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SEE PAGE 1B Tournament Time For The Tigers SEE PAGE 2A A Boat Ramp Constructed At Bear Creek Vol. 132 No. 46 20 Pages 3 Sections Commerce News Wednesday DECEMBER 26, 2007 mainstreetnews.com 50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875 Newspaper Deadlines To Be Early Again Because of the New Year’s Day holiday all deadlines for The Commerce News will be advanced to Friday at noon. All copy for the Jan. 2 edi tion, including classified ads, display ads, social announce ments, photos, etc., must be turned in by noon Friday. The Commerce News office will be closed Tuesday, Jan. 1, for New Year’s Day The paper will be available at local stores Wednesday evening and will arrive with local subscribers’ mail Thursday, Jan. 3. The same deadlines will hold true for The Jackson Herald, The Banks County News, The Braselton News and The Madison County Journal. Tickets Still Available For New Year Dance The Commerce Area Business Association will usher in the new year with a dance and party Monday, Dec. 31, from 8:30 to 12:30 in the Harmony Grove room of the Commerce Civic Center. It’s a BYOB affair featuring The Jesters, an Athens band that’s played at previous New Year’s functions sponsored by the CABA. Tickets are $25 per person and are available by calling 706-335-2954. An all-you-can- eat prime rib buffet will be held from 6:30 to 8:30. Tickets will be $25 and must be pur chased in advance. Call 706 335-2954. I N D E X Births 3A Church News . . . . . . 5B Classified Ads . . . . . 1-4C Calendar . . . 2A Crime News . . . . . . 6-7A News Roundup . . . . . 2A Obituaries . . . 6B Opinions . . . 4A School News. . . . . . 7-8B Sports . . 1-3B Social News . . . . . . . 3A WEATHER OUTLOOK THURSDAY FRIDAY \. j—4 L Partly cloudy: Showers: Low, 43; high, 58; Low, 49; high, 55; 10% chance rain 40% chance rain SATURDAY SUNDAY Showers: Few showers: Low, 54; high, 68; Low, 36; high, 65; 40% chance rain 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 A New Year's Celebration County To Ring In New Year With 81-Year Tradition The 81st annual New Year’s Day program in Jackson County will be held at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 1, at the historic courthouse in Jefferson. Dugar Strickland of Jefferson, pastor of Maysville Methodist Church and singer/guitarist for Crystal River Bluegrass Gospel Band, will speak. Mary Williamson of Jefferson will sing “God Bless America." The New Year’s Day program started in 1927 with the late Judge W.W. Dickerson presiding. The purpose of the program is “to begin the new year with a service of thanks for the good things of the past year and to dedicate the beginning of a new year with prayer for a continuation of these blessings." Other presiding officers have been: the late Col. H.W. Davis, a local attorney; Judge R.H. “Bob" Griffeth; Billy Elder, for mer clerk of the Superior Court; and Superior Judge David Motes. State Court solicitor Don Moore is the current presiding officer. The event is sponsored by TeenPact, a non-profit organiza- tion committed to turning stu dents into statesmen. Coffee, hot chocolate and donuts will be served. Those who attend are asked to dress warmly because the heat in the historic courthouse may not be in opera tion. Reservoirs Recovering, But Record Drought Is Far From Over For the moment, the Upper Oconee Basin Officials expect to be able to refill the reservoir, Water Authority is pumping water from the but worry about having enough water to get Middle Oconee River into Bear Creek Reservoir. through the dry summer months. A combination of a little rain, conservation measures and sea sonal declines of water usage are allowing crucial water reservoirs to slowly recharge in spite of a record drought. In fact, as 2007 closes Jackson County’s sources of drinking water appear well on their way to recovery — an appearance that officials say is misleading. Commerce’s reservoir is full — a little over full, actually — and the Bear Creek Reservoir has over five and a half feet more water than it did in early October. The Jefferson reservoir, which at one time was virtually dry, is now pro ducing 1 million gallons per day (gpd) of drinking water. And, all area water suppliers have met Gov. Sonny Perdue’s 10-percent mandatory reduction in water usage based on last win ter’s usage. Bear Creek Reservoir As of last Friday the Bear Creek Reservoir was about 10 feet below full, some 5.78 feet above its low est level of the year. That recovery was sparked by reduced usage from Athens-Clarke, Barrow, Oconee and Jackson counties as the drought deepened and by an emergency permit from the Environmental Protection Division allowing the authority to remove 15 million gallons per day (mgd) from the Middle Oconee River regardless of flow rates of the river. In other words, on days when its original permit did not allow it to take water, the Upper Oconee Basin Authority can now pump 15 mgd into the reservoir from the river. Commerce Reservoir As of Friday, the city reservoir was about four inches above full. Were there no state restrictions, Commerce residents would be able to water yards and landscapes at will. Commerce continues to supply water to Jackson County, Banks County and Maysville and treats about 1.6 mgd. Jefferson Reservoir All but dry in mid-September, the Jefferson reservoir has recov ered to about four feet below pool. This has enabled Jefferson to with draw about 1 mgd and reduce its purchase of water from Jackson County — which, in turn, has reduced the usage of Commerce water by Jackson County. All of that looks good, but the fact is, the drought is not over at all. State climatologist David Stooksbury said the “probability is high" that the area will have a warm, dry winter and spring with rainfall insufficient to recharge area streams and lakes. So, while the reservoirs may fill up dur ing winter and early spring when water demand is low, what will happen during next summer is anyone’s guess. “I’m more concerned about June, July and