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SEE PAGE 1B SEE PAGE 3A Tigers Preparing To Face Gordon Lee's Trojans Open House Sat. At Rehabbed Building SEE PAGE 6A Talk Of A County Reservoir Continues Vol. 132 No. 40 28 Pages 3 Sections Commerce News Wednesday NOVEMBER 14, 2007 mainstreetnews.com 50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875 Roper Pump Company employees, retirees and guests watch a slide show of the 150-year-old company’s history and accomplishments Friday at the Commerce Civic Center. Roper Pump Company Celebrates Its 150th Birthday More than 300 employees, retired employees and guests capped Roper Pump Company’s 150-year anniversary Friday over New York strip steaks at the Commerce Civic Center. The company which got its start as Trahern Pump Company in Rockford, IL, had three of its former presidents on hand to celebrate not just a century and a half of business, but also the company’s near half century in Commerce. “You have certainly been an asset to the city of Commerce for many years,” commented mayor Charles L. Hardy Jr. “We appreci- Former Roper president Don O’Steen speaks as cur rent president Walt Stadnisky looks on. ate all you do for the city.” In addition to providing jobs for more than 200, Roper is among the top taxpayers for Commerce and its school system. Roper came to Commerce in 1959, buying out the O.Z. Szekley Co. known as Roper Hydraulics at the time, it became Roper Pump Company in 1965. Additions were erected in 1975, 1989 and 1991 to the Mt. Olive Road facility, which now covers 195,000 square feet, pointed out president Walt Stadnisky. Today, Roper Pump Co. is part of a $2 billion corporation, Roper Industries, that has “grown both organically and through acquisi tions” over the past 17 years, Please Turn to Page 12A Holidays Make For Busy Days Downtown Events Saturday And Sunday, Dec. 1-2 To Open Holiday Season In Commerce I N D E X Births 11A Church News 7B Classified Ads 1-6C Calendar 3A Crime News 7-8A News Roundup 2A Obituaries 9A Opinions 4-5A School News 8-10B Sports 1-4B Social News . . . . 10-11A WEATHER OUTLOOK THURSDAY FRIDAY Mostly sunny: Sunny: Low, 31; high, 59; Low, 35; high, 66; 20% chance rain 10% chance rain SATURDAY SUNDAY Partly cloudy: Few showers: Low, Low, 44; high, 62; 44; high, 62; 10% rain chance 30% chance rain CONTACT US Phone: 706-335-2927 FAX: 706-387-5435 E-mail: news@mainstreetnews. com mark@mainstreetnews.com brandon@mainstreetnews.com teresa@mainstreetnews.com Mail: P.O. Box 459, Commerce, GA 30529 The Christmas season is shap ing up to be busy in downtown Commerce, highlighted with what could be the biggest Christmas parade yet. The season kicks off Saturday, Dec. 1, and the parade is Sunday, Dec. 2. “We could have four march ing bands,” noted Hasco Craver, who is executive director of the Downtown Development Authority. The Commerce and East Jackson high school bands have committed to perform, the Banks County High School band has expressed interest, and the DDA has contracted with the Seed and Feed Abominable Band, an Atlanta-based volunteer band that provides music and street theater (www.seedandfeed.org) through out the southeast. The band will also put on a free holiday concert after the parade in Spencer Park. “They are professional musi cians, very colorful and definitely entertaining,” said Craver. “They get the crowd involved.” The parade will be held at 3:00 Sunday, Dec. 2, and Craver said four units have already signed up. “I’m getting a lot of inquiries as a result of handing out flyers during trick-or-treat,” Craver said. “I’ve had numerous people call and ask questions. If we get a similar turnout to last year, with the increase and bands as well as the free concert afterward, this year’s event will usher in the holi day season in style.” The theme for the parade is “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” Saturday, Dec. 1 Actually, the holiday events start the day before. They include: •Breakfast with Santa: 9:00 to 11:00 Saturday, Dec. 1, at the Opera House Dance Academy, 1650 South Broad Street. Sponsored by the DDA and the Four Seasons Garden Club, the event will offer breakfast items and the opportunity to get kids’ pictures taken with Santa. • Hometown Holidays: 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. at varying locations downtown. The event is a holiday sale. • Secret Santa Workshop: noon to 3:00 p.m. at the Commerce School of Dance, 1736 North Broad Street. This children’s shopping event features gift items prices under $10, and is spon- Please Turn to Page 3A Searching