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THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2010
County opens new solid waste transfer station
CEREMONY AT TRANSFER STATION
A ribbon cutting ceremony for Jackson County’s new solid waste transfer station
was held on Friday. Shown (L-R) are: Jackson County commission chairman Hunter
Bicknell; commissioners Bruce Yates and Dwain Smith; solid waste superintendent
Tom Page; commissioner Tom Crow; finance director John Hulsey; commissioner
Chas Hardy; and county manager Darrell Hampton. Photos by Kerri Testement
NEW FACILITY
The new Jackson County Solid Waste Transfer Station
is located next to the former facility, located off Curtis
Spence Drive, near Lamar Murphy Park. The new facility
cost $1.2 million.
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
The first time Hunter Bicknell
went to Jackson County's Lamar
Murphy Park, he noticed a large
metal building in the distance.
It wasn't until a few years later
— when he took some garbage
to the area — that he learned the
facility was the county's solid
waste transfer station.
But in recent years, another
facility was needed for the solid
waste transfer station, which
had grown in use and its build
ing had large holes.
“I’ll tell you, I was not real
proud of it,” said Bicknell, who is
chairman of the Jackson County
Board of Commissioners.
On Friday, the county held
a ribbon cutting ceremony
for a much larger solid waste
transfer station — located just
steps away from the old facil
ity, off Curtis Spence Drive in
Jefferson.
The new facility has at least
eight times the capacity of the
old transfer station, which pro
cessed almost 30,000 tons of
solid waste last year.
With a price tag of $1.2 mil
lion, Jackson County used
money from its general fund to
construct the new transfer sta
tion. Bicknell thanked previous
administrations for budgeting
for the long-planned project.
“We're all anxious to get the
old facility tom down,” Bicknell
said.
The old building was demol
ished on Monday — when the
county started using the new
three-walled facility, according
to solid waste superintendent
Tom Page. The previous build
ing was completed in 1994 and
was designed to handle 50 tons
of waste a day, although it pro
cessed up to 300 tons on some
days.
Page thanked county finance
director John Hulsey and former
two-time interim county man
ager Leonard Myers for their
help on the project, along with
others.
“This work couldn’t be done
without all of our county depart
ments,” said Page, who has
been a county employee for 22
years.
The contractor for the project,
Blue Frog Construction, also
allowed operations to continue
at the solid waste transfer sta
tion during its construction, he
added.
The Jackson County Solid
Waste Transfer Station is the
only one in the state to use
inmate labor, according to Page.
When residents bring their gar
bage to the facility, inmates
unload it from vehicles. The
county then places the waste in
a building, where it is later com
pacted and sent to Banks County
to be placed in a landfill.
The facility is open Mondays
through Fridays, from 7:30 a.m.
to 4:30 p.m„ but opens at 6
a.m. for those with commercial
accounts with the county. It is
also open on Saturdays, from
7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
For more information, includ
ing disposal fees, visit www.
jacksoncountygov.com and click
on the “Solid Waste” page.
County schools start talk of next education SPLOST
Early voting under way
for November election
Voting held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
at county administrative building
EARLY VOTING for the November 2 General Election is
under way and will end on Friday, October 29, in all Georgia
counties. Jackson County voters
can cast a ballot from 8 a.m. to 5
p.m. Mondays through Fridays
at the Administrative Building.
Races on the ballot include
the following:
•United States Senator:
incumbent Johnny Isakson (R),
Mike Thurmond (D) and Chuck
Donovan (L).
•Governor: Nathan Deal (R), Roy Barnes (D) and John
Monds (L).
•Lt. governor: incumbent Casey Cagle (R), Carol Porter (D)
and Dan Barber (L).
•Secretary of state: incumbent Brian Kemp (R), Georganna
Sinkfield (D) and David Chastain (L).
•Attorney general: Sam Olens (R), Ken Hodges (D) and Don
Smart (L).
•State school superintendent: John Barge (R), Joe Martin (D)
and Kira Griffiths Willis (L).
•Insurance commissioner: Ralph Hudgens (R), Mary Squires
(D) and Shane Bruce (L).
•Agriculture commissioner: Gary Black (R), J.B. Powell (D)
and Kevin Cherry (L).
•Labor commissioner: Mark Butler (R), Darryl Hicks (D) and
Will Costa (L).
