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About Jackson herald. (Jefferson, Jackson County, Ga.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (June 21, 2023)
20 PAGES 2 SECTIONS PLUS INSERTS The Commerce News JEFFERSON, JACKSON COUNTY GEORGIA 30549 $1.00 COPY Fouithofjuly celebrations coming up Independence Day is coming up on Tuesday, July 4. A number of cel ebrations are planned to celebrate the holiday over the next couple of weeks. Details include: JEFFERSON JUNE 24 Jefferson’s Freedom Festival will be held June 24 from 5-10 p.m. in downtown. The popular event fea tures fireworks, music, games, vendors and food. A variety of enter tainment is scheduled throughout the event, in cluding Wrestling South ern —On The Road. The show will start at 5 p.m. near South Avenue. There will be 60 ven dors including food, handmade crafts, des serts and activities such as train rides, inflatables, mechanical bull and a gaming trailer. Live mu sic will be performed in different locations around town, plus the main stage. The main stage will be located on the lawn be side Regions drive-thru on Gordon Street. Bring your blankets or lawn chairs, enjoy the Na tional Anthem sung by Brooks Benton, music by Ross Donaldson, and The American Flyer Band, and cheer on the “Baby Shark” dance-off compe tition. Fireworks will begin at dark. The entertainment schedule includes: •5 p.m. — Brooks Benton, National Anthem (main stage); Wrestling Southern — On The Road (Depot St./historic court house); and Band Lone some (College Street/ museum parking lot) •5:10 p.m. — “Baby See Celebrations, page 2A MAILING LABEL Pendergrass election New faces elected to Pendergrass council The makeup of Pendergrass’ city government will soon have a new look. This week’s special election put two new faces on the council and confirmed a new face in the mayor’s seat. Former city councilman Nick Gei- man was the only candidate for mayor on the ballot for the June 20 special election necessitated by the death of Mayor Monk Tolbert in late February. In council seat races, Gabriel Go mez was elected to the Post 1 seat with 45 votes over William Ellis (14 votes) and Josh Auten (27 votes.) In the Post 6 contest, Crystal Hen drix won over Debra L. Fermin 63- 21. Another race is set for September to fill the Post 4 seat on the council (see other story in this issue.) GABRIEL GOMEZ CRYSTAL HENDRIX Museum goes ‘Into the Wild’ for summer history camp The Crawford Long Museum recently hosted its “Into the Wild” History Camp. Campers learned about zebras, giraffes, elephants, African culture and all things safari from camp instructor, Jessie Stapler. Special speakers included Sarina Roth, who spoke to campers about her own real African safari, and Kim Kyst, who brought her llamas and taught campers how to make nesting balls with real llama fur. Campers are shown in their safari gear. Campers show off the safari binoculars they made. See more on 12A. Pendergrass qualifiers Two qualify for Sept. 19 special election in Pendergrass Two people quali fied last week to fill the Post 4 Pendergrass City Council seat. The city will hold a special elec tion on Sept. 19. Candidates include: •Bobby Carter Jr. •Mallory Danner The winner of the Sept. 19 special election will fill the vacated seat of Nick Geiman. Geiman will become the city’s next mayor. Geiman was the lone qualifier for the city mayoral position, vacated following the death of long-time Pen dergrass mayor Monk Tolbert. Celissa Beck also put in her name for the Post 4 race, but lives just outside the city limits, therefore she’s ineligible to run for the seat. Commerce council Commerce delays vote on civic center GMP An approval of the guaranteed maximum price (GMP) for the Commerce Civic Center construction project was delayed until July by the Commerce City Council dining its June 19 meet ing. The delay followed a 30-minute discussion by councilman Bobby Red- mon who questioned a number of details in the $11.2 million proposal. The city has set $12 million as the estimated cost for the project. City manager James Wascher told the council that sev eral items had been cut from the original plans, including a drive-thru area, some glass walls and the size of a backup generator. But Redmon said he’d not had enough time to study the proposal, which the council had received earlier in the day. He said he wasn’t prepared to vote on the GMP at the June 19 meeting, adding that the final budget “needs to be real.” REC BOND VOTE PLANS Also during the June 19 meeting, Wascher told the council that it would have to take ac tion in July to approve language for the upcom ing November citizens’ vote on a city bond to expand the town’s recre ation facilities. The call for a bond See Commerce, page 2A Hoschton Large-scale Hoschton projects headed to arbitration Decisions on two proposed major devel opments in Hoschton remain unresolved as both move toward arbi tration. One project would bring over 1,000 homes into the city, while the other would add 389 if approved. The city council can not approve either pro posal without entering into arbitration with Jackson County, which has formally object ed to annexations into Hoschton required for the projects. The coun cil could have denied either proposal, but the items did not appear on Monday’s (June 19) voting meeting agen da. City Manager Jen nifer Kidd-Harrison confirmed that both projects will move into arbitration. Providence Group of Georgia and Rocklyn Homes seek the annex ation and zoning chang es for the respective de velopments. Providence Group calls for a planned unit development (PUD) of 389 residential units with a mix of detached single-family units and townhomes on nearly 110 acres fronting Pend ergrass and E.G. Barnett roads, East Jefferson St. and West Jackson Rd. As part of this plan, it seeks to annex and rezone a combined 33 acres fronting Pender grass and E.G. Barnett roads to PUD (planned unit development). Shannon Sell owns 25.6 acres of that land, and See Hoschton, page 2A ,Vec<l«>ui -gw WE 2. 4 , ^ ( 3;00 pm Downtown UN _ FIREWORKS ,CRS m 5-6PM " r V/ > BEGIN AT DARK! OPlVf LIVE MUSIC THROUGHOUT DOWNTOWN * GAMES * INFLATABLES * OVER 60 VENDORS * FOOD * FAMILY FUI FOLLOW MAIN STREET JEFFERSON ON FACEB00K ■ CALL 708-367-5754 ■ AD SPACE COURTESY OF TaBO’s/PiGGLY WlGGLY o 14 14 0 o
