Newspaper Page Text
THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS. WEDNESDAY. FEBRUARY 20. 2008 - PAGE 5A
Fired Public Development Director Says
Officials Curry Favor With Developers
Former Jackson County Public
Development Director Scott
Carpenter alleged in a scath
ing seven-page memo that key
Jackson County officials often
curry favor with developers and
that he had been dismissed for
spurious reasons.
Carpenter was fired by County
Manager Darrell Hampton Feb. 6.
Although Hampton has declined
to discuss the matter, he outlined
four reasons for Carpenter’s dis
missal in a written “Notice of
Dismissal" given to Carpenter
when he was fired. Hampton
alleged that Carpenter had been
unprepared for a Nov. 19 board
of commissioners meeting; that
he had fomented problems with
county consultant Don Clerici,
Carpenter’s predecessor in the
development department; that
Carpenter had presented unre
alistic plans for a county animal
shelter; and that Carpenter had
been unprepared to answer ques
tions raised by two developers
about their complaints concern
ing the county planning office.
But Carpenter claimed in a Feb.
10 rebuttal to Hampton’s dis
missal memo that the county
manager had been doing the bid
ding of developers.
Carpenter said his firing was
“biased toward meeting the
desires of special interest devel
opers and consultants over the
County Manager
Darrell Hampton
"has met more
times with (develop
er) John Buchanan
than he has with
his own Public De
velopment Director"
— Scott Carpenter,
former public
development director
needs of staff and the citizens
of Jackson County ...” He fur
ther alleged that “Mr. Hampton
has consistently spent more time
with developers who want to get
their way and with a consultant
for Capital Projects than he has
with his own county staff."
The former planning director
also alleged that Hampton “has
met more times with (developer)
John Buchanan than he has with
his own Public Development
Director" and that Hampton
attended a development review
meeting between Buchanan and
the development staff. Carpenter
alleged that Buchanan had been
critical of staff members in the
county planning office and had
gone to the county manager with
his complaints.
Carpenter was also critical of
his predecessor, Clerici, who is
now a consultant with the coun
ty-
“After Mr. Clerici left, the pub
lic development staff members
began a process to interpret the
U.D.C. thoroughly, fairly and con
sistently to all applicants and the
public regardless of their roles
or connections to BOC mem
bers and others in the business
community," Carpenter wrote.
“Certain members of the devel
opment community did not take
this favorably and set out to dis
credit the Public Development
Department..."
In his dismissal of Carpenter,
Hampton said that some devel
opers had complained about the
county planning department and
that two developers had request
ed one employee in the depart
ment be fired.
The dismissal of Carpenter
had apparently been the gist of
behind-the-scenes discussions
several weeks before the firing.
In a memo dated Jan. 24, plan
ning commission chairman Tim
Cornelison said he had been
contacted by a developer about
impending “changes" in the
department.
“If a few members of the devel
opment community raise ques
tions, the opinions of the entire
community should be consid
ered before making a judgment,"
wrote Cornelison. “There are a
lot of people, myself included,
who are very pleased with the
current staff and management."
The planning chairman also
suggested that some developers
had perhaps in the past been get
ting special treatment from the
planning department.
“I have seen no indication of
preferential treatment or mistreat
ment," wrote Cornelison. “The
perception in the community for
years has been that some individ
uals have received preferential
treatment. If those perceptions
are accurate it is possible that
the lack of preferential treatment
may have sparked these attacks
on the staff."
— Commerce 'In Pretty Good Shape'
Cont. from Page 1A
“We’ve put a lot of resources
in the ground and we feel like
that’s probably going to be our
major source of revenue, tax-
wise," Bryant said.
During the current year, Bryant
said, the city “took the year
off" from major capital projects.
Over the year, he said, the city
has added laptop computers in
every police car (most of which
were funded with a $129,000
grant), has started a drug inter
diction program that has taken
$500,000 off 1-85, erected a new
maintenance building, installed
new windows at City Hall, imple
mented the online payment of
utility bills, completed the sec
ond phase of its Edwards Creek
sewer line and the last phase
of its electric system rebuild,
installed gas lines on Steve
Reynolds Industrial Parkway,
and seen the Commerce T85
Business Park come into frui
tion with a 962,000-square-foot
speculative building, It is also
working on the creation of a
recreation master plan, the re
writing of its sign ordinance,
hopes to get a U.S. Department
of Transportation grant to run
sidewalks from Commerce
Middle School down Dogwood
Trail to Lakeview Drive, and is
looking forward to the construc
tion of the new Walgreens.
