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About Jackson herald. (Jefferson, Jackson County, Ga.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (June 21, 2023)
PAGE 2A THE JACKSON HERALD WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 2023 Additional details released on fatal wreck after man fled scene Additional details have been released regarding a fatal single-vehicle wreck that occurred after an Alto man fled from Jackson County Sheriff’s Office deputies. According to the JCSO report, the deputy stopped Garrett Alexander Hance, 32, of Alto, after seeing his vehicle was missing a headlight and taillight. Hance’s vehicle also re portedly swerved. The stop was made on Hwy. 441 north of Old Kings Bridge Rd. Hance was reportedly slurring his speech and the deputy could smell alcohol on his breath. The deputy administered field sobriety and breath tests and attempted to ar rest Hance for driving un der the influence. But Hance reportedly jerked his hands in front of him, then took on a fighting stance toward the deputy. He allegedly hit the of ficer in the chest and at tempted to strike the dep uty again, but the deputy struck him and Hance re treated to his vehicle. According to the report, the deputy tackled Hance and that Hance grabbed for the deputy’s firearm. The deputy struck Hance multiple times in the face until Hance let go of the firearm, pushed off the deputy and got into his ve hicle. Hance refused to exit the vehicle and the depu ty struck him a few more times in the face. Hance fled in the vehi cle and later lost control of the vehicle, which rotated and went off the roadway, striking multiple trees. Hance was reportedly ejected from his vehicle and pronounced dead on the scene. Group moves forward with Braselton charter school application following BOE denial The Jackson County school board last week turned down a K-8 charter school request for the Braselton area, but that wasn’t bad news for the group seeking to start one. The non-profit group, New Schools Georgia, will continue seeking a char ter through Georgia’s State Charter School Commission (SCSC). Obtaining a charter through the state commission required local-level denial. New Schools Georgia (NSG) will learn if its charter application will be granted during the SCSC’s July board meeting, typically held during the last week of the month. It will receive the SCSC’s staff recommendation two weeks before the meeting. “We anticipate that we will be recommended for approv al .... everything has been encouraging,” NSG’s Pam Estabrooke said. “We’ve just got to go through the steps.” NSG has partnered with National Heritage Academies (NHA) to run the proposed charter school — called Four Points Preparatory Acade my — with NSG overseeing its operation. The attendance zones would be Gwinnett, Banks, Barrow, Jackson and Hall counties, and Buford, Gainesville, Commerce and Jefferson city schools (NSG initially hoped to apply with a state-wide attendance zone). The group proposes to house the school in the former site of West Jackson Primary School. NHA, a Michigan-based organization that has part nered with 100 charter schools nationally, is entering into a licensing agreement with the Town of Braselton to study the building in hopes of securing a lease agreement for the facility. NHA proposes to remodel, use and maintain the Hwy. 53 building for the K-8 school, paying Braselton an annu al lease of approximately $100,000. It seeks a lease of at least 40 years. If all required approvals are secured, NSG and NHA look to open Four Points Pre paratory Academy in August 2024. That process would not only include obtaining the charter and reaching a lease agreement but a host of other steps, such as gaining approval for any possible re zoning requirements, deter mining traffic flow, drop-off and pick-up plans and reach ing agreements for the use of the gym and ballfields. The ballfields are owned par tially by both Hoschton and Braselton. Braselton owns the gym. According to Estabrooke, the group hopes to have a school leader named by late 2023 and start renovation in the fall, with student signup starting in early 2024. As of late May, more than 150 families had signed up for information about Four Points Preparatory Acad emy through the school’s website. Celebrations continued from iA Shark” Dance-Off Competi tion (main stage). Sign-up at (jeffersonrec.com) •5:45 p.m. — Ross Don aldson (main stage) • 6 p.m. — Phil Griffin (historic courthouse lawn) •7:15 p.m. — American Flyers Band (main stage) For updates, visit city oljeffersonga.com or vis it the Mainstreet Jefferson Facebookpage. COMMERCE JUNE 30 Commerce will host Sum mer in the City on June 30 with music and fireworks. The movie “Jaws” will be screened on June 30 at 10 a.m. at the Cultural Center. Attendees will get a pass to the pool for the day, which can be used from 1-5 p.m. Back In Time Band will perform at the Summer in the City event, starting at 6 p.m. at Spencer Park. A fireworks show will be held around 9:30 p.m. Keep up-to-date with the details on the Commerce Main Street Facebook page. NICHOLSON JULY 1 The City of Nicholson will host its Independence Day event on Saturday, July 1. There will be food and craft vendors, inflatables, a train ride, a mechanical bull, music by Whiskey Rose