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THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2007 -- PAGE 3A — Liquor On The Agenda Cont. from Page 1A offering pouring licenses, no one has bought one. “It would make our commu nity more attractive for higher- end restaurants,” declared Ward 4 Councilman Bob Sosebee in regard to Sunday sales. Sosebee also said he’s had “sev eral” people approach him about offering a referendum on pack age sales in conjunction with the county vote. Councilmen Donald Wilson, Mark Fitzpatrick and Richard Massey were not at the work session, but Wayne Gholston and Mayor Pro Tem Dusty Slater seemed in agreement with Sosebee to put the matter before the voters at the first opportunity. “People ought to have the right to vote,” Sosebee said, later adding, “I don’t think we ought to put our merchants at a disadvantage.” The referendum proposal came up after the city council dis cussed lowering its mixed drink license fee, which is now $4,000 — because no one has bought a license in the two years they’ve been offered. Sosebee suggested reducing the fee to $1,000 per year, same as the cost of a beer and wine pouring license. That will be on Monday’s agenda. When it proposed the by-the- drink vote two years ago, the council speculated that passage would spur the development of restaurants in the city. To date, that has not happened. Little Italy offering beer and wine by the drink, is currently the only res taurant in the city limits offering alcohol at all. Nonetheless, with the new devel opment slated for the Craven property at Banks Crossing, the proposed Chatham development on U.S. 441 North and the pro posed development on I-85 south of the Tanger outlets, the poten tial remains for major chain res taurants in the city limits. The city ordinance does not allow for stand-alone bars. Also on the agenda for Monday night: •recommendations of the plan ning commission for zoning changes, two of which relate to annexation. The council is also expected to send back to the plan ning commission the request of Timothy White for a variance on setbacks for a dry cleaning pick up and drop-off site at the corner of Hospital Road and Ridgeway Street. The planners forwarded the matter to the council without a recommendation; the council intends to send it back for a rec ommendation. • renewal of the beer and wine licenses for 2008. • the appointment of Chris Bray to the board of the Downtown Development Authority to fill the unexpired term of Don Moore. •the extension of the tempo rary emergency moratorium on demolition permits in the central business district until the end of February. —New FM Radio Station Cont. from Page 1A has reportedly received 3,500 applications. “There is no option for a com mercial FM station in this area,” Jordan pointed out. The successful applicant will have a year to get the station up and running. If Jordan wins, he expects that it will take “a couple hundred thou sand” to get the station on the air. While he could probably attach an FM antenna to the WJJC antenna on Hwy. 326, the FM station would be a stand-alone venture. “Hope Through Education is a completely separate station,” said Jordan, who added that he would have “underwriters” to help cover the investment. None have been lined up at this point. Jordan’s concept, which he said he’ll fully flesh out if he is awarded the FM permit, is to cre ate an opportunity for kids to learn through music. His applica tion indicates that he expects the “first-time involvement of a large number of students who will have the inclination to produce pro gramming that will be educational as well as entertaining.” He also said that the station would present “a wide variety” of music genres, “but there won’t be any hip-hop.” “There’s not many places to go for what I have in mind,” Jordan says, adding that there is no oper ating model for his proposal. “I’ve got the model. It’ll either work or it won’t.” Ideally, Jordan said, the station would be largely run by students, although he admits to being uncertain of the feasibility of that concept. Whoever gets the FM station will be located at the lower end of the FM dial, “below 92,” Jordan said. Newspaper Photos Available Online MainStreet Newspapers Inc. of fers staff-produced photos from its five newspapers available for the ordering of prints online at its web site, mainstreetnews.com. Based in Jefferson, the company owns The Commerce News, The Jackson Herald, The Madison Coun ty Journal, The Braselton News and The Banks County News. Access to the photos catalogue is available from a button on the mainstreetnews.com web site. The photos are hosted by DotPhoto Inc., a firm which specializes in making prints from digital photo graphs and which manages pho tos for a number of newspapers across the country. There will be approximately a one-week lag time between the time photos are published and their availability at the on-line site. We Pay Top Dollar an all ^joIlI, sLtwcr; qh ruR pnper money and spnrvs memorflbitia foe Knows Coins! d- j-fc Ipao Lmkig&H] Kd. gjpmton s r'li-vjciu .VIcLi.'