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About Jackson herald. (Jefferson, Jackson County, Ga.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 27, 2024)
o o 24 PAGES 2 SECTIONS PLUS INSERTS The Commerce News JEFFERSON, JACKSON COUNTY GEORGIA 30549 $1.00 COPY Commerce Commerce City Council OKs electric rate hike Commerce by Candle light in 2023. Holiday events Christmas celebrations coming up across county Jackson County residents have a stockingful of chanc es to celebrate the upcoming Christmas season. Upcoming local events include: COMMERCE Christmas parade, Nov. 30 •Commerce will host an evening Christmas parade on Nov. 30 at 6 p.m. The city will also host all-day side walk shopping on Nov. 30 and several shops will stay open late. There will also be events in Spencer Park. Silent Santa, Dec. 10 • Commerce Recreation and Commerce Mainstreet are partnering with Santa for a Silent Santa on Decem ber 10 2-5 p.m. This is by appointment only and will be for friends with sensory sensitivity and special needs friends. Call 706-335-2954 for information. HOSCHTON Hoschton holiday mar ket and Jingle Mingle, Dec. 6 •Hoschton will host its holiday market on Dec. 6 from 4-8 p.m. This mar ket will be held at 65 City Square, Hoschton. For more information, visit cityofhoschton.com. The Hoschton Downtown De velopment Authority (DDA) will also hold its fourth-an nual Jingle Mingle on Fri day, Dec. 6, from 4-8 p.m. in downtown Hoschton. See Events, page 3A MAILING LABEL The Commerce City Council approved a 2.9% rate hike to its electric sys tem on Nov. 18 that will go into effect on Jan. 1. City leaders said it is the first electric rate hike in the city since 2012. The 2.9% increase is an overall average and indi vidual increase will depend on how much electric a consumer is using. The Commerce electric system is not generating enough revenue to cover its costs, officials said at the council’s work session. A rate study by Electric Cities of Georgia commis sioned by the city showed that the city’s current elec tric rates aren’t covering the costs of the city’s sys tem. The new rates will set the base residential rate to $10 per month from $8 and for the per kWh rates to also increase on a sliding scale, depending on usage. For an average user, the monthly increase would be around $5-$8, according to the study’s data. Currently, residential customers electric usage is a money-loser for the city and is heavily subsidized by larger commercial and industrial users. But even that isn’t enough to cover the city’s electric system’s costs and it is also being financially supported by large with drawals from a city electric reserve fund that was creat ed several years ago to help cover the city’s cost related to Plant Vogtle. But those funds will begin to run low by 2032, officials said. See Commerce, page 3A See Turkey, page 3A Jackson County Schools Frantz Therancy, affectionately known as “Mr. Eddie,” created the recipe used for this year’s turkey that was served for Thanksgiving meals across the Jackson County School System. Therancy works in the nutrition de partment at Gum Springs Elementary School. A JCSS family meal School system’s Thanksgiving menu features turkey recipe from one of its own W hile fami lies across the country gather this week to share a Thanksgiving meal, some local students have already had the chance to celebrate the holiday early with their larger family — the Jackson County School System community. Students across the county school system were given the chance to share a Thanks giving meal over the past few weeks at their various schools. This year, the central dish of the Thanksgiving meal — the turkey — was made using a recipe perfected by JCSS’ own “Mr. Eddie.” Frantz Therancy, affection ately known as “Mr. Eddie,” is originally from Haiti, but has been part of the Gum Springs Elementary School community since the school opened. Therancy began traveling between Haiti and New York in the early 80s. He moved to the United States in 1984, first living in New York before moving to New Jersey, where he lived for 20 years. It was there that Therancy took a job in nutrition, working in nursing homes as a dietician assistant. “I started from there in the food business,” he said. In 2005, Therancy moved to Jackson County to be clos er to one of his two daughters while she attended college in Augusta. He began work ing for the Jackson County School System in 2007 and later transferred to the nutrition/cafeteria department at Gum Springs Elementa ry School when the school opened. Therancy said he likes the atmosphere of the school system and of Gum Springs, pointing to the administra tion, fellow staff members and the students. “The children, they love this school,” Therancy said. Jackson County has grown exponentially over the past 20 years, which Therancy has gotten to witness firsthand. Part of that growth has been Jefferson Arwood leaving JPD for Watkinsville chief’s position By Amanda Prochaska The Oconee Enterprise The City of Watkinsville has hired Jefferson assistant po lice chief James Arwood as the town’s new police chief. Arwood is a 22-year public safety veteran who has served 17 years with the city of Jef ferson, most recently as assis tant police chief. In Watkins ville, he succeeds former chief Courtney Gale, who resigned in July. Arwood will begin the new position on Dec. 2. Arwood’s experience with Jefferson includes overseeing 30 officers and two civilians. He has developed and imple mented community programs and written policies and proce dures to keep up with changes in public safety laws and stat utes. “He brings extensive expe rience in law enforcement and a good understanding of the unique needs of smaller com munities like ours,” said Wat kinsville Mayor Brian Brodrick in a public statement. “With a proven track record of organizational management, dedication to community safe ty and commitment to fostering trust between law enforcement and the community, James is the ideal choice to lead our Police department into the fu ture,” Watkinsville city man ager Sharyn Dickerson said. “We are confident that under his leadership, our police force will continue to serve with in tegrity, professionalism, and compassion, ensuring a safe and strong community for all.” Commerce Bonds approved for CHS field house The Commerce Board of Educa tion and Commerce Public Facili ties authority have voted to approve issuing $9 million in bonds for a new field house at Commerce High School. The boards met on Nov. 18 to official take action on the matter. In October, the board approved issuing a request for proposal (RFP) for a contractor to oversee the project. 14 14 0
