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PAGE 6A - THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS, WEDNESDAY. FEBRUARY 13. 2008 Tackson County Chamber Breakfast In Spite Of Economy, Norton Stays Upbeat Frank Norton is an optimist. In spite of an economic slowdown and a nationwide housing slump, the president of the Norton Agency presented a glass-half-full economic forecast for Jackson County for the coming year last Wednesday morning. Speaking to the Jackson County Area Chamber of Commerce in what has become an annual February event, Norton, who tracks real estate and econom ic data and trends in 30 North Georgia counties, stressed not the obstacles of an economy mired in recession, but the opportunities for those in a position to grab them. 'There is profit in confusion,” said Norton, quoting a Tony Curtis’ line from a 1956 war movie. “There is profit in Jackson County.” Norton spoke about opportuni ties to make money in a market where foreclosures are soaring, land prices are falling and build ing is stagnant. Those who are able can buy houses for rental property or build rental property to take advantage of a growing demand from people who’ve lost their homes, developers can get a break on prices for raw land, and the market remains strong, he says, for retail and industrial growth. Frank Norton Jr. spoke to the members of the chamber of Commerce at their Wednesday breakfast. “Opportunities are everywhere,” was one of his five talking points. Among them, he said is the opportunity to “look forward to multiple-price-point housing” to provide affordable housing for employees of Jackson County business and industry. The coun ty has more than 11,000 acres zoned for industry, and Norton repeatedly stressed that “afford able housing” is an overlooked segment of the Jackson County market and is needed to accom modate those workers. “Where are our teachers going to live?” he asked. “We want them to live next door to us and not commute in to us. “The deepest part of the housing pool today is under $200,000, but we have been building at $200,000, $300,000 and $400,000 houses and patting ourselves on the back that we have all these expensive houses,” Norton said. “But they’re all sitting there unsold.” The affordable houses, he said, will appeal to many of those who land the 59,000 new jobs Georgia State University has projected to be created in the Metro Atlanta area this year — mostly “worker bees” — middle or lower level jobs. Those jobs, he said, will be on the north side of Atlanta, in Gwinnett and Cherokee counties, but the people who hold them will have to look to Barrow and Jackson for places they can afford to live. Norton insists that the “market fundamentals remain strong,” in spite of the housing slump. And while area counties have many months’ inventory of lots and houses, that inventory is already being reduced, he alleged. As for the housing downturn, Norton seemed to suggest it was due. “Too many people were able Chamber Directors To Meet Monday The date for the February board of directors for the Jackson County Area Chamber of Commerce has been changed to 8:00 a.m. Monday, Feb. 18. Breakfast will be available beginning at 7:45. The directors normally meet on the third Friday of each month at noon. to buy houses,” he said, adding that it was easier from a credit and down-payment standpoint to buy a house than it was to rent an apartment. The worst is over, he suggested, for the housing slump. Houses continue to sell, while new con struction lags, reducing the inven tory, he said. Meanwhile, Atlanta will continue its “push through Jackson County.” In fact, he predicted lot shortag es in Jackson County — for hous ing in the $175,000 to $200,000 range. “We have too many high-priced houses on too many high-priced lots when we are solidly middle class, or lower,” Norton said. Commerce Board Of Education BOE Mulls Hiring Energy Consultant By Ben Munro The Commerce Board of Education is considering entering a contract with Line Mechanical to help it conserve the money it spends in energy costs, but the process is on hold for right now. The school board still has some lingering questions before giving the energy consulting company the OK to perform a final engi neering study on the school build ings. “I told them that we still had some questions that we needed to answer before we moved for ward,” superintendent Dr. Mac McCoy said. Line representatives met with the school board at Thursday’s work session, presenting num bers that projected savings of $2.5 million over a 15-year span if Commerce schools went with the Line plan. The school system would pay $258,000 a year for Line’s ser vices. Commerce school leaders were told they’d see a projected $274,500 in savings in the first year — or $16,500 in positive cash flow after the cost of the program is factored in. Line guarantees the savings it projects, or it will make up the difference. Currently, Commerce spends $632,000 a year for energy and other associated costs like main tenance and operation and equip ment expenses. Those costs are expected to add up to $4 million over 10 years. Part of the problem is that the HVAC systems at the elementary and primary schools are well over 30 years old. Under the Line plan, the compa ny would replace