Jackson herald. (Jefferson, Jackson County, Ga.) 1881-current, February 08, 2023, Image 2

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Jackson herald., February 08, 2023, Image 2

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Newspaper Page TextPAGE 2A THE JACKSON HERALD WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2023 Ledbetter continued from 1A Ledbetter’s time on the council included a stint as mayor pro-tem. He was recently appointed to the Hoschton Downtown De velopment Authority but was never sworn in. Lebetter’s unexpired city council term runs through 2024. Ledbetter’s resignation comes as Hoschton recently filled an empty seat on the city council. Voters elected Debbie Martin in a Novem ber 2022 special election following the March 2022 resignation of Shantwon Astin, who moved outside the city limits. Nicholson continued from 1A is also currently being built for the department. And from those seven ini tial volunteers, the depart ment now has a roster of 33 people with two paid week day coverage positions. In addition to fire, the depart ment also responds with rescue equipment to wrecks and other disasters and most of its personnel are trained first responders who are able to go out to medical emergencies. The Nichol son firehouse also houses one of Jackson County’s ambulance locations, so the degree of emergency re sponse is elevated from that relationship. But it’s not an easy task. The department has weekly training for its volunteers, many of whom have to crawl out of bed in the mid dle of the night on a regular basis to respond to emergen cy calls. In addition, there’s been an increasing amount of paperwork and federal requirements over the years for department officials to contend with — and many of those cost money. And then there’s the changing demographics of the community where many people work out of town during the day and ar en’t available as volunteers, hence the need for a paid staff on weekdays. Partly because of that, department leaders say it’s getting in creasingly difficult to find volunteers, a problem that is shared by other departments in the area as well. The move in 1984 to es tablish a fire district was a boost to the department since that created the ability to levy a millage rate on the 44.6 sq. mile district, giv ing the department a steady stream of revenue from which it could buy new equipment and upgrade its services. Today, the Nichol son area has a low Category 3 ISO rating, down from a 5 just a few of years ago. Fire service administrator Dana Nichols said that get ting FEMA and other grants has also helped the depart ment fund needed equip ment over the last decade. But assistant fire chief Steve Nichols noted that costs have continued to climb and that federal man dates require the department to replace equipment on a regular basis. Currently, the department, along with the county’s other fire depart ments, are having to pur chase totally new radios and communications equipment due to the county’s move to upgrade its emergency services communications system. NVFD chief Mike Wood said the cost of new radios is why most fire dis tricts in the county had to raise their millage rates last year. “That’s another engine we could buy, or we could buy gear for the guys be cause every 10 years, they (federal rules) say you gotta buy gear,” said Wood, not ing the $170,000 price tag for the department’s new radios. In one way. the NVFD has been luckier than some of its sister departments in the county since the Nich olson area hasn’t see the massive amount of residen tial or commercial growth that other communities are seeing. The Nicholson area remains a largely rural com munity with low-density housing and few commer cial or industrial structures. But there are some changes, including a growing num ber of poultry houses being constructed in the area and plans by a door manufactur ing firm to begin production in the former LP industrial plant in Center. ■ 2 - w Charlie Smith, the first fire chief of the Nicholson Volunteer Fire Department. Jefferson Jefferson’s Publix opens doors By Hannah Barron hannah@mainstreetnews. com Jefferson’s Publix at Gateway Crossing opened its doors to customers on Feb. 1. A ribbon cutting cere mony was held prior to the grand opening to officially welcome the store to the city. “Publix’s motto is ‘where shopping is a pleasure.’ Clearly, this is an organi zation that values its work force and the customer service experience for its consumers,” Mayor Jon Howell said. “We are very pleased to welcome Publix to the City of Jefferson and look forward to a partner ship long into the future that will benefit quality of life for our citizens.” Photo submitted Publix CEO Todd Jones gives store manager Amy Roach the keys to Store 1827 at Jefferson’s Gate way Crossing. Jefferson’s city manager Commissioner Tyler Harp- Priscilla Murphy, Gateway er and former Gov. Nathan Crossing developer Will Deal were also on hand Jan. Cobb, Publix CEO Todd 30 to welcome the store at Jones, State Agricultural a special Publix Family and Friends event. “The City of Jefferson, Mrs. Murphy and City of Jefferson staff. Mayor Howell and city council have been fantastic to work with, along with multiple utilities and GDOT,” Cobb said. “I am excited about seeing Gateway Cross- ing-Jefferson open. It has taken a lot of hours and a lot of hands helping to see this to fruition.” The new Publix totals 48,873 sq. ft., with 11,200 ft. of shop space and five outparcels covering rough ly 22 acres. Tenants in the shop space will include Papa John’s, Jersey Mike’s and NV Nails, with