Newspaper Page Text
THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS. WEDNESDAY. SEPTEMBER 10. 2008 - PAGE 3A
Paramedic Honored
Paramedic Donnie Young, (center), Commerce,
accepts the State Region Ten Paramedic of the
year award from Steve Nichols (right) and Randall
Cooper (left). Young has been employed with
Jackson County EMS for 18 years. During the past
year, he has been credited with three saves, the
cardiac conversion of someone in cardiac arrest
and other numerous traumatic calls for service
with life threat injuries which have favorable out
comes. “Donnie has been an inspiration to our
service and continues to
Nichols said.
Farmers 7
Ends For
The second year of the
Downtown Farmers’ Market
has ended.
The event attracted 20
registered vendors selling
watermelon, yellows and
white corn, yellow and zuc
chini squash, tomatoes, bell
peppers, day lilies, okra,
beans, cantaloupe, plums,
jellies, baked goods and pot
ted plants.
“The farmers’ market
brought over 750 visitors
to downtown Commerce
over the last three months,’’
commented Hasco Craver,
executive director of the
Downtown Development
Authority.
— Commerce
Cont. from Page 1A
plans.
The city proposes to raise
its tax rate to 1.5 mills from
1.04 mills last year. That
represents a 44 percent
increase, McKown said,
with the rest coming from
growth in the tax digest.
“Five percent of your
tax bill is for city taxes,’’
McKown pointed out. “The
county commissioners and
the board of education
make up 95 percent of your
tax bill.’’
He illustrated his presenta
tion with a chart showing six
years of city taxes broken
down by value of homes.
This year’s proposed 1.5-mill
rate would generate $15, for
example, on a house valued
at $50,000, an increase of $4
over last year, but $2 lower
than in 2006. On a $100,000
residence, it would gener
ate $45, an increase of $13
over 2007, but $5 less than
in 2006.
The city will hold a final
public hearing at 6:00 p.m.
Thursday night at City Hall,
after which the city council
will hold a called meeting to
set the tax rate.
Also Monday night,
the council approved the
resolution necessary so
the Commerce Board of
be a valued employee,”
Market
2008
“The DDA would also
like to acknowledge the
Commerce Lions Club
for its involvement,’’ said
Craver. “The Lions Club
volunteered over 30 hours
and was an integral part
of this year’s success.
Their eagerness to serve
this community is evident
in the prompt and profes
sional manner in which
they helped manage and
coordinate the event.’’
The market will resume in
June.
Anyone interested in par
ticipating in next year’s mar
ket should contact the DDA
office at 706-335-2954.
City Council
Education can levy its 17.75-
mill tax rate (see separate
story).
Other Business
In other business Monday
night, the council:
•accepted the draft
copy of the city’s compre
hensive recreation master
plan from consultant Bob
Betz and the Recreation
Steering Committee. The
council will review the five-
year plan at a subsequent
work session.
•voted to allow Pinnacle
Bank to use the city parking
lot on the railroad right of
way on North Elm Street for
its grand opening tailgate
party.
•learned from City
Manager Clarence Bryant
that Louisiana-Pacific will
cease production at its ori
ented strand board plant
in Center in October (see
separate story). The closure
will have an effect on city
finances because LP is the
city’s largest user of natural
gas.
• heard McKown report
that two months into the fis
cal year the city is $158,000
in the black — although
its operations are about
$48,000 in the red. McKown
called that “not uncommon
for this time of year.’’
— Sign Moratorium Declared
Cont. from Page 1A
The other planning-related
issue on the agenda was
tabled at the request of the
applicant.
The planning commis
sion had recommended
that Danny Allen’s request
to have 1.62 acres at 66
Harmony Street rezoned
from R-3 to R-5 to replace
a nonconforming trailer be
denied.
Allen requested that the
decision be tabled until
the October meeting. The
council agreed to honor that
request.
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Community Calendar
To place events on the Community Calendar, call 706-387-5406 or e-mail mark@mainstreetnews.com
Thursday, Sept. 11
Kiwanis Club meets: Noon,
Commerce Civic Center.
Cold Sassy Quilters: 1:00 p.m.,
Commerce Public Library.
Monday, Sept. 15
Hospital authority meets: 1:30
p.m., conference room, BJC
Hospital. The BJC Medical Center
Authority manages BJC Hospital
and Nursing Home.
Library board meets: 5:00 p.m.,
Commerce Public Library. The
Commerce Library Board oversees
the city library.
