Newspaper Page Text
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H Wednesday, December 8, 2010
ERALD
www.JacksonHeraldTODAY.com
VOL. 136 NO. 26 44 PACES 4 SECTIONS PLUS INSERTS A PUBLICATION OF MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. JEFFERSON, JACKSON COUNTY GEORGIA 30549 75c COPY
•44th annual kids'
Christmas section com
ing up; submit photos
by Friday .... page 2A
•Business closed after
undercover officer buys
'fake pot'.... page 5A
Op/Ed:
•'Maybe it does take
a village' page 4A
Sports:
•JHS wins Panther
Invitational; JCCHS takes
fifth page 1 B
Features:
• Jefferson on parade
page 1C
Other News:
•Public Safety
page 6A
•Legals
pages 10-22C
•Church News
page 9B
•Obituaries
page 11B
•School News
pages 7&9A
O -S
Commissioners appoint bond counsel
Crow asks why bids were not taken
BYANGELA GARY
IN A 4-1 vote, the Jackson County
Board of Commissioners agreed
Monday night to hire King & Spaulding
as bond counsel and Merchant Capital
as bond underwriter for the general
obligation bonds approved as part of
the Special Purpose Local Option Sales
Tax vote on Nov. 2.
Commissioner Tom Crow voted
against the motion and said that bids
should have been taken.
Finance director John Hulsey spoke
on the process of getting bids.
“We asked the county attorney to
call several underwriters to get prices,”
he said. “The same for bond counsel
fees. He did that.”
Crow said bids should have been
taken and opened in a public meeting.
“In trying to have an open and trans
parent government, having these things
all brought out in a public meeting is
the most appropriate way of doing it,”
he said.
County attorney Julius Hulsey said,
“The fees reflect the kind of economy
we are in now. Tve never seen fees
this low. They all quoted fees that are
extremely low, except for one bond
counsel.”
Crow also questioned “borrowing
money to pay off money.”
“We are fixing to borrow money to
pay off money,” Crow said. “Why can't
we use the SPLOST money to pay it
direct.”
County manager Darrell Hampton
said the SPLOST question on the bal
lot included approval to issue bonds.
When the vote was taken, Crow said,
“I can’t vote for something not handled
by bid when we are furloughing or lay
ing off people.”
‘DOWNTOWN IN DECEMBER’
Santa arrived in a carriage Friday evening for the “Downtown in December” event
in Jefferson. The event included musicians performing, free horse-drawn car
riage rides, visits and pictures with Santa Claus at the Pendergrass Store and a
short Christmas variety show by the Curry Creek Players at Gingham Gal Cafe.
See photos from Christmas events also held over the weekend in Nicholson and
Pendergrass on page 10A. Photo by Angela Gary
BOC extends BM&K contract
To seek consultant to study county’s engineering needs
BYANGELA GARY
A CONTRACT with BM&K
to provide engineering and con
struction management services
to the county has been extended
until March while the county has
a consultant look into the most
economical way to provide these
services.
Jackson County Board of
Commissioner Dwain Smith put
the issue on the table at the meet
ing Monday night and said he
believes the $1.3 million paid so
far this year to BM&K, which
is owned by Don Clerici, is too
much.
“I’m not questioning Don’s
work,” Smith said. “He does
good, quality work. I’m ques
tioning the cost. We could get
this done a lot cheaper... I just
cannot see, for God’s
sake, paying this kind
of money. We need to
put out bids on this
kind of stuff.”
Smith also ques
tioned the county
providing office space
and equipment for
Clerici’s company, as
well as paying for the
utilities at the office.
Clerici was at the meeting but
didn’t speak.
Smith said the county could
have its own engineer, as well as
support staff, for a lot less than
$1.3 million.
“We’re spending a heck of a
lot of money and I feel it can be
done a lot cheaper,” Smith said.
County manager Darrell
Hampton said he
had spoken with one
Gwinnett County com
pany about handling
the consulting services
on the engineer study.
Smith didn’t approve
of the company and
said he wanted it to
be a firm that is not in
the area.
“No, I don’t want a stacked
deck.” Smith said whenHampton
suggested the company.
Smith asked that several of
the commissioners work with
Hampton in finding a consulting
company.
Jackson County entered into
a contract with BM&K in June
2007. Clerici had been a county
employee until that time.
¥
SMITH
County, Jefferson to seek
$1 million grant for historic
courthouse restoration work
BYANGELA GARY
JACKSON COUNTY and
Jefferson governments are
joining together to seek a $1
million grant to go toward
the historic courthouse reno
vation project.
The money would be
use for sidewalks around
the courthouse and interior
work.
The board of commis
sioners voted Monday night
to seek the grant. Jefferson
city manager John Ward and
county planning director
Gina Mitsdarffer spoke on
the grant.
It is a 20 percent match
grant with the county’s por
tion to be $176,000. This
could include “in-kind” work
provided by county staff.
The historic courthouse will
be used as a “welcome center
and transportation museum,”
according to county officials.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business at
Monday’s meeting, the BOC
approved a resolution outlin
ing the way the fund balance
is reported, as required under
new guidelines.
