Newspaper Page Text
THE
ACKSON
H Wednesday, September 27, 2017
ERALD
VOL. 143 NO. 17
36 PACES 3 SECTIONS PLUS INSERTS
Merged in 2017 with
The Commerce News
A PUBLICATION OF MainStreet Newspapers, Inc.
JEFFERSON, JACKSON COUNTY GEORGIA 30549
75c COPY
Maxwell sentenced to jail, house arrest
By Ron Bridgeman
Former Nicholson Mayor Ronnie Max
well was sentenced to 90 days in jail, nine
months house arrest with an ankle monitor
and five years probation after a hearing of
just more than an hour Thursday.
He will begin serving the house arrest
immediately and will report for confine
ment in the Jackson County jail Oct. 30,
Judge Wayne McLocklin ruled. He gave
Maxwell the extra time because of doc
tors" appointments in mid-October that
were rescheduled because of the tropical
Irma storm.
Maxwell also was sentenced to 500
hours of community service, fined $1,000
and required to pay $6,145.41 in restitu
tion for theft by taking.
Maxwell pleaded guilty in July to mis
using pubic money to pave property that
benefited only his family.
The district attorney's office asked for a
sentence of eight years probation with one
year in jail.
Maxwell's attorney, Walter Harvey,
called five witnesses, including Maxwell
and his wife, Gail Sue Maxwell, in his
effort to get McLocklin to sentence his
client to house arrest rather than jail time.
In announcing the sentence, McLock
lin said neither the state or the defense
request addressed the goals of a sentence.
He said Maxwell’s decision to pave the
property was called “stupid” and a “bad
judgment.” Both of those terms, McLock
lin said “have consequences.” The judge
said Maxwell “betrayed the trust that was
put in you by the voters of Nicholson.”
Maxwell pleaded guilty to using special
purpose local option sales tax money to
pave property that belongs to the Georgia
Department of Transportation and to his
family. The road property was public until
Highway 441 was widened. A portion of it
remains open to the public.
Paul Trifiletta, assistant district attorney,
said the specific restitution was agreed
upon because that is 57.9 percent of what
was paved and it is the amount that is not
public property.
continued on page 2A
GOP sets
mayoral forum
for Oct. 12
Jackson County’s Repub
lican Party has announced
the rescheduled date for its
political forum. The mayoral
forum will be held Thursday,
Oct. 12, at 6:30 p.m. at the
Jefferson Clubhouse.
Candidates for Jefferson
mayor, Roy Plott and Steve
Quinn, will be present.
Mark Mobley and David
Wortham, candidates for the
Jefferson City Council Ward
4 seat, will also attend.
Those wanting to sub
mit questions should email
rcw21 xf@gmail.com.
There will also be index
cards at the back of the club
house available to submit
questions.
The event will be live-
streamed.
Light refreshments will be
available.
The event was originally
scheduled in September but
was postponed due to the
effects of the tropical storm.
JABA plans
debate Oct. 5
The two candidates for the
Jefferson mayor’s race will
face off in a debate hosted by
the Jefferson Area Business
Association on Thursday,
Oct. 5, from 7-9 p.m.
Incumbent Mayor Roy Plott
and former city councilman
Steve Quinn will be featured
at the debate. The debate will
be held at the Jefferson Civic
Center.
The mayor and district 4
positions are the only con
tested races in the Nov. 7 city
election. The other incum
bents will be given an oppor
tunity to speak at the debate.
Attendees will have the
opportunity to submit ques
tions to the candidates.
Murphy named Jefferson city manager
Priscilla Murphy has been named city
manager for the City of Jefferson.
Murphy was appointed to the position
Monday night following an executive ses
sion of the Jefferson City Council. The
vote was unanimous.
Murphy had been serving as interim city
manager following the departure of Jon
Herschell in July.
“The announcement has been received
with great enthusiasm among city staff,”
said mayor Roy Plott.
Murphy’s salary will be $100,000 per
year, but there will not be a car allowance.
“Her initial contract will be for nine
months at which time she will receive her
first performance appraisal,” said Plott.
“If found satisfactory, her contract will
extend a year. We put it on this cycle as
to line up with our budget preparations
each year.”
Murphy is a certified financial manager,
a certified city manager and a certified
city clerk.
Illegally parked cars frustrate residents
VEHICLES PARK ALONGSIDE NEIGHBORHOOD ROAD
Jefferson city residents voiced concerns about illegally parked vehicles in their
subdivision. Pictured is a photo from a resident of vehicles parked along narrow
subdivision roads. Photos submitted
By Mike Buffington
Cars parking illegally on narrow subdivi
sion streets left the Jefferson City Council
scratching its head Monday night about what
it could do to fix the problem. In the end, it
took no action despite a lengthy discussion
about the problem.
