Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, MAY 5, 2010
THE JACKSON HERALD
PAGE 3A
Plant Dahlberg gets EPD permission to expand
PLANT DAHLBERG
THE GEORGIA Environ
mental Protection Division has
amended the operating permit of
Plant Dahlberg in Center so the
company can almost double its
electrical generation capacity.
Plant Dahlberg’s owner,
Southern Power, plans to add
four simple cycle combustion
turbines to the 10 already at the
Jarrett Road facility. The new
turbines would add 760 mega
watts of production to the plant,
which has a current capacity
of 810 megawatts. The permit
amendment will expire alter 18
months if the company does not
add the units.
The EPD held a public hear
ing in February on the mat
ter at the Jackson County
Courthouse. It approved the
permit effective March 25.
The plant is designed to
supplement Southern Power
Company’s supply in times of
peak demand. It runs approxi
mately 300 hours a year. The
plant is designed to accommo
date up to 16 combustion turbine
units.
The new permit allows Plant
Dahlberg to increase its emis
sions of particulate matter, sulfur
dioxide, nitrogen oxide, carbon
monoxide and volatile organic
compounds into the air.
Southern Power is a subsid
iary of The Southern Company,
which is the parent company of
Georgia Power Co., Alabama
Power Co., Gulf Power Co.
and Mississippi Power Co. It
acquires, builds, manages and
owns electrical generating
plants.
Plant Dahlberg is a major
Jackson County taxpayer.
According to the Jackson County
tax commissioner’s office,
its 2009 tax bill amounted to
$787,000 to the Jackson County
School System and $308,000 to
the county government. It also
paid more than $34,000 to the
Nicholson Fire District.
Maysville moves ahead with ordinance for historic district
By Katie Huston
THE MAYSVILLE City
Council approved the go-ahead
of an ordinance for a historic
district, giving the city the right
to develop a set of design guide
lines.
The goal is to avoid creat
ing inconsistencies in the city’s
historic district. The council said
that it is determined to put some
thing back in the downtown area
that will not detract from its sur
roundings.
Chip Wright, historic planner
for Georgia Mountains Regional
Commission, was present to
discuss Historic Downtown
Maysville.
He said that since the amount
of resources the city has is small,
any change would influence the
area.
“Anything you lose is going
to have a tremendous impact
on your character area,” Wright
said.
He went on to say that charac
ter, history and integrity are what
attract people to Maysville.
“You, the city, understand that
you have an important resource
that represents years of success
and sorrow and growth, or what
have you,” Wright said. “It’s
worth protecting.”
The kind of things the ordi
nance will address is what type
of buildings work in a histor
ic district. How tall and wide
should a building be, how many
doors should it have, what kind
windows and how far should it
be set back from the street.
With the design guidelines,
an ordinance would regulate
the setback on the highway and
complement existing buildings
that remain downtown.
It will also prevent chain
developers from coming in and
building a cookie-cutter estab
lishment.
Council Member Lynn Vilyard
mentioned that some residents
have resistance toward owning
historical property because prop
erty owners are subject to explicit
criteria in restoring it.
Wright said that by creating an
ordinance, the city would actu
ally be helping residents by pro
viding guidance.
“You’ve got to assume that
they’re buying (historic) prop
erty because they like history,”
he said. “It has some sentimental
meaning to them ... sometimes
they lack vision to restore it back
the way it needs to be done.”
An ordinance will provide the
design assistance and the help
property owners need that in
other circumstances, a property
owner would have to go to a big
ger city to seek a design archi
tect. In addition, there are tax
credits and incentives to keep a
house historic.
The ordinance will also
provide steps to maintain and
increase property values.
“You’re flapping in the breeze,”
Wright said. “So you’ve got to
get serious about this ordinance.
You’ve got to get serious about
putting these controls in place.”
The city took that first step
by unanimously approving the
ordinance Monday night.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business:
•the council approved the
low bid of $284,900 from JHC
Corporation for the streetscape
project.
•a previously approvedbid with
the Georgia Power streetscape
lighting project was amended for
the addition of one streetlight.
The previously approved price
was $35,885 and the new cost is
$39,820.
•a change order was made to
Power Construction Company
because more manholes where
pavement needs to be raised have
been found around the city. It will
cost $690 to raise each manhole;
the city is unaware exactly how
many manholes Maysville has.
•the city approved a motion
to go into a contract with the
Community Club to spon
sor a movie in the park. The
Community Club has yet to
agree.
•the council approved a motion
to begin obtaining bids for repairs
of potholes around the city.
Schedule given for ‘A Day
SHANE SHORT, President/CEO of the Jackson County Area
Chamber of Commerce, will serve as Master of Ceremonies at
Saturday’s program for “A Day at the Historic Courthouse.”
Proceeds from the day’s program, scheduled from 10 a.m. to 5
p.m. on the courthouse grounds in downtown Jefferson, will go
toward the restoration of the building. The program follows:
PROGRAM OF EVENTS
10 a.m. —
•Pledge of Allegiance, Boy Scouts of America, Troup #158
•Prayer, Don Moore, Solictor of Jackson County State Court
•Welcome, Hunter Bicknell, Chairman, Jackson County
Board of Commissioners
10:15 a.m. —
•Courthouse tours begin, every 30 minutes.