.t d - [kjJh'r.'jW-s fnrth<cr tt) Yniin in tix-Athrm Anoi On average, drivers who switched to Allstate saved $338 a year Call me today JOEL A HARBIN, CIC 1704) 387-5030 SYCAMORE ST JEF-ER50N JoclHarbin® , allsta,tc.mm /instate TOMTl -i w.l iwhjp hv kc)i -i.nt«.■ r*twfJ i^TPctyhi^ie (Wr ■ i ■ -<! H ■ UYEi^MinJ-ieh-ra^ wk! tOTFi'ahdrJ lr r.i U- i, trt iijJIe* >:-ft qbkJi I L-lj Jl L-4 L-j-lull i ■Jliilfc FiUr; j ■: -jjjj! rUiU.CICji. H-.I3E.i Ij-. L -iLti ■JlLLkEILkJ Community Calendar To place events on the Community Calendar, call 706-387-5406 or e-mail mark@mainstreetnews.com Thursday, Dec. 6 Kiwanis Club meets: Noon, Commerce Civic Center. Rep. Glenn Richardson will talk about his proposed constitu tional amendment to eliminate roperty taxes in favor of a igher sales tax. Monday, Dec. 10 Commerce Council meets: 6:30 p.m., Commerce Room, Commerce Civic Center. School board meets: 7:00 p.m., Commerce High School media center. The Commerce Board of Education operates the city's school system. Tuesday, Dec. 11 TOPS meeting: 6:00 p.m., BJC Medical Center cafeteria. Take Off Pounds Sensibly is a weight loss group. Weigh-in is from 5:00 to 5:50. Lions Club meets: 7:00 p.m., Ryan's Steakhouse, Banks Crossing. Airport Authority meets: 5:30 p.m., Jackson County Administrative Building, Jef ferson. Thursday, Dec. 13 Kiwanis Club meets: Noon, Commerce Civic Center. Cold Sassy Quilters: 1:00 .m., Commerce Public Li- rary. Monday, Dec. 17 Hospital authority meets: 1:30 p.m., conference room, BJC Medical Center. The BJC Medical Center Authority manages BJC Hospital and Nursing Home. It meets on the third Monday of each month at the same time and place. Library board meets: 5:00 p.m., Commerce Pub lic Library. The Commerce Library Board oversees the city library. Mended Hearts meets: 7:00 p.m., conference room, BJC Hospital. Mended Hearts is a support group. Tuesday, Dec. 18 TOPS meeting: 6:00 p.m., BJC Medical Center cafeteria. Take Off Pounds Sensibly is a weight loss group. Weigh-in is from 5:00 to 5:50. Thursday, Dec. 20 Kiwanis Club meets: Noon, Commerce Civic Center. Pilot Club meets: 7:00 p.m., Parham's Restaurant. The Pilot Club of Commerce meets on the third Thursday of each month at the same time and place. Monday, Dec. 24 Christmas Eve: Many busi nesses and some government offices will close early. Tuesday, Dec. 25 Christmas holiday: All overnment offices and most usinesses closed. Thursday, Dec. 27 Kiwanis Club meets: Noon, Commerce Civic Center. Cold Sassy Quilters: 6:00 p.m., Commerce Public Library. Beginning and experi enced quilters are invited. Monday, Dec. 31 New Year's Dance: 8:30 p.m., Commerce Civic Center. Ages 21 -up only, featuring The Jesters. Advance tickets are $25, and a dinner package is available. For tickets, call the Downtown Development Authority office at 706-335 2954. Tuesday, Jan. 1 New Year's Day: Most businesses and all government offices closed Wednesday, Jan. 2 Chamber breakfast: 7:30 a.m., location TBA. Open to all Jackson County Area Cham ber of Commerce members and their guests. Thursday, Jan. 3 Kiwanis Club meets: Noon, Commerce Civic Center. Monday, Jan. 7 Commerce Council meets: 6:00 p.m., City Hall. This "work session" prepares the city council for its regular meeting the following Monday. Nicholson Council meets: 7:00 p.m., City Hall. Maysville Council meets: 7:00 p.m., City Hall. Tuesday, Jan. 8 TOPS meeting: 6:00 p.m., BJC Medical Center cafeteria. Take Off Pounds Sensibly is a weight loss group. Weigh-in is from 5:00 to 5:50. Lions Club meets: 7:00 p.m., Ryan's Steakhouse, Banks Crossing. Airport Authority meets: 5:30 p.m., Jackson County Administrative Building, Jef ferson. The authority manages the county airport. Thursday, Jan. 10 Kiwanis Club meets: Noon, Commerce Civic Center. Cold Sassy Quilters: 1:00 .m., Commerce Public Li- rary. School board meets: 7:00 p.m., Commerce Elemen tary School media center. This "work session" of the Com merce Board of Education is used to prepare for the regular meeting the following Monday. Monday, Jan. 14 Commerce Council meets: 6:30 p.m., Commerce Room, Commerce