August," said Pat Bell, chair of the Jackson County Board of Commissioners, “and I’ve said that all along. We will hold our own until then. Our ace in the hole is Commerce water. Those folks who had the vision to do that, we need to thank them." Bell said she wants to bring together all of the county’s may ors, the water authority and the commissioners Jan. 10 “to sit down and talk about how we can work together to solve this problem." By this past fall, the managers of the area’s water systems had already been meeting monthly, so when Jefferson’s water crisis arose, the seeds had been planted for a new level of intergovernment cooperation. Realizing the need for total connectivity among the water systems, a number of new interconnections were made or planned to facilitate moving water from any part of the county — and even beyond — to wherever there is a need. Besides the weather, the other wild card in managing the drought is the state government. The General Assembly will be awash in drought-related legislation, and the EPD has the power to step in and dictate water usage any where in Georgia — which is why Commerce, with a seeming abun dance of water, can no longer use water as it desires. Financial Consequences Overlooked during the dry times are the financial ramifications on the entities that provide water. All of them have debt service and operational costs traditionally dependent upon selling water, so reduced sales, though crucial in making it through the drought, hurt cash flow. The county water authority was having problems paying its bills before the water cutbacks. From a financial standpoint, Jackson County needs to take its full allocation from the Bear Creek Reservoir and sell it all. “We’re paying twice as much for Bear Creek water without using it," complains Bell. “We can’t pay our debt, and that’s going to run the cost up for people out in the county. All of this has got to be leveled out." That issue pales in comparison to running out of drinking water, but every water department in the county will have to make bud get adjustments for reduced sales until the drought ends, and for Please Turn to Page 3A The Drought Response Local Governments Work To Stretch Resources What progress are local govern ments making in dealing with the record drought? Commerce: The city is meet ing with its 25 top water custom ers to discuss ways of reducing use. It has solicited bids for the replacement of urinals and com modes with more water-efficient devices in its public buildings. With the blessings of the EPD, the city is increasing the capac ity of its reservoir by raising the lake level one foot. The city is also considering reactivating a well that once provided water for the Montgomery Shores subdivi sion. Jackson County: The county water authority has cut its pur chase of water from Commerce almost in half. It is pursuing a connection with Gainesville, is installing devices to reduce the amount of water flushed out of lines, has eliminated virtually all exceptions to outdoor water usage restrictions and has increased its capacity to receive water from Commerce. The Department of Emergency Services receives situ ation reports from the municipali ties, other public water providers, Environmental Health, the board of commissioners and the sher iff’s office for the purpose of planning and protecting water resources. Hoschton: The city has reduced its water usage for November by 21.19 percent. Since Oct. 19, all of its water has come from wells, lessening the burden on the Bear Creek Reservoir. It has also pro duced 100 water conservation kits to be given away free of charge. Jefferson: The city is investigat ing potential well sites. It met with the EPD to discuss the installa tion of a system to pump treated wastewater back to the city reser voir. The reservoir is now produc ing a million gallons per day for Jefferson residents. Nicholson Water Authority: The NWA seeks additional well sites. It reports no problems with four existing wells, and is working to cut water losses throughout the system. Stowe Tapped As Chamber's New Chairman Roy Stowe, who chairs the Jackson County Area Chamber of Commerce’s new Economic Development Council, will serve as its president as well. Stowe, who works for Jackson EMC, heads a slate of offi cers elected by the cham ber’s board of directors. He succeeds Jim Yarborough. Normally, the chamber’s first vice chairman would move up to the chairman’s job, but Steve Schingler of Haverty’s could not take the job due to “employer obligations," Yarborough explained. For the same reason, second vice chairman Jeff Blair declined to move up, and treasurer Sam McDuffie opted to remain in that position. “Really, all of the excuses had been used up by the time they got to me," quipped Stowe. Blair agreed to stay on as sec ond vice chairman and Gina Mitsdarffer will be the first vice chairman. For his part, Yarborough seemed all too happy to relin quish the lead role in the cham ber. “It’s been a heck of a good year for us," he told the board. “There have been a lot of chal lenges and opportunities." Among those were the res ignation of President Pepe Cummings and his ultimate replacement by Shane Short; and the creation of the new position of vice president for economic development, which was just filled by Gerry Nechvatal. Yarborough expressed appre ciation for the work done by the directors, staff “and all the volunteers that stepped up during our different activities," and said, “It’s been a pleasure working with you this last year as chairman." Stowe’s first action as chair man was to praise his prede cessor. “Jim, your leadership had been just right for us this year ... you’ve overseen a lot of change, and we appreciate it." Otherwise, the December directors’ meeting was very brief. Highlights included: •ratification of the election of Bill Burns to the board and the re-election of Keith Johnson. •a report of the results of a survey of members of the Leadership Jackson class indi cating they would be happy to Please Turn to Page 3A lL Roy Stowe