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S(L>1 IA/ls/us J&r *2010
Vol. 131
No. 46
14 Pages
1 Section
The
www.CommerceNewsTODAY.com
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Commerce News
50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875
Wednesday
DECEMBER 30, 2009
New Administration
Meet the new Commerce city government following Tuesday night’s instal
lation ceremony held at the Commerce Civic Center. Left to right are (front)
Darren Owensby, councilman, Ward 2; Mayor Charles L. Hardy Jr.; mayor pro
tern Keith Burchett; city clerk Shirley Willis; (back) Archie D. Chaney, council
man, Ward 1; Clark Hill, councilman, Ward 4; Clarence Bryant, city manager;
and Mark Fitzpatrick, councilman, Ward 3. Burchett and Owensby are new
comers to the city council after the election in November and Chaney was
re-elected in November.
'09 In Retrospect
The Economy Trumps All
As The Top Story Of 2009
Freedom Bank customers came in Monday,
March 9, and found that the assets of the bank
had been sold to Northeast Georgia Bank.
Bring One
(Christmas Tree)
For The Chipper
After all that waiting and
preparation, the holiday is
over.
New Year’s Day approach
es, it’s time to get rid of
that Christmas tree, and one
local group wants to be sure
trees are recycled.
Keep Jackson County
Beautiful offers its annual
Bring One for the Chipper
Christmas tree recycling
at the following locations
through Jan. 10.
The locations are:
• Arcade — City Hall
•Commerce — recycling
bins in Lanier Tech parking
lot
• Hoschton — Towne
Center
• Jackson County Transfer
Station on County Farm
Road
• Jefferson — Civic Center
• Nicholson — City Hall
• Talmo — Fire Station
All ornaments and decora
tions should be removed.
The trees may be ground
up for mulch or used for fish
habitat.
Commerce residents who
leave their trees out by the
road can rest assured. Those
trees will also be ground into
mulch.
rcrrurrn
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31
Morning rain: Low, 35; high,
47; 40% chance rain
FRIDAY, JANUARY 1
Mostly sunny: Low, 24; high,
43; 10% chance rain
SATURDAY, JANUARY 2
Sunny: Low, 24; high, 44; 0%
chance rain
SUNDAY, JANUARY 3
mT*~
Partly cloudy: Low, 25; high,
47; 10% chance rain
Precipitation this month
9.25 inches
Precipitation This Year
65.1 Inches
INDEX
Church News 1OA
Classified Ads ... 1 2-14A
Calendar 3A
Crime News 6A
News Roundup 2A
Obituaries 1 1A
Opinions 4A
Sports 8-9A
Without a doubt, the
economy trumped all other
stories in The Commerce
News during 2009.
As the recession deep
ened, its effects reached
into virtually every area
of news coverage. School
systems and local govern
ments struggled to make
ends meet, all but shut
down capital spending
and laid off or furloughed
workers. For the first time
in memory, local budgets
went down.
The recession contribut
ed to the need to sell BJC
Medical Center, to the low
bid on the construction of
the new Commerce High
School. Unemployment
surpassed 11 percent, and
while government officials
have said the recession is
over, you can’t prove that
locally.
Last January, the failure
of an investment group to
line up financing to buy
BJC Medical Center was
linked to the recession.
BJC promptly laid off 45
Please Turn to Page 7A
Other Top Stories Of The Year
Business: The effort to sell BJC
Medical Center to Restoration
Healthcare of Tennessee will
carry into 2010. Page 7A
Education: The begin
ning of construction of a new
Commerce High School finally
began. Page 7A
Politics: Events, from a death
to a resignation to the election
during 2009 result in the turn
over of four of six seats on the
Commerce City Council. Page
7A
Crime: The murder of 6year-
old Michael Levigne by his grand
father stunned the Commerce
community. Page 6A
< nospim mmm
Sale under way: BJC Medical Center
The new CHS under construction
First City
Furlough Day
Is On Monday
If you’ve got business to
conduct at City Hall, forget
about getting it taken care
of Monday.
City Hall — and all other
non-emergency offices of
the Commerce government
— will be closed Monday
as the city takes the first of
six “furlough” days planned
through June.
Coincidentally, all offic
es of the Jackson County
government will also close
Monday as the county
takes one of its furlough
days.
Both Jackson County
and Commerce instituted
the unpaid days off to help
cope with revenue shortfalls
caused by the economic
downturn. Commerce offi
cials timed most of their
furlough days to coincide
with Jackson County’s fur
lough days.
Remaining Dates
Commerce
• Monday, Jan. 4
• Friday, Feb. 19
• Friday, March 12
• Monday, April 5
• Friday, May 28
• Friday, June 25
Jackson County
• Monday, Jan. 4
• Friday, Feb. 19
• Friday, March 5
• Friday, April 2
• Friday, May 28
• Friday, June 25
• Tuesday, July 6
• Monday, Sept. 13
• Friday, Oct. 15
• Wednesday, Nov. 24
• Wednesday, Dec. 22
Commerce hopes to
save upwards of $100,000
in direct and indirect costs
through June; Jackson
County expects to save
$646,000 during 2010 with
its furlough days.
CABA To Bring In
'09 With Party Thurs.
The Commerce Area
Business Association will
hold its annual New Year’s
Party from 8:30 to 12:30
Thusday at the Commerce
Civic Center.
Tickets are $20 apiece
for the BYOB event, and
reserved tables for eight are
$120. Tickets can be pur
chased at Northeast Georgia
Bank (in Commerce,
Jefferson and Braselton),
and at Giftworks at The
Joy Shoppe, Little Italy and
Wingslingers in downtown
Commerce.
No one under age 21 will
be admitted.
The Highballs, an Athens
band that plays a wide vari
ety of music, will provide
the music. For information
about the band, go to the-
highballs.com.
There will also be a
table-decorating contest
for the party, with prizes
awarded to the winners.
Participants can decorate
their tables from 5:00 to 7
p.m. the day of the party,
and judging will take place
at 8:00.
QuikTrip Negotiating
With Tanger For
Town Centre Location
A QuikTrip could be the
next new business to locate
at Banks Crossing.
Mark Valentine, general
manager of Tanger Factory
Outlets, confirmed last
week that QuikTrip has
signed a letter of intent to
locate in the Tanger Town
Centre in Banks County.
“I think there are still a
number of hurdles to over
come,” Valentine warned.
QuikTrip convenience
stores are located in nine
states. All convenience
stores offer guaranteed
gasoline and truck fleet
diesel fueling programs
as well as a wide selec
tion of convenience store
food and beverage prod
ucts. The nearest QuikTrip
store is on U.S. 129 North
in Pendergrass. It is the
northernmost QuikTrip on
Interstate 85.
Valentine said that while
he “pretty well knows the
general plan,” the com
pany’s leasing department
is handling most of the
details.
“It will probably involve
redoing some of the build
ing structures, just a por
tion of the property in the
front,” he said.
As for what tenants it
would affect and what is
being done about them,
Valentine said he was
unsure.
“If tenants do need to
be relocated, I imagine
that leasing will work with
them in whatever way is
necessary to try to keep
them,” he said.
Between its two proper
ties (Tanger Town Centre
and Tanger II Outlet
Center), Tanger has about
135 tenants at Banks
Crossing, according the
company’s website.