
acres, 813 Holder Siding
Road.
•Lois and Jesse Anglin,
0.75 acres, 775 Holder Siding
Road.
•Charles Hayes, 0.47 acre,
758 Holder Siding Road.
•JLH IT Real Estate, 0.62
acre, 758 Holder Siding
Road.
•Richard and Tammy Hayes,
0.82 acre, 734 Holder Siding
Road.
•W.R. Duke, 0.86 acre,
Washington Street.
•Mike Pruitt, 2.50 acres,
Banks Road.
•Tingkham and Manolieng
Phommaly, 3.89 acres, Holder
Siding Road.
granted access to the engineers.
“This is the last gasp before a
judge’s order,” insisted authority
in-house engineer Fred Alke.
The authority’s engineering
consultant said access to the
property is critical to do pre
liminary environmental work,
geotechnical borings and con
sider archeological and historical
data.
“We hope we can get (access
to) enough pieces of land so we
feel like we ’re given enough infor
mation,” said Rob MacPherson
of Prime Engineering.
Authority personnel will be at
•Gary and Cindy Van Sloun,
10 acres, Holder Siding Road.
•Hugh Martin Jr., 0.69 acres,
1923 Washington Street.
•Maybelle Covington, 1.8
acres, U.S. Hwy. 129 North.
•Maybelle Covington, 1.5
acres, 2165 U.S. Hwy. 129
North.
•Billy Pruitt, 40.84 acres,
U.S. Hwy. 129 North.
•George and Myrtle
McGinnis, 6.4 acres, 2221
U.S. Hwy. 129 North.
•Charles G. Martin, 4.78
acres, 2249 U.S. Hwy. 129
North.
•Charles G. Martin, 1.45
acres, 2249 U.S. Hwy. 129
North.
•James W. and Claudia
Chastain, 0.53 acres, 2218
Winder Hwy.
•James W. and Betty
Chastain, 0.89 acres, 2176
Winder Hwy.
•Jason H. Chastain, 1.06
acres, 2172 Winder Hwy.
•Paul Breedlove, 1.0 acre,
2454 Winder Hwy.
•Diane and Donald L. Poe,
3.0 acres, 2330 Old Swimming
Pool Road.
•Diane Atkins, 6.41 acres.
Old Swimming Pool Road.
•Dewey Adkins, 3.0 acres,
2204 Old Swimming Pool
Road.
•James Wayne Ethridge and
Valerie Ethridge, 2.5 acres,
2022 Holder Siding Road.
•Howard K. and Peggy
L. Gillian, 2.63 acres, 1900
Holder Siding Road.
•Nima L. Crotwell, 5.21
acres, 1940 Holder Siding
Road.
•Mary Reba Cannon, 7.24
acres, 2380 Holder Siding
Road.
•Leroy Miller, 4.37 acres.
the Jefferson Civic Center from
3 p.m. to 9 p.m. to accommodate
property owners work sched
ules. Officials will have separate
tables and maps for each of the
potential sites, so property own
ers can ask questions specific to
each site.
Chairman Randall Pugh
expressed a desire for the author
ity to exercise diplomacy.
“I would prefer we have some
more personal contact first,” he
said, in regard to the possibility
of gaining access to the sites via
court order. “Let’s give people
an opportunity for more personal
2484 Holder Siding Road.
•Eddie and Opal Bradberry,
4.95 acres, 2510 Holder Siding
Road.
•Walter Esch, 9.53 acres,
2506 Holder Siding Road.
•Beverly and John D.
Goldman Jr., 1.18 acres, 1174
Academy Church Road.
•Jimmy Pruitt, 2.2 acres,
1106 Academy Church Road.
•Billy Norris, 2.2 acres,
Academy Church Road.
•Phillip Earnest, William
Earnest and Daniel Earnest, 4
acres, 1087 Academy Church
Road.
•Peggy Shumake, 9.15 acres,
1190 Academy Church Road.
•Jefferey Shumake, 2.0
acres, 2812 Holder Siding
Road.
•Gregory D. Lamb, 10.39
acres, 2754 Holder Siding
Road.
•Academy Missionary
Baptist Church, 4.4 acres, 721
Academy Church Road.
•Thomas E. Mooser, 0.48
acre. New Salem Church
Road.
•Hsin Shan Lee and Pi-Lan
Lee, 1.45 acres, U.S. Hwy.
129 North.
•Brenda W. Robson, 1.58
acres, U.S. Hwy. 129 North.
