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About Jackson herald. (Jefferson, Jackson County, Ga.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 22, 2023)
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2023 THE JACKSON HERALD PAGE 3A Award winners are pictured with Mayor Jon Howell and councilmembers. Photos submitted Jefferson PD presents annual awards By Hannah Barron hannah@mainstreetnews. com The Jefferson Police De partment presented its an nual awards at the Jeffer son City Council’s Feb. 13 meeting. Winners included: • Officer (FTO) Nick Hobbs received Officer of the Year for his work in assisting neighboring agencies with arrests of a homicide suspect and an aggravated assault suspect. • Jimmy Bailey received Citizen of the Year for pro viding vehicles to the de partment. Jimmy Bailey receives Citizen of the Year. • Sergeant Berry Sosso- man and Investigator Kyle Anderson received Police Commendation Awards for their investigative work in the child molestation case at Bright Beginnings. • Kimberly Lewallen received a Certificate of Appreciation for her work with the state certification program as the depart ment’s state certification manager. The department was also recognized for receiving its fourth re-certification from the state. Assistant Chief James Arwood was present- Kimberly Lewallen re ceives a Certificate of Appreciation. ed with the plaque, as he was the state certification manager for the depart ment’s first certification. OTHER BUSINESS In other business Feb. 13, the council: • received a presentation about Flock ALPR. a ve hicle recognition technol ogy that gives objective information about wanted vehicles. Police chief Joe Wirthman has made a re quest for four Flock cam eras in the budget. • approved a final plat for Cavalier Court, partic ularly a public street to be dedicated to the city that connects on the south side of Thomas Pkwy. in Mc Clure Industrial Park. • approved a resolution accepting a limited war ranty deed from Jefferson Oaks, LLC, for the dedi cation of a 0.345 acres of land along Porter Branch and Old Pendergrass Rd. A condition of zoning ap proval for an office devel opment was the dedication of a 20-ft. wide strip of land for a future multi-use path system. • approved a renewal of insurance for 2023-2024. Sergeant Berry Sossoman and Detective Kyle An derson receive Police Commendation Awards. The Jefferson Police Department presents the plaque for the agency’s fourth re-certification from the state. Officer Nick Hobbs receives Officer of the Year. Braselton DDA spots remain unfilled following tabled vote By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews. com Decisions on two open spots on Braselton’s Down town Development Authori ty (DDA) will wait at least another month. For the second-straight voting session, the Bra selton Town Council tabled action to fill two empty DDA seats with a 5-0 vote on Monday (Feb. 13). This latest postponement came after Mayor Kurt Ward added himself to the pool of DDA candidates. “Our DDA is currently comprised of five people that have business interests in Braselton but are not res idents of the Town of Bra selton,” Ward said during the council’s Feb. 9 work session before submitting himself as a candidate. The DDA nominated Susan Wyatt and Esteban de Leon for the open seats back in January. But Ward motioned to table the vote last month to allow council members to talk with both nominees. On Monday, council member Jim Joedecke asked to table the vote for another month to allow for addition al discussion. “I think this is a good opportunity for all of us to kind of reset and re-group and have some conversa tions that maybe should have already happened,” he said. “And I look forward to working with development authority. I think we all do.” Ward asked to amend Jo- edecke’s motion and place Joedecke as a liaison be tween the council and the DDA over the next month. But Joedecke pointedly expressed frustration with serving as a go-between, saying the two sides needed to communicate better. “I don’t want to be the a$&hole. but the idea that I’ve got to go back and forth between this board and that group seems kind of silly to me,” he said. “We should all be talking. And if there’s some kind of issue going on, let’s all get in a room and figure it out.” “But I’m not going to do what I did for the last three days, which was talk to them, talk to you, talk to them, talk to you,” Joedecke continued. “I don’t have time for it. I think we have got to get to a place where we are all working togeth er.” “This is why I think we need someone on the DDA,” Ward replied. Joedecke ultimately agreed to serve as the liai son but stressed that all of the council should engage