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Region Roundup
Addition To Old
Courthouse To
Be Removed
JEFFERSON - The
Jackson County Board of
Commissioners approved a
recommendation to remove
the 1966 addition from
the old Jackson County
Courthouse.
The action comes at the
request of a citizen’s com
mittee overseeing restora
tion of the historic court
house in Jefferson.
Monday night, the BOC
unanimously agreed that the
addition may be removed
during the renovation of the
courthouse.
The courthouse was built
in 1879. There have been
four major additions. Three
were in 1907 when the clock
tower and two side wings
containing vaults were
added. In 1966, an office
for the clerk of courts and
a civil defense area were
added.
The BOC also approved
a proposed $1.7 million
budget for the renovation
project. The project is being
funded through a $2 million
bond approved by voters
in 2007.
Broun: The
Stimulus
Is Socialism
DANIEFSVIFFE
Congressman Paul Broun
says the federal stimulus
plan is a “steamroller of
socialism’’ that will “stran
gle" the country’s economy.
The 10 th DistrictRepublican
spoke before Madison
County Farm Bureau mem
bers at a Saturday morn
ing legislative breakfast.
State Representative Tom
McCall also attended. State
Representative Alan Powell
and State Senator Ralph
Hudgens were unable to
attend the event.
Broun called the federal
plan a “non-stimulus" pack
age.
“The president will sign it,"
Broun said. “And (I believe)
it will prolong and deepen
the recession and possibly
push us into a recession."
Broun said one part of the
bill, to establish a national
medical record system, will
mandate that all medical
records be sent to a govern
ment computer (repository)
and that he feels this is a
violation of privacy, that will
also give too much govern
ment control to individual
health care decisions in the
future.
And Broun predicted that
this is just the first of many
bills during the Obama
administration focusing
on increasing the size and
power of government.
He also laid the blame
for some of today’s eco
nomic problems at the feet
of Republicans, who he said
“acted like Democrats" over
the past eight years, includ
ing former President George
W. Bush, whom he called a
“big-spending president."
The Congressman said
deregulation wasn’t the
cause of the current eco
nomic situation, but rather
the housing market crash.
“Money (for homes) was
given to people who can’t
pay it back," Broun said.
He predicted that the
country would not see a fix
for the problem in the cur
rent Congress.
“We’re (lawmakers) not
stopping the problem that
created this mess in the
beginning," he said.
Broun also spoke of his
support of the “Fair Tax,"
which he maintains will
leave more money in peo
ple’s pockets, which would
stimulate the economy.
And he said he would like
to see more done to encour
age small business instead
of regulations that are “kill
ing them."
Farm Bureau members
also heard about state mat
ters from Rep. McCall, who
was asked about current
environmental air qual
ity regulatory controls that
include Madison County as
part of the metro Atlanta
area.
McCall said he was con
tinuing to fight the county’s
inclusion in the metro area’s
burn ban, particularly since
it interferes with the agricul
tural preparation of fields
for planting.
He said Madison County’s
inclusion in the metro
area air quality is a tactic
to improve Atlanta’s pol
lution numbers. “The solu
tion to pollution is dilution
...,” McCall said. “It makes
(Atlanta) look better with
the clean air from Madison
County factored in."
The group also discussed
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the upcoming 2010 census
and the proposal to move
it from the Department of
Commerce into the White
House.
Broun said the new admin
istration wants to use “sta
tistical sampling" to count
those (the homeless, minor
ities, the poor and indigent)
that they maintain cannot
be counted accurately.
“... They want to count
people that are primarily
Democrats."
Bicknell And
Graham On
Water Council
Two Jackson County lead
ers will serve on a Georgia
regional water planning
council expected to have
a key role in the statewide
water planning process.
Braselton Mayor Pat
Graham and JacksonCounty
Board of Commissioners
Chairperson Hunter
Bicknell were named to the
Upper Oconee regional
water council.
State Rep. Terry England
and state senator Bill
Cowsert were named ex-
officio members of the
council, which includes rep
resentatives from Barrow,
Clarke, Walton, Oconee
and other counties.
