Newspaper Page Text
THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS, WEDNESDAY. MAY 14, 2008 - PAGE 5A
Zoning Approved For Medical Complex
Work should begin “in four to
six weeks" on the first phase of
a medical complex that has been
one physician’s “dream" for 30
years.
The Commerce City Council
voted Monday night to accept
the recommendation of its plan
ning commission to rezone two
tracts totalling about 17 acres on
Nunn Road, just off Maysville
Road, from A-F (agriculture) to
C-2 (commercial).
With that action, Dr. James
Bouchard can begin the first
phase of what he’s calling
“Commerce Medical Village,"
which he described as “a major
medical complex."
The first building to go up will
be a 8,416-square-foot “Doctor’s
Hospice," which would be the
sixth unit created by the 501 (C)
(3) charitable organization, said
Dr. Peter K. Lee, who is chair
man of the group’s membership
committee.
Other parts of the first phase
include two 48,000-squuare-foot
medical buildings, a 13,912-
square-footpharmacy and 11,580
square feet of retail space.
Bouchard, a podiatrist, pur
chased the Nunn family dairy
farm 30 years ago. He has more
than 600 acres near the Maysville
Road interchange on Interstate
85 available for development.
Asked by Councilman Mark
Fitzpatrick when he expected
work to begin, Bouchard said,
“We anticipate moving dirt in
four to six weeks."
Walgreens Sign Tabled
In other zoning related busi
ness, the council tabled discus
sion on the Walgreens request for
a sign variance because the city’s
planning commission, which
recommended that the council
reject the request, had not seen
a new proposal put forth by the
corporation.
The latest manifestation of the
sign comprises 43 square feet.
The city sign ordinance allows 25
square feet.
“I don’t like voting on things
the planning commission hasn’t
seen," said Councilman Bob
Sosebee, who made the motion
to table action on the variance.
The council also tabled action
on a proposed amendment to
the zoning ordinance regarding
accessory buildings until it gets
an idea of what other communi
ties are doing about the issue.
The planning commission has
twice sent a recommendation for
the ordinance change.
The council did vote to accept
the planning commission’s rec
ommendation to change the zon
ing ordinance to increase from
three feet to four feet the maxi
mum height allowed for front-
yard fences or walls. Chain-link
fences are still prohibited in front
yards.
Nicholson Authority To Address EPD's Survey Results
By Brandon Reed
The Nicholson Water Authority
is working to address several dis
crepancies found by the EPD dur
ing a recent “sanitary survey."
Among them was a lack of a tax
application for a ground water use
permit for using more water than
100,000 gallons a day. Authority
chairman Doug Ayers said a per
mit application had been sent to
the authority, but he wasn’t sure
what had happened to the appli
cation.
Ayers also said the authority
needs to put an emergency plan
and checklist on file with the
EPD.
The authority is also going to
check each well to determine if
there is natural fluoride in one of
the wells. Ayers said unlike chlo
rine, fluoride does not dissipate in
the system.
The NWA also learned that its
75,000 gallon elevated storage
tank needs to be cleaned and
repainted.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Sees A Conflict If Chas Hardy Is Elected
Editor:
I would like to comment on
the recent announcement of
the mayor of Commerce's son
running for the county com
missioners office. Your edito
rial gave the readers a pre-show
of what to expect from this
upcoming race. The Commerce
News has printed that the can
didate is a neighbor and a close
friend. This makes for an obvi
ous bias from the writer. Will
the current commissioner be
given a fair shake in the future
editorials? In the past you have
printed how Commissioner
Thompson has been the only
one seeing the wasteful spend
ing and trying to do something
about it. But now you say there
is no support for him.
In my opinion, having the son
of a mayor would be a conflict
of interest. Will they be discuss
ing our tax dollars over break
fast every morning? I feel that
electing someone with such
a close relationship to a city
official will render the position
useless or ethically unsound.
