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The Commerce News
JEFFERSON, JACKSON COUNTY GEORGIA 30549 $1.00 COPY
Jackson BOE
BOE
approves
tentative
budget
By Mike Buffington
mike@mainstreetnews. com
The Jackson County
Board of Education has
approved a tentative
$133.4 million budget
for FY2024, which be
gins July 1.
The system has not
yet set its millage rate
for local property tax
es, a move that won’t
take place until the fall
when the county tax di
gest is finalized.
The tentative budget
calls for $57.2 million
in local property tax
dollars, a $10 million
increase over the initial
FY2023 budget. School
leaders anticipate the
system’s tax digest
will grow around 20%
this year, an amount
that may turn out to
be lower than the ac
tual growth due to a
large number of higher
property assessments.
Around 47% of the
system’s budget comes
from local sources with
the rest from the state
and federal funds.
Of note in the
FY2024 budget is
around $2 million for
the opening and op
erations of the new
Legacy Knoll Middle
School; $2.6 million in
salary increases which
includes $2,000 per
teacher from the state
plus a 2% local pay
raise; $4.2 million in
higher health insurance
costs and $2.5 million
for the acquisition of
property for future
growth needs.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business, the
BOE approved:
• denying a charter
school request for the
Braselton area.
• an intergovernmen
tal agreement for the
operations of Foothills
school.
• a resolution for the
sale of Rutland Acad
emy in Athens. The
facility was used by a
large number of school
See BOE,page 2A
MAILING LABEL
Jefferson
Jefferson approves large aquatic facility
By Mike Buffington
mike@mainstreetnews.com
After several years of
debate and controversy,
the Jefferson City Council
has approved building a
large indoor aquatics facil
ity designed to be used for
area school swim teams,
private swim leagues and
the general public.
The council voted 4-1
on June 12 to approve
moving forward with the
$ 13 -$ 14 million proj ect by
issuing bonds and paying
those back over 20 years
with SPLOST funds and
impact fees. Councilmem-
ber Dawn Maddox was the
lone “no” vote on the mo
tion.
In November, voters
approved extending the
county’s SPLOST with
Jefferson allocating 32%
of its share for recreation
infrastructure. The city
does not plan to use gener
al tax funds to pay for the
facility, although it may
use some general fund dol
lars to get the initial oper
ation up and running. Fees
from school and swim
team use are expected to
pay for a substantial share
of the facility’s ongoing
costs.
The issue isn’t new in
the city. Former Mayor
Steve Quinn promoted
the idea during his ten-
rue, but to no avail. The
concept got new life when
Cody Cain was elected to
See Jefferson, page 2A
Concept design for proposed aquatic center in Jef
ferson.
Commerce
Public safety
Eric Redmon makes a donation to the Ronald McDonald House.
20 Years of Resiliency:
Eric Redmon reflects on life since car crash
By Alex Buffington
alex@mainstreetnews. com
It’s been 20 years since
a car wreck changed Eric
“Radio” Redmon’s life
forever. But Eric’s story
didn’t stop at the wreck.
Instead, over the past two
decades, that story has
become one of resiliency,
community and faith.
June 12, 2003, started
out as a normal day for
Eric, who was a rising ju
nior at Commerce High
School at that time. He’d
gone to workout, went to
the orthodontist and had
plans to attend a pool par
ty for a friend. But Eric
crashed on Hwy. 326 be
fore making it to the party.
His mother, Angie
Redmon, said the crash
occurred shortly after a
downpour. She suspects he
hydroplaned off the road.
Eric’s vehicle traveled
into a brushy area and you
couldn’t see his vehicle
from the road.
It was a passerby who
saw something out of the
ordinary — possibly fog
or smoke from the wreck
— who called 911.
“She drove all the way
by it and something told
See Redmon, page 2A
M
\
It’s been 20 years since
a serious wreck injured
Eric Redmon. He’s
since started a busi
ness, written a book
and formed a non-profit
organization.
Pendergrass
Election Day is
Tuesday in Pendergrass
Election Day is Tues
day, June 20, for a special
election in Pendergrass.
Polling will be open
at Pendergrass City Hall
from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on
June 20 for the special
election to fill two Pen
dergrass City Council
seats.
Multiple candidates
qualified to fill the unex
pired terms for Post 1 and
Post 6 Pendergrass City
Council seats.
Qualifying for the Post
1 (term ends Dec. 31) seat
are:
• Gabriel Gomez
• Josh Auten
• William Ellis
For the Post 6 seat (term
ends Dec. 31, 2024) are:
• Crystal Hendrix
• Debra Fermin
Early voting continues
See Election, page 2A
Qualifying being
held for second
special election
in Pendergrass
Pendergrass will hold a
special election on Sept.
19 to fill the vacancy of
city council Post 4 seat.
The seat is vacated by
Nick Geiman, who will
become the town’s next
mayor.
Qualifying for the spe
cial election will be held
Wednesday, June 14,
See Qualifying, page 2A
Man killed in wreck
after fleeing from JCSO
An Alto man was killed in a wreck after fleeing from
police in Jackson County.
Georgia State Patrol troopers were called for the sin
gle-vehicle wreck on Sunday, June 4, around 1 a.m. on
Old Kings Bridge Road at Staplers Road.
A gray Nissan Altima driven by Garrett Alexander
Hance, 32, of Alto, reportedly fled from a Jackson
County Sheriff’s Office deputy. Hance lost control of
the vehicle, which rotated and went off the roadway,
striking multiple trees.
Hance was ejected from his vehicle and pronounced
dead on the scene.
The incomplete JCSO report does not include the
narrative on what happened leading up to the chase.
The incident is listed as obstruction of officers-felo-
ny; driving under the influence (DUI)-alcohol; fleeing
or attempting to elude a police officer for a felony of
fense-felony; failure to maintain lane; headlight viola
tion; and taillight violation.
Commerce BOE
Anderson
reappointed to
Commerce BOE seat
By Alex Buffington
alex@mainstreetnews. com
Nathan Anderson will
again fill the Commerce
Board of Education Ward 1
seat after resigning from the
post earlier this year. While
the June 12 vote was unan
imous to approve the re-ap-
pointment, board chairman
Kyle Moore chose not to
vote on the matter.
Board member Dr. Paul
Sergent recommended that
Anderson be reappointed to
the position. Sergent noted
that Anderson faced some
difficulty several months
ago, forcing him to resign
from the post, but that’s
since been resolved.
Sergent recommended
reappointing Anderson to
the seat so that Ward 1 will
have representation until
the special election is held
and someone is named to
that seat.
“But that person will
only get here in January, so
that’s seven months these
people will be without rep
resentation,” Sergent said.
A special election will
still be held for the Ward 1
seat, a requirement because
of the initial resignation.
Fellow school board
members Knox Smith and
Cara Bray echoed Sergent’s
comments.
“I can’t imagine not hav
ing a voice on the ward that
I live in,” Smith said.
Smith also noted Ward 1
has re-elected Anderson to
the seat several times.
But board chairman
Moore opted to abstain
from the vote, noting he
doesn’t want to make a de
cision forWard 1.
“(I) simply don’t want
to make the decision for
District 1 and who’s go
ing to be in that seat,” said
Moore. “And I think that
we’re close enough to an
election ... and I know
there aren’t decisions great
See Commerce, page 2A
