Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2023
THE JACKSON HERALD
PAGE 3A
JCWSA sets rate
hikes starting in Feb.
The Jackson County Water & Sewer Authority re
cently voted to approve a water and sewer rate increase
starting in Feb. 2024.
The residential base rate will go up 3% and the usage
tiers (how many gallons are used per month) will go up
5%.
The sewer tier rates are slated to go up 5%.
The increases were part of the authority’s approval of
it’s 2024 operating budget.
“This is a very conservative budget,” officials said.
The authority’s water system has grown tremendously
in recent years, mostly from high growth pressures in
the West Jackson area. By 2045, the system will reach its
supply maximum from the regional Bear Creek Reser
voir. Other sources of water resources are in the works,
including the authority’s stake in Parks Creek Reservoir,
a 20+ year project led by the City of Jefferson.
Distribution is another issue the authority is facing in
the West Jackson Area. To build all the necessary distri
bution lines would cost the authority a whopping $151
million.
“That isn’t doable,” said authority manager Joey Les
lie. “We’ve got to come up with some more creative
solutions.”
One idea being discussed by the authority would be
to have some kind of separate fee system for the West
Jackson zone, a move that would help pay for the capital
improvements needed in that area.
In other business, the authority approved preliminary
applications for water and sewer for:
• Manor Lake Hoschton Cottages.
•Southeastern Freight Lines.
•New manufacturing facility for TIC A.
BOC approves senior
center project bid
Work on expanding the Jackson County Senior Center
could begin soon following recent action by the Jackson
County Board of Commissioners.
The BOC approved awarding the bid for the project to
Sunbuilt Builders at a cost of $2.29 million.
The county has a $1 million grant for the project and
will pay the balance from its capital projects fund.
While that project is moving forward, plans to do
Phase II of renovations and expansion of the county’s
animal shelter are on hold. The county rejected bids for
the project and will revise the project’s scope and then
rebid the project.
In other action, the BOC:
• approved purchasing a generator for the new coun
ty administrative building from Reeves Young for
$270,000.
•approved a map amendment for 14 acres on Woods
Bridge Rd. from rural to suburban. Property owners
want to develop a subdivision on the site.
• approved a rezoning of 9.3 acres on Holly Springs
Rd., Pendergass, from A-2 to AR to subdivide the prop
erty into 3 tracts.
FEMA and FCC
plan nationwide
alert test on Oct. 4
Messages to be sent to cell
phones, TVs and radios
FEMA, in coordination
with the Federal Com
munications Commission
(FCC), will conduct a na
tionwide test of the Emer
gency Alert System (EAS)
and Wireless Emergency
Alerts (WEA) this fall.
The national test will
consist of two portions,
testing WEA and EAS ca
pabilities. Both tests are
scheduled to begin at ap
proximately 2:20 p.m. ET
on Wednesday, Oct. 4.
The WEA portion of the
test will be directed to all
consumer cell phones. This
will be the third nation
wide test, but the second
test to all cellular devices.
The test message will dis
play in either English or in
Spanish, depending on the
language settings of the
wireless handset.
The EAS portion of the
test will be sent to radios
and televisions. This will
be the seventh nationwide
EAS test.
The purpose of the Oct.
4 test is to ensure that the
systems continue to be ef
fective means of warning
the public about emergen
cies, particularly those on
the national level.
In case the Oct. 4 test
is postponed due to wide
spread severe weather or
other significant events,
the back-up testing date is
Oct. 11.
All wireless phones
should receive the mes
sage only once.
DETAILS
• Beginning at approxi
mately 2:20 p.m. ET, cell
towers will broadcast the
test for approximately 30
minutes. Dining this time,
WEA-compatible wireless
phones that are switched
on, within range of an ac
tive cell tower, and whose
wireless provider partici
pates in WEA, should be
capable of receiving the
test message.
• For consumers, the
message that appears on
their phones will read:
“THIS IS A TEST of the
National Wireless Emer
gency Alert System. No
action is needed.”
• The EAS portion of
the test is scheduled to last
approximately one minute
and will be conducted with
the participation of radio
and television broadcast
ers, cable systems, satel
lite radio and television
providers and wireline
video providers. The test
message will be similar to
the regular monthly EAS
test messages with which
the public is familiar.
Teaching on the Trail
South Jackson Elementary School physical education teacher Scott McCall
stands at the map board at the school’s trail. McCall was instrumental in the
construction of 5 miles of trails on the school campus.
Scott McCall looks over one of the students’ favor
ite spots along the trail.
SJES teacher,
community build
trails on campus
By Alex Buffington
alex@mainstreetnews. com
As technology becomes
more prevalent both in
homes and in classrooms,
kids may not go out and ex
plore in the woods outdoors
as much as they used to. But
students at South Jackson
Elementary School have a
unique opportunity to ex
pand their creativity while
also exploring the great out
doors.
