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PAGE 2A
THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22, 2023
Commerce gives nod to
short-term rental ordinance
STEAM Center to get access trail, greenhouse
By Alex Buffington
alex@mainstreetnews. com
Commerce leaders ap
proved an ordinance this week
for short-term rentals.
The Commerce City Coun
cil voted Monday to approve
the ordinance, which regu
lates short-term rentals like
Airbnb or Vrbo.
Owners will need to get
an annual business license
and have an inspection done
annually on the dwelling. A
24-hour contact person is re
quired and must be able to re
spond to the residence within
15 minutes in the event of an
emergency.
Parking will be limited to
driveways and designated
parking areas.
Rentals will be limited to
30 days to keep the property
from being used as an apart
ment.
The ordinance also outlines
a list of fines for any violators.
The move also allows the
city to begin collecting hotel/
motel tax for short-term rent
als.
GARBAGE PRICES
Commerce garbage pick
up customers will see a
slight increase on their bill
beginning next month.
Waste Pro. the city's gar
bage pickup contractor, asked
for a rate adjustment of $1.27
per customer per month,
based on rising costs of fuel,
disposal and increases in the
Consumer Price Index (CPI).
The Commerce City Council
voted Monday to approve the
rate adjustment.
Residential prices will in
crease to $21.34 per rollaway.
Commercial customers will
to the program. Hill said
there's a critical need for
multi-purpose fields and an
indoor gym to meet the de
partment's needs.
The city had initially
planned to construct all new
facilities, but learned the
cost of such a project would
be between $20-$30 mil
lion, an amount Hill said the
city can’t afford.
On top of those steep
capital costs, an expanded
program would also require
more operational funding
beyond the city’s current
$568,000 annual budget. Of
that, around $75,000 comes
from recreation fees, the
rest from city general funds.
Earlier this year, city
officials met with county
leaders to see if the coun
ty could play a role in the
city’s need to expand its fa
cilities and programs. The
result of those meetings is
a draft proposal to be used
as a possible framework for
an intergovernmental agree
ment between the city and
county.
Essentially, the two-page
document calls for the city
to turn over all its recreation
parks and equipment to the
county recreation depart
ment. The city would pay
the county $500,000 over
two years during the tran
sition and would also retain
$1 million from SPLOST 7
rec money for the county to
use for facilities upgrades.
The county would retain
the use of the Tigers mas
cot with the city’s youth
football and cheerleading
programs, per league rules.
It would also retain the
name “Tiger Sharks” for the
Commerce swim team pro
gram. The agreement also
pay $26.22. Residential out-
of-city rates will total $25.67.
The changes go into effect
April 1.
OTHER BUSINESS
Also at its meeting, the
council approved:
•renaming a section of
Steve Reynolds Industrial
Pkwy. to “SK Boulevard.”
The change is for the section
between Maysville Road
and Ridgeway Church Road.
The county will also need to
approve the change since a
portion of the road is in the
county.
•a contract with low bidder
Stratton & Sons Construc
tion for road paving using
Local Maintenance and Im
provement Grant (LMIG)
money. The total estimated
cost is $286,000 with about
$112,000 of that coming from
LMIG funds. The remainder
will come from special pur
pose local option sales tax
revenues.
•transferring $300,000 of
CHIP grant funds (moving
the funds from new construc
tion projects to rehabilitation
projects).
•street closures for the
city’s upcoming Easter pa
rade, scheduled the morning
of Saturday. April 8. The fol
lowing will be closed: Oak,
Little. South Elm and Church
streets. The parade will begin
around 10:30 a.m. at Spencer
Park and end at First Baptist
Church of Commerce for the
annual Easter egg hunt.
•street closures for Touch a
Truck, planned April 25. be
ginning at 5 p.m. Sycamore
Street will be closed on that
day from 4:30-7:30 p.m.
indicates the county would
attempt to locate new facili
ties in or around the city.
That proposal faced a
backlash from rec depart
ment patrons, who don't
want the city's department
merged into the county rec
department. While county
rec director Ricky Sand
ers noted during a recent
town hall that not much
will change for the players
if the merger goes through
(they’ll still play and reg
ister at the same locations,
etc.), many patrons noted
they don’t want to lose the
small, close-knit communi
ty feeling of the city-operat
ed rec department.
Hill said this week that no
decision has been made and
he expects the Commerce
City Council will discuss
the matter at its April work
session.
“We're at a fork in the
road,” Hill said. “And we’ve
got some work and discus
sions ... to have.”
