Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2010
THE JACKSON HERALD
PAGE 3A
New Jefferson streetscape sidewalk to be replaced
BY ANGELA GARY
A NEW sidewalk being placed
between Martin Street and Dell
Street in downtown Jefferson has
to be replaced after it was found
to be too high.
Jefferson city manager John
Ward said the sidewalk, as well
as the curb and gutter, was put
in too high.
“The contractor has agreed
to correct this by removing
the newly-poured items and to
replace it at no additional cost to
the city,” Ward said.
The problem was discovered
last week when city of Jefferson
staff, along with project manag
ers with Bron Cleveland, Clark
Patterson Engineering and Tri
Scapes, met at the site to conduct
a project review of the down
town streetscape project.
Demolition and replacement
work has already began.
The sidewalk is part of the
streetscape project in the down
town Jefferson area.
WORK AT MARTIN AND DELL STREETS
New sidewalk at Martin and Dell streets in downtown Jefferson will be repoured at
no cost to the city, after the sidewalk, curb and gutter were put in too high.
New facility, equipment slashed from proposed budget
Talks continue
in Jefferson
BYANGELA GARY
NEW BUILDINGS and
heavy equipment are items
that likely will not be funded
by the Jefferson City Council
in next year’s budget.
The city council has been
discussing the proposed
budget for several months
and has met with department
heads to get their “wish list”
for capital projects.
Monday night, the council
reviewed the list of capi
tal project requests, which
total $4.3 million, and cut
most of them. Final action
has not been taken on the
budget but the requests for
a new police department
building, heavy equipment
for the street department,
finishing a room at the civic
center and laptop computers
for the city officials are not
expected to be included in
the budget.
The city has $2.8 million
in reserves but mayor Jim
Joiner cautioned the council
about spending this money.
He said that would be six
months in operating expens
es for the city.
“Be cautious on how we
spend this,” Joiner said. “We
are not out of the recession
yet. I encourage you to be
very cautious on how you
spend the reserve fund.”
While no final action was
taken the council did list
approximately $400,000
in projects that they would
like to keep in the budget,
including two new vehicles
for the police department
and HVAC replacements.
Chateau Elan’s Vineyard Fest coming up Sunday
Wine, food and
grape stomping
part of the fun
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
CHATEAU Elan’s Vine
yard Fest is known for draw
ing a crowd for its variety
of featured domestic and
international wines.
But, this year, wines from
Georgia will have a greater
presence at the 14th annual
event in Braselton.
“We actually have 10 of
the Georgian wineries com
ing this year, while in the
past we’ve had about five
or six,” said Doug Rollins,
vice president of sale and
marketing for Chateau
Elan.
Those wines will join
others from Italy, Chili,
Australia, France, Spain,
Argentina, Georgia and New
Zealand — along with oth
ers throughout the United
States. At least 125 wines
will be featured at Vineyard
Fest.
Not just limited to wine,
the annual celebration mark
ing the start of wine har
vesting season also includes
plenty of food.
Chateau Elan will have
food samples from each of
its seven restaurants, along
with a light salad from a
hotel in St. Bart’s — called
Hotel Carl Gustaf — that it
recently took over manage
ment.
“It’s everything together
with the music, the food and
the wine — but it’s the wine
that’s the draw,” Rollins
said. “It’s your chance to
get in there and taste the
many varieties that come
through one location.”
The Chateau Elan
Vineyard Fest will be held
on Sunday, Aug. 29, from
l-5p.m., at the winery in
Braselton.
All inclusive tickets are
COOKING DEMONSTRATIONS
Along with food, wine and live music, the Vineyard Fest will also feature cooking
demonstrations at Chateau Elan’s culinary studios. Wine demonstrations are also
planned for guests.
GRAPE STOMPING STARTS THE SEASON
Grape stomping is one of the most popular features
of the Vineyard Fest at Chateau Elan, which marks the
start of the wine harvesting season.
$75 each, which includes
unlimited wine and food,
parking and other entertain
ment. Tickets — which
have sold out every year
since 2004 — are limited
to 2,000 guests and will not
be sold at the main gate.
Advanced tickets may be
purchased online at www.
chateauelan.com and guests
must be 21.
Besides the wine and
food, other entertainment
at the Vineyard Fest bring
guests throughout a five-
hour radius to Chateau Elan
— especially the grape
stomping. That’s where
guests are invited to kick
off their shoes and expe
rience grape stomping in
their bare feet.
Guests can also learn
from hourly wine semi
nars or take a tour of the
newly-renovated Spa at
Chateau Elan. The League
of Decency band will return
for its seventh year at the
Vineyard Fest.
Executive chef Marc
Suennemann will hold
cooking demonstrations at
the culinary studio inside
the winery on Sunday, at 1
p.m., 2:30 p.m., and 4 p.m.
Chateau Elan still has
rooms available at the hotel
for guests to enjoy the
weekend for the Vineyard
Fest, Rollins said. However,
packages for the hotel relat
ed to the event are sold out.
The Vineyard Fest will
be held rain or shine in the
air-conditioned pavilion and
cask room at Chateau Elan.
For more information,
visit www.chateauelan.
com.
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CARD OF THANKS
The Family of Randall Shaw would
like to say thank you to everyone
who was there for us during our
time of sorrow.
Special thanks to the pallbearers,
honorary pallbearers and Evans
Funeral Home for a job well done.
Nicholson looks at Wastepro
as exclusive garbage collector
BY SHARON HOGAN
THE NICHOLSON City
Council is considering naming
Wastepro as the exclusive gar
bage collector for city residents.
