Newspaper Page Text
THE
ACKSON
H Wednesday, May 6, 2009
ERALD
www.JacksonHeraldTODAY.com
VOL. 133 NO. 38 48 PACES 4 SECTIONS PLUS INSERTS A PUBLICATION OF MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. JEFFERSON, JACKSON COUNTY GEORGIA 30549 50« COPY
— Inside —
Area news:
• Nicholson looks at
six-month budget
page 2A
•Rabies clinics being
held this week
page 3A
•Rabid raccoon found
page 9A
Op/Ed:
•'BJC bailout a hard
sale' page 4A
BJC seeks lifeline from county
By Angela Gary
STRUGGLING BJC Medical Center
is asking for a bailout from Jackson
County to stay afloat.
RickMassey, amemberof BJCMedical
Center Authority, appeared before the
Jackson County Board of Commissioners
Monday night to ask the county to guar
antee — and repay — 75 percent of a
$5.2 million loan, as well as guarantee 75
percent of a $1 million line of credit.
The authority will make a similar
request — for the other 25 percent of
support — from the Banks County Board
of Commissioners. Financial obligations
related to the medical center have always
been split on a 75:25 percent ratio between
Jackson and Banks counties.
“We have a significant need at the cur
rent time for Jackson County and Banks
County to guarantee a $5.2 million long
term debt, as well as a $1 million line of
credit,” Massey told the Jackson County
BOC. “...We have to restructure this
short-term debt. We feel like this is the
best-case scenario... We need to restruc
ture that loan and we can’t do that... It is
more advantageous to lump this into one
long-term repayment.”
The request is to consolidate approxi
mately $1.5 million in debt the two coun
ties now pay on hospital bonds with $2.5
million in short-term debt and $1.2 mil
lion of accounts payable. The requested
See BJC
audit
story on
page 2A
BJC MEDICAL CENTER
amounts calls for an additional $3.7 mil
lion in support from the two counties.
Currently, Jackson County makes the
$153,655 annual payment for hospital
bonds. If the board grants the author
ity’s request, its payment would go to
$382,395. The duration of the agreement
is for 15 years.
If the Banks County Board of
continued on page 9A
Sports:
•Panthers end baseball
season with a victory
page 1B
•World Crown to
reopen Gresham
Motorsports Park
page 1B
Features:
•Crime victim aware
ness event held
page 1C
Other News:
•School News
pages 10-11A
•Public Safety
pages 6-7A
•Legals
pages 6-28C
•Church News
page 7B
•Obituaries
pages 8-9A
Q -R
OLD BUILDING COMES DOWN
A bulldozer removes the 1966 addition of the historic Jackson County Courthouse
on Monday. A citizens’ committee is working on a renovation project of the old
courthouse, located in downtown Jefferson. Photo by Kerri Testement
Addition removed from old courthouse
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
CHARLOTTE MEALOR can’t help but hold
her breath as the bulldozer moves within inches of
the historic Jackson County Courthouse.
“Oh my gosh, please careful,” she says to her
self as the machinery removes boards connecting
two segments of the former county courthouse.
Anxiety aside, Monday was a day that mem
bers of the Jackson County Historical Courthouse
Restoration Committee had been awaiting.
That’s when a 1966 addition of the old court
house was demolished from the 130-year-old
building.
“It’s very much exciting because we’ve been
waiting for this to happen for so long,” said
Mealor, who chairs the citizens’ committee.
The old Jackson County Courthouse — located
in downtown Jefferson — was built in 1879, and
four major additions later followed.
Three were in 1907-1908, when the clock
tower and two side wings containing vaults were
added. In 1966, an office for the clerk of courts
and a civil defense area were added.
And while the 1966 addition was needed for
office space, it never fit the historical character of
the courthouse.
When Jackson County opened a new court
house on the outskirts of Jefferson in 2004, ideas
started rolling for a new use of the old courthouse.
At the time, Jackson County’s courthouse was the
oldest courthouse in the U.S. that was still in use.
In November 2007, a five-member citizens’
committee starting looking into restoring the old
courthouse. One of its first tasks was a close look
at the 1966 addition.
Buz Ward — vice chairperson of the commit
tee — said while the group wanted the addition
removed, county officials wanted to keep it for
possible office space.
“So it took us 12 months to convince the
county to remove it,” he said.
The Jackson County Board of Commissioners
approved the removal of the 1966 addition in
February, along with a $ 1.7 million budget for the
renovation project. The project is being funded
through a $2 million bond approved by voters
in 2007.