•Public Service Commissioner, District 2: Tim Echols (R),
Keith Moffitt (D) and Jim Sendelbach (L).
•U.S. Representative, District 10: incumbent Paul Broun (R)
and Russell Edwards (D).
•State Senator, District 47: Frank Ginn (R) and Tim Riley
(D).
•State representative, District 30: incumbent Tom McCall (R)
and Marilyn “M.J.” Bridges (D).
•Supreme Court Justice: Tammy Lynn Adkins, incumbent
David Nahmias and Matt Wilson.
•Appeals court judge: James Babalola, Toni Davis, Stan
Gunter, Adrienne Hunter-Strothers, Chris McFadden and David
Schaeffer.
SPLOST VOTE
Also on the ballot will be a one-cent special purpose local
option sales tax (SPLOST). Paying off existing debts, repairing
roads and adding recreation facilities are among the plans for
using revenue from the sales tax revenue.
The county government, as well as each of the nine towns,
would get a portion of the projected $47.5 million revenue over
six years.
Iprestion
uraclate
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
THE JACKSON County
School System is looking ahead
for the next referendum on edu
cation sales tax revenue — pos
sibly in 2011.
The current education
Special Purpose Local Option
Sales Tax (SPLOST) expires
in March 2012 and benefits all
three school systems in Jackson
County.
“We cannot afford — we do
not want — that thing to expire
without us getting ready for it,”
said Shannon Adams, superin
tendent of the Jackson County
School System on Thursday.
The education SPLOST is
different from another SPLOST
that voters will decide on Nov.
2 to fund projects for Jackson
County and its nine cities. That
SPLOST is a six-year program
that is expected to generate a
total of $47.5 million, which
will fund jail debt service,
roads, recreation and satellite
EMS facilities for the county.
For schools, the education
SPLOST will be a five-year
sales tax that will start collect
ing revenue in 2012, if approved
by voters.
There are two possible dates
to hold a referendum for the
education SPLOST — either in
March 15 or November 8,2011,
Adams said. A revised state law
limits when a SPLOST vote
can be held from four possible
dates in a year to two dates.
Adams said he has met with
Jefferson City Schools super
intendent John Jackson and
Commerce City Schools super
intendent James “Mac” McCoy
about the proposal.
On Thursday, Adams said
they were favoring the March
2011 referendum date, but on
Tuesday, he said in a state
ment that the districts haven’t
discussed the specifics of the
upcoming referendum.
“Each date has some plus
es and minuses,” Adams at
Thursday’s meeting of the
Jackson County Board of
Education.
A November referendum
would fall on a general elec
tion day and there's no telling
what could also be on the ballot
to get voters to the polls, he
explained.
The education SPLOST is
divided into three broad cat
egories for funding: 75 percent
for construction projects, 12.5
percent for technology and 12.5
percent for emergency main-
tance.
For the Jackson County
School System, the current edu
cation SPLOST is expected to
generate $63 million in revenue
over its five-year life.
That money, so far, has been
used for a number of projects
at each school in the district
— including SmartBoards,
and technology and security
upgrades just in 2009. It has
also been used to build Gum
Springs Elementary School,
and add new classes at North
Jackson Elementary School and
East Jackson Middle School.
The school system also plans
to use sales tax revenue to build
a second gym, and a com
bined chorus/drama building at
Jackson County Comprehensive
High School.
The current education
SPLOST passed overwhelm
ingly with 90 percent of vot
ers approving the measure in
2006.
Also on Thursday, the board
approved its 2011 fiscal year
general fund budget for $85.8
million — a three percent drop
from 2010's budget of $89.2
million.
The board had previously
adopted a tentative budget for
the 2010-2011 school year
and approved a $11.5 Tax
Anticipation Note (TAN) until
it started receiving property
tax revenue. So far, the school
system has made two draws
on that short-term loan totaling
less than $2 million. The school
system must repay the TAN by
Dec. 31.
The Jackson County School
System is benefiting from a
new federal stimulus program,
called the Education Jobs Fund,
which gave districts money for
teacher salaries. The school
system will receive $1.4 mil
lion from that program, but
no money from another fed
eral stimulus — the American
Recovery and Reinvestment
Act of 2009 — in the 2011 fis
cal year budget.
Overall, local property tax
revenue is expected to dip by
$2.9 million — from $34.4 mil
lion to $31.4 million. The prop
erty tax millage rate will stay
the same at 18.95 mills.