(Sign up at tour tent; $5/person donation. )
10:15 a.m. —
•Singing by Mary Burley
at the Historic Courthouse’
11 a.m. —
•State Representative, Tommy Benton
11:30 a.m. —
•Author, Harry Bryan
Noon —
•Lunch Break
12:25 p.m. —
•Becky Perry, announcement regarding the
Jackson County Historic Courthouse Art Contest
12:30 p.m. —
•Auction, conducted by Nathan Cagle
1 p.m. —
•Crystal River Bluegrass-Gospel Band
2 p.m. —
•BlueBilly Grit Bluegrass Band
3 p.m. —
•Kyle Long and Friends Bluegrass-Gospel
Qualifying cont’d from JA
Cagle, 44, (R) Incumbent,
Gainesville; Tricia Carpenter
McCracken, 65, (D) Augusta;
Carol Parton, 51, (D) Atlanta.
Secretary of State: Doub
MacGinnitie, 42, (R) Sandy
Springs; Gail Buckner, 59, (D)
Jonesboro; Gary Horiacher, 53,
(D) Peachtree City; Georganna
Sinkfield, 67, (D) Atlanta.
Attorney General: Sam Olens,
52, (R) Marietta; Preston W.
Smith, 37, (R) Rome; Max
Wood, 50, (R) Macon; Ken
Hodges, 44, (D) Smyrna; Rob
Teilhet, 36, (D) Smyrna.
State Superintendent of
Schools: John D. Barge, 43 (R)
Rome; Richard Woods, 47, (R)
Tilton; Beth Farokhi, 62, (D)
Maysville
Marietta; Brian Westlake, 40,
(D) Decatur.
Insurance Commissioner: Rick
Collum, 40, (R) Moultrie; Seth
Harp, 67, (R) Midland; Ralph
Hudgens, 67, (R) Hull; Tom
Knox, 66, (R) Cumming; John
Mamalkis, 61, (R) Savannah;
Stephen D. Northington, 40, (R)
Acworth; Gerry Purcell, 48 (R)
Alpharetta; Maria Sheffield, 35,
(R) Adanta; Mary Squires, 52,
(D) Atlanta.
Commissioner of Agriculture:
Gary Black, 51, (R) Commerce;
Darwin Carter, 70, (R) Alma.
Labor Commissioner: Mark
Butier, 39 (R) Carrollton; Melivn
Everson, 52, (R) Snellville; Darryl
Hicks, 46 (D) Fayetteville.
cont’d from JA
Mayor Jerry Baker said that
he did not know McNeely was
going to resign. The resignation
is effective immediately, plac
ing the city in a race to meet
state special election laws.
“I just don’t want to leave
Ward 3 unrepresented, and
you know, I feel like it’s been
unrepresented,” Baker said.
“The people of the ward, you
know, wanted to know what
was happening. So now they
know what’s happening. So all
we need to do is get some
one in Ward 3 - hopefully by
July.”
County attorney Jane Range
said that the city cannot hold
a special election for a new
council member until July 20,
according to state law.
This means that until July,
with the guaranteed absence of
one council member, if another
member could not attend a
meeting, there wouldn’t be a
quorum.
“We don’t want to leave
the town without a quorum,”
Range said. “But at the same
time, we don’t control state
election laws.”
Before July 20, the city will
have to ensure that it’s gone
through all the steps to hold a
special election. This includes
gaining approval from the
Justice Department, printing
notices in the legal organ news
paper and calling the election
with ample notice.
BOC cont’d from JA
•a proposal to name a road in the Zion Church Road project as
Henry Braselton Drive. Commissioner Bruce Yates said: “He was a
leader in our community for years. He served on the town council for
many years and as the mayor. This would be a great tribute to him.”
TOOK ACTION
Also at the Monday night meeting, the BOC approved the final
location and resolution supporting the Hog Mountain Road widening
and reconstruction project.
N
TOWN HALL MEETING
District 3 Commissioner Bruce Yates will be
holding a Town Hall Meeting on Tuesday, May 11,
2010 at 7:00 p.m in the Braselton Police and
Municipal Court Building, located at 5040 Hwy. 53,
Braselton, GA 30517.
Mr. Yates is seeking discussion on property
assessments, SPLOST, informational updates on
the new Hoschton Park, the Zion Church road
project, the Jackson County Comprehensive Plan,
and other issues of concern to citizens.
The public is invited to attend.
v
✓
Community planning workshop planned in Nicholson
NICHOLSON residents p.m. on Thursday, May 13, “Your input will help deter- For more information,
are invited to a communi
ty planning workshop to
provide input on the city’s
comprehensive plan. The
meeting will be held at 6:30
at the Nicholson Community
Center, Nicholson.
“We value your input plan
ning the future of the city
of Nicholson,” leaders state.
mine the issues and opportu
nities that the comprehensive
plan will address and guide
the next 20 years of growth
and development in the city.”
contact Jerry Weitz, consult
ing planner, 770-751-1203
or jweitz@bellsouth.net or
Wendy Carter, city clerk, 706-
757-3408.
Dr. Jeff Gilliland
Veterinarian/Owner
(formerly of Commerce Veterinary Hospital
and Jefferson Animal Hospital)
706-614-5266
fetch-a-vet@att.net
• House Calls For Pets
• Small Animal Practice
• By Appointment Only
For online prescriptions, visit
www.fetch-a-vet.com
Serving Clark, Oconee, Banks, Madison, Jackson and Oglethorpe Counties
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The City of Arcade
will hold two
PUBLIC HEARINGS
on Monday, May 10, 2010, starting at
6:00 p.m., in Arcade City Hall, 3325
Athens Highway, Jefferson, GA 30549.
The first Public Hearing will be to hear
comments on an application from Judy
Fox, 238 White Oak Trail, to approve a
variance request to allow construction of
a 560 square foot accessory building/
apartment in front of the primary
residence.
The second Public Hearing will be to
hear input on what area residents would
like to see done regarding possible
traffic modifications or potential
solutions to the traffic flow on Old
Highway 82.