Newspaper Page Text
SEE PAGE IB
SEE PAGE 2B
Lady Tigers
Start Off Well
In Region Play
Lady Eagles
Working To
Find Their Form
Vol. 133
No. 30
20 Pages
2 Sections
50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875
Moratorium
Placed On
Sign Variances
By Mark Beardsley
Accepting the recom
mendation of its plan
ning commission, the
Commerce City Council
enacted a moratorium on
variances to the sign ordi
nance until December.
The city’s new ordinance
is expected to be ready
for council adoption at its
Dec. 8 meeting.
In a related move, the
council also voted to
allow Pinnacle Bank to
place a banner over the
old Athens First sign at its
North Elm Street office
pending approval of the
new sign ordinance.
At that time, the com
pany will know its options
for installing a new sign.
Pinnacle had sought
a variance so it could
replace the Athens First
sign — which is noncon
forming — with a similar
sign and an LED time and
temperature sign.
Please Turn to Page 3A
THURSDAY, SEPT. 11
Few showers: Low, 67; high,
80; 30% chance rain
FRIDAY, SEPT. 12
AM clouds: Low, 68; high, 88;
20% chance rain
SATURDAY, SEPT. 13
AM clouds: Low, 63; high, 84;
20% chance rain
SUNDAY, SEPT. 14
Isolated T-storms: Low, 67;
high, 89; 30% chance rain
Reservoir Levels
Commerce: 699.5 (.2 feet above
full)
Bear Creek: 690.16 (4.84 feet
below full)
Rainfall this month
0 inches
Rainfall This Year
34.15 Inches
INDEX
Births 7A
Church News 4B
Classified Ads 5-7B
Calendar 3 A
Crime News 6A
News Roundup 2A
Obituaries 9A
Opinions 4-5A
School News 9A & 1 2A
Sports 1-3B
Social News 7-8A
LP To Cease Production Oct. 1
Housing Slump Leads Company To Declare 'Indefinite Curtailment' At OSB Mill
By Mark Beardsley
Louisiana Pacific Corp.
will cease production at its
Athens OSB plant, locat
ed on U.S. 441 in Center,
Oct. 1, the company has
announced.
The move will result in
layoffs for all but 27 of its
120 employees, according
to Mary Cohn, manager of
corporate affairs.
The company is calling
the shutdown “an indefinite
curtailment," leaving open
the possibility that the plant
could be put back into ser
vice if market conditions
improve.
LP makes oriented strand
board, widely used as floor
ing and decking in the resi
dential construction mar
ket. The company opened
Vapor rises from
Louisiana Pacific’s OSB
Mill at Center. It will close
Oct. 1.
here in 1989.
“We are taking it down
indefinitely for market rea
sons," Cohn said. “In the
current market there is not
enough demand to keep the
mill open."
Cohn explained that the
equipment will remain at
the site and that the com
pany does not consider the
curtailment to be a “perma
nent closing."
The 27 remaining employ
ees will operate a line
producing the company’s
TechShield Radiant Barrier,
the application of a foil bar
rier on OSB. There will also
be some personnel involved
as the plant operates as
a warehouse to serve LP
customers in the Southeast,
according to Cohn.
“Unfortunately, most of
the people will be laid off,"
she said.
At the same time, the com
pany is ceasing production
at a Quebec OSB mill.
In a news release on its
web site, OSB Executive
Vice President Jeff Wagner
said, “We are faced with
one of the weakest housing
markets in decades, which
has substantially reduced
the demand for OSB. In
these conditions, we simply
cannot justify running these
mills. With these closures,
we should improve our
operating efficiencies while
satisfying all the needs of
our customers."
The Center plant produc
es 375 million square feet of
OSB annually.
Employees found out
about the layoffs and clos
ings last Thursday and
Friday. They will be offered
severance pay according to
their length of service with
the company, Cohn said.
“They are welcome to
apply for any other LP open
jobs, but we do understand
it’s a hard time for folks."
LP has come under reg
ular criticism as a pro
ducer of air emissions.
Back in May, citizens
complained during a pub
lic hearing in Nicholson
that the company should
not be given a permit to
quadruple its emissions
of formaldehyde. Some
claimed LP’s emissions
were causing increases in
illness in the surrounding
areas. The EPD indicated
it would approve the new
permit.
County Budget Up,
But Tax Rate Is Down
Purchase Of House Leaves
Ward 1 Council Seat Vacant
Ward 1 Councilman Wayne Gholston, left,
accepts a placque acknowledging his service to
the city from Mayor Charles L. Hardy Jr. Hardy
made the presentation Monday night.
By Angela Gary
Jackson County will spend
$6.6 million more next year
than this year, but its tax
rate will go down slightly.
The Jackson County
Board of Commissioners
approved its 2009 budget
and millage rate at a called
meeting Thursday morning.
Although the county is
increasing spending in its
general fund by $6.6 mil
lion, the millage rate is set
to drop slightly to 9.49 mills
in incorporated areas and
8.61 mills in unincorporated
areas. Last year’s rates were
9.59 and 8.73 respectively.
