Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 2010
THE JACKSON HERALD
PAGE 3A
RECEIVES GRANT
Jefferson recently received a grant in the amount of $50,000 to plant a minimum
of 110 trees around the city. Shown above are: (seated, L-R) John Ward, city man
ager; Sarah Visser, Georgia Forestry Commission; Jim Joiner, mayor; and Bosie
Griffith, city council member; (back row, L-R) Beth Laughinghouse, Main Street
manager; Connie Head, certified arborist and forester; Barbara Johnson, vice-chair
of the Jefferson Heritage Tree Council; Susan Russell, certified arborist and tree
council leader; Jeff Killup, public works director; and Gary Lamb, Georgia Forestry
Commission.
Jefferson receives grant for trees
BY KATIE HUSTON
JEFFERSON WAS recent
ly awarded a $50,000 grant to
expand the city’s urban forest
and tree canopy coverage.
The grant comes from the
American Reinvestment and
Recovery Act of 2009 and
is one of seven grant proj
ects funded by the Georgia
Forestry Commission (GFC)
in partnership with the
Department of Agriculture/
United States Forest Service.
The grant funds will allow
the city to plant a minimum
of 110 canopy trees on city
street right-of-ways, parks,
parking lots and city school
campuses in high priority
sites which were identified
during tree inventory studies
last year.
The grant provides for the
opportunity to create jobs,
stimulate the economy and
improve ecosystems through
the planting of trees in North
Georgia.
A tree canopy study was
done in 2009 that discovered
that Jefferson has 1,081 street
trees and 448 park trees. The
study also identified 1,491
planting opportunities on city
right-of-ways. Of the city’s
street trees and park trees, 92
percent were identified as in
good or excellent condition
and it was estimated that the
street trees provide the city
over $29,000 in annual ben
efits with a replacement value
of over $1,500,000.
Barbara Johnson is vice
chair of the Jefferson Heritage
Tree Council and has had
an active role in ensuring
Jefferson has a healthy urban
forest area.
“Because we had such an
active tree council, a proac
tive and responsive city coun
cil and city staff/administra
tion, we’ve been successful
in applying for awards to get
some of the groundwork done
in the studies,” she said. “The
tree inventory was a crucial
piece in this because that was
what identified not only what
we had and what condition it
was in, but also identified all
those planting opportunities
that we’re going to be mak
ing use of with this new grant
today.”
As of the 2009 tree canopy
study, the city found out that
in terms of tree coverage, it’s
not in such bad shape.
Johnson said that hopefully,
the city will be able to main
tain a “no net loss” of tree
coverage, and that currently,
Jefferson is still in far better
shape than other cities. She
is, however, worried about
the emergence of even more
impervious surfaces.
“We’re at 11.3 (percent)
right now, which compared to
some heavily urbanized com
munities, isn’t bad,” she said.
“But compared to, you know,
all the millions of square feet
of new development out there
that’s already been approved,
just hasn’t been built yet
because of the economy, we
know that that number is
going to increase.”
Sarah Visser is with the
GFC and commended the city
for its work in completing
all the necessary groundwork
needed for this grant includ
ing identifying playing sites
in advance.
“We’re especially excited
about (Jefferson’s) project
because you were planting
large canopy trees in an urban
setting” she said.
Also with the new grant, the
city will be able to retain cer
tified arborist and registered
forester Connie Head and
the team of Urban Forestry
Consultants who will assist
with routine community for
estry management and also
coordinate projects.
The grant requires no
matching funds from the city.
City Manager John Ward
was present Thursday morn
ing for the signing of the
grant and said that he was
proud of the job the staff
accomplished.
“This is a testament that
when you assemble the
resources of the caliber that
we have from our volunteers,
our contracted support staff
of certified arborists and for
esters, to our staff - when
you assemble those resources
together, this is the kind of
project you can accomplish,”
he said.
Jefferson approves massage/spa ordinance
BY ANGELA GARY
RECENT ARRESTS for
prostitution at massage and
spa businesses, including
three women at a Buford
location near the Mall of
Georgia, led the Jefferson
City Council to get an ordi
nance in place regulating
these operations.
Monday night, in a 4-1
vote, the council approved
an ordinance setting the reg
ulations for massage and spa
establishments. Steve Kinney
cast the only no vote because
he wanted the age for entry
into these businesses to be
18 instead of 21. Kinney had
first made a motion that the
ordinance be approved with
the age change, but no one
seconded his motion.
“There are no active per
mit (requests) at this time,”
city manager John Ward said.
“This is being proactive.”
The regulations include:
Names of all employees and
their state licensee informa
tion is required; the manager
must be on site at all times;
inspections by the police
department are allowed at all
time; staff must be clothed at
all times; restrictive hours;
and person under age 21
can’t go to establishment.
