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Vol. 132 No. 45 50 Pages 4 Sections Commerce News Wednesday DECEMBER 19, 2007 mainstreetnews.com 50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875 Kids' Christmas Section Inside MainStreet Newspapers' 2007 Kids' Christmas sec tion features photos of children from Jackson and Banks counties — along with Christmas ads from local merchants. Newspaper Deadlines To Be Moved Up Because of the Christmas holiday, all deadlines for The Commerce News will be Friday at noon. All copy for the Dec. 26 edition, including classi fied ads, display ads, social announcements, photos, etc., must be turned in by noon Friday. The Commerce News office will be closed Tuesday, Dec. 25, for Christmas. The paper will be print ed Wednesday, Dec. 26, will be available at local stores that evening and will arrive with local subscrib ers' mail Thursday, Dec. 27. The same schedule will be followed for the following week, thanks to the New Year's holiday. I N D E X Births 12A Church News 5B Classified Ads 1-4C Calendar 3A Crime News 7-8A News Roundup 2A Obituaries 9A Opinions 4A School News 9-11B Sports 1-4B Social News . . . . 12-13A WEATHER OUTLOOK THURSDAY FRIDAY Showers: Mostly cloudy: Low, 40; high, 54; Low, 40; high, 53; 30% chance rain 10% chance rain SATURDAY SUNDAY Cloudy: Showers: Low, 47; high, 54; Low, 30; high, 58; 10% chance rain 40% 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: PO. Box 459, Commerce, GA 30529 A Drought Contingency Jackson Could Tap Into Lake Lanier If the drought deepens, Jackson County could get relief from Lake Lanier. The Jackson County Water and Sewerage Authority last Thursday approved a $26,750 change order to cover engineering costs for a connection with the city of Gainesville. According to manager Eric Klerk, Gainesville has offered Jackson County “all the water you want” via the connection. But, hedging its bets, Gainesville also waived an $88,000 tap fee to encourage Jackson County to install a two-way valve — so Jackson County could help supply Gainesville in an emergency. Gainesville gets its water from Lake Lanier, which also supplies water for Gwinnett County and much of Atlanta. While the falling level of Lake Lanier is a concern statewide, Gainesville officials are appar ently confident that their supply is not threatened. “Given the situation we’re in, I think we’re fortunate to have the opportunity to make the connection,” said member Alex Bryan. Chairman Hunter Bicknell agreed, not ing that “the opportunity to connect with Gainesville may not always be there.” The connection should be completed by the end of January. Currently, the authority, which provides water to more than 6,700 retail customers, has ample water available. The Bear Creek Reservoir appears to be slowly recharging, and the authority continues to buy water Please Turn to Page 3A Commissioners OK $45 Million In Road Bonds Hospital Road Extension, Bana Road, 'Commerce Retail Boulevard' Scheduled To Be Funded Jackson County Area Chamber of Commerce leaders announced this week that Gerry Nechvatal is the new vice president of economic development for the organization. The newly-created position will focus on marketing and retention of businesses, as well as workforce development for Jackson County. “Gerry is an excellent choice for Jackson County,” said Shane Short, president and chief execu tive officer of the chamber. “The chamber has made a commit ment to move our community to a new level of involvement and recruitment in the econom ic development arena. Gerry is going to be an integral part of that movement. At the rate Jackson County has grown over the past ten years, it is important to have an experienced profes sional who is dedicated solely to marketing our community and working with existing busi nesses.” Since 2002, Nechvatal has served as regional director of CSX Transportation in Atlanta. He was directly responsible for all industrial development activi ties in Georgia, including recruit- ment, project management, incentive for mulation, site development and market ing. Nechvatal routinely par ticipated in confidential recruitment projects led by the Georgia Department of Economic Development includ ing Kia Motors, Toyo Tire and Del Monte Foods. He also functioned as a team leader on numerous new business place ments, such as The Middlesex Company, Columbia Farms and Global Green Technologies. The chamber’s board of direc tors has been planning for a change in organizational struc ture since May of this year. The increased demand on the president’s time with economic development spurred the board to split the responsibilities into two posts. “The business and government groups here in Jackson County have made it clear they want to be known as the leader in economic development in the southeast,” said Roy Stowe, vice president for marketing and member relations for Jackson EMC and chair of the cham ber’s Economic Development Council. “Gerry’s knowledge of the economic development process and network of brokers and others in the business is extremely impressive. I am total ly committed to making this a successful endeavor for Jackson County by working through the Economic Development Council of the chamber.” Nechvatal’s position with CSX kept him involved in Jackson County projects and others along the Interstate 85 corridor. “I am very excited about the opportunity to work with the business and government entities in Jackson County,” Nechvatal said . Nechvatal’s first day at the chamber will be Jan. 2. He and his wife Ann currently live in Canton with their two children. Nechvatal holds a bachelor of business administration degree Please Turn to Page 3A By Angela Gary Jackson County leaders approved $45.9 million in road bonds Monday night in an effort to boost the county’s long-term economic outlook. Several Commerce area projects are included. The Jackson County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the bonds for nine economic development projects. County leaders point out that the cost of the projects could be less than $45.9 million depending on donated right of way, developer participation and DOT funds. Scott Martin, chairman of the county industrial development authority, and Dr. Shannon Adams, county school superin tendent, attended to offer sup port for the projects. If Ingles gets a third large sign for its new store south of town, it’ll be over the objection of a unanimous Commerce Planning Commission. The commission voted 3-0 Monday night to recommend that the city council turn down Ingles’ request for a variance in the city’s sign ordinance to allow a third “monument” sign near the Hwy. 334 entrance. The city council will rule on the matter at its Monday, Jan. 14, meeting at the Commerce Civic Center. Chad Priest and John Caputo appeared before the planning panel with a pair of boards con taining the site plan and archi tect’s rendering of the proposed sign and with the argument that a third sign is necessary so travelers on Hwy. 334 can find the store. The planning commission did not buy the Ingles argument. “You think there’s going to be so many strangers coming to Ingles The IDA recently held a day long retreat with the BOC to discuss possible projects to be funded. “We have worked on this for quite some time,” Martin said. “Our goal has been to be on a fact-finding mission.” Martin pointed out that the 2004 economic road bond pack age has been making money for the county. “These projects are bringing back more money than it cost to build them,” he said. “These proj ects are paying for themselves and they are good for Jackson County.” Chairman Pat Bell said she sup ports the projects but added that the county should be “very, very Please Turn to Page 3A on 334 that won’t be able to find it without this huge monument sign?” asked Chairman Greg Perry. Priest answered that drivers will not realize the store is there until they’ve passed it. “You ever live in a small town?” Perry countered. “It’s not hard to find your grocery stores in a small town.” The city’s sign ordinance cover ing all areas but the central busi ness district allow one sign per business. Ingles has been granted a large sign for its grocery store and another for its gas station. It wants to promote its drive-through pharmacy and the gasoline pric ing on the third sign. Perry indicated a concern that any variance granted to Ingles would come back to haunt the planning commission when Walgreens opens. No date has been set for Walgreens to begin construction, according to build- Please Turn to Page 5A The residence of Emma Nell Henderson, 63 Barber Street, Commerce, is all deco rated for Christmas. An array of lights and fig ures are arrayed in the front yard and on the front porch. The home of Cindy and Jonathan Finck, 192 Washington Street, boasts a big front porch decorated for the holidays, with Santa as the center piece. Chamber Taps CSX Director As VP Of Economic Development City Planners Say No To Ingles Sign Request City Council To Make Final Decision Nechvatal