the re maining spaces under ne gotiation. Photo submitted Gateway Crossing developer Will Cobb, Publix CEO Todd Jones, State Agricultural Commis sioner Tyler Harper, Jefferson’s city manager Priscilla Murphy and former Gov. Nathan Deal welcome the store at a special Publix Family and Friends event. Photo by Hannah Barron Mayor Jon Howell and the Jefferson City Council attend the grand opening of the Publix at Gateway Crossing on Feb. 1. Jefferson Breaking ground on Chick-fil-A Jefferson Photo by Hannah Barron The Ferguson family (center) celebrates the groundbreaking of Chick-fil-A Jefferson with the Jackson County Area Chamber of Commerce and Jefferson councilmembers. By Hannah Barron hannah@mainstreetnews. com The Jackson County Area Chamber of Com merce hosted a ground breaking ceremony for the Chick-fil-A at Gateway Crossing on Feb. 3. The ceremony officially welcomed owner/opera tor Christy Ferguson and her family to Jefferson. Ferguson will open the restaurant with her hus band Kevin and their two daughters Beckett and Maddox. Ferguson’s first job as a teenager was at Chick- fil-A. She has also worked at corporate and is owner/ operator of Chick-fil-A at Mall of Georgia. Her family is finishing up their last month at that location before preparing to open Chick-fil-A Jefferson. “Jefferson’s waited a long time for their Chick fil-A and this is an oppor tunity of a lifetime for us,” she said. “We’ve always wanted to be in Jefferson. It’s a great town, great community, great people - it’s the area where we want to raise our family and [we] just could not think of a better place than Jefferson, Georgia. So we are just as excited as the community is.” “The Jackson County Chamber really helped facilitate the groundbreak ing ceremony, so we had a lot more people out here than I had imagined,” Fer guson added. “We’re just so thankful and apprecia tive of the support we’ve received already and we haven’t even opened yet . . . for everyone that made this possible on the Chick- fil-A side, but also on the Jefferson City side too.” “For us, this is a dream come true. I can’t even de scribe it in words.” The restaurant is expect ed to open in late April or early May 2023. with plans to launch the social media platforms this week. The Chick-fil-A is look ing to hire upwards of 125 people from Jefferson, Ferguson said. The hiring process will start at about six weeks out in March. There will be a QR code, banner and hiring website, as well as a hiring trailer on-site to host interviews. BOC continued from 1A way to help fund projects, mostly road projects, that are designed to bring in new industrial and com mercial development. The idea behind the fund is that by investing in infrastruc ture, the county would eventually bring in addi tional property taxes from the industrial and commer cial growth. Murphy told the BOC that the road would open up more property in the area for development and mentioned the potential of luring a Lowe’s and Longhorn’s to the area, al though nothing specific is currently on the table. Commissioner Jim Hix said he thought the county should help with the proj ect since it could bring in additional commercial businesses, something a lot of county residents say they want. The county’s bond fund currently has $5.7 million left and Murphy said she’d ask for the county to pay half of the $3.5 million road cost, noting that was a “big ask.” If the county proceeds with helping fund the proj ect, it would be in two steps: The BOC and IDA would both have to add the road to the approved project list and then the two groups would have to agree on an amount to put into the project. Another potential is sue to be ironed-out is the design of the road. As proposed, the road is a two-lane project with no center turn lane or acces sory lanes. County leaders indicated that the road as proposed wouldn’t meet county standards. Murphy told the BOC that future developers would be re sponsible for the cost of building turning lanes, curbs and gutters and re lated infrastructure. The BOC has a planning session set for Feb. 21 and decided to invite IDA members to that meeting to jointly discuss how they wish to proceed. PUBLIC HEARING The Jackson County Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, February 20, 2023, at the Jackson County Courthouse at 5000 Jackson Parkway, Jefferson, Georgia, to consider the following matter: 1. The Estates of Brockton Loop, represented by Samantha Voda, is requesting the creation of a Special Tax District for Street Lighting to provide a mechanism for the property owners of the subdivision to pay for the street lights within the subdivision. (Tax Map 039, Parcels 001-019) Applications, maps and public hearing procedures are available for review in the Planning Division Office, of the Department of Public Development during regular office hours. All interested persons are invited to attend. PUBLIC HEARING The Jackson County Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, Lebruary 20, 2023, at the Jackson County Courthouse at 5000 Jackson Parkway, Jefferson, Georgia, to consider the following matter: 1. The Oaks at Belmont, represented by Danny Nash, is requesting the creation of a Special Tax District for Street Lighting to provide a mechanism for the property owners of the subdivision to pay for the street lights within the subdivision. (Tax Map 110, Parcels 001) Applications, maps and public hearing procedures are available for review in the Planning Division Office, of the Department of Public Development during regular office hours. All interested persons are invited to attend.