Three Wastepro representa
tives, John Cown, Fred Wood
and Chris Witherspoon, attended
the monthly work session meet
ing on Thursday, Aug. 19, to
discuss the request and answer
questions.
Cown reported that the city’s
current contract with Wastepro
allows for an increase if the land
fill tipping fee goes up.
“And the fee has increased
from $34 to $42,” Cown said.
“We are asking to be exclusive
in the city to help offset the
increase.”
Currently, the city doesn’t
have an exclusive garbage col
lector. City residents can choose
their garbage collector and there
are several different collectors in
the city.
Mayor Ronnie Maxwell told
the council that the city doesn’t
make anything off the other gar
bage collectors.
“The only one we make any
thing off of is Wastepro, and we
do make a little bit,” Maxwell
said.
Council member Chuck
Wheeler said he had talked with
15-20 people and all but one or
two wanted it to stay the same.
“They want to be able to
choose their garbage service,”
Wheeler said.
Maxwell asked Wheeler to
produce a list of the people he
had talked with, but Wheeler
said the list was in his other track
at the time.
“I can get it to you later,”
Wheeler said.
Cown advised Wastepro wants
to provide the city with the best
service possible.
“We want to grow with you,”
Cown said.
If the council doesn’t approve
the request to make Wastepro the
exclusive garbage collector in the
city, residents could be facing a
slight increase in their garbage
collection fee.
Maxwell advised this item
would be on the agenda for the
council meeting set for 7 p.m. on
Thursday, Sept. 9.
OTHER BUSINESS
Other business discussed by
the council on Thursday includ
ed:
•forming a planning and zon
ing board for the city. Consultant
Jerry Weitz, who worked with
the city on the comprehensive
plan, advised it would be in the
city’s best interest to have a plan
ning and zoning board. “The
board would only make recom
mendations,” Maxwell said.
“Everything would come to the
council for approval.” The board,
if approved, would consist of five
or six members. Maxwell said
this item would also be on the
agenda for the September meet
ing. Council member Howard
Wilbanks said, “A planning and
zoning board is fine with me.”
Wheeler said, “I think this is just
another way to pass the buck
around.” Nicholson resident
John Ring said, “It is your deci
sion, but I think you should go
ahead with this.”
•amending the city’s ethics
ordinance concerning the eth
ics committee. Maxwell said,
“I am asking to strike the sen
tence about an attorney having
to serve on the committee and
the attorney must reside in the
city.” Council member Bobby
Crawford asked, “If we don’t
change a sentence or two, what
will happen?” Maxwell replied,
“We will lose our city of eth
ics certification.” Wilbanks said,
“We worked hard to get the city
of ethics certification and I think
we need to change the sentence.”
Nicholson City Attorney Tricia
Leeman said, about the city’s
ethics code, “The city just adopt
ed a ‘boiler-plate’ ethics code.”
Leeman advised the council that
if a third party attorney is hired
they would be creating a conflict
of interest. “We are on the line
with GMA (Georgia Municipal
Association) of losing our city
of ethics certification,” she said.
“We need to move forward with
this.” Leeman said that she would
assist the city with any ethics
issues or complaints. Maxwell
read an email from Susan Moore,
general counsel for GMA, say
ing the city should not pay an
attorney to serve on this commit
tee. Wheeler said, “I still think
we need an attorney to serve on
the ethics committee.” Wheeler
suggested that the city look for
an attorney, within a 10-mile
radius of the city, to serve on this
committee. Nicholson resident
Paul Cartledge said, “If you go
outside the city for an attorney
to serve on this committee, why
not go ahead and go outside the
city for the mayor and coun
cil?” Nicholson resident Faye
Seagraves asked, “What are you,
the council, afraid of with form
ing this committee?” Wheeler
said, “We are not saying we
don’t need this committee.”
Wilbanks said, “We need to get
this done and move forward.”
Maxwell advised he would call
for a vote on the amendment to
the ethics ordinance at the Sept,
council meeting.
•Wheeler asked to make a
change to the city’s check writ
ing policy. “I want to see us have
you, Ronnie and one council
member sign checks when they
are needed.” Wheeler recom
mended having the mayor and
two council members on the sig
nature list, with any two of the
three approved to sign. Maxwell,
Wilbanks and Crawford each
stated they did not have a prob
lem with the way checks are
handled now. Wilbanks said,
“Leave it the way it is.” Crawford
agreed. Maxwell said, “It will
stay the way it is.” Seagraves
said, “Chuck, maybe you need to
run for mayor and then you can
sign checks.”
•Maxwell presented the coun
cil with a draft copy of the pro
posed zoning ordinance, com
piled by Weitz, for review prior
to the Sept, council meeting.
•Maxwell announced the pub
lic hearing set for 7 p.m. on
Thursday, Sept. 9, prior to the
council meeting, on the rezon
ing application from Chris
Tompkins, Tara’s Place, LLC, to
rezone 1.25 acres located at 590
James Maxwell Road from R-l
(Residential) to C-l (General
Commercial Business) for the
purpose of operating a commer
cial kennel.
•Maxwell advised the council
that Walter Barnett painted the
amphitheater at no charge to the
city. “He donated the paint, his
time and the use of his workers
at no cost to us. I want to thank
Walter for this,” Maxwell said.
•Maxwell announced that
beginning in September, the
meeting agenda will be posted
on the city’s website.
•Maxwell reported that the
power station that had been
proposed for construction on
Highway 441, near council
member Wilbanks residence, has
been re-located to a site on Berea
Church Road.
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