“This doesn’t prohib
it these type of establish
ments,” Ward said. “It regu
lates them.”
Work to begin on streetscape project
BY ANGELA GARY
JEFFERSON’S streetscape
project will get under way
in May with a bid for the
work to be awarded later this
month.
Mainstreet Jefferson man
ager Beth Laughinghouse
gave a report on the project
at the city council meeting
Monday night. She reported
that a pre-bid meeting for con
tractors will be held on March
11 with the bids to be opened
at 2 p.m. on March 24. She
said work on the project could
begin as early as May 1.
Bid packets are available
at city hall and information
on the bid project is on the
town’s website.
In other reports given
Monday night, Connie Head
spoke on behalf of the Tree
Council on work completed
by the group, which included
an inventory of the town’s
trees. She also reported that
the town has been given Tree
City USA status for five years
and has received a growth
award from the organization
for its efforts the past year.
“We were really excited
about receiving that $50,000
grant,” city manager John
Ward said. “There were a
number of other communities
competing for that.”
CENSUS EFFORT
Also at the meeting, county
GIS manager, Joel Logan,
gave a report on the Census
effort in the county. He said
Census questionnaires will be
mailed out in the next few
weeks and will include 10
questions that should take 10
minutes to complete.
“There is nothing I feel is
invasive to anyone’s privacy,”
Logan said. “I hope no one
feels that way.”
Logan added that people
who don’t fill out and return
the survey or who don’t
answer all of the questions
will get a visit from a Census
worker. He encouraged the
council members to sup
port and promote the Census
effort.
“I need your support as you
talk to citizens throughout the
community.”
ALSO ON THE AGENDA
Other items discussed at
the meeting Monday night
included:
•a report from finance
director Amie Vaughan, who
said that auditors will be in
the city the next two weeks
gathering information for the
2009 audit.
•a report from public works
director Jeff Killip, who gave
updates on the Old Swimming
Pool Road project which is
budgeted at $315,000. This
will be funded with SPLOST
revenue.
•a report from Killip on
a speed limit project, which
is estimated to cost $1,500.
The purpose of the study is to
provide documentation to the
department of transportation
to modify the speed limits on
several roads in town.
No arrest in N. Jackson shooting last week
THE VICTIM in a shoot
ing last week in North
Jackson has been identi
fied as Marco Antonio
Sotomayor Rodriguez, 24, of
Gainesville.
Deputies called to a wrecked
vehicle on Lipscomb Lake
Road on March 1 found a dead
man with a gunshot wound in
the back of his head. A motive
or suspect have not been found
at this time, according to offi
cials with the Jackson County
Sheriff’s Office.
“We are pursuing it as
an active case and foul play
is suspected,” Major David
Cochran of the Jackson
County Sheriff’s Office said
last week.
The Georgia Bureau of
Investigation is assisting with
the case.
Deputies were first called
to the scene on reports of a
wrecked vehicle at Lipscomb
Lake Road near Buffington
Road in Pendergrass. The
victim was found in a black
Grand Jeep Cherokee that
was off the road in a wooded
area.
Subscribe to The Jackson Herald
by calling 706-367-5233 today!
Maysville to hold budget hearing March 11
THE TOWN of Maysville
will hold a budget hear
ing at 6 p.m. on Thursday,
March 11, at the Maysville
Public Library. A called
meeting will follow at 6:30
p.m. for a vote to be taken
on the millage rate.
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A work session on future
water and sewer projects
will follow.
A called meeting will be
held at 6 p.m. on Thursday,
March 18, to vote on the
2010 budget.
A copy of the proposed
AVON
Now Available at
Chili Dawgs
Corner of
Hwy. 82 & 15
in Jefferson.
If interested in
selling Avon call
Roxanne
706-693-4304
budget is available at city
hall for public review.
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PUBLIC NOTICE
DESTRUCTION OF RECORDS
OF DISABLED STUDENTS
The Jackson County School System, Department of Special
Education, announces its intention to destroy specific data.
Records will be destroyed that were collected, maintained, or
used in provision of a free appropriate public education for
disabled students in Jackson County Schools. This notice is in
compliance with the system's comprehensive plan for special
education required by IDEA 2004.
Records on students who enrolled in a special education
program for the disabled and whose birthdays are between 06/
02/83 and 06/01/84 are no longer needed for educational
purposes. These records may be needed by the student or
parents for Social Security or other reasons. The system plans
to destroy these records on April 05, 2010, unless there has
been a request for a due process hearing, under IDEA 2004 or
a complaint filed with the Office of Civil Rights.
If you, as the student or parents of the student, desire copies
of these records prior to destruction, contact the office of
Special Education at (706) 367-5151. You will be required to
produce identification or provide verification data.