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Commerce News ReglOH RoUIldup
PAflF 7A • FFRRTIARV 11 700Q
JCCO To Award
$10,500 In
Scholarships
Jackson County
Community Outreach plans
to award $10,500 in scholar
ships to local high school
graduates this spring.
JCCO is in the process of
distributing applications for
nine $1,000 scholarships
to the four high schools in
the county, the Regional
Evening School and the
Jackson County Adult
Learning Center.
The winners will be gradu
ates who meet the JCCO cri
teria and who have applied
to or been accepted by a
college or technical school.
Each qualified applicant
will be interviewed.
The $1,500 Dr. Tom
Lewis Scholarship will also
be awarded to a recipient
deemed to have demonstrat
ed outstanding leadership
qualities. The scholarship is
named after a former pastor
of Commerce Presbyterian
Church, who was a found
ing member of the JCCO
board.
Awards will be presented
at each school’s Honors
Day program.
The application deadline
is March 20. Applications
should be mailed to JCCO,
P.O. Box 746, Commerce,
GA, 30529, by the respec
tive school counselors.
Thurmond To
Chair Women
In Business
Jennifer Thurmond
serves as the chairman of
the Jackson County Area
Chamber of Commerce
Women in Business organi
zation for 2009.
The officers were named
when the group met Jan. 21.
Other officers are Annette
Raymond, vice chairman;
Annette Studivant, secre
tary; Roxanne Rose, pro
grams; and Cindy George,
membership.
Amber Casper spoke at
the Jan. 21 meeting. She
presented the Work-Based
Learning Program, which
provides high school juniors
and seniors an opportunity
to prepare for careers while
still in high school. Casper
works with the Jackson
County School System.
The organization is open
to all women who are cham
ber members. The next
meeting will be Leb. 18.
BOE Members
To Run
By Districts
HOMER - Members of
the Banks County Board of
Commissioners will now be
elected by district.
The four districts of the
county are shown on a new
map, which is also avail
able at the county annex
for review.
Commissioners from
district two and four will
be elected Nov. 3. Current
commissioner Rickey Cain
lives in district one, while
Joe Barefoot lives in dis
trict three. The chairman is
elected at large.
Dog Released
By County
Heads To Rehab
DANIELSVILLE - A
male pit bull seized from
a Madison County man
accused of dogfighting is
now on its way to rehabilita
tion.
The dog was released to
the county and then sent to
a rescue group in Atlanta,
which placed it in pit bull
rehab.
Criminal charges are
pending against its former
owner, Johnny Johnson, of
Danielsville. The case could
go to court in October or
November.
The dog is said to have
been part of Johnson’s
alleged dogfighting opera
tion, “Shakedown Kennels.’’
It spent three days at
the Madison-Oglethorpe
Animal Shelter (MOAS).
Susan Lornash, director of
MOAS, described the dog
as “fine with people; a little
leery of other dogs’’ during
his stay.
The animal shelter kept
the dog isolated, due to the
sensitivity of the situation.
Lornash described the
pit bull as “a pretty dog,’’
who showed no scars. She
added that he was rather
small, weighing just 24-lb.
Before the dog was offi
cially released to the county,
the district attorney’s office
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seized it as evidence with
a warrant, overturning the
Madison County Animal
Control Board’s ruling in
November to return the dog
to Johnson.
Lornash said housing the
dog was an uncomfortable
situation from the begin
ning.
In fact, the shelter kept the
dog’s whereabouts a secret.
Workers covered his run
with a sheet, so anybody
looking at dogs couldn’t see
him.
“Because we didn’t want
the notoriety, I guess you
would say,’’ she said. “We
didn’t want to get in the
middle of the whole thing.
All we wanted is for the dog
to be OK.’’
Once MOAS received
word that he’d been released
to the county, the shelter
immediately searched for
prospective rescue groups.
When one agreed to take
him, MOAS neutered the
dog.
Requests For
Water Lines To
Be Scrutinized
Burned by past decisions,
the county water and sew
erage authority is tighten
ing the process by which it
decides where some water
lines are laid.
The Jackson County
Water and Sewerage
Authority expects to
approve a new petition
process Thursday night.
It meets at 6:00 at its
headquarters on Martin
Luther King Jr. Drive in
Jefferson.
Decisions to locate
major lines are based on
hydraulic needs of the sys
tem and the potential for
adding new customers.
The proposed policy deals
more with the add-ons,
lines installed because res
idents petition the author
ity after wells run dry or
have other problems.
Typically, a group
appears before the author
ity, gets a petition of prop
erty owners who support
the project, and the staff
and engineers consider the
cost, feasibility and need
in making a decision.
But sometimes, the
people who sign the peti
tion don’t actually accept
county water. Recently, all
12 residents of Deerbrook
Road signed a petition
seeking county water due
to problems with the com
munity well. Once the
funds were committed
via a change order to a
SPLOST (special purpose
local option sales tax)
water project and the line
was under construction —
at a cost of $62,000 — only
two actually signed on for
water.
The authority gave man
ager Eric Klerk and his
staff the go-ahead to cre
ate a new policy for their
consideration.
Among the proposed
changes:
• More than half of prop
erty owners must agree to
buy meters before the proj
ect will be considered.