Band and fireworks. The event will be held from 3-9:30 p.m. at East Jackson Park, located at 225 Lakeview Dr., Nicholson. PENDERGRASS JULY 1 Pendergrass will host its Freedom Block Party on July 1 from 5-10 p.m. The City of Pendergrass will host a variety of food and entertainment vendors and Reflect Mercantile will host vendors to set up booths. Live music will be per formed by Chris Hamrick. The fireworks show will begin at 9:30 p.m. BRASELTON JULY 4 The Town of Braselton will host its annual Inde pendence Day celebration Tuesday, July 4, downtown with a patriotic parade, fes tival and fireworks show. The festival includes a concert on the town green, kid-friendly activities, food trucks, dining and shopping. The parade begins at Free Chapel Braselton at 6 p.m. and will continue through downtown on Hwy. 53 and Harrison Street. Fireworks begin at dark. The schedule is as fol lows: •5-9:30 p.m., Food trucks, live music and activities on the town green. •6 p.m., Patriotic pa rade on Hwy. 53 from Free Chapel through downtown •Fireworks at dark (begin ning between 9-9:30 p.m.) •Soul Purpose Band, 6:30 p.m. •5-9 p.m., parking shuttle to Free Chapel Braselton and West Jackson Elemen tary School (shuttle service ends before fireworks). Commerce BOE approves tentative budget Commerce school leaders gave their nod this month for the district’s $22.5 million FY24 tentative budget. FY24 expenses are expected to total $22.52 million, while revenues are es timated at $19.68 million, resulting in a $2.84 million deficit. Superintendent Joy Tolbert is recommending using possible reserved from the FY23 year and funds from the accrued SK Bat tery PILOT (payments in lieu of taxes) funds to cover the deficit. The Commerce Board of Education approved the draft budget at its June 12 board meeting. The board has not yet set its millage rate for the year. It will do so after the tax digest in finalized. Tolbert expects the system might receive the digest in July and could set the millage rate in August. Tolbert also noted the board has re peatedly lowered its millage rate and that the current rate is the lowest it’s been since 2005. ABOUT THE BUDGET When Tolbert outlined the proposed budget to board in May, she pointed out that it was a “challenging” year. “To put it lightly, there are some challenges with the FY24 budget,” Tol bert told the board in May. “.. .Some of it we knew was going to happen. Some of it was just like the perfect storm for a budget.” The challenges Tolbert referenced are partly due to SK Battery coming onto the city’s tax digest this year, a sit uation which distorts the city’s tax di gest for the system by making it appear to be a wealthier community on a per student basis. That digest distortion results in the district receiving less state equaliza tion funding and having to pay more in local fair share funds back to the state. Combined, those changes mean the dis trict will receive $2 million less in state funds next year than it did this year. On the expense side, the district ex pects to spend $22.5 million, up from $19.2 million this year. Part of that increase is due to the state increasing the salary base pay by $2,000 for certified school employees. Since employee benefits are based on a percentage of that base pay, the sys tem’s locally-paid expenses are up as well. The system will also have to help fund a partnership with Jackson Coun ty and Madison County schools to ed ucate students previously enrolled in Rutland Academy, which is now closed due to a federal ruling. The system also won’t be receiving any more Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds (ES- SER) Covid funds which have helped pay for a number of positions. Tolbert stressed that the system cannot get rid of these positions and that the district is still under the state’s recommenda tion for the number of needed employ ees. RESIDENTS’ CONCERNS These budget discussions come on the heels of the recent uproar surround ing hiked tax assessments across the county. A handful of Commerce resi dents showed up at the board’s budget hearings to voice their concerns. Some residents voiced the need for a different school tax process for seniors. Another criticized the district’s in creasing expenditures and urged the board to tighten its belt. “You’re basically spending too much, you’re going to have to make cuts,” said one man, referencing the in creases in the district’s expenses over the past two budget years. But most of the discussion on June 12 centered around out-of-district stu dents. The district enrolls about 1,800 total students total, 400 of whom live outside the city limits. Tuition is $300 per student for those out-of-district stu dents with a $900 cap for one family. “That’s obviously too low,” one man said. “Jefferson City Schools is $1,500.” Tolbert said the two communities have “completely different demograph ics.” She added that 52% of Commerce students qualify for free-and-reduced lunch, while Jefferson doesn’t have 40% on free-and-reduced lunch. The district receives some state funds for every student enrolled — both in-district and out-of-district. Tolbert gave an estimate of $4,000 per student that the district receives from the state (based on the least expensive student who requires no additional ser vices). That’s $1.6 million