Newspaper Page Text
THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS. WEDNESDAY. TANUARY 11. 2012 - PAGE 11A
City clerk Barbara Thomas swore in Maysville’s (Ward 4), Clyde “Junior” Hardy (Ward 2), Charlie
new city council members on Jan. 3, the first regu- Howington (Ward 3), Kathleen Bush (Ward 1) and
lar meeting of 2012. Left to right are Scott Harper Richard Presley (mayor).
New Maysville Council Takes Over
By Erin Rossiter
A standing-room-only
crowd witnessed Maysville’s
new city council members
take office on Tuesday Jan.
3, during the first regular
meeting of 2012.
Mayor Richard Presley
Scott Harper, Clyde “Junior”
Hardy Charlie Howington
and Kathleen Bush arrived
to the Maysville library at
least 30 minutes before the
scheduled 7 p.m. start to
discuss the night’s agenda
with city clerk Barbara
Thomas.
Thomas called the meet
ing to order and went on to
swear in the officials, who
were elected on Nov. 8.
None of the previous coun
cil members returned to
office, either because they
decided not to run or were
not elected.
Presley acknowledged
the crowd and its support
a couple of times during the
meeting.
“We look forward to
working with the town and
everybody putting in their
input and seeing what we
can get accomplished,” the
mayor said.
Harper, who the new
council members unani
mously voted as their may
or-pro tem, said he “appre
ciated” the work done by
the previous council and
Mayor Jerry Baker, who
attended the meeting. As
mayor pro-tem, Harper will
act as mayor when Presley
is absent.
“I appreciate everything
you’ve done,” Harper told
the crowd. “Hopefully we’ll
continue to move forward.
Thank you all.”
While the council meeting
lasted only 10 minutes, the
group did vote on several
significant matters related
to city appointments and
city hall.
Police chief Clarence
Sullens, city clerk Barbara
Thomas and municipal court
judge Hammond Law were
all re-appointed to serve
for 2012. Additionally, the
council agreed to a one-year
contract with Engineering
Management, Inc., which
will handle Maysville’s engi
neering services.
The city also approved
continuing its use of the
Gainesville law firm of
Hulsey, Oliver and Maher
through April 1.
Discussion about an ongo
ing roof leak at City Hall
took several minutes near
the end of the brief meet
ing.
Presley advised the coun
cil that Thomas had alerted
him to the problem, which
intensified with recent rains.
She has been using buckets
and tarps to protect areas
around her desk where the
rainwater is falling, he said.
“The floor is open for
discussion, whatever coun
cil feels we need to do to
address this and get started
on this emergency issue,”
8 Area Agencies Receive
EMC Foundation Grants
Eight agencies serving
area residents have been
awarded grants totaling
$80,337 by the Jackson
EMC Foundation — a char
ity funded by the electric
cooperative’s members
through their donations to
the Operation Round Up
program.
The Gwinnett Student
Leadership Team received
$15,000 to help support
its student leadership pro
gram, serving high school
juniors and seniors in 20
public schools.
The two-year program
provides students with
practical leadership skills
and trains them to return
to their home high school
to facilitate the core lead
ership principles with
groups there, increasing
the capacity to develop
student leaders.
The Piedmont Regional
Library System — which
serves residents of Banks,
Barrow and Jackson coun
ties — received $15,000
to join the Georgia
Download Destination
(GADD), a consortium of
24 public library systems
in the state that allows
library patrons to browse,
checkout and download
electronic books (ebooks)
and audiobooks free of
charge.
The Tree House — a chil
dren’s advocacy center
working to reduce child
abuse in Barrow, Jackson
and Banks counties —
received $15,000 for the
Supervised Visitation
Program, which provides
a neutral, child-friendly
environment for visits
between children in fos
ter care and their parents
to enable them to main
tain and enhance family
bonds and provide a safe
and nurturing environ
ment for their children
when reunited.
Success By 6 — a pro
gram of the United Way
of Northeast Georgia
— received $13,837 to
help print “Critical Years,
Critical Needs” booklets
in English and Spanish,
a resource guide on early
childhood developmental
needs and good child care
practices that is distribut
ed to new parents through
a partnership with St.
Mary’s Hospital, Athens
Regional Medical Center
and Barrow County
Medical Center.