He will have to abstain from
anything regarding Commerce
since his father is mayor and a
direct conflict of interest. Any
strides for Commerce will most
certainly be defeated without
his vote.
With this relation, will any
one else in the county receive
a fair vote? There are too many
questions about ethics and
conflicts of interest concerning
this race. One would assume
that the group pushing their
candidate would have thought
of these issues before qualify
ing.
Sincerely,
Maria Turner
Commerce
Many Helped Make ‘Maternity Celebration’ Successful
Editor:
On Saturday, May 3, we held
our first ever Cabbage Patch
Maternity Celebration at our
clinic in Commerce. It was a
great success! It is a variation of
our original Cabbage Patch pro
gram, which has earned state
recognition and was developed
and implemented by public
health nurses here in Jackson
County in 2005.
Instead of eight weekly edu
cational classes that prenatal
women attend, we combined
the classes into one day of fun
and prizes. Each woman that
attended was given items that
would help her have a healthy
pregnancy and baby. In addi
tion, each woman received a
free car seat, as well as detailed
instruction on installation
and use. The day ended with
the car seat install, in which
participants installed the car
seats themselves and had them
checked by our public health
nurses that are child passenger
safety technicians.
We could not have held the
program without the sup
port of local organizations.
Much funding for the pro
gram came from the Jackson
EMC Foundation funded by
the members of Jackson EMC
through Operation Round Up.
Chick-fil-A at Banks Crossing
was kind enough to provide
us lunch at cost. BJC Medical
Center, the Commerce Public
Library, and WellCare all pro
vided representatives who were
present during lunch to give
participants information about
their services. We are blessed to
be part of a community with
such supportive organizations.
We are currently planning our
next Maternity Celebration.
Please contact one of our
health departments for further
information and information
on participating.
Sincerely,
Beth Heath,
County Nurse Manager
Jackson Co. Health Dept.
— Kids Really Do Say The Darndest (Or Damnedest) Things
Cont. from Page 4A
realize that Lauren could hear us.
“Damn, I spilt my bubbles," inno
cently came from my 3-year-old’s
mouth.
Kate: “Kate, would you like a
deviled egg?" we ask. Kate replies,
“No thank you; I don’t eat the
devil."
Lauren: Lauren loves her big
sister and follows her to the
bathroom while in a restaurant.
I was helping Lauren, and Kate
yelled from her stall, “Why do
you always follow me to the bath
room?" Lauren yelled back, “Jesus
makes me do it!"
Kate: Kate has enjoyed watch
ing the presidential debates and
is really intrigued with Hillary
Clinton. “I hope she wins because
she would be the first female
President; it would lead the way
for me to become President... That
is if I don’t already have another
job."
Lauren: “God is great, God is
good, let us spank him for our
food ...”
Kate: “I want us to get a mini-
van."
Why?
“Because it holds many people."
It’s fun to look back through our
notebook and remember how our
daughters have made us laugh
with their literal interpretations of
words, inquisitive thoughts, and
innocent sayings. We are proud to
be their parents and feel they are
true gifts from God.
I hope all mothers felt special
on Mother’s Day and were able
to spend time with their precious
children.
Tricia Massey is a stay-at-home
mom who is also a member of the
Commerce Downtown Development
Authority and chairs the city library’s
capital fund campaign. She lives in
Commerce.
Bill To Upgrade JCCHS
Could Top $5.8 Million
By Kerri Testement
Moving some pro
grams to Jackson County
Comprehensive High School
and adding extracurricular
space to the aging facility
could cost $5.8 million.
“The existing high school is
pretty well utilized," said Steve
McCune of Southern A&E,
an architecture and engineer
ing firm. “There isn’t that much
space."
On Thursday, McCune told
the Jackson County Board of
Education about a feasibil
ity study of JCCHS, which is
almost 20 years old.
The facilities at JCCHS became
an issue in 2007, shortly after
the opening of the new East
Jackson Comprehensive High
School.
