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Vol. 133
No. 48
20 Pages
2 Sections
50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875
25th King
Celebration
Set Sunday
The 25th annual Martin
Luther King Jr. Birthday
Commemoration will be
held Sunday at St. Paul
First Baptist Church, locat
ed at 573 Gordon Street in
Jefferson.
At 3:30 p.m., the Poplar
Springs Baptist Church
Choir of Jefferson, under
the direction of Marianne
Burley, will present a mini
gospel music concert. The
ecumenical service will
start at 4 p.m.
Mayor Willie E. Burns
of Washington will be the
keynote speaker. He is
serving his second term
as mayor and is a mem
ber of Mt. Nebo Baptist
Church.
Burns served in the Army
where he graduated from
U.S. Army Military Police
School and was assigned
to the 561st Military Police
Company at Fort Meyer
in Virginia. After his mili
tary service, he gradu
ated from the Northeast
Georgia Police Academy
in Athens and joined
the police department in
the City of Elberton. He
Cont. on Page 3A
msm
THURSDAY, JAN. 15
Sunny, windy: Low, 20;
high, 39; 0% chance rain
FRIDAY, JAN. 16
Mostly sunny: Low, 18; high,
37; 0% chance rain
SATURDAY, JAN. 17
Sunny: Low, 29; high, 45;
0% chance rain
SUNDAY, JAN. 18
Partly cloudy: Low, 27; high,
48; 10% chance rain
Percipitation this month
3.42 inches
Percipitation This Year
3.42 Inches
INDEX
Births 7A
Church News 8A
Classified Ads 6-8B
Calendar 3A
Crime News 6A
News Roundup 2A
Obituaries 101 1A
Opinions 4A
School News 1 2A
Sports 1-3B
Social News 7A
City BOE To Proceed With
Bids On New High School
By Ben Munro
With everything being
“right for the picking" now
to build, city schools super
intendent Dr. James “Mac"
McCoy has recommended
that the school system seek
bids to construct the new
Commerce High School.
“Economic times are bad,
but in one way it could
be good for those of us
who are trying to bid out
construction jobs," McCoy
said at Monday night’s
board of education (BOE)
meeting.
The school board gave its
blessing to proceed with
that process.
“I think if we delay it any
longer, it’s going to cost us
more," BOE member Bill
Davis said.
According to those he’s
talked to, McCoy said
there’s currently a bidding
war going on among con
struction companies hungry
for work during the current
economic downturn.
Still, McCoy warned that
bids for a new CHS could
run over budget, especially
with an auxiliary gym in
the plans and architect fees
added in.
“If we need to trim, if we
need to cut something or,
lo and behold, have to rede
sign, then we’ll do so after
we get our project costs,"
McCoy said.
As for the school system’s
current construction proj
ect, workers last week start
ed pouring the concrete for
sidewalks for a gym that will
serve as a temporary home
for the CHS basketball
teams. They also installed
a gas line over the weekend
and hardwood floors are to
be delivered this week.
A permanent gym will be
built later during the new
CHS construction, leaving
this temporary gym as a
practice facility.
The cable barriers
erected in the median
of Interstate 85 last
year are saving lives,
but they’re also forc
ing EMS and fire
services to change
coverage areas.
Barriers Change
Way Fire, EMS
Are Dispatched
On Interstate 85
Inability To Cross Median Means New Strategies Required
By Mark Beardsley
The cable barriers
erected in the median
of Interstate 85 last year
are changing the way fire
and rescue units are dis
patched .
The barriers, designed
to prevent the crossover
head-on collision, also pre
vent fire and emergency
personnel from crossing
the median in an emer
gency
“It makes it a little
more difficult," conceded
Commerce Fire Chief Keith
Whitfield. “If we have to
go to the other side of the
interstate, we have to go up
to the next exit."
In emergency, those extra
minutes can be critical.
The 911 center has
changed its dispatching of
fire and rescue. Basically,
By Mark Beardsley
If spring rains bring sum
mer flowers, fall leaves bring
— free mulch for Commerce
and Jackson County gar
deners and landscapers.
