Newspaper Page Text
o
O
THE
ACKSON
H Wednesday, January 11, 2023
ERALD
VOL. 148 NO. 31
20 PACES 2 SECTIONS PLUS INSERTS
Merged in 2017 with
The Commerce News
A PUBLICATION OF MainStreet Newspapers, Inc.
JEFFERSON, JACKSON COUNTY GEORGIA 30549 $1.00 COPY
Jackson BOE
BOE agrees to phase-out NJES
By Mike Buffington
mike@mainstreetnews.com
The Jackson County School Sys
tem has approved a plan to phase out
the current North Jackson Elemen
tary School.
The move is part of a larger 5-year
facilities plan the system is currently
working to complete. That plan will
likely include a new NJES among
other facilities.
The system notes in its resolution
to phase-out the school that the cost
of upgrading it is more than the state
funding the county would receive to
build a new school.
The action is part of a larger move
by the Jackson County Board of Ed
ucation over the past decade to build
new facilities and to phase out older
ones as the system grows. The sys
tem has already phased-out Benton
Elementary School in Nicholson and
the old South Jackson Elementary
School. The former SJES is now a
church and the former BES now be
longs to the City of Nicholson. The
phase-out of the facilities allowed
the system to consolidate into newer
facilities in the East Jackson Area
where growth has been slow.
While the JCSS plans to phase
out NJES as a school, the resolution
says it may be used for administra
tive offices or other educational pro
grams in the future.
The system owns land in the North
Jackson Area that could be used as a
future school site. But some coun
ty leaders have balked at that idea
due to the extensive amount of road
upgrades that would be required to
access the site.
In the coming weeks, the system
will compile a 5-year plan for future
facilities. Among the items being
discussed is a third high school for
See BOE, page 3A
Maysville
Photo by Hannah Caudell
The Maysville City Council listens as Keith Waters discusses his audit report about the financial
health of the city.
Maysville auditor points out issues in water fund
By Hannah Caudell
Maysville’s auditor has recom
mended that the water rates be
raised, or city officials look at other
options due to water fees not cover
ing the operation of the department.
Auditor Keith Waters presented
his report after reviewing the 2020
and 2021 yearly budgets. Waters
said that while the cash and fund
balances of the city are very strong,
some changes could be made to
further improve the city’s financial
health.
Waters reported at the recent city
council meeting that the city is not
receiving enough cash flow from the
water fund to pay for its debt service.
Waters recommended that the city
either raise its water rates, or review
other expenses in order to resolve the
issue.
He also found that the city was
over budget in the areas of public
safety, sanitation, and culture and
recreation. However, Waters also
said that the city's budget was con
sistent despite this and recommended
that the city amend the budget quar
terly to account for any changes.
The auditor recommended that
the city review the Downtown De
velopment Authority controls and
procedures due to its growth, seg
regate certain duties, increase the
capitalization threshold from $200
to $5,000, and keep the Report of
Local Government Finances up-
to-date in order to possibly receive
more federal monies in the future.
Waters concluded that the city’s
cash reserves are very strong and
amount to more than enough to pay
for over three months of operation
in case of emergency.
Commerce
Moore named Commerce BOE
By Alex Buffington
alex@mainstreetnews. com
Kyle Moore will serve
as chairman of the Com
merce Board of Educa
tion for 2023.
The school board vot
ed Monday (Jan. 9) to
name Moore as chairman.
Cara Bray was named
vice-chairman.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business on
Jan. 9. the board:
• heard from Com
merce High School band
director Travis Roye,
who spoke about the ac
complishments of the
band during the 2022-23
school year. Roye said he
thought this year’s Fri
day night marching band
performance was the best
they’ve done in recent
years. He said he was
thankful to hear applause
and compliments from
Commerce fans, along
with fans for opposing
chairman
teams. Roye also pointed
out a number of accom
plishments throughout
the year. The CHS band
competed three times,
taking first place in two
out of three events. The
percussion section placed
See Commerce, page 3A
Elections
Seven qualify
for State House
District 119 seat
Early voting
opens in
Jackson County
Early voting opened this
week for the special elec
tion to fill the State House
District 119 seat. Seven
people have qualified for
the State House District 119
seat vacated by Rep-Elect
Danny Rampey. A special
election is set Jan. 31 for the
race.
Qualified candidates in
clude:
•Charlie Chase, Republi
can, Winder. Chase is a gen
eral contractor.
•Shelbey Diamond Alex
ander, Democrat, Winder.
Alexander is retired.
•Joseph Grodzicki,
Republican, of Winder.
Grodzicki works as a safety
coordinator for a gas dis
tributor.
•Renee Lord, Republican,
no city listed. Lord is a busi
ness owner.
•Holt Persinger, Republi
can. no city listed. Persinger
is a landscape architect.
•Joe Price, Republican,
no city listed. Price works
in beauty and barber shop
equipment sales.
•Bill Ritter, Republican,
Statham. Ritter is an insur
ance agent.
ELECTION DAY
House District 119 cov
ers a small portion of Jack-
son County in the Bra-
selton-Hoschton area.
Jackson County residents
in District 119 will cast their
vote on Election Day, Jan.
31, at the Braselton Police
and Municipal Court build
ing. Polls will be open from
7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on that date.
(The county board of
elections approved relocat
ing the site from Free Chap
el to the Braselton police
and municipal court build
ing for this special election.
The elections office plans to
send out letters to voters to
See Election, page 3A
Arcade Special Election
Arcade plans special
election for council seat
Arcade will hold a special election to fill the unexpired
term of city council member Debra Gammon. The election
will be held March 21.
Qualifying is being held at Arcade City Hall this week
through Wednesday, Jan. 11, from 8:30 a.m. to noon.
The qualifying fee is $54.
For more information, contact Kila or Stephanie at Ar
cade City Hall.
ELECTION
The deadline to register to vote is Feb. 21.
Early voting will be held at Arcade City Hall from 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m. beginning Monday, Feb. 27. and will run through
Friday. March 17.
Election Day voting on March 21 will also be held at
Arcade City Hall. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Arcade City Hall is located at 3325 Athens Hwy.. Jef
ferson.
MAILING LABEL
Index
Inside
News 1A-3A
Opinion 4A
State news 5A
Public safety. 6A-7A
Social news 8Aand 12A
Sports
Classifieds
Obituaries..
Legals
School
....1B-3B
4B
10A-11A
....5B-8B
12A
Local Kiwan-
is Clubs, Key
Club team up for
book drive
-See page 8A
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