The school system ended the
2010 fiscal year budget in June
with a $3.3 million surplus and
expects to end the 2011 fiscal
year budget with a $4.4 million
surplus.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business, the school
system:
•discussed Adequate Yearly
Progress (AYP) reports for the
schools and the district. Since
the district hasn't received offi
cial word on the AYP status of
its schools and the system from
the state, the board didn't dis
cuss AYP results on Monday.
The state initially said it would
release AYP results on Sept. 23,
according to Adams.
•learned that SPLOST rev
enue for the latest collection
month in August was $471,200,
compared to $452,600 in July.
•heard about the monthly
Maysville council to meet on variance request
THE MAYSVILLE City Council will
hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. on Monday,
Nov. 1, at the public library to receive
comments on a proposal for a variance to
comply with the setback requirements at
9 Homer Street, which is currently zoned
C-2.
The regular monthly meeting of the coun
cil will be held immediately following the
public hearing. The council will consider
adoption of the variance at this meeting.
The application can be reviewed at city
hall, located at 226 South Main Street in
Maysville.
financial report for September.
With 25 percent of the fiscal
year complete, the district has
received 14 percent of revenue
and spent 21 percent of expen
ditures in the budget. Adams
said the school system will
keep expenses in check. The
district is also expected to start
receiving more property tax
revenue soon.
•discussed the energy con
sumption report for the school
system. Since starting the
energy consumption program
in August 2009, the district
has lowered its electrical bills
by seven percent, compared to
August 2010.
•heard from the teaching and
learning department about sys
tem accountability goals and its
system improvement plan.
•approved up to $3,100 of
SPLOST revenue to screen and
reseal the gym floor at JCCHS.
•approved up to $660 of
SPLOST revenue for two gates
at JCCHS to restrict vehicular
traffic in areas surrounding the
practice football field and the
stadium.
•approved up to $380 for a
gate to restrict vehicular access
to the practice football field at
East Jackson Comprehensive
High School.
•approved a revised job
description for an instructional
technology specialist and a
job description for the student
information systems clerk.
•learned that East Jackson
Elementary School had the best
attendance rate in September.
ONLINE INFORMATION
Secretary of State Brian Kemp reminds voters to utilize the
Secretary of State's My Voter Page (MVP) voter education
website before participating in the General Election. The MVP
website allows voters to view their sample ballot, find the early
voting locations in their county and their Election Day polling
location, check their registration status, track the status of their
absentee ballot, and more. The MVP website can be accessed
at: http://www.sos.ga.gov/mvp.
“The MVP e-govemment solution provides an invaluable
educational resource for voters,” said Secretary Kemp. “We
want to put as much information in the hands of the voter as we
can, in an easy-to-use format. The goal is for every voter in the
State of Georgia to have the information he or she needs to be
able to make the voting process work for them.”
Secretary Kemp also encouraged Georgians to assist his
agency with preventing election fraud. The Stop Voter Fraud
website allows Georgians to report questionable election activ
ity online or via the Stop Voter Fraud hotline. Citizens who
witness questionable election-related activity can submit a Stop
Voter Fraud form at: www.sos.ga.gov/StopVoterFraudchttp://
www.sos.ga.gov/StopVoterFraud> or call the Secretary of
State's Voter Fraud Hotline at 877-725-9797.
Voters who cast their ballot in-person or on Election Day will
be required to show one of the following forms of photo ID:
•a Georgia driver's license, even if expired.
•any valid state or federal government issued photo ID,
including a free Voter ID Card issued by your county registrar
or Georgia Department of Driver Services (DDS).
•valid U.S. passport.
•valid employee photo ID from any branch, department,
agency, or entity of the U.S. Government, Georgia, or any
county, municipality, board, authority, or other entity of this
state.
•valid U.S. military photo ID.
•valid tribal photo ID.
If a voter does not have one of these forms of photo iden
tification, they can obtain a free voter ID card at their county
registrar’s office or the Georgia Department of Driver Services.
Photo identification is not required when voting by mail.
For additional information about Georgia’s photo ID require
ment please visit www.GAPhotoID.com<http://www.gapho-
toid.com/>.
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 2.
REPUBLICANS FOR
DR. TIM
1
RILEY
STATE SENATE
DRTIMRILEYFORSENATE.COM