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THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6, 2018
Business license moratorium lifted
By Ron Bridgeman
Commerce is back in business to write business licens
es.
A moratorium, adopted in April, was unanimously
lifted Monday night. The council held a called meeting
to approved a revised zoning ordinance and to lift the
moratorium.
The amended zoning ordinance also was adopted
unanimously. The 12-page amendment document cov
ered a variety of topics from definitions of business to
conditions for operation.
Temporary outdoor events, outdoor storage, manufac
ture home sales, microbrewery definition, motor vehicle
repair shops, flea markets, self-storage facilities and
tattoo businesses were among the topics for the amend
ments.
The council work session was routine, including seven
agenda items that mostly were housekeeping.
The items will be voted on at the June 18 council
meeting.
The council will be asked to approve a fine schedule
for a new Georgia law that takes effect July 1 - the
“hands free” law. The new law forbids the use of cell
phones while operating a vehicle, “Hands-free” devices
may be used.
Texts may not be sent on cell phones after July 1.
Drivers may not watch or record video, if they use their
hands to do so.
The council also held a brief public hearing on the
fiscal year 2019 budget.
After it was over, council member Johnny Fitzpatrick
said he would like a review of the city’s revenue with
an eye toward providing a mid-year salary increase or
bonus. City Manager James Wascher said that can be
done and agreed that a salary survey of similar cities
should be conducted in the first part of the year.
Tim Redmon was the only member of the public
to speak. He asked why different departments have
wide variances in health insurance costs for individual
employees and about a $5,000 “miscellaneous” revenue
item for police.
City Manager James Wascher said the city has a num
ber of health insurance plans available for employees
and they choose which one to buy which causes differ
ences in costs.
He also said the “miscellaneous” revenue is largely
grants that are unanticipated or donations from local
businesses for specific items.
Hoschton to again seek scarecrow record
Hoschton will again seek a Guin
ness World Record for the most
scarecrows in one location.
The city previously sought the
record in 2008 and reportedly had
the most scarecrows, but it wasn't
recognized for the achievement
because the scarecrows were not
located in one building. Hoschton
did receive recognition from the
World Record Academy of Miami,
Fla., and the plaque still hangs in
city hall.
“Ten years later will Hoschto-
nians come together to build scare
crows and beat the Guinness record
of 3,800 or their own record of
5,541,” said organizer Robbie Bet
tis. “Several organizations believe
the city can do it and have thrown
in their support including the
Hoschton Fall Festival Committee,
the Hoschton Women’s Civic Club,
the Hoschton Area Business Alli
ance and Hoschton Heritage Arts
Council.”
Local businesses will be asked
for financial help to get a person
from Guinness here to judge the
event, Bettis said.
“One of the changes this year
is for people to bring their scare-
crows(s) to the Historic Braselton
Gym on September 1-2,” Bettis
said.
Each scarecrow will be photo
graphed and documented. Food,
drinks and Hoschton scarecrow
souvenirs will be for sale.
The scarecrows will remain there
for two weeks for people to see. A
$1 fee will be charged to help pay
for expenses.
“On September 17 and 18 every
one should pick up their scarecrows
and put them in their yard, near
their business, church or subdivi
sion,” Bettis said. “Tourists can
get a map at City Hall for general
locations of the scarecrows for all
to see.”
For a scarecrow pre-registra
tion form or more information,
visit hoschtonfallfestival.cityof-
hoschton.net. Information on work
shops to help anyone build a scare
crow will also be available.
Volunteers will also be needed at
the workshops and at the gymnasi
um in September.
CPD board makes changes to zoning ordinance
By Kyle Funderburk
The Commerce Planning and
Development Authority met last
Tuesday to discuss changes to the
zoning ordinance. Most items in the
draft of the ordinance were accept
ed without much discussion.
The most controversial item was
an ordinance that said that tattoo
parlors couldn’t be any less than
500-feet apart. The group discussed
whether that ordinance was too
antiquated for 2018. Other cities
have similar ordinances with a vari
ety of lengths between parlors and
the authority chose the shortest
distance that they saw to include in
the draft.
Ultimately, the authority conced
ed that Commerce will likely not
have tattoo parlors open up all over
town and decided to strike out that
proposal. If the draft is accepted
by the city council, there won’t be
any restrictions as to where a tattoo
parlor opens up in the downtown
commercial area.
However, tattoo parlors still
cannot be opened near residential
areas. The only exception to that
rule are the lofts in above busi
nesses. A tattoo parlor can open
in a building with two floors and
someone can live in the loft above
the parlor.
The other item that the author
ity discussed in length was the
approved materials a second build
ing on a property can be made out
of. This is to keep a consistent
design inside of neighborhoods and
to keep people from making a stor
age building out of materials such
as cardboard. The only approved
building materials for second build
ings are brick, stone, Hardie Plank,
stucco and metal.
The authority decided to leave
that as it is and look around to see
what other towns are doing with
similar ordinances.
Jackson County native named SREB president
Stephen L. Pruitt,
a Jackson County
native, will serve as
the next president of
the Southern Region
al Education Board.
Pruitt is from Talmo
and grew up in the
Braselton/Hoschton
area.
The former Ken
tucky commission
er of education and
senior vice president
for Achieve joins
SREB in July.
SREB’s executive
committee unan
imously selected
Pruitt, 49, after a months-long
nationwide search. He will succeed
Dave Spence, 73, who has been
SREB president since 2005 and
informed the Board in June 2017 of
his intention to retire this summer.
