Newspaper Page Text
THE
ACKSON
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H Wednesday, January 6, 2010
ERALD
www.JacksonHeraldTODAY.com
VOL. 135 NO. 29 42 PACES 4 SECTIONS PLUS INSERTS A PUBLICATION OF MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. JEFFERSON, JACKSON COUNTY GEORGIA 30549 75c COPY
Kaput subdivisions creating county headache
“It’s scary to look at the dol
lar figure we are looking at to
really rectify the problem in these
subdivisions. We are not talking
about $2 or $3 million; we are
talking about 10s of 100s of mil
lions of dollars. We can’t do it. ”
— BOC chairman Hunter Bicknell on
“bailing out” lot owners in defunct subdivisions
County readies
for possible snow
WITH the possibility of snow
in tbe forecast for Thursday, the
county road department began
making preparations earlier this
week.
Road superintendent Larry
Guthrie said: “We’re in the process
of putting all of our salt boxes and
snow plows on. I have everyone
on stand by tonight and tomorrow.
We will be ready for whatever
comes.”
County manager Darrell
Hampton said: “We will make
sure we have all of our prepara
tions in place. We’re getting ready.
What concerns us is that we will
have more of an icy condition than
a snow condition.”
The forecast calls for snow
Thursday afternoon with several
inches to accumulate in the North
Georgia area.
— Inside —
BYANGELA GARY
JACKSON COUNTY con
tinues to receive requests from
property owners who want a
building permit for property
located in subdivisions that
don’t meet county regulations.
But comments from members
of the Jackson County Board
of Commissioners indicate that
there is little support for the
county to use tax funds to help
bail out owners who have lots
in over 60 defunct subdivisions.
Subdivisions with empty
lots, roads in disrepair and soil
and erosion problems can be
found in all comers of Jackson
County. New construction
in these developments is at a
stand-still because building per
mits can’t be issued if the codes
are not met; and the developers
of many of these projects have
walked away from them during
the housing bust over the last
three years. There are 62 subdi
visions in the county that are in
violation of the county codes.
County planning director
Gina Mitsdarffer presented
the BOC Monday night with
options on how to handle these
building permit requests. The
options include requiring all
codes to be met before permits
are issued, or allowing permits
to be issued with the non-com
pliance issues to be handled on
a lot-by-lot basis.
“We are running into issues
with subdivisions not comply
ing and with incomplete subdi
visions,” Mitsdarffer said. “We
have owners in these subdivi
sions applying for building per
mits. Our regulations say they
must meet the code to get a
building permit. The developers
have walked away, but lots may
be individually owned. Those
owners are applying for build
ing permits and, as of now, they
must be denied.”
The BOC didn’t take any
action Monday night, but asked
staff to provide the costs of get
ting these subdivisions up to
code. BOC chairman Hunter
Bicknell suggested that spe
cial purpose tax districts could
be established in these subdi
visions and each person who
applies for a building permit
will be responsible for a portion
of this cost.
“It’s scary to look at the dol
lar figure we are looking at
to really rectify the problem
in these subdivisions,” Bicknell
said. “We are not talking about
$2 or $3 million; we are talking
about 10s of 100s of millions
of dollars. We can’t do it. It’s
very unfair to people who are
innocent victims in these sub
divisions. It would be nice to
say we will take care of it, but
we don’t have the resources
to take care of it. We can’t ask
all citizens of the county to
pay for what has happened in
certain subdivisions. It’s going
to be a difficult solution. We
have to be very cautious from
deviating from whatever we set
as a policy. The policy itself is
going to be a deviation. When
we first start making exceptions
and giving people permits, we
need to make sure we are not
a party to allowing them to get
into a situation that could be
even worse than the one they
are currently in.”
Commissioner Tom Crow
said: “I’m sorry for these peo
ple, but we are not in business
to make sure these people make
money. We have people in the
county who have bought stock
in banks that is worthless. We
are not supporting them. I want
to move forward, but I don’t
want to shift one dime to other
taxpayers.”
Op/Ed:
•'Jefferson issues
simmering'. . . page 4A
Sports:
•Mat Panthers take a
win page 1B
Features:
•Medical and personal
items part of Dr. Long
display.. .page 1C
Other News:
•Public Safety
pages 6-7A
•Legals
pages 8-24C
•Church News
page 7B
•Obituaries
page 9A
•School News
pages 8&10A
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INJURED IN WRECK
Three people were injured in a Tuesday afternoon wreck in front of Kroger in
Jefferson. The wreck happened at the intersection of the Damon Gause bypass and
Old Pendergrass Road and involved four vehicles. Two patients were removed from
a SUV and transported by ambulance with what appeared to be moderate injuries.
Names and details of the incident were not available as of presstime Wednesday.
Longtime Jefferson
business owner dies
LONGTIME Jefferson busi
ness owner Owen Webb died
last week.
For more than 40 years, Webb
spent breakfast through lunch
time greeting familiar faces and
making new friends at the win
dow of his snack shack, calling
out “Hello, neighbor” to cus
tomers he knew and offering an
equally friendly greeting to those
he met for the first time.