Also Monday night, the
commissioners met in closed
session for 30 minutes to dis
cuss “personnel.”
No action was taken when
the meeting was opened to
the public.
The topic of discussion
was county manager Darrell
Hampton’s contract.
Christmas in the Park planned
for Sat. in downtown Maysville
THE MAYSVILLE Community Improvement Club will hold its
annual Christmas in the Park from noon to 8 p.m. on Saturday. Dec.
11.
The event will feature craft and food vendors, entertainment and
s’mores. The Christmas festival will also include a parade at 6 p.m.
Anyone who would like to have a float is asked to line up on Freeman
Street at 5 p.m. Santa will be at the park from 6-8 p.m. for the kids
to visit.
Applications for vendors are located at victorianmaysville.com.
Woman driving dies in vehicle
from ‘fatal medical condition’
A “FATAL medical condi
tion” led to the death of a driver
in a single-vehicle accident on
Monday in Braselton, according
to the Georgia State Patrol.
Veronica Elinski, 49,
Hoschton, was traveling along
Ga. Hwy. 124, near the intersec
tion of Ga. Hwy. 60, when a
witness said they saw her slump
over in her vehicle, according to
the state patrol.
Her Ford Explorer hit a sign in
the area and exited the roadway.
When the West Jackson Fire
Department and Jackson County
EMS arrived on the scene, the
driver was dead, according to
the Jackson County Department
of Emergency Services.
There were no other injuries
in the accident, nor any other
vehicles involved. The Georgia
State Patrol and the Jackson
County Coroners Office are
investigating the incident.
Chamber raises $2,000 for Christmas dinner for those in need
BY MARK BEARDSLEY
THE JACKSON County
Area Chamber of Commerce
raised more than $2,000 last
Wednesday morning to help
fund a Dec. 23 Christmas din
ner for down-and-out Jackson
County residents.
Kurt Kilgore of Rockabilly
Auction, Commerce, helped
attendees get into the spending
spirit as he auctioned off items
donated by chamber members
at the group’s December break
fast.
This will mark the second
Christmas dinner, said Shane
Short, chamber president, who
noted that the dinner is not a
chamber project, but rather an
effort started last year by five
individuals.
“We understood that a lot of
people had lost jobs last year
and a lot of people were going
through the food bank,” Short
recalled. “That kind of started
the conversation.”
The other founding members
included Roy Stowe, Kathy
Wilbanks, Ruth Joiner and
Michael Helms. As word got
out. other people got involved.
This year some 35-40 volun
teers will make the dinner hap
pen
“Last year we fed 200
people at Jackson County
Comprehensive High School,”
he told the audience. “We hope
to serve 500 this year:’
The sit-down dinner will
feature restaurant-style service,
said Short. Guests will be met
at the door by a host, taken to a
well-decorated table and seated,
their beverage orders will be
taken, food will be brought to
the table, followed by dessert.
“The only difference (from
a restaurant) is we have a set
menu,” Short said. “Some vol
unteers who work in the food
service industry help plan the
menu. We are able to purchase
food at cost through the owner
of a local grocery store. Last
year we had ham, green beans,
potatoes, congealed salad, rolls
and dessert. It’s a large plate,
and we were able to offer more
( seconds) of items.”
The idea from the beginning
was to avoid a soup-kitchen feel
and make the evening a nice
event for attendees.
“A lot of those who came
through last year were families
like you and I who had lost a
job,” Short commented at the
chamber breakfast.
Later he added, “We heard
a lot of really touching things
from people — people who had
never had to ask for food before,
saying ‘this is the first time
we’ve been out this year,’ or
‘this is our Christmas dinner.’ It
makes you feel good about what
you’ve done for folks.”
Other partners in the ven
ture include Jackson EMC,
the Jackson County Board of
Education and the First Baptist
Church of Jefferson. Short said
the chamber’s board gave its
blessing for his participation
and for using the December
breakfast to raise money
The auction raised $2,030.
The chamber’s “50-50” raffle
raised another $167 after win
ner Tim Comelison donated his
winnings back to the chamber.
“We expect to need over
$3,000 this year, so that put us
well on our way,” Short said.
“Just through sheer volunteers
and people who want to donate,
we’re able to raise the money.”
The chamber used its
December program to let local
nonprofit groups expose their
missions to chamber mem
bers. Groups from Habitat
to Humanity to the Humane
Society staffed booths and
passed out literature.
The event sponsor. United
Community Bank, also present
ed a $500 donation to Holiday
Connections to help fund its
Christmas Store. Local CEO
Debbie Williams pointed out
that UCB is the “smallest bank
that’s a national sponsor” for
the American Cancer Society’s
Relay for Life.
The group issues “tickets”
to people it finds by word of
mouth, through the food bank
at the First Baptist Church of
Jefferson, counselors at local
schools or other programs that
serve the needy.
“We’re using tickets so we
can keep track of the numbers,”
Short said. “It has a stub for the
name, phone number and num
ber of people attending.”