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PAGE 12A -- THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2007 Former presidents Gil Jensen, left, and Ron employees and former employees as Roper cele- Bridgers, center, and Mayor Charles L. Hardy Jr. brated its 150th birthday Friday at the Commerce addressed more than 300 Roper Pump Company Civic Center. —Roper Celebrates 150th Birthday Cont. from Page 1A Stadnisky pointed out. “The success that the company has is in the room here,” he told the audience. Roper Pump Company special izes in manufacturing pumps for difficult-to-pump materials, from chocolate to printer’s ink, from tar to orange juice. It is a leader in pumps for the power genera tion, transportation and oil and gas equipment industrial markets. “Today if you get passed on I-85 by a tanker truck, chances are it’s got a Roper pump,” Stadnisky said, referring to the company’s domi nance in that market segment. Its pumps can be found on General Electric locomotives and at nuclear power facilities. It produces more than 40,000 pumps — not to men tion spare parts — a year. Stadnisky, who served as mas ter of ceremonies, presided over a PowerPoint slide show document ing the company’s history and its accomplishments. He even pointed out that Roper has recently cut its monthly water usage by two million gallons. Gil Jensen, president from 1968 to 1985, called that tenure “the best job I ever had” and offered “my best wishes to Roper for another 150 years. Happy birthday, Roper.” Dan O’Steen, who was president from 1991 to 1993, echoed Jensen. “It was the best job I ever had in my life,” he said, adding, “The peo ple in this room made Roper Pump Company, and Roper Industries was made by Cornell Pump Co. and Roper Pump Co. It’s been a delight.” Ron Bridgers, president from 1994 through 2000, noted the company’s longevity. “One hundred fifty years. Wow!” he said. “Very few companies make it that long.” One of the reasons for that long time success, Bridgers said, was that “Roper has shown a propen sity to re-invent themselves decade after decade after decade.” “We owe it all to you,” said Stadnisky to the crowd, “for com ing in everyday and making a qual ity product.” Following the program, guests were invited to take tours of the plant. Water Providers Report On Drought Activities The cities and authorities pro viding water service in Jackson County held a press conference Monday to make known their plans for cutting back on water usage and finding new sources of water. Among the items mentioned were: • the county water authority’s 45 percent reduction over usage this time last year. • plans by the county water authority to buy more water from Gainesville, Commerce and Braselton, if need be. • a report from Bryan Harbin that Commerce’s reservoir is stable. •a report from Harbin about plans to meet with major water users about cutting back use. •educational material being pre pared for Commerce water cus tomers. •Jefferson’s “significant” reduc tion in use, and the fact that several business owners are sinking wells. •a report from Maysville water superintendent Ralph Sailors that water usage is down 20 percent and the city is working to educate citizens on how to use less water. Georgia is mired in what is now being called a “150-year drought,” the worst in history. Gov. Sonny Perdue has ordered a 10 percent reduction in water use from the average daily usage last winter, and local water suppliers are scrambling to find ways to meet that goal. City School Board Named 'a Board Of Distinction' By GSBA By Brittany Whitley It was a week of awards at the Commerce Board of Education, with the board becoming one of 15 “boards of distinction” in the state, recognition of the teachers of the year and the announcement that Commerce Primary School is a Platinum Award winner for students who met or exceeded CRCT testing standards. A board of distinction has to meet new Georgia State Board Association (GSBA) standards for local boards of education and have distinguished itself in other key areas of organizational structure. It is a self-nomination process to become a board of distinction according to the GSBA web site. “They say we are doing a really good job,” said Chairman Steve Perry, who added that there is always room for improvement. Teacher of the Year recipients were Jean Davis for Commerce Primary School, Lisa Brown for Commerce Elementary School, Bryant Chitwood for Commerce Middle School and Matthew Dahlke for Commerce High School. The system-wide winner is Jean Davis. “When I think of Jean I think of a big smile and someone going wide-open,” said Perry. “When your peers vote you to be the best, you can’t do any bet ter than that,” he said. Davis has been a teacher since 1969 and says teaching is her passion. She said she hopes to teach for many more years. Commerce Primary School was named by the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement as one of 27 schools to receive the Platinum Award for stu dents who met or exceeded the goal scores for the CRCT tests. Around 41 percent of stu dents exceeded the testing lev els. About 95 percent either met or exceeded standards for the tests. In other news, board mem ber Arthur Lee Pattman brought up House Bill 900 at Thursday night’s work session. This bill would eliminate most property taxes and make a flat tax being called the “Fair Tax.” Pattman and the rest of the board expressed concern about the proposed amendment to the Georgia Constitution, saying that taking taxing power away at the local level and sending it to Atlanta, which would happen under the fair tax, will take local control away from local school boards. Pattman said that local taxes would go to Atlanta; in return local communities would get a portion of that back. Police, fire and other local agencies could also suffer, Pattman said. Officials also worry that reli ance on sales tax revenue will hurt local school systems dur ing economic downturns. Some areas of concern were art and music programs and salary sup plements, which have been used to draw good teachers to school systems. “People, what they are telling us is that this bill cannot pass,” Pattman said. There were also concerns that the flat tax could cause a cookie cutter effect, making all Georgia School Systems alike. Board member Mary Seabolt suggested inviting state repre sentatives to a board meeting to talk about the bill. Other sugges tions included a meeting with all three school systems in the county and state representa tives. Other Business New high school graduation requirements were discussed. For college-bound students, another science class will be added, a social studies will be dropped and students will be required to take a SAT Prep course. The school system is dropping geography as a social studies class because it will be covered in World and U.S. History. The system will give a choice of either AP Biology or Environmental Science as a sci ence. For students planning on going into a technical field, to work or into the military, there will be “pathway” to follow. A pathway is three classes in the same area of study Pathways offered include engineering and technology, business and com puter science, family and con sumer science and health care science. The proposal will be tabled for the next month so the public can view the new plan. It will be voted on in the next meeting. The new policy will affect rising ninth graders. •The board approved a $10 million bond toward construc tion on the new high school. Morgan Keegan & Company Inc. set up the transaction. The bond has a rate cap of 6.5 percent. The board is empowered to issue up to $20 million in bonds for the project, which also includes ren ovation to other schools, and will issue more bonds as needed. •The board unanimously approved the purchase of 3.173 acres for $60,000. The property is on the corner of Lakeview Drive and Minish Avenue next to Providence Academy. 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