The Comprehensive
Statewide Water
Management Plan, approved
by the General Assembly
in 2008, created 10 water
planning regions. Each of
these regions will have a
water planning council to
represent the water inter
ests unique to their respec
tive regions.
Each council comprises 25
members, three alternates
and an ex-officio member
from both the House and
Senate.
The councils will over
see preparation of regional
water development plans
and conservation plans for
their planning regions. The
plans will focus on water
quantity and water quality
issues and will include fore
casts of future water supply
and wastewater treatment
needs.
Under requirements
of the plan, the governor
selects 13 members of each
council and one alternate
member who will attend all
meetings and vote if needed
to establish a quorum. The
lieutenant governor and
the speaker of the Georgia
House of Representatives
select the remaining coun
cil members including non
voting ex-officio members
from the Senate and the
House.
For more information,
visit www.georgiawaterplan-
ning.org.
Jackson Maps
Now Available
On The Internet
The Jackson County gov
ernment has launched an
online mapping service
through Qpublic’s Quick
Access Network.
This mapping service
allows citizens and land-
owners to view online
maps of their tax parcels.
This service includes parcel
boundaries, aerial photog
raphy and visual mapping
of the last three years of
property sales.
“This is the first time this
service has ever been avail
able for Jackson County,"
said county GIS manager
Joel Fogan. “Though we
In Loving Memory
February 20th would have been the
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Gone, but not forgotten by so many.
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Happy Birthday in Heaven.
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Grandchildren & Great-Grandchildren
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Mon. - Thurs. 10-6:30 • Fri. - Sat. 10-7
Grove Recreation
Announces:
T-BALL AND BASEBALL
REGISTRATION
When: Saturday, February 21
9:00 am -12:00 pm
Saturday, February 28
9:00 am -12:00 pm
Where: Grove Level Baptist Church
Recreational Building, Maysville
Cost: $55 per child (Includes
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Age Groups: T-Ball 4-6 & Baseball 7-9
Registration is open to the public.
Contact:
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have used Qpublic for regu
lar parcel records for many
years, we have never had an
online mapping service that
showed the parcels."
Online mapping data will
be updated once a month
by the GIS department. The
values and tax roll data are
maintained and updated by
the tax assessor’s property.
“If you find a property
has not been mapped out
online it is probably with
in the mapping cycle and
will be mapped in a future
update," Logan said.
The website is www.qpub-
lic.net/ga/jackson.
Beekeeping
Class To Be
Held Feb. 26
A beekeeping class will be
held at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb.
26, by the Jackson County
Farm Bureau as a follow-up
to its previous beekeeping
jumpstart class.
This meeting was resched
uled from its original date
of Tuesday, Feb. 24.
A meeting and meal will
be held, with international
bee expert Keith Fielder of
the University of Georgia
Extension Service offering
a program on pest and dis
eases of hives in Georgia.
The meeting is free, but an
RSVP is requested. Contact
Ali Merk at ammerk@gfb.
org or 706-367-8877.
'Emergency' At
Waste Plant
Gets Funding
Emergency replacement
of two 47-year-old pumps
at its wastewater treatment
plant will cost the Jackson
County Water and Sewerage
Authority up to $170,000.
Meeting last Thursday
night, the authority
approved the emergency
expenditure — a move that
enables the equipment to
be purchased and the work
to be done without going
through a bid process.
The sludge return pump
station, part of the old
Jefferson Mills system, is so
old that parts have not been
made in decades. Its two
pumps have broken down
a number of times recently,
and their failure would be
an environmental debacle.
“It would put a lot of sol
ids in the river and turn
the river brown. The folks
at Bear Creek (Reservoir)
wouldn’t be happy," advised
Eric Klerk, the authority’s
manager.
Just in case, the author
ity has a diesel pump on
standby.
The pumps are in a 25-foot
pit, which is a safety issue;
the new pump station will
be above ground.
The project is expected
to be completed in four
weeks.
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Commerce Cultural Arts Center
Feburary 20-21 • 7:30 p.m.
Hurry! All tickets purchased
in advance are only $10.00
$17.00 for adults, $15.00 for seniors/students
$12.00 for groups of 8 or more
Savannah River Productions Box Office
(706) 376-7397
Winter Sale
Thursday - Saturday Feb. 79-2 7
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