Newspaper Page Text
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THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2023
Braselton seeking
bids for trolley bam,
access road projects
The Town of Braselton
has plans along Josh Pirkle
Rd. for a trolley bam and an
access road for the police
department’s firing range.
The town released an ad
vertisement for bids for the
work on Friday (Aug. 4).
Plans for the trolley bam
call for a pre-fabricated
building located on land
the town owns between a
poultry plant and the town’s
wastewater plant. The bid
asks for the creation of a
slab to place the structure
(which the town will pur
chase from another compa
ny) and a paved entry and
exit for the barn. This fa
cility will provide covered
storage and be large enough
to house two trolleys.
The access road, which
will be 12 feet wide with a
14-foot electric sliding gate,
will allow the police de
partment a driveway to its
firing range. Officers cur
rently must drive through
the wastewater plant area to
access the range.
The town must receive
bids for the work by Sept. 8
at 2 p.m. According to the
bid advertisement, work
must not exceed 150 days
from when the town au
thorizes permission to pro
ceed.
ELECTIONS OFFICE RIBBON-CUTTING
Jackson County leaders held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Aug. 7 for the county’s newly-expanded
elections office. The county recently purchased the former county school system building on Gordon
Street and renovated part of it to expand the county’s elections offices. The county had previously
leased some space from the school system in the facility, but the elections office had outgrown the
available space.
Birthday continued from lA
me,” she said. “I don’t think
I could just sit.”
While she said she
couldn’t do a lot of hard
physical labor these days,
working at a computer is
manageable. And she says
working keeps her mentally
fit.
“It does make a differ
ence; I think it helps keep
you young.”
Aside from some minor
issues, she said she’s not
had any major health issues
throughout her life.
“I’ve been blessed with
good health,” she said.
“Betty is one of those rare,
unique people that doesn’t
pay attention to what a cal
endar says. She has handled
the public notice responsi
bilities for Banks, Barrow,
Madison and Jackson coun
ties for so many years that
some attorneys and judges
ask her for advice,” said
Mainstreet co-publisher
Scott Buffington. “It’s a de
manding, tedious job — but
she does it with the steady
calmness, wit and vigor of
someone a third her age.
She is a treasure to all of us
and to our customers.”
Betty was bom in Deca
tur and grew up in DeKalb
County. While she doesn’t
have many memories of
the Depression of the mid-
1930s, she does remember
the rationing and blackouts
dining WWII. “That was
scary,” she said.
She worked for South
ern Bell for several years
in downtown Atlanta and
married Frank Small in
1950. After her children
were bom, she worked part-
time for Sears-Roebuck and
later, for firms in Gwinnett
County where the family
then lived.
One of those jobs was
working part-time for the
Gwinnett Daily News. When
she and Frank moved to
Jackson County, she sought
out similar work with Main-
street Newspapers, recently
celebrating 20 years at the
firm.
In addition to work, she
enjoys spending time with
her family. Frank passed
away last year and her two
sons and a teenaged grand
son live with her now. She
spends time with her fami
ly, including a daughter and
grandchildren, at a family
cabin on a mountain lake
where her kids frolicked
while growing up.
“Mrs. Betty is an amaz
ing and inspiring person,”
said Mainstreet co-publish
er Mike Buffington. “Her
knowledge about how pub
lic notices work and her
dedication to her job really
sets a high standard.”
charged with possession of
a stolen firearm, shooting
from the roadway and ag
gravated assault.”
The identity of the shoot
er is not being released due
to him being under age.
The victim and the vehi
cle have not been located
at this time. Authorities is
sued a lookout for the vic
tim’s vehicle shortly after
the shooting. The vehicle
appears to be a gold Crown
Victoria or Mercury Mar
quis with a busted back
glass. It appears to be a
model from the 2000s.
Anyone with information
is asked to contact the Jack-
son County Sheriff’s Office
at 706-367-8718 or call the
anonymous tip line at 706-
367-3784.
Intruders continued from iA
intruders who entered Jackson
County High School (JCHS)
on the first day of classes.
The males were identified
as two of the three individu
als who caused a lockdown at
Winder-Barrow High School
(WBHS) on the same day.
According to a note sent
from JCHS leaders to JCHS
parents, the school’s staff
identified and approached the
young males, at which point
they left the campus.
Meanwhile, a Thursday
press release from the Bar-
row County Sheriff’s Of
fice detailed the incident at
Winder-Barrow High School
(WBHS). Law enforcement
officers reportedly confronted
the three intruders at WBHS’s
gym. The intruders reportedly
ran from WBHS’s school re
source officer after he attempt
ed to identify them. The Bar-
row County Sheriff’s Office
and Winder Police Depart
ment responded to the school.