in those talks. Ward also asked that the council have a representa tive among a “core group” working on planning meet ings with Downtown Strat egies, a firm that is helping compile Braselton’s five- year downtown plan. He noted that the DDA and vis itor’s bureau have represen tatives in that group. Ward asked that council member Becky Richardson serve in that role. Jane Ranch of Gainesville addressed the council about the DDA openings during public comment, saying she spoke on behalf of Bra selton developer Matt Rup- pel. She pointed to a DDA’s financing resources and land-acquisition ability and asked the council to consid er qualified DDA candidates with business experience. Judge Green announces candidacy for Superior Court Jackson County Chief Magistrate Judge Ben Green has announced his candidacy for Superior Court Judge. Judge Green has spent the majority of his career in public service. After two years of college. Judge Green joined the military. He is a graduate of the 3rd Battalion, 11th Infantry Regiment’s Officer Candi dacy School at Fort Ben- ning, as well as the U.S. Army School of Aviation at Fort Rucker, Ala. He is a UH-60 Blackhawk pilot and former company com mander. However, Green said the highlight of his military career is flying UH-1 Hueys out of the Winder Airport as a mem ber of the Georgia Army National Guard while at tending law school. Judge Green began his legal career in the Jack- son County District At torney’s Office in 2010 trying cases mostly in volving special victims. In 2013, he became the managing partner of Brad ford, Primm and Green, a small law firm in Jeffer son. He would eventually return to prosecuting as the drug prosecutor in the Mountain Judicial Circuit. There he spent the majori ty of his time on high pro file wiretap investigations with the Appalachian Re gional Drug Task Force. In 2018, he was appointed by the Superior Court as the Chief Magistrate Judge of Jackson County after MAGISTRATE JUDGE BEN GREEN the passing of Judge Sher ri Thurmond Smith. As Chief Magistrate, Green says his guiding principles are to treat people fairly and keep the community safe. In addition to his du ties as Chief Magistrate, Judge Green has also been specially designated by the Superior Court to pre side over Superior Court cases involving protective orders, bond hearings and the circuit’s Accountabili ty Courts when needed. Judge Green lives in Commerce with his wife, Annette, and twin girls, Sullivan and Sloane. He is a former president of the Piedmont Bar Asso ciation, a former Ironman triathlete and ultra-mara thon trail runner. NCAA track and field athlete, and the 2021 USA Pow erlifting Georgia State Champion. Green is running for the Superior Court judge seat currently held by Judge Joe Booth. Rutherford named to Maysville Planning Board By Angela Gary angela@mainstreetnews.com Richard Rutherford has been appointed to serve on the Maysville Planning & Zoning Board. The action came at the February meet ing of the Maysville City Council. In other business at the meeting: •David Butler with the Adult Literacy Program was present to talk with the council about the Jackson County Adult Education Center program. •the Council voted to purchase a Kubota tractor lawnmower from James Short Tractors. This will be paid out of the Cemetery Fund at a cost of $9,400. •Oliver Electric gave a quote for two complete decorative lights and poles, at a cost of $7,450, along with the complete electri cal and concrete anchor bases. These lights will be placed in the Maysville City Park. Nicholson City Council tables action on roof bids The Nicholson City Council recently tabled ac tion on accepting a bid for the re-roofing project at the Benton Center facility. The action to table came after councilman Mike Barfield said he’d like to ask more questions about the bid before proceeding. In other business, the council: • voted to make a $500 donation to the Boys and Girls Club of Jackson County. • voted to approve an amendment to the city’s July 4th fireworks agree ment with Duane Brown ing for a rain date of July 8. • voted to make some minor changes recom mended by FEMA to the city’s flood damage pre vention ordinance. NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC The City of Commerce Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on Monday, February 27, 2023 at 6:00 P.M. in the City of Commerce Civic Center, 110 State Street, Commerce, GA 30529. The purpose for the hearing is to discuss (1) Approval of the 2023 Commerce Zoning Map; (2) Zoning ordinance update recommendation vote. SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY Applications & Appeals We Do All The Hard Work! 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