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About Jackson herald. (Jefferson, Jackson County, Ga.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (May 24, 2023)
THE ACKSON H Wednesday, May 24, 2023 ERALD VOL. 148 NO. 49 20 PACES 2 SECTIONS PLUS INSERTS Merged in 2017 with The Commerce News A PUBLICATION OF MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. JEFFERSON, JACKSON COUNTY GEORGIA S0549 $1.00 COPY South Jackson Commerce Rock quarry plans aim at South Jackson A large rock quarry being proposed for an 800-acre site in the Center community of South Jackson could come be fore county leaders for action by mid-summer. Vulcan Materials Company representatives have informally met with members of the Jack- son County Board of Com missioners in recent weeks to discuss the project. Earlier this week, the firm met with county planning department officials to discuss its plans. No formal rezoning or other application has yet been filed with the county, but Vulcan representative Jimmy Flem ing said Monday the company hopes to have its county filings done by mid-summer. At minimum, the county would have to approve a spe cial use permit for the a quar ry on the site. If a concrete or asphalt plant were to co-locate onsite, that property would have to be rezoned for industri al use, officials said. In addition to those approv als, the firm would also have to get mining permits from the state, a process Fleming said would likely take a year to pro cess. Birmingham, Ala.-based Vulcan also operates a quarry in nearby Jefferson along 1-85. That quarry got approval last year from the Jackson County Board of Commissioners to expand its operations by 200 acres. While the Jefferson quarry services the 1-85 corridor area, the one being proposed in Cen ter would be designed to serve the Hwy. 441, Hwy. 78 and Hwy. 316 corridors, Fleming said. “We’ve been looking for a site (in that area) for a long time,’’ he said. Fleming said that the site, which is between Hwy. 441 and Chandler Bridge Rd., off of Richmar Rd., has a high quality of rock that would meet the standards for DOT projects and that its location would of fer good access to Hwy. 441 for distribution. The site would also likely replace rock currently being mined from a quarry in near by Clarke County. That quar ry site has been purchased by Clarke County for a water res- See Quarry, page 2A MAILING LABEL Well-known Commerce man shot and killed Sunday morning A beloved Commerce man was shot and killed outside a downtown restaurant on Sunday morning. A suspect was arrested Sunday night. Calvin Varnum, 72. was gunned down Sunday morning outside of Hard ee’s in downtown Com merce on May 21, around 7:30 a.m. Varnum could be seen most days standing on the sidewalk near Hardee’s with his walking stick, smiling and waving at passersby. He was also a regular at Huck’s restau rant and could often be seen walking up Homer Road. Social media has been flooded with comments from people about their friendly encounters with Varnum. A vigil was held Sunday night with hundreds of people stopping to wave at passing vehicles, just as Varnum did on countless mornings. “I live on the next block over and Mr. Calvin every morning he was out here waving and so we knew if he was out waving, it was going to be a good day,” said vigil event organizer Claire Kiltoyne. Skate A-Rama in Com merce announced that it would offer a $500 reward See Shooting, page 2A A growing memorial with flowers, candles and a photo of murder victim Calvin Varnum was placed on the sidewalk next the Hardee’s Restaurant in downtown Commerce Sunday following Varnum’s murder earlier in the day. 2023 Graduation East Jackson Comprehensive, Jackson County and Jefferson high schools hosted graduation over the weekend. Commerce High School will host graduation this Wednesday, May 24, at 8 p.m. at Ray Lamb Stadium. See next week’s issue of The Jackson Herald for the 2023 graduation section, which will feature all four high schools. Photo by Wesleigh Sagon Jefferson High School graduates walked under the saber arch as they entered Memorial Stadium during their commencement ceremony on Friday, May 19. Photo by Ben Munro A large group gathers in to pose with Raven Cook for a photo following Friday’s (May 19) graduation ceremony at Jackson County High School. East Jackson Compre hensive High School graduating senior Lacey Clayton shares a cele bratory laugh with prin cipal Matt Stratemeyer during the school’s graduation ceremony May 20. Jefferson ‘Monumental decision’ on tap June 12 in Jefferson By Mike Buffington mike@mainstreetnews. com In what leaders say will be a “monumental deci sion,” the Jefferson City Council is scheduled to make a final vote on June 12 on whether or not to build a $12.2 million aquatics facility. The vote comes after years of debate and discussion, including additional debate during its meeting on May 22. That discussion included some councilmembers’ concerns about parking to serve the facility. Councilmember Mark Mobley suggested that if the city approves moving forward with the project, bonds let to pay for it should include enough funding to build additional parking. The project’s capital cost would be paid for over See Jefferson, page 2A BOC Bingham announces plans to run for BOC chairman Jackson County Dis trict 3 commissioner Chad Bingham has an nounced his plans to run for chairman of the board of Commissioners in 2024. Bingham joins Dis trict 5 commissioner Marty Clark in announc ing plans to seek the seat next year. Current BOC chairman Tom Crow has announced that he will retire at the end of his term and won’t be seek ing re-election. Bingham has pre- See Bingham, page 2A Hoschton Hoschton mayor plans to move, resign According to a Face- — due to an impending book post from Lauren move. O’Leary, the first-term O’Leary, who took of- Hoschton mayor plans flee in January 2022, said to resign from office — though not immediately See O’Leary, page 2A 4 8 7 9 1 4 1 4 0 o