all equipment. Line has already performed a preliminary engineering study of Commerce’s facilities and was ready to go forth with the final engineering study, but needed a letter of intent from the school board. McCoy said the issue would be revisited next month. Mentoring Program The school board learned that 13 Commerce students are being mentored in the first year the school system has participated in the countywide “Lindsay’s Legacy” program. Lisa Stephenson of Jackson County Family Connection, which sponsors the program, addressed the BOE Monday and said that the number of students with mentors should grow. “Our growth in the rest of the county is an indicator of what the Commerce area can expect in just a few short years,” she said. “We’re really expecting as we get the community awareness more visible, you’ll have the tremen dous growth as well.” Started in Jackson County in 2005, the program now has 130 mentors. Lindsay’s Legacy has seen an influx of volunteers with 90 mentors joining since August 2007. County-wide, 160 students are being mentored. These mentors, who vary in age, provide guidance for students in their academic and personal lives. In other business conducted Monday night, the school board: •heard that the system col lected $117,316 during November. Including interest, Commerce schools have taken in $1.04 mil lion in SPLOST money for the year. McCoy notes that the next payment will reflect the Christmas sales from December. SPLOST receipts always lag two months behind. “Right now, collections are going well,” McCoy said. •heard from McCoy that state rep. Tommy Benton is proposing a tax relief plan for the elder ly and discussed how it would affect schools. The exemption would be $40,000 for ages 62-65 at an income of $18,000. The Commerce school system would collect $35,000 less if the $40,000 plan passes. It would collect $40,000 less if a $50,000 exemp tion passed. “This could have been proposed in many ways that could have hurt schools systems a lot more,” McCoy said. •approved the administrative staff for next year with no chang es. The BOE also approved Julie Rafferty and Beverly Stephenson as substitute teachers. No Explanation Given For Firing Of Planning Director By Angela Gary Jackson County planning and zoning director Scott Carpenter was fired last week, but the rea sons for his dismissal have not been disclosed. County Manager Darrell Hampton said Thursday that he does not respond to questions about county personnel mat ters. He has also not responded to an open records request to review Carpenter’s personnel file. The open records request was sent to Hampton Friday and a follow up e-mail was sent Monday. He had not responded as of press time. Jackson County Planning Commission chairman Tim Cornelison said Tuesday that he doesn’t know why Carpenter was fired, but that he believes the director was doing a good job. “I was not privy to the rea sons for the action taken,” he said. “There had been some complaints about some things with the planning department. But there are always com plaints. People are either happy or unhappy with the actions taken. I will say the work from the planning department over the past year has been better than it has been ... I wrote to the commissioners before this happened and let them know I thought they (the planning department) were doing a good job.” Nicholson Water Panel Votes To Clean Storage Tank By Brandon Reed The Nicholson Water Author ity voted unanimously last week to approve an inspection and cleaning of the authority’s 500,000-gallon water tank. Chairman Doug Ayers said the tank has to be cleaned every 24 months. Ayers said that the process would be done by shutting the tank and pumps down two days in advance. The existing water in the tank would be used to fill the lines in the system, then shut the tank down and drain it. The cleaning process, which includes steam cleaning, sani tizing and photographing, is expected to take one day. The work will be done by Tank Pro of Alabama. The NWA also approved plac ing a blow-off valve at the end of Wilbanks Circle. The need for the valve came to light after a recent line break in the area. The authority approved $700 for the placement of the valve. The NWA also approved a water meter change out pro gram. Ayers said that according to industry members, after 10 to 15 years, a meter becomes less accurate. Ayers said he thought some of the meters in the sys tem were probably around 30 years old. The authority approved the replacement of five older meters a month at $40 each, with the process to be re-evaluated after 12 months. The vote was unanimous. In other business: • The NWA approved a change in office hours from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, reflecting the same hours as the Nicholson City Hall. •Ayers informed author ity members that the EPD con ducted their sanitary survey of the system, and the paperwork went well. They are asking the NWA to create a new flushing program. NEED PRINTING? CALL 706-367-5233 ►X’A j CLASSIFIED DEADLINE NOON ON MONDAYS cf|*iion2008 freedom B.M* yJ )\JB' r , a i is our a ell » u - cusl°«r er - . , ol -oduct s - Th :-^^^ estilcanbe ' 1 to VU aKe ? G-< i ^Celebration ^mversarv 200 8 Friday Jebr^ « 3 a m *%£&**» n viM> vU . 77 0-86l-8 737 fOtC