Newspaper Page Text
SEE PAGE IB
Speedway For Sale
SEE PAGE 8A
Walking For A Cure
Vol. 133
No. 16
18 Pages
3 Sections
Wednesday
JUNE 4, 2008
mainstreetnews.com
50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875
City Cop
Is Suspect
In Rape Case
A Commerce Police officer
has been put on “administra
tive leave" pending a Georgia
Bureau of Investigation allega
tion that he raped a woman in
Banks County.
Banks County Sheriff
Charles Chapman and chief
investigator Kyle Bryant con
firmed their office was con
tacted about a rape charge.
Since the allegation involved a
law enforcement officer, they
turned the investigation over
to the GBI.
Commerce Police Chief John
Gaissert confirmed that Cpl.
Cameron Boswell was placed
on administrative leave May
19. He continues to be paid.
“I cannot comment on an
allegation of wrongdoing by an
officer or an incident in anoth
er jurisdiction," said Gaissert.
“We will evaluate the facts and
circumstances of the allega
tions pending the conclusion
of any investigation."
Boswell, who is the depart
ment’s drug dog handler, has
not been arrested. He resides
in Banks County.
Without Boswell, the depart
ment cannot use its drug dog,
since the dogs are used strictly
by assigned their handlers.
However, other local jurisdic
tions have drug dogs if the
need arises.
W
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
Sunny: Partly cloudy:
Low, 71; high, 95; Low, 70; high, 94;
20% chance rain 20% chance rain
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
Mostly sunny: Isolated T-storms:
Low, 71; high, 94; Low, 70; high, 91;
20% chance rain 20% chance rain
Reservoir Levels
Commerce: 698 (.4 feet above full)
Bear Creek: 695 (full)
Rainfall this month
0 inches
Rainfall This Year
21.75 Inches
11 N D
EX
Births
.... 6B
Church News .
.... 5B
Classified Ads .
. . . 1-4C
Calendar ....
.. . . 3A
Crime News . .
. . . . 7A
News Roundup
.. . . 2A
Obituaries....
. . . . 4B
Opinions
.. . . 4A
School News. .
.... 3B
Sports
. . . 1-2B
Social News . .
.... 3B
CONTACT US
Phone: 706-335-2927
FAX: 706387-5435
E-mail:
news@mainstreetnews.com
ma rk@ma i n streetnews. com
brandon@mainstreetnews.com
teresa@mainstreetnews.com
Mail: P.O. Box 459,
Commerce, GA, 30529
DDA Pushes Council To Improve Parking
New Restaurants, Prospective Businesses Need
Parking To Survive, DDA Member Says
The parking lot serving civic, cultural centers and South Broad
Street is seen as the top priority by the DDA.
With two new restaurants
open on South Broad Street,
the Downtown Development
Authority is talking about parking
again.
In particular, the DDA would
like to see the parking lot behind
Stonewalls BBQ and Vaughn’s
Wing Slingers Grill restaurants
improved.
City workers did re-stripe the
parking lot last week after the
DDA meeting May 28, but long
standing plans to enlarge the lot
to take in a grassy area and to
landscape and light it appear to be
perpetually on hold.
“Now that we’ve got two res
taurants on that block, we need
to make it so the businesses can
survive and thrive in the down
town," said member Dr. Clark Hill,
who brought the matter up at the
DDA’s meeting.
Hill proposed that the DDA
“push" the city council on park
ing improvements. He was on the
agenda for Monday night’s council
work session (see separate story).
Hill expressed concern that the
parking lot’s poor appearance
and lack of lighting might con
tribute to the failure of new busi
nesses. A restaurant that opened
in the same location as Vaughn’s
Wing Slingers Grill lasted about
a month.
“The more times you have busi
nesses open and close in a month
or two, the less likely you are to
get the next person to invest the
money," he told the DDA.
“It is past time we did something
about it," agreed member Keith
Ariail, long outspoken in favor of
improving downtown parking —
including enforcement.
There are other areas of town
where parking is an issue, includ
ing off North Broad Street, where
one major building has been reno
vated and two others are in pro
cess.
But DDA member Terry Minish
agreed with Hill.
“Personally, I’d like to see us
work on that lot (behind South
Broad Street), since we have two
new restaurants," he said. “Three
months may be too late."
“I feel a sense of urgency," Hill
added.
The city has a plan to re-devel-
op the parking lot, which is bor
dered by Wilhard, South Broad,
Sycamore and Cherry streets and
Please Turn to Page 3A
To park or not to park:
Confusing signs don’t help
motorists answer the ques
tion, DDA members say.
Paul Kinetra has totally renovated the 4,200-square-foot build
ing on North Broad Street that formerly housed Wood-Johnson
Furniture.
At 25 State Street, the plan is to
Council May Take
Action To Control
'Aggressive' Begging
An Economic Indicator?
NC Man Sees
$$ Potential
Of Downtown's
Old Buildings
A Greensboro, NC, man believes
there’s money to be made in
Commerce buildings.
Paul Kinetra has purchased
and renovated the 4,200-square-
foot building at 1782 North Broad
Street that once housed Wood-
Johnson Furniture. He’s also
acquired the old Logo Express
building at 25 State Street, which
he will renovate.
