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THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2009
City council denies church’s grant proposal
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
A CHURCH’S request that
the City of Jefferson support
its grant that could create
jobs for the area has been
denied by the council.
The Jefferson City Council
voted unanimously Monday
to deny Sardis Presbyterian
Church’s request that the
city serve as a “fiscal agent”
for a $500,000 Community
Development Block grant.
The money would have
been used for several projects,
including the church serv
ing as a job training center
and offering small business
loans. The city would have
received $30,000 to monitor
the finances of the grant.
The council didn’t discuss
the request on Monday and
no one from the church was
in the audience to speak on
the proposal.
Last week, a grant writer
speaking about the church’s
proposal told the council the
grant could create 50 jobs
through the “Job Ready” pro
gram, including home health
aides, social work assistants,
day care workers, after school
tutors and food service work
ers. The grant writer also
said the church could imple
ment the program without
the grant, but it would make
it easier.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business, the
Jefferson City Council:
•discussed Gov. Sonny
Perdue’s recent announce
ment easing outdoor water
ing restrictions across the
state. The new changes
remove the drought restric
tions and allow customers
to use outdoor water based
on an odd-even address sys
tem. Odd-numbered address
es can water on Tuesdays,
Thursdays and Sundays.
Even-numbered and unnum
bered addresses are allowed
to water on Mondays,
Wednesdays and Saturdays.
There is no time restriction
when people may use out
door water, but the governor
suggested not watering land
scapes between 10 a.m. and
4 p.m. The council wasn’t
required to take action on the
new changes.
•authorized the mayor to
sign the extension of Jackson
County’s House Bill 489
(shared services agreement)
agreement. The city recently
settled a dispute about the
county renaming roads in the
city limits. The dispute was
postponing the extension of
the agreement. The city will
be responsible for naming or
renaming roads in its bound
aries.
Water authority to spend $50,000 for backup for Braselton
By Mark Beardsley
BRASELTON has become
such a good water customer
that the Jackson County Water
and Sewerage Authority
is prepared to spend up to
$50,000 to keep the water
flowing in an emergency.
The authority will hold a
called meeting in upcoming
weeks to approve a not-to-
exceed cost of $50,000 to
provide a backup pump at
a critical “choke point” to
assure that Braselton can
quench its thirst even in a
power outage.
The authority’s manager,
Eric Klerk, made the pro
posal to equip the authority’s
Galilee Church Road pump
station with a diesel back
up pump at last Thursday’s
authority meeting. The
authority was on the verge
of approving the request —
it had a motion and a sec
ond — when attorney Paul
Smart recommended that it
not vote on the matter since
the issue was not on the meet
ing agenda.
Keeping Braselton happy is
a major concern. As of May
12, Braselton was using more
than a half million gallons per
day. In addition to providing
the authority with a steady
stream of revenue (at that
consumption rate Braselton’s
bill would approach $50,000
a month), supplying Braselton
drives down the authority’s
cost of water from the Bear
Creek Reservoir, which raises
the authority’s profit from all
of its sales.
Largely due to Braselton’s
purchases, which just started
this spring, the authority has
seen its cost per 1,000 gal
lons fall from a high of $1.67
in February to $1.25 in May.
Those figures do not include
the cost of debt service.
All of the water headed
toward Braselton passes
through the Galilee Church
Road pump station, what
Klerk called a “pinch point.”
“If we lose power, we’ve
got no way of pumping water
to Braselton,” said Klerk,
who termed the situation “a
deficiency.”
While the authority’s con
tract with Braselton does not
require it to furnish water in
the event of a power outage,
Klerk was adamant about the
need to provide the backup
system.
“We don’t want to get to
that point,” he said. “We want
to be a reliable provider.”
The pump would be started
manually.
“My experiences is that
sometimes diesel engines
don’t crank if you don’t main
tain them,” observed Randall
Pugh, chairman.
Klerk said the pump would
be added to the regular main
tenance program for the
authority’s other pumps.
The authority’s staff is
looking at buying a John
Deere pump being advertised
on a government surplus web
site. The pump has not been
used, but would not have a
warranty. If the authority can
not win the bidding on that
pump, Klerk indicated staff
will acquire a new pump.
Funding will come from
the authority’s water capital
reserve fund.
The date of the called meet
ing will be set after all of the
purchasing details are ironed
out.
The pump can be placed
inside the existing pump
station building. It will also
require a fuel tank and a con
tainment system for the tank.
Braselton visitor’s bureau to discuss budget Wed.
THE BRASELTON Visitor’s Bureau
Authority was to discuss its proposed FYE
2010 budget during a public hearing on
Wednesday, June 17, at 4 p.m.
The authority handles a two percent hotel/
motel tax, which funds special events, trans
portation improvements, marketing and
public relations for the town. Braselton also
charges an additional three percent hotel/
motel tax, which funds the town’s general
fund budget.
Braselton is proposing a $290,750 budget
for the authority — a four percent increase
from the FYE 2009 budget of $279,000.
The meeting will be held at the Braselton
Police and Municipal Court building.
Copies are available at town hall during
business hours.
Aldi to locate in Jefferson
BY ANGELA GARY
A $45 MILLION bond induce
ment resolution for a grocery store
distribution center was approved
by the Jefferson Development
Authority in a called meeting
Tuesday afternoon.
Aldi grocery store is locating a
distribution center on 85 acres off
of Hwy. 82 at the Dry Pond exit.
The project calls for 482,223
square feet to be initially devel
oped with a future expansion of an
additional 298,626 square feet.
Plans call for locating a “green,
environmentally friendly build
ing” on the site.
“They want it to be the ‘green
est’ building in Georgia,” chamber
president Shane Short said.
Jefferson city manager John
Ward added that the project is
a great economic boost for the
area, with 35 to 40 employees to
be hired initially. After the expan
sion, the company expects to have
a total of 75 employees.
“It’s a wonderful thing to make
an announcement like this with
the economy as it is now,” Ward
said.
Present for the development
authority meeting were: chair
man Ron Bond; members Roy
Stowe, Gus Johnson and Ed
Thompson; Mayor Jim Joiner;
attorney Ronnie Hopkins; Ward;
and Short.
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OPEN FATHER’S DAY!
11 a. m. - 3 p.m.
Thursday is Family Night
Kids Eat Free 5 p.m. - 8 p.m. ^Restrictions apply
LUNCH ENTREES Starting at $6.99
~ Entree with 2 vegetables and bread ~
Have the “Soup of the day” with a salad or sandwich
Check out our website for new summer menu, salads and sandwiches.
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FOLK POTTERS FESTIVAL
Featuring 40 potters from
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June 20 ? 2009
8:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Banks County Middle School
712 Thompson St., Homer, Georgia 30547
Info: Steve Turpin - 706-677-1528
www.northgafolkpottersfestival.com
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