“Dr. Pruitt has amassed an exten
sive policy, assessment and instruc
tional background in education at
the local, state and national lev
els that will benefit
this board and most
importantly stu
dents across the 16
states represented by
SREB,” said Louisi
ana Governor John
Bel Edwards,
chair of the SREB
board. “This is the
only regional orga
nization that encour
ages collaboration
among governors,
legislators and state
education leaders
when it comes to
implementing sound
policies that posi
tively impact children from early
childhood through postsecondary
education, and I look forward to
working with Dr. Pruitt in building
on its success.”
Pruitt started his education career
as a high school chemistry teach
er in Fayette County. He served
in several leadership roles at the
Georgia Department of Education,
including associate superintendent
for assessment and accountability
and chief of staff. As senior vice
president for Achieve, a nonpar
tisan education organization, he
worked closely with state agencies
and educators around the country to
improve science education.
Most recently, he was Ken
tucky’s state commissioner of
education. A native of Georgia,
Pruitt holds a bachelor’s degree in
chemistry from the University of
North Georgia, a master’s degree in
science education from the Univer
sity of West Georgia and a doctoral
degree in chemistry education from
Auburn University.
“I am honored by the opportu
nity to lead the Southern Regional
Education Board, which has long
been a driving force in improv
ing education in the states,” Pruitt
said. “I will work to ensure that
each student from pre-K through
postsecondary has access to an
equitable and rigorous education
that prepares them for their chosen
careers.”
STEPHEN PRUITT
City of Commerce
“NOTICE OF
BUDGET ADOPTION”
The Fiscal Year 2019 budget will be consid
ered for approval and a budget resolution
adopted on Monday, June 18th, 2018 at 6:00
PM. The meeting will take place in the “Com
merce Room” of the Commerce Civic Center
located at 110 State Street, Commerce, Geor
gia 30529.
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Request pulled for
large Braselton
development
By Alex Pace
After deferring public hearings several times, devel
opers of a large project across from Chateau Elan have
withdrawn their application.
HECE, LLC, and Halvorsen Development withdrew
the application Wednesday, May 30. The Braselton
Town Council was set to hold a public hearing on the
project June 7.
Developers were requesting a change to its master
plan for a planned unit development on 229 acres off
Hwy. 211 near Publix.
The project was initially planned as a large-scale
commercial development (1.5 million square feet). Pro
posed changes would have allowed developers to instead
construct a large component of residential space, while
maintaining a smaller retail/commercial area.
“The Braselton market cannot support the currently
zoned scale of a massive commercial/retail develop
ment,” according to the application. “As such, the
applicant requests approval of this PUD modification
to allow a true mixed-use community development to
include retail and commercial opportunities as well as
residential uses.”
Developers planned to incorporate a substantial res
idential component to the project, with 457 homes. In
addition to the residential units, developers planned 193,
341 sq. ft. of retail/hotel building space and five addition
al commercial out-parcels.
The request got the initial green light from the Bra
selton Planning Commission in late March. Shortly
after that meeting, planning commission chairman Allan
Slovin (who voted to approve the request) sent an email
to the council indicating he would have voted differently
given new information he received. (Slovin specifically
cited concerns with stream buffers and minimum lot/
house sizes.)
Seminar for veterans
coming up this week
The “Reboot Entrepreneurship Training” program
will be offered for veterans Thursday and Friday at the
American Legion Post 127 in Buford.
The program is sponsored by the Small Business
Administration and the Northeast Georgia and North
Metro Atlanta SCORE chapters.
The seminar will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days.
Veterans and their families may attend if you are
interested in starting a business or have a business.
Go to www.negeorgia.score.org or www.north-
metroatlanta.score.org and click on the banner for the
Reboot seminar to register.
Georgia Power gives
tips to thwart scammers
Georgia Power is experiencing an increase in cus
tomer reports of scams by criminals posing as Georgia
Power employees. Criminals target both residential
and business Georgia Power customers and are known
to attempt a variety of scams in person, over the phone
and online, including social media. Scams often threat
en disconnection unless immediate payment is made
via phone or in person.
Reminders from Georgia Power to avoid common
scams:
•Georgia Power does not demand payment in person
at your home or business. If an account becomes past
due and is subject to disconnection, Georgia Power
will contact the customer via a prerecorded message to
the primary account telephone or by letter requesting
that the customer call Georgia Power to discuss the
account. The company will not ask customers to pay
anywhere other than an Authorized Payment Location.
•Beware of phone calls demanding payment via
phone. Georgia Power will never ask for a credit card
or pre-paid debit card number over the phone. If a
customer receives a suspicious call from someone
claiming to be from Georgia Power and demanding
payment to avoid disconnection, they should hang up
and contact the company’s customer service line at
888-660-5890.
•Georgia Power employees are easy to identify. If a
Georgia Power employee has a service-related reason
to visit your home or business, they will always be
wearing a Georgia Power employee ID badge, in uni
form and in a company vehicle.
PART TIME
LIBRARY ASSISTANT
The City of Maysville will be accepting
applications for a part time Library Assis
tant. Person must be self-motivated and
have knowledge in the practices and pro
cedures of the Pines Library System.
Applications can be picked up at City
Hall, 226 South Main Street, Maysville,
GA or downloaded off website at www.
cityofmaysvillega.org.
Applications will be taken through
June 8, 2018.