The county’s general
fund spending is slated to
increase from $34.7 million
to $41.4 million. Much of
the increase is to meet debt
service payments and to fill
57 new positions to man the
new jail.
The county’s debt ser
vice payments will jump
89 percent in 2009, from
$4.4 million to $8.3 million.
The majority of the county’s
debt service payments will
be on bonds for the new jail
and for bonds used to build
economic development
roads for industrial growth.
The county’s overall bud
get for all funds is $67 mil
lion in 2009, up 22 percent
over 2008.
Before the vote was taken
on the budget and millage
rate, commissioner Bruce
Yates questioned the county
being over budget for the
current year.
Chairman Pat Bell respond
ed, “We spent over budget.
There were times I cautioned
about this. We learned from
it. We evolved.”
Bell said one of the major
issues with the current bud
get has been the county tak
ing over water payments for
the water authority.
“That is the big problem
with the current budget,"
she said. “It’s nobody’s fault
... It’s the drought’s fault. It
will rectify itself in time."
By Mark Beardsley
The Ward 1 seat on the
Commerce City Council is
now vacant.
It became vacant when
Wayne Gholston, who
has held the office since
January of 2006, moved his
residence from Hill Street
in Ward 1 to Chanticleer
Street in Ward 5.
Ward 1 voters will go to
the polls Tuesday, Nov. 4,
to fill the unexpired term
in a special election — the
same day as the General
Election.
“It’s in the state election
code," noted City Clerk
Shirley Willis, who is also
the city’s election superin
tendent. “Once someone
moves from the precinct,
they have automatically
vacated their position."
Qualifying for the spe
cial election will take place
Sept. 30-Oct. 2, from 8:30
to 4:30 daily at City Hall.
Gholston’s term was due
to expire Dec. 31, 2009.
The election will be on
the same ballot for Ward
1 voters as the referendum
on the expansion of hom
eowners exemption from
school taxes, Willis said.
That citywide vote would
increase from $20,000 to
$40,000 the exemption
from school taxes for hom
eowners 65 or older whose
household income is less
than $18,000.
“I hate to go," said
Gholston, 46, “but it’s (the
purchase of a house) on
account of my family."
City School Board OKs Contract
For New High School Gymnasium
Lots Of Interest But
Few Comments At
City Public Hearing
49% Hike Amounts To Little Money
By Mark Beardsley
Thirty-five to 40 citizens
turned out for a public
hearing Monday night on
Commerce’s proposed tax
increase.
But after Finance Director
Steve McKown pointed out
that the 49 percent hike rep
resented an increase of $13
on a $100,000 home and
that taxes would be lower
than they were two years
ago, no one opted to ques
tion the budget.
Troy Herbert asked if,
with property values going
down, property would be
reassessed, to which Mayor
Charles L. Hardy Jr. replied
that reassessment is up to
the county.
John Webber proposed
that the city “report on the
number of people with
fixed incomes" in the city,
a statistic he said would “be
beneficial to us if we could
get it."
“That 49 percent just
floored me," said a woman
who did not identify herself,
after McKown explained the
details.
No one actually ques
tioned the city’s spending
Please Turn to Page 3A
By Mark Beardsley
Work could begin next
week on the first phase of
the new Commerce High
School.
Following approval
Monday night of a $1.41
million contract on the
“practice gym," construc
tion could begin next week
— if the school system gets
the soil and sedimentation
permits required to start
the job.
“We thought we might
get the permits today," said
Superintendent James E.
“Mac" McCoy Monday.
The project will also
replace the concession
area and rest rooms on the
west end of Tiger Stadium.
Charles Black Construction
will oversee the project,
which involves a number
of subcontractors.
The construction of the
gym is the precursor to
the building of the rest of
the $18 million (estimated)
facility, which will require
the demolition of the cur
rent gym. The new gym
will seat 700 and will be
used for basketball games
until the rest of the school
is built. The board hopes to
begin next spring.
Budget, Tax Rate
Also on Monday night,
the board approved its bud
get for the 2008-09 school
year and the tax rate neces
sary to support it.
The board will keep its
tax rate at 17.75 mills,
which represents a 5.6 per
cent increase in funds, but
no change in the millage
rate. The tax will generate
almost $3 million in rev
enue. The total budget is
$13 million.
In other business Monday,
the board learned that its
August SPLOST check was
$ 108,714, down only slightly
from the $110,742 received
for August of 2007.
Following a closed ses
sion, the school board
approved the hiring of
Lorie Grimes as a gifted
teacher at Commerce
Primary School and Gayle
Smith as a 49 percent EIP
fourth grade teacher.
The board also approved
the hiring of the follow
ing substitute teachers:
Pamela Lynn Yancey,
Ophelia Adams, Aaron
DeCastro, Jacob Flint,
William Gibson, Michael
Hudmon, Angela Leeson,
Sharon Murphy, and Jennie
Williams; and paraprofes-
sional Teri Trudnak.