Tuesday, Sept. 16
TOPS meeting: 6:00 p.m., BJC
Medical Center cafeteria. Take Off
Pounds Sensibly is a weight loss
group. Weigh-in is from 5:00 to
5:50.
Thursday, Sept. 18
Kiwanis Club meets: Noon,
Commerce Civic Center.
Pilot Club meets: 7:00 p.m.,
First United Methodist Church of
Commerce. The Pilot Club of Com
merce meets on the third Thursday
of each month.
Saturday, Sept. 20
Art In The Parle: 10-6, Hurri
cane Shoals Park, Hwy. 82 Spur,
Maysville. Arts, crafts, games,
music and more, sponsored by the
Tumbling Waters Society. Admis
sion is free.
Sunday, Sept. 21
Art In The Park: 12:30-5 p.m.,
Hurricane Shoals Park, Hwy.
82 Spur, Maysville. Arts, crafts,
games, music and more, spon
sored by the Tumbling Waters
Society. Admission is free.
Monday, Sept. 22
City planning meeting: 7:00
p.m., Peach Room, Commerce
Civic Center. The Commerce Plan
ning Commission makes recom
mendations to the city council
on zoning requests and land use
matters.
Tuesday, Sept. 23
TOPS meeting: 6:00 p.m., BJC
Medical Center cafeteria. Take Off
Pounds Sensibly is a weight loss
group. Weigh-in is from 5:00 to
5:50.
Lions Club meets: 7:00 p.m.,
Ryan's Steakhouse, Banks Cross
ing.
Thursday, Sept. 25
Cold Sassy Quilters: 6:00 p.m.,
Commerce Public Library.
Friday, Sept. 26
Kiwanis Sporting Clays tourna
ment: 9:00 a.m., Brush Creek
Sporting Club, Colbert. In lieu of
reqular Kiwanis Club meetinq that
week.
Tuesday, Sept. 30
TOPS meeting: 6:00 p.m., BJC
Medical Center cafeteria. Take Off
Pounds Sensibly is a weight loss
group. Weigh-in is from 5:00 to
5:50.
Wednesday, Oct. 1
Chamber breakfast: 7:30 a.m.,
Jefferson Civic Center. Open to all
members of the Jackson County
Area Chamber of Commerce.
Members $5, guests $10.
Thursday, Oct. 2
Kiwanis Club meets: Noon,
Commerce Civic Center.
Monday, Oct. 6
Commerce Council meets: 6:30
p.m., City Hall. This work ses
sion prepares the city council for
its regular meeting the following
Monday.
Maysville Council meets: 7:00
p.m., Maysville Public Library.
Nicholson Council meets: 7:00,
Nicholson City Hall.
Tuesday, Oct. 7
JCCO meets: 6:00 p.m., BJC
Hospital conference room. Jackson
County Community Outreach is a
grassroots community organiza
tion.
TOPS meeting: 6:00 p.m., BJC
Medical Center cafeteria. Take Off
Pounds Sensibly is a weight loss
group. Weigh-in is from 5:00 to
5:50.
Kiwanis Club banquet: 7:00
p.m., Commerce Civic Center.
Thursday, Oct. 9
Cold Sassy Quilters: 1:00 p.m.,
Commerce Public Library.
School board meets: 7:00 p.m.,
Commerce Primary School media
center. This work session prepares
the Commerce Board of Education
for its regular meeting the follow
ing Monday.
Monday, Oct. 13
Commerce Council meets: 6:30
p.m., Commerce Room, Com
merce Civic Center.
School board meets: 7:00 p.m.,
Commerce High School media
center. The Commerce Board of
Education operates the city's inde
pendent school system.
Tuesday, Oct. 14
TOPS meeting: 6:00 p.m., BJC
Medical Center cafeteria. Take Off
Pounds Sensibly is a weight loss
group. Weigh-in is from 5:00 to
5:50.
Lions Club meets: 7:00 p.m.,
Ryan's Steakhouse, Banks Crossing.
Thursday, Oct. 16
Kiwanis Club meets: Noon,
Commerce Civic Center.
Pilot Club meets: 7:00 p.m.,
First United Methodist Church of
Commerce. The Pilot Club of Com
merce meets on the third Thursday
of each month.
Monday, Oct. 20
Hospital authority meets: 1:30
p.m., conference room, BJC
Hospital. The BJC Medical Center
Authority manages BJC Hospital
and Nursing Home.
Tuesday, Oct. 21
TOPS meeting: 6:00 p.m., BJC
Medical Center cafeteria. Take Off
Pounds Sensibly is a weight loss
group. Weigh-in is from 5:00 to
5:50.