If the city opts out of the
agreement with the coun
ty. it could pursue small-
er-scale improvements to
the rec department.
Hill said the council has
reached a consensus that
the $20 million improve
ments aren’t feasible. A
smaller-scale expansion
might include converting
Ridling Field into multi
use fields and constructing
a gym/office on the Veter
an’s Park site, or on another
city-owned property. Those
improvements would likely
require a bond referendum
and a tax increase for city
residents.
Hill said he doesn't antic
ipate a decision being made
next month.
By Hannah Barron
hannah@mainstreetnews. com
The Jefferson City
Schools STEAM Center
will soon get a natural ac
cess trail connecting from
Jefferson Academy.
Current walks to the cen
ter take a long time and
involve street access with
heavy traffic, fifth grade
teacher Donna Whitfield
said in an update at the Jef
ferson Board of Education’s
March 9 meeting.
Plans are to use existing
land to create a natural path
that will start behind the bus
turnaround and fence line at
JA. The trail will go through
a wooded area and access a
street with low traffic to get
to the center.
The Jackson County School
System has announced the
hires of four new assistant
principals for the upcoming
2023-24 school year.
JCSS is promoting three
internal candidates to the posi
tion. Wendy Dillow will serve
at East Jackson Elementary
School; Jessie Wood at East
Jackson Comprehensive High
School; and Jade Paustian will
serve as West Jackson Middle
School. Maysville Elementa
ry has hired Kelli Hall, who
comes to JCSS from a nearby
school system.
All four will begin in their
new positions during the up-
Commerce City School
System 9th Graders will have
a new part of their health class
following action by the Com
merce Board of Education
March 20.
The BOE approved a cur
riculum to update informa
tion about drug and alcohol
abuse that will be taught by
members of Reboot Jackson,
a local recovery organization.
Jon Langston, a native of
Commerce and leader of
“Our aim with the path is
to increase student use, pro
mote more safe travels [and]
quicker access,” Whitfield
said.
The scope of the work
will include clearing under
brush to outline the path and
placing mulch.
Whitfield’s fifth grade
ELT classes will be doing
the initial clearing. The path
will be maintained by her
classes, other JA students,
the Jefferson Middle School
Outdoor Club and volunteers
from Jefferson High School
and the community.
GREENHOUSE
Whitfield’s students are
also building a soda bottle
greenhouse for the STEAM
Center.
coming 2023-24 school year.
More details about each
hire include:
• Dillow served as a student
teacher during East Jackson
Elementary’s inaugural year
in 2003-04 prior to complet
ing her undergraduate degree
in the Spring of 2004. She has
been a EJES ever since then,
serving in a wide-variety of
positions that include teach
ing, Multi-Tiered System of
Supports (MTSS) Coordi
nator and Parent and Family
Engagement Specialist. She
has held her current position
of MTSS-Coordinator for the
past two years.
Reboot Jackson, gave a pre
sentation to the BOE about
a new curriculum the orga
nization is offering to local
school systems. He said that
the program isn’t just about
substance abuse, but also
discusses the “why” of abuse
and hopes to help students
identify their underlying feel
ings that sometimes leads to
substance abuse.
Langston said both the
Jackson County and Banks
Her class recendy received
a $500 grant from the Geor
gia Youth Science and Tech
nology Centers (GYSTC)
to construct a soda botde
greenhouse, which will be
used to grow seedlings for
the native pollinator garden.
The walls will be con
structed using two-liter
soda bottles that are cut and
stacked.
Students have decided
on a location for the green
house; modified the design
to include two doors and
wall shelves; and planned a
soda bottle drive to collect
the materials. Any addition
al materials still needed will
be purchased using the grant
funds.
Cody Jordan, the JHS ag-
•Wood has been with
Jackson County Schools for
the past eight years and is in
the midst of her 14th year in
education. She has served at
EJCHS for the past six years,
the last four of which as the in
structional coach. Wood, who
was named EJCHS’ Teacher
of the Year in 2019, will help
transition the eighth graders
from EJCHS into the high
school portion of the building
in her new role as assistant
principal.
•Paustian is in her eighth
year in education and is the
current Instructional Coach at
West Jackson Middle School.
County school systems have
indicated they will also have
the program as part of then-
health curriculum.
In other action, the BOE:
•approved a Georgia De
partment of Education site ap
plication for the Deer Creek
Trail property on which the
system plans to build a new
elementary school. The pa
perwork for DOE is part of
the process toward that goal.
