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SEE PAGE IB
SEE PAGE IB
Tigers Face
Devilish Lincoln
County Friday
Soaring Eagles,
Still Undefeated,
To Play Riverside
Vol. 131
No. 32
20 Pages
2 Sections
50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875
Maysville Council Votes To Stay Dry
Unanimous Vote Ends Debate Over Legal Sales, Pouring Of Beer & Wine
By Angela Gary
As the rain fell, Maysville
opted to stay dry. The
Maysville City Council
unanimously voted to reject
a proposed beer and wine
ordinance Monday night
as more than 100 citizens
packed into the fire station
to witness the vote.
Council members Stephan
Lewis, Clay Dorsey and
Lynn Villyard and Mayor
Jerry Baker voted against
the sale of beer and wine in
the town. Council member
Rebecca McNeely was not
present for the meeting.
The sale of beer and wine
has been a topic of debate
in town for the past several
months. The proposed ordi
nance would have allowed
beer and wine to be sold
by the drink at restaurants
and by the package at retail
stores.
The council considered
the ordinance because a
restaurant owner requested
it earlier this year. Another
resident is renovating a
building to locate a sports
tavern and wanted to be
able to offer beer and wine.
Hundreds of town residents
have spoken against the sale
of beer and wine at the pub
lic hearings held over the
past several months.
At Monday night’s meet
ing, Lewis made the motion
to deny the ordinance and
Dorsey seconded it. The
crowd cheered after the vote
was unanimous to deny the
ordinance.
Lewis said he made his
decision based on the feel
ings of the majority of the
people in the town who
spoke publicly or to him
personally about the issue.
“I believe we still live in
a democracy,” he said. I
think you have to abide by
the majority.”
Lewis said another factor
in his decision was that he
doesn’t believe the revenue
from the sale of beer and
wine would be greater than
the expenses related to the
ordinance.
Villyard, who pointed
out that she had been the
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Maysville councilman Stephan Lewis (second
from left) made the motion to reject a proposed
ordinance to allow the sale of beer and wine. The
vote to deny the ordinance was unanimous. Also
shown are council members Lynn Villyard (center)
and Clay Dorsey (right). Photo by Angela Gary
City Planners
Cancel Meeting
The Commerce Planning
Commission has cancelled
its September meeting for
lack of business.
The planning panel,
which usually meets
at 7 p.m. on the fourth
Monday of each month
in the Commerce Room
of the Commerce Civic
Please Turn to Page 3A
msnn
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24
Isolated T-storms: Low, 67;
high, 87; 30% chance rain
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25
Isolated T-storms: Low, 67;
high, 85; 30% chance rain
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26
Thundershowers: Low, 65;
high, 78; 40% chance rain
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27
Thundershowers: Low, 60;
high, 78; 40% chance rain
Precipitation this month
6.11 inches
Precipitation This Year
37.31 Inches
INDEX
Rainy Days At The Park
Rain Dampens Festival Crowd
Bailey Jones, 8, of Hoschton, and Hannah Gerbig, 10, of Jefferson,
didn’t let a little rain keep them from enjoying Art in the Park Sunday
afternoon. They came prepared for the inclement weather, but intermit-
tant rain all day Saturday and Sunday put a damper on the crowd and
was the first time in 19 years that it has rained on both days of the annual
festival. For more photos, see page 8B. Photo by Mark Beardsley
Commissioners
Set Tentative
Property Tax Rates
Final Approval Of
Budget, Tax Rates
Due In October
By Angela Gary
Jackson County plans to
utilize furlough days for
employees, refinancing of
bonds and cutting retire
ment benefits to balance
next year’s budget.
The Jackson County
Board of Commissioners
gave preliminary approval
Monday night to a $66 mil
lion budget after months
of meetings and discus
sions on ways to trim a
$3.3 million shortfall. The
$66 million total budget
includes a $35 million gen
eral fund budget.
The BOC also tentatively
set a 9.50-mill property tax
rate for incorporated areas
of the county and a 8.61-
mill rate for unincorpo
rated areas of the county.
This represents a 0.01 mill
increase in the incorporat
ed area and no change in
the unincorporated area.
The commissioners will
give final approval of the
budget and tax rates will
in October.
Before the vote, the com
missioners held a public
hearing on the proposed
budget and tax rates, but
no citizens spoke.
Finance director John
Hulsey said the budget
was balanced without use
of prior years’ reserves
by implementing the fol
lowing measures to close
the deficit: restructuring
and partial refund of the
economic development
bonds, employee fur
loughs, elimination of 401a
retirement benefits, EMS
revenue increase, adjust
ment of the jail operating
budget; and adjustment
of insurance for admin
istrative building and the
courthouse.
Maysville Gets Streetscape Grant
Maysville will receive $500,000 in federal stimulus
funds for its Streetscape project.
Governor Sonny Perdue announced last week that he
certified a list of county transportation projects under
the “1511 Certification” that will be funded through the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
Maysville is being awarded $500,000 and will add
$100,000 of city money toward a Streetscape project,
according to city clerk Barbara Thomas. The project
Please Turn to Page 3A
Library Foundation Clears 501 c 3 Hurdle
Tax-Exempt Status Expected To
Help Fund-Raising Efforts
Church News 4B
Classified Ads 5-7B
Calendar 3A
Crime News 6-7A
News Roundup 2A
Obituaries 1OA
Opinions 4-5A
School News 1 2A
Sports 1-3B
Social News 1 1A
By Mark Beardsley
Its 501 c 3 certificate
in hand, the Commerce
Library Foundation can
now solicit grants and dona
tions for both its capital
campaign and other needs.
“With the 501 c 3, it is
going to be easy for us to
apply for different grants,”
explained the library’s direc
tor, Miguel Vicente, to the
Commerce Library Board.
That tax-exempt certifica
tion is considered a key in
getting grants to raise the
rest of the city’s matching
funds for the state grant
already approved to add
5,000 square feet to the
library. Fund-raising chair
man Tricia Massey has said
repeatedly that national
foundations with local ties
have indicated a willingness
to donate - but only to a tax-
exempt organization.
Meanwhile, the Piedmont
Regional Library System
has received a $70,000 grant
from the Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation for a
pilot program to promote
the region’s 11 libraries.
PRL director Alan
Harkness said the money
will be used for advertis
ing and promotions. The
Piedmont Regional Library
is one of only three library
systems in the country
(another is in Savannah) to
test the program.
The program, Geek the
Library (www.geektheli-
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