For 10% Commerce Eliminates Most Outdoor Water Use Exemptions Responding to both the current drought and the state’s increased involvement in water manage ment, the city of Commerce amended its drought con tingency plan Monday night. The changes eliminate 10 of 13 exemptions to the use of outdoor water during the city’s most severe level of restrictions and they boost the fines that violators would pay. The city’s new plan has two levels of restrictions. Its level one corresponds to the state’s level two, which restricts outdoor water usage to an odd-even sched ule. Its level two corresponds to the state’s level four — which Jackson and 60 other counties are now under — but eliminates most of the exemptions. Bryan Harbin, director of the city’s water and sewer oper ations, pointed out that the city’s reservoir level at present is stable. “If there were not an emergency in 61 counties, we would not be under any water restrictions,” he said. The city’s drought plan calls for action only when the reservoir has been a foot below full pool for 72 hours. The lake has not reached that level, and is cur rently only four-tenths of a foot below full. The elimination of most exemp tions for outdoor water use is more of a response to the gov ernor’s mandate that all water permit holders reduce withdraw als by 10 percent than by a local need to conserve water. “We’re going to have to take some measures to meet that reduction,” Harbin pointed out. Perdue declared that starting Nov. 1, water providers must reduce their usage by 10 percent below the average daily use from last December through March or face “substantial” (but still unknown) penalties. Harbin said the city is still awaiting a ruling from the Environmental Protection Division as to whether Commerce will be penalized for increasing its withdrawals to help neighboring jurisdictions get through the drought. Currently, the only exemp tions to the water restrictions still allowed are the use by retail garden centers, for the produc tion of food and fiber (including vegetable gardens) and commer cial car washes. City Manager Clarence Bryant pointed out that meeting the reductions will be difficult because 85 percent of the city’s customers are necessary. He said the city will “need the coopera tion of all of our water custom ers,” but even with that help, “we won’t have the 10 percent by the end of November, and I doubt by the end of December.” “The flip side (of reduced water usage) is we all have water and sewer bonds to pay,” Bryant added. “We’ll all have to get in there and deal with it.” 'If there were not an emergency in 61 counties, we would not be under any water restrictions.' -Bryan Harbin, Commerce Water & Sewer Director Audit: Another Good Fiscal Year For Commerce All Deadlines Moved Up For Nov. 21 Paper The next issue of The Commerce News will be pub lished a day early due to the Thanksgiving holiday. That means all production deadlines will move forward. The deadline for news items will be 4:00 Friday afternoon. The deadline for classified and display advertising will be at noon Friday, Nov. 16. The Commerce News will be printed Tuesday, Nov. 20, and will be available at area busi nesses that night. It will arrive in local subscribers’ mailboxes Wednesday, Nov. 21. According to the just-released audit, Commerce ended the 2006-07 fiscal year $2.29 million in the black and improved its cash position by about $400,000. Stephan Wilcox of Wilcox and Bivings PC presented the audit at Monday night’s council meet ing. He noted that the audit was “unqualified,” meaning all data is covered, and declared that the city remains in a strong financial position. The document reports that the net assets of the city increased by almost $2.3 million during the year, its General Fund balance increased by $53,000, and the city’s proprietary funds had an increase in net assets of $2.7 mil lion. Its long-term debt increased by $600,000, which Wilcox attributed to the $1 million gas line relocation project. “Overall, the city had another excellent year as it generated a total increase in net assets of $2.3 million,” Wilcox told the city council. The audit covers the fiscal year that ended June 30. For the current fiscal year, Please Turn to Page 3A New Ingles Store Taking Shape To Open Next Spring The new Ingles store, located at the corner of Hwy. 334 and U.S. 441 just south of the present location, is taking shape. The 83,000- square-foot-store is expected to open in March or April. It is a $3.5 million proj ect that will include a deli, bakery, phar macy, gas station and video store.