The committee plans to renovate the old court
house to the 1908-1907 era, Ward said.
“We’re trying to do as faithful as a restoration
possible to 1908,” he added.
Besides planning for the demolition of the 1966
addition, the committee has also been researching
the old courthouse and digging through docu
ments inside the building. Some of those court
documents date to 1795.
The committee temporarily moved the histori
cal court documents from the old courthouse to
the new courthouse. When renovation at the
old courthouse is complete, it could become
a museum, research center for historical and
genealogical records and possibly house one
county office.
“It will be a treasure trove of Jackson County
history,” Ward said.
One of the items the committee found is a
1948 landscape plan for the area where the 1966
addition was located. Ward said. The committee
plans to use those historical plans for landscaping
in the area.
The citizens’ committee also plans to start a
fundraising campaign next week, and continue to
seek grants for the courthouse renovation project,
Mealor said.
Fi fa notices being
published this week
SOME 188 pieces of property in Jackson County are being issued fi
fa notices this week to collect back taxes, or the property will be sold by
the county on June 2.
The total amount of back taxes owed on the tracts is $472,800. Over
half of that is taxes owed on lots in the Traditions of Braselton subdivi
sion. The past due taxes are mostly due from developers in nine subdivi
sions in the county.
Specific lots and amounts owed are listed in this week’s public notices
section of The Jackson Herald.
Subdivision
#flfas
Owed
Traditions of Braselton
84
$267,000
Ivy Plantation
25
$23,700
Lindsay Ridge
24
$34,900
Braselton Farms
17
$45,300
Aspen Falls
14
$23,500
Bryan Mill
12
$20,500
The Heritage Jefferson
9
$15,900
Jefferson Shores
2
$41,500
Anniston Place
1
$465
Total
188
$472,800
Former warden asks for
$465,000 settlement bid
BYANGELA GARY
A SETTLEMENT
bid from former Jackson
County Correctional
Institute warden Vickie
Underwood of $465,000
was rejected by the board
of commissioners Monday
night.
Underwood filed a fed
eral lawsuit against the Jackson
County BOC claiming her firing
in August 2007 was sex discrimi
nation. She originally planned
to seek $2 million, but county
attorney Julius Hulsey reported at
Monday’s BOC meeting that she
now requests a $465,000 settle
ment.
Hulsey said that the Association
County Commissioners of
Georgia had recommended that
the county not accept the bid. The
county attorney added that he also
recommended that the proposal
be rejected.
The BOC unanimously voted
to reject the settlement proposal.
Underwood was fired in August
2007 for improper use of inmate
labor. In the lawsuit, she states that
items were moved from the home
the county provided for her to
her new home by an inmate crew
while she was in the hospital.
“I did not find out until I
returned from the hospital a few
days later,” she states.
“I never ordered the
detail to do this, but I
got blamed for it.”
Underwood had
worked for the county
since 1990 and was
named warden in 2001.
“During my time of
service for this county,
I never had one bad review in
my file,” she wrote in the lawsuit.
“The only thing my personnel file
had in it was positive achieve
ments. I dedicated my time and
sacrificed my family for over 16
years for Jackson County. At the
end, it stood for nothing. They
simply tossed me away as if I
were nothing.”
The lawsuit also includes allega
tions about other county employ
ees, including an elected official
having an improper relationship
with an inmate, elected officials
making racial remarks and county
employees using inmate labor
improperly. She states no action
was taken against any of these
officials or employees.
“My belief is the county will
attempt to settle this suit as they
did the other (Crandall Jones),”
Underwood wrote. “They know
they are wrong and they don’t
want things to come out. I hold a
lot of secrets and they know it.”
UNDERWOOD
Airport loan gets OK
BYANGELA GARY
THE JACKSON County
Airport Authority got approval
from the board of commission
ers Monday night for a $436,000
loan from the county to continue
with improvements at the air
port.
The Jackson County Board of
Commissioners has debated this
issue for several months with
some commissioners at first hesi
tant to approve the loan because
of the downturn in the economy
and concerns that the federal and
state funds to repay it are not
guaranteed.
The money is needed to com
plete the design and engineei
ing for the corporate and privat
hangar sites. The majority of th
loan, 97.5 percent, is expecte
to be repaid through federal an
state grants.
Airport manager Bob Stapleto
appeared before the BOC at th
past two meetings to present th
request.
“We feel this will help to enei
gize the economy in our con
munity,” Stapleton said at las
month’s meeting. “It is ver
important to the future of th
airport and the county.”
The loan will come from th
county’s reserve funds.