Water Issues
Bryant spent much of his time
talking about the water situation.
He called the city’s situation
“unique" as part of its system is
in the Savannah River Basin and
the rest in the Oconee. As for
the easing of water restrictions,
he said the city has yet to receive
any specific instructions from
the Environmental Protection
Division or the governor.
“We do know we’re going to be
restricted to 90 percent of our
average use last year," he said.
“You’re not going to be able to
water three days a week."
The city hopes to get out of the
level four restrictions imposed
by the governor and EPD over
61 counties.
“Our position is that we’ve had
plenty of water in the past and
had plenty of water all summer,"
he said, pointing out that the
lowest the city’s lake got was
seven tenths of a foot below
full.
“All of our restrictions came
from the state," he said point
edly. He stated that the drought
had a “very minor effect" on the
lake, that a “six or seven inch
drop" in the level of the reser
voir “doesn’t bother us at all and
that a foot of water is running
out of the lake."
“Nobody between us and
Savannah has a water problem,"
Bryant said. “We’re going to try
to get some kind of relaxation of
restrictions from the EPD."
The restrictions, he said, inhib
it the city’s ability to pay off
the $13 million water and sewer
debt.
“The only way we can pay that
debt is to sell water," Bryant
said.
During the drought, the city’s
sale to residential customers
fell, but the city continued to
make money because of its
wholesale customers, including
Maysville, Jackson County and
Banks County.
“If it hadn’t been for our whole
sale customers on the revenue
side, we’d be in bad shape," he
said. “But they helped hold us
up."
—East Jackson Industrial Park Has Prospects
Cont. from Page 1A
with the utilities as any property,"
said McCord, although he warned
that it is “out on the outer cusp" in
terms of proximity.
Other Activity
In a related matter, Gerry
Nechvatal, the chamber’s new
vice president for economic
development, reported that the
office is “still busy" with projects
and prospects. However, he also
said the county should be seeing
more activity.
“We’re not getting our share of
visits and inquiries, so I’ve got
some work to do," he told the
IDA.
One of the concerns he
expressed is that the county
lacks a publicly owned industrial
park, which scares off prospects
who prefer not to be in devel
oper-owned industrial parks. He
mentioned that Bartow County,
where the county through its IDA
purchased a large tract, got 21
“opportunities" during January,
compared to six for Jackson
County.
In addition, he said, the Korean
tire manufacturer that was once
considered a prime prospect
for the Commerce 1-85 Business
Park located in a similar site near
Macon.
“If we had such a park like
the one in Macon or the one in
Bartow County, I believe we’d
have 21 opportunities," Nechvatal
offered.
Chairman Scott Martin point
ed out that Valentine Farms
Industrial Park has succeeded in
part because it offers tracts con
trolled by developers who will
build to suit or who have spec
buildings, but it also sells raw land
so companies can bid out the
construction.
John Buchanan did not appear
anxious to “compete" with the
county’s developers.
“That is a huge decision to
make," he said. “With the econo
my that way it is and the bonds
the county has issued, it would
be very difficult to get the county
to go along (with a bond issue to
purchase a large tract)." Later he
added that the IDA and county
must “decide if we want to com
pete with the private developers.
I’m proud of the diversity of our
developers. They’ve done a good
job for us."
Nechvatal also pointed out that
the county has a lot of land zoned
for light industry, but little for
heavy industry, zoning which he
called “high risk, high reward.”
Those issues — public owner
ship of industrial park and heavy
vs. light industry — will likely
come up again, advised president
Shane Short.
“We’ve got to determine what
we want the community to look
like in 20 years," he said. “Now
is the perfect time for us to come
together and talk about those
things. You will hear more about
that during the year."
Under the heading of “old
business," Martin reported that
WTI, a specialty food product
company located in the Central
Jackson Industrial Park, is putting
its expansion on the front burner.
The company needs additional
acreage to build a refrigeration
plant.
CLASSIFIED ADS
S10 PER WEEK
706-335-2927 • 706-367-5233
MasterCard • VISA
Save $3
by placing ads online at
classified@mainstreetnews.com
WE DELIVER!
All deliveries are Delivered and Dumped.