Thursday, Oct. 23
Kiwanis Club meets: Noon,
Commerce Civic Center.
Cold Sassy Quilters: 6:00 p.m.,
Commerce Public Library.
Monday, Oct. 27
City planning meeting: 7:00
p.m., Peach Room, Commerce Civ
ic Center. The Commerce Planninq
Commission makes recommenda
tions to the city council on zoning
requests and fand use matters.
Tuesday, Oct. 28
TOPS meeting: 6:00 p.m., BJC
Medical Center cafeteria. Take Off
Pounds Sensibly is a weight loss
group. Weigh-in is from 5:00 to
5:50.
Thursday, Oct. 30
Kiwanis Club meets: Noon,
Commerce Civic Center.
President Says UGA A Good Neighbor
It’s good to have influential
neighbors.
Dr. Michael Adams, presi
dent of the University of
Georgia, thinks his commu
nity of 35,000 students, 9,600
employees and an operating
budget of $1.3 billion makes
a good neighbor for Jackson
County.
His audience last
Wednesday — members of
the Jackson County Area
Chamber of Commerce —
likely agreed.
Adams spoke about the
importance of UGA not just
to Jackson County, but to
all of Georgia in terms of
producing.
Seven of the past eight gov
ernors are UGA grads, he
noted. Freshmen students
are brighter than ever (a 3.86
grade point average, average
SAT of 1,254 and average
in the 92nd percentile of
students going to college in
America), and 70 percent
of Georgia students with
an SAT score of 1,400 or
more are staying in the state.
The key to UGA’s success,
he said, is its caliber of stu
dents.
“You can’t build a great
university without great stu
dents,’’ UGA’s 221st presi
dent said, though admitting
that the school’s rigorous
standards for acceptance
can be a problem.
“When you turn down
10,000 Georgians as we did
this year, you don’t want to
be me in April,’’ he joked.
Two other things are also
needed for the university
to achieve “top quality you
can be proud for your chil
dren and grandchildren to
attend,’’ Adams said.
One is money.
UGA just completed a five-
year capital campaign that
produced $630 million via
donations from more than
100,000 people.
Adams stressed the key
to building the university’s
endowment, which stood at
$22 million when he arrived
in 1997 and has grown to
more than $700 million.
A larger endowment is
necessary, Adams said, “to
maintain the kind of quality
you want’’ even during eco
nomic downturns.
The fact that the university
has raised more than $100
million a year for the past
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three years is among the rea
sons “why you see UGA
mentioned in the upper ech
elons of higher instruction.’’
The other requirement for
building a top educational
facility is future expansion.
One part of that is to
expand its medical educa
tion. The University will
acquire the old Navy School
for $10 million, and start a
medical college beginning in
2010, Adams said.
He called the impact
“almost unimaginable,’’ and
predicted it would make
Athens “one of the major
medical centers of the
Southeast.’’
Adams expressed opti
mism that Athens could land
the proposed $600 million
biological and agricultural
defense facility, for which
it is one of five finalists. It
already has the only Bio 3
lab in the country on a col
lege campus.
Another forward-looking
move is the university’s
acquisition of Channel 32,
Toccoa, which he said will
not only produce income
for UGA’s Grady School of
Journalism, but will also lead
to “major changes in ser
vice in public television in
Georgia.’’
“As successful as the insti
tution has been, I think the
next 10 to 15 years are going
to be better,’’ he concluded.
Adams noted that Jackson
County Comprehensive
High School is among the
“top 50 feeder schools to
UGA’’
Mar-Jac Chicken Cook-Off
At The 41st Annual Autumn Leaf Festival
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Maysville, Georgia
Entries are due in the Mar-Jac booth at 12:00 noon
Any dish containing chicken may be submitted,
including casseroles, soups and salads. Fried, barbecued
or smoked chicken parts may not be entered. A copy of
the recipe used must be included with the entry. By
entering the cook-off, contestants agree to allow recipes
to be published.
UGA Baseball Head Coach David Perno will select the
final three winning dishes and be available for
autographs. Bring your baseballs!
Entries will be judged based on taste, originality and appearance.
C 1st Prize: $500
2nd Prize: $300 \
3rd Prize: $200
Prizes will be awarded following announcement of the winners.
All participants must register on or before Friday
September 26, 2008. No entry will be allowed without prior
registration. Mar-Jac employees are not eligible to enter.
To register, call Flo Becker
at (770) 531-5000 on weekdays from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.
Mar-Jac Poultry - Good Neighbors Since 1954!