The Gainesville Care
Center — a pregnancy
resource center — received
$10,000 to replace an ultra
sound machine for which
parts are no longer avail
able with an upgradable
machine that should serve
clients for years.
IDEALS Leadership
School — a Lawrenceville
program that helps high
school athletes develop
into positive role models
and influential leaders in
their schools and on their
teams — received $5,000.
Community Connection
of Northeast Georgia
he said.
Harper referenced the
issue as a nagging one that
the previous council dis
cussed as well.
Howington suggested that
an engineer or someone
qualified be asked to size
up the problem and give
recommendations on how
to fix the roof properly.
He made a motion that the
council give Presley permis
sion to consult with engi
neers on the repair work
needed and report back to
the council with recommen
dations.
“We need to have some
one who knows what they’re
talking about look at it,”
Howington said.
Meadows Surgical
Arts Announces
New Accreditation
Meadows Surgical Arts,
Commerce, has achieved
accreditation by the
Accreditation Association
for Ambulatory Health
Care (AAAHC).
Accreditation distinguish
es this cosmetic surgery
center from other outpa
tient facilities for providing
the highest quality of care
to its patients as deter
mined by an independent,
external process of evalu
ation.
Status as an accred
ited organization means
Meadows Surgical Arts
has met nationally recog
nized standards for the
provision of quality health
care set by AAAHC.
More than 5,000 ambula
tory health care organiza
tions across the United
States are accredited by
AAAHC. Not all ambu
latory health care orga
nizations seek accredita
tion; not all that undergo
the rigorous on-site sur
vey process are granted
accreditation.
“When people see our
certificate of accreditation
with AAAHC it conveys
that we as an organiza
tion care enough about
our patients to strive for
the highest level of care
possible,” said Dr. Lionel
Meadows, medical direc
tor of Meadows Surgical
Arts.
Ambulatory health care
organizations seeking
accreditation undergo an
extensive self-assessment
and on-site survey by
AAAHC expert survey
ors - physicians, nurses,
and administrators who
are actively involved in
ambulatory health care.
The survey is consultative
and educational, present
ing best practices to help
an organization improve
its care and services.
“Going through the pro
cess challenged us to find
better ways to serve our
patients, and is a con
stant reminder of our
responsibility to continu
ously improve the quality
of care we provide,” said
Meadows.
Meadows Surgical Arts,
founded in 2009, provides
a blend of cosmetic sur
gery and gynecological
care in a personal, private
and inviting atmosphere
Guns Wanted - Cash Paid
Buy - Sell - Trade - New - Used
• Rifles • Pistols • Shotguns
■ Ammunition • Scopes • Reloading Supplies
The Gun Room LLC
170 West Athens Street • Winder, GA 30680
gunroomLLC.com • 678-975-7299
received $4,500 to fund
a software upgrade and
annual support fee for
the 2-1-1 Information and
Referral database used to
provide the public a one-
stop resource for human
and social services infor
mation and referral.
The Duds & Spuds Food
& Clothing Pantry in
Braselton received $2,000
to purchase bulk food for
its food pantry.
Since the Jackson EMC
Foundation began in
2005, it has funded more
than 580 grants to organi
zations and more than 215
grants to individuals, put
ting more than $6.1 mil
lion back into local com
munities. The Operation
Round Up program, which
allows participating elec
tric cooperative’s mem
bers to have their monthly
electric bills rounded up
to the next dollar amount,
funds the foundation.
Any individual or chari
table organization in the
10 counties served by
Jackson EMC (Clarke,
Banks, Barrow, Franklin,
Gwinnett, Hall, Jackson,
Lumpkin, Madison and
Oglethorpe) may apply
for a foundation grant by
completing an applica
tion, available online at
http://www.jacksonemc.
com/ Guidelines-for-
Funding,106.0.html or at
local Jackson EMC offic
es. Applicants do not
need to be a member of
Jackson EMC.
Join Us For Bentley At
Northminster’s Monthly
LUNCH and LEARN
Wednesday,
January 18, 2012
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
COMPASSIONATE HOSPICE
66
Dementia: Family Matters"
Lunch Provided.
Please RSVP to
706-387-7000
By Tuesday, January 17
Alzheimer’s & Dementia
Support Group Meeting
Tuesday, January 31,2012 • 7 p.m.
BENTLEY
Assisted Living
at Qy\ortAmtnitm
50 Sumner Way • Jefferson
706-387-7000