• approved a plan to have
ricultural mechanics teach
er and FFA co-advisor, has
been helping with the design
process. He will also assist
the students with building
the full frame of the green
house before adding the soda
bottle walls.
The greenhouse will join
a line-up of resources at
the STEAM Center, which
include the pollinator gar
den and outdoor classroom
space.
“The soda bottle green
house will be a key educa
tional piece to our growing
garden space, to be used for
lessons and activities relat
ing to biodiversity and sus
tainability,” Liz French, the
district’s BioSTEAM coor
dinator. said.
She previously was a teacher
at North Oconee High School,
where she was named the
Teacher of the Year in 2020
and the Girls Lacrosse Area
4-AAAAA Coach of the Year
in 2022.
•Hall is currently an in
structional coach at Oakwood
Elementary School in Hall
County. She is in her ninth
year in education. Hall noted
her family moved to Jackson
County nearly two years ago
and she was looking to en
grain herself into the Jackson
County community and allow
her two daughters to attend
school where they live.
the system's computer net
work upgraded.
• at its work session meet
ing on March 14. the BOE
heard mid-year reports from
school principals about stu
dent achievement year to
date. High school leaders
noted that participation in
AP classes is dwindling due
to dual enrollment with area
colleges becoming more im
portant to many gifted stu
dents.
Persinger continued from 1A
serves the Budget & Fiscal Affairs Oversight, Economic De
velopment & Tourism and Natural Resources & Environment
committees.
INVITATION TO BID
Town Of Homer ( Banks County)
Resurfacing of Yonah Homer Rd.
Sealed Bids for furnishing all Materials, Labor, Equipment and Appurtenances necessary for approximately 1.92
miles of recycled asphaltic concrete resurfacing on Yonah Homer Rd will be received by the owner at the Town of
Homer City Hall located at 943 Historic Homer Hwy. Homer Ga. 30547 until 9:00 a.m. local time on April 18, 2023
and then at said office publicly opened and read aloud.
The project consists of the following major elements:
Approximately 1.92 miles of recycled asphaltic concrete resurfacing and shoulder filling on Yonah Homer Rd.
All work shall be completed in accordance with plans, special provisions and the latest edition of the Gerorgia
Department of Transportation standard specifications and the latest edition of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control
Devices (MUTCD).
The work will be awarded in one contract.
The instructions to bidders, bid contract agreement, drawings, specifications and forms of bid bond, performance
bond, payment bond and other contract documents may be examined and obtained at the following location.
Carol Ayers: Town Clerk
943 Historic Homer Hwy.
Homer, Georgia 30547
(706) 677-3510
cayers@townofhomerga.com
This invitation to bid shall be governed by the following schedule
3/22/2023 Release of invitation bid
4/5/2023 Deadline for questions to be emailed to Town Clerk by 3:00 p.m.
4/11/2023 Answers to questions will be emailed to all bidders by 5:00 p.m.
4/18/2023 Bids due by 9:00 a.m. no bids will be accepted after the due date and time.
Bid opening at approximately 9:15 a.m.
All questions concerning this bid must be submitted by emailed to the Town Clerk no later than 3:00 p.m. on April
5, 2023 local time.
The inquiries must be directed to Carol Ayers, Town Clerk, cayers@townofhomerga.com.
No response to inquries other than those emailed will be binding upon the Town of Homer, the Town reserves the
right to issue written addenda to any inquries that alter the scope of the invitation to bid addenda shall be mailed to all
bidders no later than 4/11/2023 at 5:00 p.m. a signed copy of any addenda shall accompany submitted bids.
General Information :
Payment, application for payment certificates for payment and retainage shall be in accordance with the provisions
of the contract documents.
The sucessfull bidder for this contract will be required to furnish a satisfactory performance bond and payment bond
each in the amount of 100 percent of the bid.
Each bid must be accompanied by a proposal guaranty consisting of a bond, certified check, or negotiable instrument
submitted with the bid as assurance that the bidder upon acceptance of His/Her bid will execute such contractual
documents as may be required within a specified time in the amount of five percent of the total bid.
THE OWNER RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REJECT ANY OR ALL BIDS, TO WAIVE INFORMALITIES AND TO
READVERTISE.
By : Carol Ayers Town Clerk
Hearings continued from 1A
fueling locations. It also includes the construction of a Pe-
terbilt Truck Sales and Repair Center. The convenience
store is proposed to total 4,872 square feet and the truck
sales building will total 30,530 square feet.
Commerce continued from 1A
JCSS hires new assistant principals for next school year
Commerce BOE approves update to health curriculum