The Commerce news. (Commerce, Ga.) 1???-current, December 09, 2015, Image 1

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The Commerce news., December 09, 2015, Image 1

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Newspaper Page TextVol. 139 No. 44 24 Pages 2 Sections Wednesday DECEMBER 9 2015 www.CommerceNewsTODAY.com 50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875 Council proposes Vicious dogs' ordinance Commerce citizens would be required to register dangerous pets BY ANGELA GARY An update to the animal control ordinance being considered by the Commerce City Council would require “vicious dogs” to be regis tered with the city. The council reviewed the pro posed animal control update at its work session Monday night. The ordinance will be on the agenda for a vote when the council meets at 6 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 21, at the civic center. Police chief Brandon Sellers pre sented the proposed ordinance, which he created by reviewing ordinances from other areas. He said that a “vicious dog” is one that has been declared vicious due to biting someone or is a breed that has been designated as vicious. “The great thing is that they will be registered and the city will know where they are,” city coun cilman Mark Fitzpatrick said. Sellers said there will be an “education” period with city res idents informed of the changes. “We will educate the public about the new ins and outs of the ordinance,” he said. Councilman Johnny Eubanks said, “I am glad we’re handling this head-on.” City manager Pete Pyrzenski said, “We’re not against dogs... but this addresses the issue from every angle.” Action items Other items discussed Monday that will be on the agenda at the Dec. 21 meeting for a vote include the following: •the annual approval of the credit card use policy which must be approved each year by Jan. 1 •the annual approval of the JacBoys and Girls Club of Jackson County lease. •consider the yearly approval of items declared as surplus. •consider the annual alcohol license renewals. Thrift shops Also at the meeting Monday night, the council discussed the pawn shop ordinance and the possibility of adding thrift shops to this. The council decided to study this issue further before taking any action. Mayor Clark Hill said that it would be difficult to differentiate between a thrift shop and a con signment shop. “I don’t want us to knee-jerk and create something that will impede the success of a business,” he said. The council also met in closed session to discuss “personnel and real estate.” No action was taken. The holidays are here .7 ih Bi Mixed feelings about Santa Jordyn Phillips wasn’t exactly thrilled to be last week. See more photos of Commerce’s getting her picture taken with Santa Claus at Christmas events on page 9A. Commerce’s annual Christmas celebration Photo by Alex Pace Commerce considers park development BY ANGELA GARY Commerce city leaders are looking at developing a four- mile site on property south of Smallwood Road as a park for mountain biking and running trails. No action has been taken on the proposal, which was pre sented at the city council meet ing Monday night. Several coun cil members spoke in support of the plans. “It gives us the opportunity, as a community, to really use this piece of property,” Mayor Clark Hill said. Councilman Archie Chaney added, “I think it would be good for the community.” Lee and Todd Fox, who own State Street Bicycles in down town Commerce, presented a proposal for the project to the city council Monday. “There is a lot of opportuni ty for Commerce to utilize that piece of space without spending a lot of money,” T. Fox said. “The high school cross country team could use it. It could also be used for hiking.” The site could be used for mountain bike races, running events, dirt demos sponsored by bicycle manufacturers, high school mountain bike leagues and high school cross country teams. Fox added that there is also the opportunity to seek grants to assist with the development of the site. He proposed that it be devel oped in time for an April grand opening. The proposal will be on the January agenda of the city coun cil for further discussion. Nicholson pays back some funds Nicholson attorney fired in 3-2 vote BY CAMERON WHITLOCK Outgoing Nicholson mayor Ronnie Maxwell approved the termination of one city employee and one city represenative at a city council meeting on Monday. The Council voted 2-2 to terminate city attorney Jody Campbell, with Maxwell breaking the tie. Max Whit lock and Faye Seagraves voted in the affirmative, while Jan Webster and Judy Kesler voted in the nega tive. Campbell had earlier this year issued a scathing review of how Nicholson handles its finances. Maxwell broke anoth er 2-2 vote to appoint Jim David as the interim city attorney for the remainder of the year. The council voted unan imously to remove Tony Beatty as Nicholson’s rep resentative on the SPLOST board. The council gave no explanation for the termi nations. In other business, the council: •approved a resolution to pay back the full $23,595 of misused SPLOST 5 reve nues out of the city’s general fund. The council voted 2-2, with Maxwell breaking the tie. • approved pay raises for city employees David Abounader ($12 per hour) and Tosha Gaddis ($675 per week). The council voted 2-2, with Maxwell breaking the tie. • approved a one-time pay raise for city employees for the month of Decem ber (Christmas bonus). The council voted 2-2, with Max well breaking the tie. •approved the purchase of six picnic tables, three restroom changing stations and 14 benches for the East Jackson Park, amphitheater and community center. The council voted 2-2, with Max well breaking the tie. INDEX Church News 6B Classified Ads... 9-1 OB Crime News 6-7A Obituaries 1 1 B Opinion 4A Sports 1-4B Social News. 12-14A Football Section.. 1-8C MAILING LABEL BELOW BY SHARON HOGAN The City of Nicholson has paid back some of the Spe cial Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) 5 reve nue that the town misused. The SPLOST 5 Review Committee recently received documentation supporting the payment of $12,988.50 for Christmas decor and a digital camera. The pay ment came out of general fund and went into the city’s SPLOST account. But the $10,607 related to the paving of James Maxwell Road had not been paid back to the city’s SPLOST account as of Dec. 2, SPLOST review committee meeting. The committee discussed following-up with the Geor gia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) and/or district attor ney Brad Smith to get an update before additional action is taken. “I think we need to find out what is going on with Nicholson,” committee member Elton Collins said. “We don’t need to let it die on the vine so to speak.” On Monday, the Nichol son City Council approved a resolution to pay back the misused revenue in full out of the city’s general fund. Other business In other business at the December meeting: •the committee received a report from county man ager Kevin Poe advising that SPLOST 5 revenue is projected to be 16 percent over the original projection. The increase in projections is $7.7 million total or $5.5 million for the county and $2.2 million for the cities. • the committee dis cussed the following expen ditures made by the cities and the county: Arcade, pay ment on the public safety complex and approximate ly $61,000 on road repairs/ paving; Braselton, no funds used; Commerce, funds used to improve Cherry Street parking lot and pur chased a knuckle boom loader with a trailer to assist with road and rights-of-way repair and maintenance; Hoschton, used funds to make miscellaneous side walk repairs, develop new recreation park, cleared land and planted trees; Jefferson, used funds to complete MLK Drive sidewalk construction, make recreation bond pay ments and to continue plan ning/engineering for Parks Creek Reservoir; Maysville, no funds used; Nicholson, used funds to acquire prop erty across the street from the East Jackson Park for overflow parking; Pender grass, no funds used; and Talmo, used funds for new park equipment and addi tional equipment for bay added to the fire department building. The county used funds to continue work on the new Commerce EMS station, to start engineering to develop a site plan for a new Plainview EMS station to be located adjacent to the Plainview Volunteer Fire Department, to complete construction plans for the new artificial turf field at West Jackson Middle School, to complete transaction with the Jackson County Board of Education to acquire a por tion of the old Gordon Street School for a new Parks and Recreation headquarters, completed improvements to the Center Park property and recreation center, com pleted several miles of road repaving, striping and sig nage, and purchased a new slope mower for road rights- of-way maintenance. •the committee set the next meeting at 10 a.m. on March 9, 2016, in the Jack- son County Administrative Building.