a year to the school system for the 400 out-of-dis- trict students. But one resident noted the $4,000 from the state, plus the $300 tuition doesn’t come close to covering the full cost of educating one student. “Take that $9,000 (cost to educate one student), with the $300 (paid in tu ition), with the $4,000 (that the system gets from the state), we’re still paying $5,000 for every one of these out-of- town students out of our pockets,” he said. Multiple people encouraged the board to raise the tuition rate. Tolbert said the district is working on raising the tuition, but that the board previously agreed to halt raising the rate for three years after raising it two years in a row. “I don’t disagree with your senti ment about increasing tuition,” board chairman Kyle Moore said. “Howev er, we’ve made a decision that for this school year, we know what we’re go ing to do...” One man in the audience replied, “and we’ll make decisions in Novem ber if we have to.” Commerce continued from iA vote came after a vocal group of citi zens in Commerce opposed the town turning over its recreation program and facilities to the Jackson County government to operate, expand and maintain. The council said the city doesn’t have the financial resources to expand its rec facilities without borrowing bond funds. That borrow ing would be paid back by raising the town’s property tax millage rate. CITY FY24 BUDGET APPROVED The Commerce council gave fi nal approval for its FY2024 budget during its June 19 meeting. The move comes after public hearings and dis cussions were held at previous coun cil meetings. The approval includes a $22.1 million General Fund budget (which reflects a large jump due to the civic center renovation project) and other department budgets. No one spoke dining a June 5 public hearing. Wascher proposed a few addition al capital projects to be funded in FY2024 using reserves, including po tential debt service for the new waste- water treatment facility, advanced metering systems and a redundant natural gas feed along Hwy. 334. OTHER ACTION In other action June 19, the council approved: • budget amendments for the FY23 year. •a modification of services with CSRA Probation Services. •annexation and rezoning of 0.81 acres at 8155 Jefferson Rd. from A-2 in the county to R-l in the city. •updates to its zoning ordinance for appeals to zoning amendments, conditional uses, variances and other decisions. The updates are based on state changes. •an annual Memorandum of Un derstanding with the Georgia Depart ment of Community Affairs for the city’s Main Street program. •closing the Cherry Street parking lot and allowing a special event zone for Concerts on Cherry, set for July 14 and Aug. 5. The parking lot will be closed from 6 p.m. until 12 noon the following day to allow cleanup. The council tabled action on clos ing a small portion of Church Street (an alley from Clayton Street to East College Street). Hoschton continued from iA Paul and Brenda Cheek own 7.4 acres. The property currently holds an agricultural-rural farm district (A-2) zoning in Jackson County. Additionally, Providence Group asks to rezone 84.46 acres contigu ous to the proposed annexation tract from agricultural district to PUD. Of that acreage, 58.86 acres are owned by Sell and front East Jefferson St., while 17.86 acres are owned by West Jackson, LLC, and front both East Jefferson St. and West Jackson Rd. On Hoschton’s southern border, Rocklyn Homes requests annexation and rezoning of 287.14 acres owned by Mary Ann Kenerly and New Hope AME Church along Hwy. 53 from an agricultural-rural farm dis trict to a planned unit development (PUD) for a major mixed-use devel opment of 651 single-family lots and 404 townhome units. The project calls for 3.6 acres of civic space and 5.5 acres of church expansion. The developer has also offered the county school system “pad-ready” property on the site at a below-market price to build a school. The school would be located in a space Rocklyn originally planned for a large shopping center. It will also donate 3.3 acres for a public safety complex. City planning staff has recom mended denial of both projects. Both proposals were discussed at length during a second round of pub lic hearings held Thursday (June 15) at the city’s new city hall community room. The additional hearings were granted, in part, to allow more peo ple to attend the hearings than space allowed during May hearings held in the cramped quarters of Hoschton’s old city hall. Thursday’s hearings drew a capacity crowd to the much larger facility. Opponents again criticized both projects for potential impacts on traffic, schools, public services and crime. No arbitration date has been set for the Providence Group project, while the Rocklyn Homes arbitration is scheduled for July 10. Kidd-Harrison said it’s possible that both projects could come before the council again as early as August. % ARNELL DESIGNS EMORIALS An MED Enterprises Co. Serving this community since 1962. Ask about the FREE gift with purchase. Office located at 220 Hwy. 441 S. in Commerce, GA. 706-335-4066 Hours: Monday - Friday 9 a.m.-12 p.m. and 1 p.m.-5 p.m. Saturday By appointment only • Closed Sunday **We accept M/C, Visa and offer a lay-a-way plan. 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