SJES located off New
Kings Bridge Road has
about 5 miles of hiking
trails behind its campus, an
effort spearheaded by SJES
Physical Education teacher
Scott McCall.
McCall has a unique
background in trail building.
When McCall was growing
up, he started exploring
the outdoors with his dad
during spring breaks.
“I got into hiking and
backpacking,” McCall said.
He hiked the Appalachian
Trail in 1997 and shortly af
ter began working for a wil
derness therapy program in
South Carolina. McCall said
it was an inspiring job and
let him really see the benefi
cial impact the outdoors has
on children.
McCall later met someone
who owned a trail-building
company out of Augusta
and worked for the compa
ny for a couple of years.
“Anywhere from new trail
construction to redesigning
old forest service and state
park trails,” he said of his
job with the firm.
Old-school trail building
didn’t focus on the design
and topography of a trail. It
was more focused on get
ting from start to finish. The
company McCall worked
for went in and helped with
trails that had erosion issues
and redesigning the trails to
make them more sustain
able and interesting.
“It might take a little
longer to get from point A
to point B, but there’s less
maintenance involved and
it’s a more enjoyable expe
rience,” McCall said.
McCall began working in
education several years ago,
first starting in special edu
cation before transitioning
to PE.
He said that the design of
trail-building is even more
important with the school
trails they’ve built. Those
trails have to be interesting
to keep kids’ attention.
“The design of it is really
important for me. It’s part of
the intrigue,” McCall said.
One of his main focuses
when designing a trail at
the school is ensuring that
the students will continue to
want to go out and explore.
Hiking in the woods isn’t
all fun-and-games to the
students. There’s a lot they
learn out there, too.
McCall has gotten to
teach the students about
erosion when heavy rains
washed out some sections
of a trail. The Oconee Riv
ers Audubon Society helped
provide books for students
in the entire school on com
mon birds and their sounds.
And students get to learn
about different plants that
grow in the area.
There are also open spac
es throughout the hiking
trails where students can
play. McCall says they have
to get creative. Jump ropes,
balls and other toys are left
behind, so the students have
to find new sources of enter
tainment outside.
“Coming up with some
thing out of nothing,” he
said.
McCall said it’s been ben
eficial to students, socially,
as well.
“Socially, that process,
and also the social connec
tions with that, are huge,”
McCall said.
There are some students
who aren’t interested in run
ning, playing ball or doing
any of the more traditional
PE activities, but they love
the hiking trails.
“Out here, they’re a com
pletely different child,” he
said.
It’s also a good therapeu
tic activity when the kids
are having a tough day.
“You step into here and
you don’t feel like you’re at
school,” he said.
McCall said if he sees the
students are struggling on a
particular day, he’ll ask if
they should continue with
their activity or hit the trails.
“Ninety-nine percent of
hands go up (to go to the
trails),” McCall said.
The trails have been built
in phases and it’s been a
community effort between
fellow teachers, businesses,
community groups and fam
ilies.
“It’s definitely taken a lot
of hands to make this,” Mc
Call said.
McCall said one of the
next phases of the project
is to have some additional
“You are Here” signs post
ed on the trails. Joel Logan,
the county GIS director, has
helped map out the trails.
McCall hopes they may
have able to get the trails
mapped out in an app in the
future.
A rock on the trails is painted with an inspirational
saying “love one another.”
The trails at South Jackson Elementary School are
all named after eagle-related words, like “Soar” and
“Talon.”
Scott McCall looks at the map of the 5 miles of trails
at South Jackson Elementary School.
Looking for
JHS Class ’77
Missing Members
Jefferson High School is planning an up
coming reunion and would like to notify all
alumni about the event.
The following individuals from the class of
1977 aren’t in the database. If you know how
to contact any of these individuals, please
email Susie Porter Thurmond at:
spthurmond@ winds tream .net
Delphine Appleby
Linda Banks
Wayne Billings
Don Brewer
Sheila Loy Cochran
Steve Cochran
Ray Davis
Johnny Fitzgerald
Johnnie Gurley
Nieta Hulsey
Marcia Johnson Pinson
Dale Lewis
Catherine McCabe
Cindy Harris Murphy Cheek
Sherry Nix Seagraves
Danny Patterson
Brenda Reynolds
Janice Roach
Melissa Sloan
Bobby Smith
Brenda Smith
Stewart Smith
Belinda Ward Martin
Wendell Whitmire
Joy Williamson Hacker
Andrew Borders
Cindy Ginn Mason
David Mize
Vicki Palmer Winn