A representative of a group of
JCCHS parents told the board
in December that the facilities
at the school were being allowed
to deteriorate. The group also
claimed inequity among other
issues compared to the two high
schools.
One of the key concerns of
the group was the transporta
tion of students from JCCHS
to the Gordon Street Center in
Jefferson for Career, Technical
and Agricultural Education
(CTAE) classes.
The Gordon Street Center
offers programs in manufactur
ing, family and consumer scienc
es, health occupations, JROTC,
agriculture and early childhood
education for JCCHS. The cen
ter also has a foods lab and
business lab.
Relocating and possibly build
ing more than 21,900 square
feet of new space for the CTAE
classes may cost an estimated
$2.8 million.
Adding space on existing
wings at JCCHS for two busi
ness labs and one family and
consumer sciences class may
be the easiest, according to the
feasibility study.
One of the most expensive
proposals is moving the profes
sional foods labs to JCCHS,
McCune said. That would require
moving the kitchen equipment
and building new space for the
program.
The other CTAE classes
would also require new space at
JCCHS, according to the study.
A new building may be con
structed behind the school for
those classes, McCune said.
The feasibility study also
looked at JCCHS’s future needs
and if adding facilities is a pos
sibility.
One of those needs may
include a new multi-purpose
practice gym with a chorus and
multi-purpose room. That 19,300
square-foot building — which
could be built near the existing
auditorium — may cost $2.5 mil
lion.
The feasibility study also pro
vided cost estimates for a new
softball field with stands, dress
ing rooms and concession area;
two new, lighted tennis courts;
and additional storage in admin
istration.
The steep topography in some
areas of the property made
selection of the additional facili
ties difficult, McCune said. The
feasibility study included the
“easiest, least expensive" pro
posals, he added.
Concert, Movie Coming Up
In 'Fridays After 5' Program
The Commerce Downtown Development Authority, with the help
of the Grassroots Arts Program, is hosting a new event series in
downtown Commerce.
“Fridays After Five" began Friday, April 25, with over 350 attend
ees enjoying a free movie in the park. The Downtown Development
Authority has assembled an entertaining line-up that runs through
spring 2008 and offers free concerts and outdoor movies on a 20’
by 20’ inflatable screen. All
events take place at the recent
ly re-developed Spencer Park
(intersection of South Elm and
Pine Street) in historic down
town Commerce.
The event schedule is as fol
lows:
•Friday, May 23, 6:30 p.m„
concert in the park featur
ing “Curley Maple" (Folk/
Bluegrass/ Americana).
•Friday, June 6, movie in the
park, “Surf’s Up" (G-rated fam
ily film that takes a behind-
the-scenes look at the annu
al Penguin World Surfing
Championship). Starts at dusk
(around 8:30 p.m.).
Concessions are available
during the movie and sever
al downtown restaurants are
prepared to pack dinner in a
picnic-type package.
DID YOU KNOW?
By Preacher Clint
DID YOU KNOW THAT
YOU WILL GIVE AN
ACCOUNT FOR EVERY
IDLE WORD YOU SPEAK?
(Matt. 12:36)
Since we are judged by our
words, we should be careful how
we speak to those around us. The
Bible tells us to be quick to hear
and slow to speak. (James 1:19) but
somehow we have gotten that
backwards, we are slow to hear and
quick to speak. Words hurt and we
should chose our words wisely so
that we might be a help and not a
hindrance. We should seek to
encourage other Christians and
through gracious words point
unbelievers to our savior “THE
LORD JESUS CHRIST.” Who gave
himself as a ransom for all. GOD
hates sin but loves the sinner.
Send comments to
Clinton Sexton
116 Ashland Drive
Commerce, GA 30529
KEEP AMERICA
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May 17 th
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Straw Matting for Slopes 71/2’xl20’
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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
100 Bales or more $2.95/bale
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