•The tap fee will be the
full $1,500, not the $750
half price charged on
SPLOST projects.
•The authority will vali
date the petition. If signa
tures cannot be validated,
they will not be counted.
•All signatures must be
witnessed by the person
conducting the petition.
•The authority’s engi
neer will create a cost
estimate and do a cost/
benefit analysis to see
whether the project will be
self-supporting.
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' The Braselton Mews • Tie Banks County Mem • The Madison County Journal
St. Catherine Laboure
Catholic Mission
Mass Schedule: Sat. 4:00 p.m., Sun. 11:00 a.m.,
Wed. 12:10 p.m.
Parish Council meetings: 2nd Sunday of the month
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706-335-2622 Pd.02/09
BANKS COUNTY
HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC.
meets first Monday each month
7:00 p.m. in the Banks Co. Historial
Courthouse at 105 U.S. Hwy. 441
North in Homer pd.-07/09
JEFFERSON
'AMERICAN LEGION
Albert Gordon Post 56
Each 3rd Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.
Harvie Lance, Commander
Phone (706) 654-1274 3io
9S Georgia Real Estate Investors
Aim.v> Association, Inc. - Athens
Meets the third Thursday each month
6:30 pm at the UGA Conferen ce Center
1197 South Lumpkin Street,
Athens, GA 30601
Tom Hewlett - Chapter President
thewlettl@charter.net Pd. 12/09
Citizens Organized for
Pipeline Safety
investigating the health risks to citizens from
underground pipelines and booster stations in
Madison Co. Meetings 6:30 p.m. at the Colbert
Grove Baptist Church the 2nd Thurs. of each
month. 706-783-4702. Pd.04/09
White Plains Baptist Church
Faith Bible Class meets every Sunday morning
at 10:00 a.m. It is a place where strangers
become friends and friends become family.
706-367-5650
White Plains Baptist Church
3650 Hwy. 124 West, Jefferson, GA 30549
The Jackson Co. Republican Party
Would like you to meet us for
breakfast the second Sat. of each
month, 8:00 at The Jefferson
House. For more information, call
706-652-2967 or email
fishyglass@yahoo.com Pd.it/os
BANKS COUNTY
AMERICAN LEGION
Post 215
Meets each 3rd Thursday, 7 p.m.
In Homer, GA at the
American Legion Building on
Historic Highway 441 Pd.06/09
VETERANS OF
FOREIGN WARS
Post 4872, Hurricane Shoals Convention Ctr.
Each 4th Tuesdasy, 7:00 p.m.
Lamar Langston, Commander
Phone 706-652-2627 26.1
UNITY LODGE
F & A.M.
No. 36, Jefferson, GA
1st Tuesday of each month, 7:30 p.m.
Dwayne Potts • 706-367-4449
Borders St. behind Tabo’s 260
JEFFERSON EIONS CEUB
Meets 2nd & 4th Monday
Jefferson City Clubhouse
6:30 p.m.-(706) 387-1156
Mack Cates, President
JEFFERSON ROTARY CLUB
Meets Tuesdays
Jefferson City Clubhouse
12:30 p.m.-(706) 367-7696
Gina Mitsdarffer, President
New Gym, Fine Arts
Facility Proposed At JCCHS
By Kerri Testement
Two major construc
tion projects at Jackson
County Comprehensive
High School could bring
the school up to par with
its East Jackson rival.
The school system is con
sidering a proposal to build
a new gymnasium, and
drama/chorus building at
the nearly 20-year-old high
school in Jefferson.
But funding the two proj
ects will cost the district a
total of $9 million — which
is not currently available.
“Those two projects are
expensive projects and
we can’t afford them right
now,’’ said Keith Everson,
assistant superintendent
for human resources and
support services.
The district wants to con
struct a 9,800 square-foot
drama/chorus building
across from the existing
auditorium at JCCHS. An
additional 1,000 square
feet for storage would also
be added to the audito
rium.
JCCHS is also slated to
get a new 5,900 square-
foot gym with facilities
almost identical to those at
the EJCHS gym, except for
the practice gym.
When the Commerce
school opened in August
2007, JCCHS parents
said improvements were
needed at the older high
school.
The proposed two-story
gym at JCCHS would be
on the slope leading to the
football field in the school’s
student parking lot.
The proposed drama/
chorus building has a price
tag of $1.4 million, which
includes additional storage
at the existing auditorium.
“We feel like if we do the
drama and gym together
at the same time, it would
save costs,’’ said Dennis
Patrick, director of admin
istrative services.
But school system offi
cials estimate it will take
18 months to collect the
sales tax funds neces
sary to start the projects.
The most recent sales tax
collection available gen
erated $353,000 for the
district — one of the low
est months for the school
system.
“We have to have the
entire amount before we
can bid on it,’’ Everson
said at Thursday’s board of
education meeting.
Meanwhile, the district
plans to work on JCCHS’
existing gym.
Those upgrades include
a new HVAC system in
the court area and locker
room, reconditioning the
bleachers, new interior
paint, and improvements
in the locker room and
electric work.
That work will be fund
ed with Special Purpose
Local Option Sales Tax
(SPLOST) funds ear
marked for maintenance
for improvements.
And the district plans
to apply for state funds
this summer that could
bring additional changes
in the instructional areas
at JCCHS.
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