He’s the owner of Bulldog
Ventures LLC, which he calls “just
one of the LLC’s (limited liability
corporations) I set up."
The object, Kinetra admits, is
to make money. He’s renovated a
couple of buildings in his home
town and leased them (though
one is now between tenants).
“It’s primarily stuff I do that
can make some money, but, two,
I really love these old Southern
downtowns," he says.
The Downtown Development
Authority last Wednesday
approved a facade grant of $2,500
— the maximum dollar amount
of the program — for the North
Broad Street property.
“They’ve done a great job on
that building," noted Chairman
Bob Sosebee.
“Wait until you go inside,"
advised Hasco Craver, executive
director.
The facade grant program offers
a 50 percent reimbursement for
improvements made to downtown
building facades, but the limit is
$2,500.
Kinetra spent a lot more than
that getting the old Wood-Johnson
building in shape.
He put on a new roof and
restored the pine floors. He
replaced the heating and air con
ditioning system, restored the win
dows and built a handicap ramp in
the back.
“Pretty much everything has
been renovated," he advises.
There have been some inquiries
about renting the property, but
“nothing I thought was really suit
able," Kinetra said. “I would love
to find the right person, and I will.
It’s a beautiful building. It came
out great; it has a lot of desirable
features."
Kinetra does not want to sell the
property, and he says he’s a bit
particular about who he leases to.
“It’s important to get a really
good tenant in there, something
that brings foot traffic into the
town," he said. “Some things don’t
help the town."
develop an 1,800-square-foot two-
bedroom loft apartment upstairs.
The bottom comprises 3,600
square feet for retail use.
The storefront, originally 1,800
square feet but doubled, actually
offers more character on the back
side, according to its new owner.
“It’s got some neat old rafters
and has a very great feel," he
stated.
Kinetra says the project could
take five to six months.
Another Restaurant
But Kinetra’s buildings are just
part of the activity among vacant
downtown buildings.
Vaughn’s Wing Slingers Grill, a
burger-wings restaurant, opened
this week at 1662 South Broad
Street (part of the Opera House
complex). Its menu lists 20 styles
Please Turn to Page 3A
The Commerce City Council
appears poised to ban “very
aggressive" panhandling
Monday night.
The council is prepared to
amend the city code to pass an
ordinance “to regulate begging
or soliciting, to place restrictions
on such activities, to provide for
definitions and for other pur
poses."
The council meets at 6:30 p.m.
in the Commerce Room of the
Commerce Civic Center.
“The police department says
they need some assistance in try
ing to help move some of these
folks through town," explained
City Manager Clarence Bryant.
“When the economy gets bad,
these people come out of the
woodwork."
The ordinance recognizing
that “begging or soliciting" is
“deemed not unlawful" but it
draws the line at the “accosting"
of residences — “in such a man
ner as would cause a reasonable
person to fear imminent bodily
harm or the commission of a
criminal act upon his or her per
son, or upon property in his or
her immediate possession."
Basically, the ordinance would
give police the ability to arrest
someone who continues to pan
handle aggressively after being
refused, who attempts to block
the passage of the individual
being solicited “or otherwise
engaging in conduct which
could reasonably be construed
as intended to compel to force a
person to accede to demands."
The council will also approve
its 2008-09 budget, but not
before a final work session to
be held Thursday at 5 p.m.
Other Items
Other items on the agenda for
Monday night include:
•an amendment to the city
alcohol ordinance to allow con
sumption of alcohol during spe
cial events — such as the City
Lights Festival later this month
• a decision by the city council
to attempt to purchase 10 mega
watts of nuclear power from the
two units being added to Plant
Vogtle. The city is unlikely to be
able to purchase that much, and
the purchase would be divided
so that the city gets up to five
megawatts in 2016-17 when the
plant comes online and sells
the remaining megawatts for 20
years to a third party.
• the reappointment of Archie
D. Chaney to the Commerce
Housing Authority
•the reappointment of Sam
Chaney to the Commerce
Library Board
• discussion of a possible
amendment to the zoning ordi
nance related to accessory
buildings
Commerce Seeks Banks Comity's Help In Protecting Reservoir
Egg Operation At Gillsville Seen As
Threat To City's Water Supply
The city of Commerce will
ask the Banks County Board of
Commissioners for help in pro
tecting its water supply from an
industrial plant under construc
tion near Gillsville.
The mayor and city council
signed a letter at Monday night’s
work session asking Banks County
BOC Chairman Gene Hart to
enforce the watershed protection
plan it approved in 1998 to pro
tect both the Commerce water
shed lake and Banks County’s
Mountain Creek Reservoir.
The issue is a commercial egg
production plant to be located
across Hwy. 52 from the Joe Craven
Farm and its potential impact on
the city’s reservoir, located on
the Grove River off Grove Level
Church Road in Banks County.
Bryan Harbin, Commerce’s
director of water and sewer opera
tions, told the council that con
tractors working on the Country
Charm egg distributors’ plant had
violated the state’s stream buffer
ordinance and “plowed through
a tributary" to the Grove River.
He told the city council that the
EPD had “turned its head" on
enforcement of state erosion and
sedimentation laws.
Under the watershed protec
tion plan, Harbin said such opera
tions are prohibited within seven
miles of the reservoir. Parts of this
Please Turn to Page 3A