Jackson County just com
pleted its fall “grinding" of
yard wastes into mulch. The
same company is turning
mountains of tree trimmings
and leaves into mulch in
Commerce this week.
who responds depends
upon what side of the road
the wreck is on.
For example, a wreck on
T85 northbound between
Dry Pond and Commerce
would be handled by the
Plainview units, which
could get on the interstate
at the Dry Pond exit and
drive north to the wreck.
Commerce would handle
calls on the same stretch
of road in the southbound
lanes. Braselton units
would be dispatched to
wrecks on 1-85 north
bound all the way up to
U.S. 129; Jefferson would
handle the southbound
lane of the same section,
plus the northbound lane
between U.S. 129 and
Dry Pond.
When a location comes
in, the 911 system will
“We’ve probably got 500
to 700 tons," commented
Tom Page, Jackson County’s
solid waste director. “It’s
in three-to-four-inch pieces
good for open beds and
hills, more so than flower
beds."
The county gives away
the mulch on a first come,
first served basis, although
it also uses a lot in its own
operations.
automatically page out the
appropriate units.
“There are some long
stretches of road between
the off-ramps," notes Steve
Nichols, Jackson County
Emergency Medical
Services (EMS) director.
The barriers primar
ily affect units from
Commerce, Plainview,
Jefferson and Braselton,
although units from
Harrisburg and North
Jackson sometimes work
the interstate, Nichols said.
“We’ve already readjusted
the ambulance respons
es," said Nichols. “Now
we’re working on the fire
responses. Basically you
can turn around at the on-
off ramps, and that’s it."
The barriers have been
something of a “nuisance,"
in terms of EMS responses
“Come to the landfill and
tell us you want a load of
mulch. We’ll load it with a
Bobcat," says Page. “If you
have a bigger truck, we can
load it with a backhoe."
Landfill hours are 7:30-
5:30 weekdays and 7:30-2:00
Saturdays. Page asks that
people seeking mulch come
at least a half hour before
closing.
Commerce stockpiles yard
but officials acknowledge
their benefit.
'There’s no telling how
many lives the cables have
already saved," Whitfield
commented. “No doubt it’s
saved a lot."
“Weighing between the
two, it’s a benefit by far,"
Nichols agreed. “A little
aggravation, a lot more
benefit."
The problem comes
when the wreck is off the
roadway to the outside of
the interstate, said Nichols.
Wrecks caught up in the
cable in the median itself
can often be worked from
either side of the barrier.
“At one time the DOT
talked to us a little bit
about some crossovers.
I’m guessing that’s gone in
the budget cuts," Nichols
stated.
wastes at its former dump
site at the end of Martin
Luther King Jr. Drive. As
of Friday, the city had just
one small pile of mulch, but
with a grinding crew start
ing Monday, that changed
rapidly.
The quality of Commerce’s
mulch has also improved.
The city used to grind up
Cont. on Page 3A
Finances
Stay Tight
For City
Still In Black, But
Operations In Red
By Mark Beardsley
Technically the city of
Commerce is in the black
halfway through its budget
year. In reality, however,
it’s operating $400,000 in
the red, thanks to a com
bination of factors.
Finance Director Steve
McKown explained the
city’s financial condition
at Monday night’s meet
ing. If he went into a little
more detail than usual, it’s
because of the tough eco
nomic circumstances.
On paper, the city is
$173,273 in the black, but
McKown said those num
bers are misleading.
“Before we celebrate
and lower taxes, let’s
consider what comprises
those numbers," he told
the council.
McKown explained that
the city has $580,158 in
“restricted" revenues that
make the bottom line
appear inflated. That
includes SPLOST funds
($427,592), confiscated
drugmoney($ 138,620) and
money for the city library
expansion ($13,946) that
are unavailable for general
operations.
Basically, those funds are
being “saved" for future
projects. SPLOST and
other capital projects are
all on hold.
The problem is in opera
tions. Water and sewerage
revenue is $130,006 in the
red and the natural gas
revenue is $343,484, while
the Electric Department,
though not having a stel
lar year, is $51,454 in the
black.
The gas revenue is the
major problem. Although
temperatures are cold this
week, to date, fall and win
ter have been warmer than
average.
Cont. on Page 3A
City, County Have Abundance Of Free Mulch