Mr. Webb and his wife, Ginny,
operated Owen Webb’s Sundries
on the Jefferson public square
for 17 years before settling into
Owen Webb’s Snack Shack
across the railroad tracks on Lee
Street. All total, the Webbs have
sold somewhere between three
and four million hamburgers in
the past 40 years.
“It took us a long time, but for
a little one-horse place like ours,
I guess that’s pretty good,” Mr.
Webb said in an interview eight
years ago. “That’s my recipe,”
he added about the chili that
tops the burgers and hot dogs.
“It took me three months to get
it right while I was at the Dairy
Cream, but that’s the answer
that has kept us in business, and
we’ve had plenty of competition
... When I started the business, I
knew every customer who came
by at least their first or last name;
now I don’t know 70 percent,
there are so many new houses...
When I started 40 years ago, I
never thought it would be like
this.”
Mr. Webb often said one of his
favorite parts of the job was still
seeing the familiar faces, and
meeting the new ones.
AT SNACK SHACK
Owen Webb is shown at
his Snack Shack in 2001,
his business of more than
40 years.
“Some customers come here
that traded with me that first
day I opened the Dairy Cream
— and their kids and their
grandkids,” he said in the earlier
interview. “We’ve got the third
generation.”
Nicholson council
members sworn in
BY SHARON HOGAN
TWO NEW faces were sworn
in Monday night to serve on
the Nicholson City Council.
Jackson County Magistrate
Judge Billy Chandler conducted
the ceremony for incumbent
Mayor Ronnie Maxwell and
for new council members
Bobby Crawford and Chuck
Wheeler.
Incumbent council members
Lamar Watkins and Howard
Wilbanks were also sworn
in for another term on the
council.
MAXWELL SWORN IN
Nicholson Mayor Ronnie Maxwell (L) was sworn in for
another term as mayor during Monday’s council meet
ing. Jackson County Magistrate Judge Billy Chandler
conducted the ceremony. Photo by Sharon Hogan
Ward seeks to move
outside town limits
CITY MANAGER John Ward has asked the
Jefferson City Council to allow him to live outside
the town’s city limits.
The council has not taken action on Ward’s
request, but the issue was apparently discussed
during a closed session last week during an annual
evaluation of Ward’s job performance.
Ward ask in a Dec. 7 letter to the Mayor and
council to have his contract changed such that he
could move within a 30-mile radius of the city.
“This option will offer my wife great flexibility
in her employment options, offer greater opportunity for me to real
ize my dream of owning a small farm and/or of purchasing land in
the County on which to build and keep my response distance within
20 to 25 minutes,” said Ward in the letter.
WARD
Jefferson council ‘no’
votes ignite backlash
VOTES BY two Jefferson
council members against Beth
Laughinghouse as MainStreet
manager for the City of Jefferson
have ignited a backlash of emails
to the town in support of her
work.
At last week’s city council
meeting, city manager John
Ward recommended depart
ment heads for 2010. Council
members C.D. Kidd and Bosie
Griffith voted against the recom
mendation that Laughinghouse
continue to serve as MainStreet
manager.
Christy Johnson, chair
man of the Jefferson Historic
Preservation Commission,
wrote to the city: “As Chairman
of the Historic Preservation
Commission, I am deeply
appreciative of all the technical
and clerical support Beth has
provided to the commission. In
addition, as a MainStreet volun
teer, I have seen the qualify and
quantity of the programs expand
under her guidance.”
Angela McKinney, a busi
ness owner and member of the
Jefferson Board of Education,
wrote: “I too am appalled but
also mortified that we would
have city councilmen that obvi
ously are not involved or con
nected to our downtown in any
way, shape, or form because if
they were they would know how
valuable Beth Laughinghouse is
to the City of Jefferson. I can
not serve this city as I would
like, but I know that things get
accomplished because of Beth
and her efforts along with many
volunteers. I would like to take
this opportunity to thank all vol
unteers and Beth for making our
little town a better place to work
and live.”
Don Lohmeier wrote: “Beth
is the most dedicated, effective
organizer/coordinator of a major
program of community vol
untarism I’ve ever known and
had the honor and privilege of
working with. Clearly, she is,
as academics are fond of put
ting it: ‘Nonpareil.’ And most
deserving of an equal measure
continued on page 5A
Museum re-opening set Sat.
Tickets still available for dinner
THE CRAWFORD W. Long
Museum, Jefferson, will hold its
official re-opening to the public
Saturday, with events scheduled
from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and a
fundraiser dinner planned for
the evening.
The museum’s re-opening will
include horse-drawn carriage
rides through historic Jefferson,
along with refreshments.
A fundraiser dinner and tour
package offers seatings at 6 p.m.
and at 7:45 p.m. Tickets still
available at the museum are
$50 each and include dinner at
Fusion on the Square Restaurant,
followed by a guided tour of the
museum.
The museum, which heralds
Dr. Long’s discovery of sulfu
ric ether as a surgical anesthe
sia, has been closed since June
2008 for structural and exhibit
upgrades that were funded by
a USDA Rural Development
grant.
See page 1C for more details
on the new exhibits and muse
um renovations.