Funding for the digitization of this title was provided by Georgia HomePLACE, a project of the Georgia Public Library Service.
About Jackson herald. (Jefferson, Jackson County, Ga.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 11, 2023)
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 TA BO’S flGGlY WIGGLY ■hg nm^fpwuai WE CHECKS Mtm Kr+mx SERVICES piggly wiggly “ALWAYS YOU FIRST” 14 14 0