•Nolan Kent Griffith, 2.02
acres, 447 Oak Avenue.
•Javier and Evangelina
Flores, 3.54 acres, 928 Holder
Siding Road.
•Cemetery, 1.4 acres, New
Salem Church Road.
•New Salem Church, 1.3
acres. New Salem Church
Road.
•Georgia Department of
Transportation, 0.7 acres, U.S.
Hwy. 129.
•Ovemite Transportation, 11
acres, U.S. Hwy. 129.
contact before sending a letter...
Sometimes it’s not what you’re
doing, but how you go about it.”
Member Andy Goodman pre
dicted gaining access is going
to be a tough sell. At one point,
he proposed that the authority
narrow the selection to one site
first.
“It’d be better to pick one and
have only one group of people
mad at us instead of three,” he
observed.
The authority will send letters
to all property owners adjacent to
the three sites and will advertise
the meeting in local newspapers.
BYANGELA GARY
AFTER meeting in closed
session for more than one hour
Monday night, the Jackson
County Board of Commissioners
unanimously agreed to move
forward with condemning prop
erty for two road projects and
improvements at the airport.
The BOC agreed to condemn
three tracts on John B. Brooks
Road and property on Zion
Church Road for planned road
work.
The BOC also agreed to
condemn three tracts of land at
the county airport for a runway
expansion and other improve
ments.
In other business at the meet
ing on Monday, the BOC:
•appointed Jim Dove to serve
on the Jackson County Industrial
Development Authority.
•named Jay Phillips to serve
on the county parks and recre
ation advisory committee.
•agreed to amend bank signa
ture cards to remove the name of
former BOC chairman, Pat Bell,
and to add the name of the new
chairman, Hunter Bicknell.
•approved a contract with
Moreland Altobelh Associates
for groundwater monitoring and
methane gas monitoring and
engineering for State Route 82
improvements.
•agreed to a lease purchase
for 20 vehicles for the sheriff’s
office. The $575,000 for this
was included in the fiscal year
By Mark Beardsley
RANDALL Pugh, CEO
of Jackson EMC, is the new
chairman of the Jackson
County Water and Sewerage
Authority.
Pugh, who had been vice
chairman, was elected unani
mously last Thursday night.
He succeeds Hunter Bicknell,
who was elected chairman of
the Jackson County Board of
Commissioners.
Other officers include Dave
Ehrhardt, vice chairman; Karen
Johnson, secretary; and Judy
Davis, treasurer.
Johnson and Davis are
authority employees.
The authority meets on
the second Thursday of each
month at 6 p.m. It holds a work
session on the first Thursday of
each month at 5:30 p.m.
In other business at
Thursday’s meeting, the
2009 budget.
•agreed to a reimbursement
from the Hazardous Waste Trust
Fund.
•agreed to spend $68,000 to
replace the video surveillance
system at the courthouse. The
system in place now is “failing
regularly,” according to staff.
BOC chairman Hunter Bicknell
said: “None of us wants a situ
ation like they had in Fulton
County a few years ago. We
need the system to be operating
at all times. While we are reluc
tant to spend $68,000 not only
at the first of the year but any
time of the year, I think it is a
warranted expenditure based on
the liability if our system failed
us at a critical time.”
•approved the low bid of
$271,826 from Cline Service
Corporation for the replace
ment and construction of the
Lipscomb Lake Road Bridge.
•approved a request from
Perry and Sonia Wright to locate
an accessory building larger than
1,000 on their property in River
Ridge Subdivision. They plan
to construct a 1,500 square foot
garage.
•approved a request from
Donna Sikes to rezone 4.895
acres on Holiday Cemetery
Road from A-2 to A-R to subdi
vide the property into two lots.
•approved an amendment to
the unified development code
to allow for landscape improve
ments in drought conditions.
authority corrected the resolu
tion it passed at its previous
meeting accepting an easement
in West Jackson.
The authority had accepted
an offer from Tom Beck, but
put his Buckeye Land and
Timber Co. on the document,
when it should have listed the
owner as CB Limited. The
20 by 1,400-foot easement is
located near the intersection of
Skelton and Doster roads.
The authority also entered a
formal contract with Jefferson
for a joint utility relocation
project on John B. Brooks
Road. Jefferson, which has
water and sewer lines along
the road improvement project,
will do the work and bill the
authority for the relocation of
the authority’s water lines in
the area.
The authority’s cost is expect
ed to be less than $50,000.
JCWSA to seek access to potential reservoir sites
Pugh to head JCWSA
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