As a precautionary measure,
law enforcement locked down
WBHS and nearby Russell
Middle School and Winder
Elementary School.
The lockdown was lifted
less than an hour later.
City of Hoschton proposes 2.954 millage rate
Hoschton leaders have
proposed a millage rate
of 2.954 to fund its Fiscal
Year 2024 budget that will
be finalized in December.
The city council plans
to set its millage rate at its
Aug. 21 at 6 p.m. voting
session.
The 2.954 rate meets the
rollback rate required to
avoid a tax increase. Last
year’s millage rate was
3.5.
The new rate will pro
duce an estimated $1 mil
lion in property tax reve
nue.
Hoschton, after years
of not levying taxes, in
troduced a property tax in
2022. Among the reasons
cited for the tax was to
help fund the city’s grow
ing police department —
which now has four of
fices — and pay for road
improvements.
Buzzing bees planned for Commerce
There could soon be a
lot of buzzing going on in
Commerce.
The Commerce City
Council heard a presen
tation on Aug. 7 by city
library manager Angel
Abounader to locate an
observatory bee hive at the
library. The special honey
bee hive is designed for the
public, especially children,
to view how bees work in
their hives. It would be lo
cated outside the library at
a front window so people
could safely view the hive
from the inside without
having to worry about get
ting stung by a bee.
The hive is an outgrowth
of the library’s support of
the Commerce Beekeepers
Club. The club’s president
Shawn Jones also spoke to
the city council and out
lined some details of how
the hive would work. He
said the group is being
careful about the strand
of bees that would be put
into the hive to have a less
aggressive line of bees in
place.
While the club might
harvest a little honey from
the hive, education is the
main point. Jones said the
special observation hive is
designed to showcase how
the bees work more than to
harvest honey. The number
of frames in the hive would
Shooting continued from iA
The Commerce City Council issued a special proclamation for the city gas
department’s 811 Day during its Aug. 7 meeting. Shown here are city gas
department staff Richard Elrod, Trevor Johnson and Mayor Clark Hill.
be limited, he said, and
that the bees would likely
swarm (leave the hive for a
new location).
“We want them to
swarm,” he said, “...we
want them to go through
that cycle for education.”
Council members ex
pressed a lot of interest and
support for the project. The
council is slated to vote on
the plan at its voting meet
ing Aug. 21.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business dis
cussed Aug. 7, the
council heard:
• the need to approve
a new water conserva
tion plan for the city. The
current plan is 20 years
old and need to be up
dated so the city can get
permitting for new water
resource development.
• a report about plans for
the city to sell power to
Woodlands Edge, a crypto
mining company that wants
to locate in the city. The
agreement would be for
three years to sell 5 MW of
power at market rates plus
a margin for the city. The
company would locate on
the old city landfill.
• a report about plans
for upcoming city special
events and the need to close
certain streets for those
events. The events are:
Cruisin’ Commerce Car
Show on Sept. 10; Bands,
Brews & /BBQ Fall Festi
val on Oct. 14; Commerce
by Candlelight on Nov. 30;
and the Commerce Christ
mas Parade on Dec. 2. The
parade this year will be at
night.
NOTICE
The City of Hoschton Mayor and Council do hereby announce that the millage rate will be set at a meeting to be held at 65
CITY SQUARE on August 21, 2023 at 6:00 P.M. and pursuant to the requirements of O.C.G.A. Section 48-5-32 does hereby
publish the following presentation of the current year's tax digest and levy, along with the history of the tax digest and
levy for the past five years.
CURRENT 2023 TAX DIGEST AND 5 YEAR HISTORY OF LEVY
INCORPORATED
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
Real & Personal
77,288,888
95,013,791
114,510,452
159,943,097
219,007,512
345,970,203
Motor Vehicles
1,477,720
1,221,410
1,232,880
980,090
980,060
1,270,590
Mobile Homes
21,559
21,521
20,569
17,941
18,961
34,753
Timber - 100%
0
0
0
0
0
0
Heavy Duty Equipment
0
0
0
0
0
0
Gross Digest
78,788,167
96,256,722
115,763,901
160,941,128
220,006,533
347,275,546
Less Exemptions
3,307,675
6,824,732
4,702,939
5,855,077
3,630,657
7,854,731
NET DIGEST VALUE
75,480,492
89,431,990
111,060,962
155,086,051
216,375,876
339,420,815
Gross M&O Millage
3.290
3.080
2.710
2.180
5.440
4.464
Less Rollback (LOST)
3.290
3.080
2.710
2.180
1.940
1.510
Net M&O Millage Rate
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
3.50
2.954
Net M&O Taxes Levied
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
757,316.00
1,002,650.00
Net Taxes $ Increase
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
757,316.00
345,335.00
Net Taxes % Increase
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
100.00%
32.43%