Bryan Mill resident Adam Phillips told the
council that people illegally parking on nar
row streets in the subdivision are creating a
safety hazard. Phillips had been correspond
ing with city officials for several months
about the issue before coming to the council
Monday night.
“I’ve gone through every other official
means I can go to address illegal parking in
the street,” Phillips said.
Phillips said he had called multiple times
for city police officers to patrol the street and
issue citations.
“At least 75 percent of the time, an officer
drives by without making a stop,” he said.
Phillips said Jefferson Police officers told
him they had been instructed to only enforce
state codes, not city ordinances.
“I don't understand why we have city
statues if we’re not going to enforce them,”
Phillips said.
In February, the city put up no parking
signs throughout the neighborhood and sent
a letter to Bryan Mill residents warning them
about no parking in the street. But those
efforts have not helped, Phillips said. Phil
lips’ wife told the council that people park
in front of the “no parking” signs the city
had put up.
Phillips also said there had been a wreck
recently in the neighborhood involving a car
parked in the street and an ambulance had to
drive through one homeowner’s yard to get
to a call due to cars blocking the street.
The Bryan Mill Homeowners Association
has been involved in the issue, Phillips told
the council, and has issued fines to those
with cars parked in the street, but that has no
impact on the problem. He said the offending
homeowners simply ignore the fines.
There are 91 homes in Bryan Mill subdi
vision and Phillips said Tuesday in an email
to The Herald that 10-12 regularly have cars
parked in the street.
MANPOWER, COURT AN ISSUE
JPD chief Joe Wirthman told the council
he was aware of the ongoing problem in the
neighborhood, but that it’s unlikely his offi
cers could get much legal enforcement.
“I’ve spoken with the judge (city court
judge Gabe Bradford) and the judge would
have a hard time finding people guilty of
parking in the street,” he said.
In a June email, Wirthman told Phillips the
same thing, saying Bradford “believes this
should be a homeowners issue covered in
whatever rules they have.”
Wirthman also said the issue involves
personnel.
“I don't have the manpower to just drive
through every subdivision and write tickets,”
he said Monday night.
The chief said there was also some issues
with “where do you stop” with enforcement.
“If someone has a funeral, do you cite
people for parking (in front of) the house?
Birthday parties, holidays... you just can’t
pick and choose when you can do it (write
tickets). When I get some direction from
the council through the city manager. I'll do
what you tell me; if you want me to write
tickets to everybody in the subdivision, we'll
do it.”
Councilman Mark Mobley, who lives in
the Bryan Mill subdivision, suggested that
city staff needs to work with the council on
drafting a tougher ordinance or policies.
“It’s sticky, and you're talking about bal
ancing resources,” he said.
BOAT PARKED ON ROAD
Shown is a boat parked on a trail
er on a narrow subdivision road.
Residents say the issue is ongoing in
the Jefferson neighborhood.
But Phillips said that with the no parking
signs up in Bryan Mill, people parking in the
street are violating state law, not just local
ordinances.
Wirthman expressed additional reserva
tions about how to handle the issue if the
city does decide to do a more aggressive
enforcement.
“A part of that again, you’re going to have
people having birthday parties, holidays,
whatever” he said. “Do I just have my offi
cers drive through a neighborhood and cite
everybody?”
Nixed warehouse gets initial OK in Braselton
By Alex Pace
Another large warehouse got initial approval Monday, despite one
Braselton planner's plea for the group to consider the citizens’ protest.
The Braselton Planning Commission voted 4-1 to approve Ridgeline
Property Group’s request for rezoning. The Braselton Town Council
will hold the second public hearing on Oct. 5 with a possible vote Oct.
9.
Ridgeline is requesting annexation and rezoning of approximately
76 acres off Hwy. 53 near FedEx. It plans to construct a one-million
square-foot warehouse building on the site.
The property is currently located in Jackson County and has been
zoned industrial for decades. But a portion of the land is located within
the West Jackson Overlay, which restricts the building size to 150,000
sq. ft. in the county.
Ridgeline’s Mike Gray said other counties have previously granted
“significant relief’ for “previously zoned industrial land” in overlay dis
tricts. But that wasn’t the case in Jackson County. The Jackson County
Board of Commissioners denied Ridgeline's request for variance,
“I guess I can say I was naive,” said Gray. “But I was expecting there
would be some flexibility due to the past zoning and current zoning of
the property.. .1 was absolutely wrong. The overlay district was used to
prevent this type of development.”
After the BOC denied that variance, the firm approached Braselton
about annexing into the town.
OPPOSITION VOCAL
Opposition to warehouses in the area has grown in recent months.
continued on page 2A
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