All products available in dump truck loads and tractor trailer loads.
473 Lee Street
Jefferson, GA
Open 6 days per week
LANDSCAPING SPECIALS!
Mulches & Bark
Red Dyed Mulch $25/scoop
Brown or Black Mulch $25/scoop
Double Ground Hd $25/scoop
Mini-Nuggets $2 5/scoop
Cypress Mulch $28/scoop
Straw Matting for Slopes 71/2’xl20’
Reasonably Priced $40/Roll
Tractor Trailer Load discounts available
Delivery on 10 scoops or more free
up to 10 miles from lot,
then $1 per mile both ways thereafter
Straw
Wheat Straw/Mulch Hay $4/bale
Long Needle Pinestraw $3.25/bale
Delivery on 100 bales or more free
up to 10 miles from lot,
then $1 per mile both ways thereafter
Coastal Bermuda Feed Hay
(Great for cows and horses)
Square Bales $6/Bale
FORTSON
Well Drilling & Environmental Services, Inc.
Residential & Commercial Services
• 6” Drilled Wells
• Water Filtration and Purification
• Water Conditioning Systems
Irrigation Systems • Monitoring Wells
• Remediation Wells
Customer Satisfaction Is Important To Us.
We Invite You To Check Us Out.
PHONE 795-2717 FAX 795-3713
Located 5 Miles North Of Danielsville On Hwy. 281
Danielsville, Georgia
Chamber To Have
A Full Plate In '08
The Jackson County Area
Chamber is Commerce is plan
ning a busy year — with expan
sion of service to its members
included.
Shane Short, chamber presi
dent, talked about the antici
pated changes at the chamber’s
board of directors meeting
Monday morning.
One of the key projects in
the works is the promotion of
Jackson County in other com
munities — and not just its indus
trial or commercial opportuni
ties.
The chamber plans to send
promotional materials to poten
tial businesses, and keep its web
site more updated on available
industrial and retail sites in
Jackson County, Short said.
And while enticing new busi
nesses to the county, the cham
ber also plans to implement a
program that will help exist
ing companies stay in Jackson
County and expand their busi
ness, Short added.
But the chamber won’t just
be focusing on enticing major
companies and industries to
Jackson County, Short said. The
chamber plans to provide more
services to small businesses in
the area, such as educational
seminars.
Plans are also in the works to
promote tourism. One of the
promotional materials for tour
ists may include a guide to res
taurants or other attractions in
the county.
“You can spend a weekend
antiquing in Jackson County,"
said Short, who became cham
ber president in October 2007.
Another major project for the
chamber this year: a “commu
nity vision" plan that will out
line how citizens want Jackson
County to look in 20 years. That
process will require several town
hall meetings, he added.
2 Items On Agenda
For Commerce Planners
Only two items will be on
the Commerce Planning
Commission’s agenda when it
meets next Monday night.
The planning commission,
which makes recommenda
tions to the city council on
zoning requests and land use
matters, meets at 7:00 in the
Peach Room of the Commerce
Civic Center.
The only zoning matter is
a zoning for annexation of a
half-acre lot on Westview Drive
owned by Ward 4 Councilman
Donald Wilson.
Wilson seeks a rezoning from
A-2 in the county to R-l in the
city.
The other item on the agenda
is a discussion of a proposed
amendment to the zoning ordi
nance regarding the size of
accessory buildings.
The planning commission
has recently seen a number of
requests for variances in the
size of such buildings. Under
the current ordinance, the size is
limited to 25 percent of the prin
cipal building’s footprint; the
proposed amendment ups that
to 50 percent with the condition
that the building be constructed
of the same materials as the
primary structure, according to
HONOR A LOVED ONE
With A
Commerce Library Brick
The Commerce Public Library is selling bricks to be en
graved in honor of or in memory of your loved ones. The cost
is $50. The bricks will be used in the upcoming library ex
pansion, and the proceeds will help pay for the expansion.
Printing on the brick is limited to three lines of 13 spaces
each (including letters, punctuation and spaces).
For information
Call 706-335-5946
Southern Pines
Assisted Living
Facility
would like to invite you to our
Wine & Cheese
Social
Saturday, Feb. iy 2008
7:00 p.lll
Guest Speaker:
Hospice Advantage
258 College Avenue
Maysville, GA
R. S. V. P.
(706) 652-2600
Lots of Fun & Prizes
&