Civic Center. School board meets: 7:00 p.m., Commerce High School media center. The Commerce Board of Education operates the city's school system. Tuesday, Jan. 15 TOPS meeting: 6:00 p.m., BJC Medical Center cafeteria. Take Off Pounds Sensibly is a weight loss group. Weigh-in is from 5:00 to 5:50. Thursday, Jan. 17 Pilot Club meets: 7:00 p.m., Parham's Restaurant. The Pilot Club of Commerce meets on the third Thursday of each month at the same time and place. Kiwanis Club meets: Noon, Commerce Civic Center. Monday, Jan. 21 Hospital authority meets: 1:30 p.m., conference room, BJC Medical Center. The BJC Medical Center Authority man ages BJC Hospital and Nurs ing Home. It meets on the third Monday of each month at the same time and place. Library board meets: 5:00 .m., Commerce Public Li- rary. The Commerce Library Board oversees the city library. Mended Hearts meets: 7:00 p.m., conference room, BJC Hospital. Mended Hearts is a support group for heart pa tients and their families. Tuesday, Jan. 22 TOPS meeting: 6:00 p.m., BJC Medical Center cafeteria. Take Off Pounds Sensibly is a weight loss group. Weigh-in is from 5:00 to 5:50. Thursday, Jan. 24 Kiwanis Club meets: Noon, Commerce Civic Center. Cold Sassy Quilters: 6:00 p.m., Commerce Public Library. Beginning and experi enced quilters are invited. Monday, Jan. 28 City planning meeting: 7:00 p.m., Peach Room, Commerce Civic Center. The Commerce Planning Commission makes recommendations on zoning requests and land use matters. Tuesday, Jan. 29 TOPS meeting: 6:00 p.m., BJC Medical Center cafeteria. Take Off Pounds Sensibly is a weight loss group. Weigh-in is from 5:00 to 5:50. Thursday, Jan. 31 Kiwanis Club meets: Noon, Commerce Civic Center. Perdue Announces $7,500 Grant For City Technology Study Gov. Sonny Perdue announced this week that Commerce has re ceived a $7,500 grant to study the benefits and costs of providing wireless broadband. The Broadband Rural Initiative to Develop Georgia’s Economy grant comes from OneGeorgia Authority funds that came from a third of the state’s share of the fed eral tobacco suit settlement. City officials went to Macon last month to officially accept the grant. The city actually received the money a month earlier. The grant reimbursed the city 75 per- JEFF AND SONS LANDSCAPING 678-215-8519 Licensed and Fully Insured We are here to serve you with excellent services including: > Seasonal color • Retaining Walls • Irrigation Systems and Repair • Decks • River and Creek Bank Restoration • Sinkhole Repair • Landscape Design & Install • Terraces • Erosion Control • Land Restoration Service & More. Contact us today to set up an appointment to discuss your project and get an estimate. 10% Discount On Labor When You Mention This Ad! W & W METAL ROOFING I * * HI 30 Year Paint A “We Got You Covered” Residential • Commercial • Agricultural • Ship Anywhere In The USA • We Stock Your Metal Needs • Visit Our Showroom www.wwmetalroofing.com 706-654-5836 Hwy. 60 / Candler Hwy. • Pendergrass, Ga. Warranty Sales Service Installation NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC City Of Commerce The City of Commerce Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on Monday, December 17, 2007 at 7:00 P.M., a week earlier than usually held because of the Christmas Holidays, in the Commerce Civic Center Peach Room, 110 State Street. The purpose of the hearing is for 1) Dink Woods, 3260 Maysville Rd. rezoning for annexation, Map No. 034A, Parcel No. 004, Acreage 0.586 from HRC (Highway Retail Commercial) in the county, to C-2 in the city. 2) Ingles Markets, Inc., 220 Highway 334, sign variance. 3) Tim White, corner of Ridgeway Road and Hospital Road, variance on front setback. The public is invited to attend. David Zellner City Planner December 3, 2007 8:30 A.M. cent of the $10,000 spent over the past two years as it attempts to plot a technology strategy for the future. of Commerce $5 00 OFF Ticket Of $20 10 Or More. Valid with coupon Mon.-Thurs. only. La Hacienda Commerce La Hacienda Jefferson 173 Steven B. Tanger Blvd. 605 Athens Street 706-335-7458 706-367-5095 The Original Mexican Restaurant! Not affiliated with any other restaurant. Fareha Rahim, MD Internal Medicine We are now located at our new office 613 Hospital Road Commerce, Georgia 30529 Commerce Medical Center 706-335-9411 ^MCRMeDBaBS,aGNAHHMOPPO)AMERlGROUF,AARF,UH^J n® •fled and Disney Ad* i C1 r !r Friday, !><*• 211 12 ^°® n ’ c 26 publication , f °^r nn Friday, l> ec ' 28 ,12 N°° n ’ T : n 2 publication (or the Jan. Vf cW , S ItHc Convmew^ j I 167 2 S * BT0<ld Go. 30529 _33^« 367 - 5233 BR