Newspaper Page Text
Vol. 139
No. 49
32 Pages
3 Sections
The
Commerce New
Wednesday
JANUARY 13, 2016
www.CommerceNewsTODAY.com
50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875
Chamber
taps Shaw
as new CEO
The Jackson County Area
Chamber of Commerce
didn’t
have to go
far to find
its new
president
and CEO
to replace
t h e
depart
ing Josh
Fenn.
Following a 14-minute
closed-to-the-public session
in a called meeting last Fri
day, the chamber’s board of
directors voted unanimous
ly to authorize chairman Bill
Cornell to offer the job to
longtime local banker Jim
Shaw and to negotiate a sal
ary package.
The terms of that offer
were not made public.
Shaw, 63, is a 40-year vet
eran of the banking industry
and has served a number
of years of the chamber’s
board including as its chair
man and treasurer. He has
also served over 15 years on
The Jackson County Indus
trial Development Authority.
“We could not ask for
a better resolution for our
open president/CEO posi
tion,” stated 2016 chamber
chairman Bill Cornell. “Jim
is well respected in the com
munity and his experience
on the chamber and JCIDA
board will serve us well.”
Shaw is a graduate of
Georgia State University
with a BBA degree in man
agement as well as a grad
uate of the Banking School
of The South. He serves on
the Boys and Girls Club of
Jackson County’s board of
directors. He and his wife
Donna have raised three
children in Jackson County.
Fenn resigned in late
December to take a position
with Engineering Consult
ing Services, Atlanta, as its
director of business devel
opment for the Southeast.
He has been the chamber’s
CEO, president and director
of economic development
since July 2013.
Jim Shaw
INDEX
Church News ....10A
Classified Ads 4-5B
Crime News 6-7A
Obituaries 11A
Opinion 4A
School 8B
Sports 1-3B
Social News 8A
MAILING LABEL BELOW
The Jackson County EMS moved into its new Commerce EMS station
Dec. 28.
New EMS station now
open and operational
The new Jackson County EMS sta
tion at 677 South Elm Street is now
open and operational.
The 3,000-square-foot two-bay facil
ity houses an ambulance and the
Commerce rescue truck.
The ambulance stationed there, Med
1, was the busiest EMS ambulance
in the county last year, making 1,478
calls, according to Steve Nichols, EMS
director. Med 2, located in Jefferson,
was the second busiest.
“We’re happy to be there,” Nichols
commented. He added that some
punch list items and yard work remain
to be completed.
Keith Hayes Construction,
Jefferson, began work on the facility
about four months ago; EMS moved
in on Dec. 28, relocating from what
Nichols described as a rodent-infest
ed rental house off Wofford Drive,
located off the Maysville Road.
“I kept getting calls about rats and
mice there,” Nichols laughed. “One
time, one of the guys raised the
A modem, fully equipped kitch
en allows paramedics to prepare
meals on-site.
blinds and a snake fell out.”
The new station, located next to
the county-owned strip development
that also houses the Commerce
Clinic of the Jackson County Heath
Department and the Commerce cam
pus of Lanier Technical College, is
manned round-the-clock seven days a
week. It offers kitchen and bath facil
ities, plus two different bunk areas
for the medics, who work 24 hours-
on-48-off- shifts of two-person crews.
City BOE gets update
on CES governance team
The Commerce Board of Education
got an update Monday night from ele
mentary school principal David Cash
on the school’s governance team.
Cash praised the members — both
parents and teachers - for their volun
tary and often time-consuming service
to the school.
“They serve as ambassadors for
Commerce Elementary School,” Cash
said. 'They’re the ones who get recog
nized at Quality Foods or the recreation
department and get asked questions.”
The governance team helps the
school achieve the goals spelled out
in its charter school application, Cash
noted. Those include being a “21st
century school,” which Cash described
as having state-of-the-art technology,
and adding music and Spanish classes.
He pointed out that the school is trying
to provide tablets for each of its 225
students, has implemented a music pro
gram and is looking for a way to start
a Spanish class. In addition, the school
offers three days each week of after
school remediation for at-risk students.
“Student achievement is at the core
of everything we do,” Cash advised. “If
an idea can improve student achieve
ment, the governance team is all for
it.” He told the board he is “tickled
to death with their level of commit
ment and how dedicated they are and
how committed they are to making
Commerce Elementary School a 21st
century school.
Other Business
Also on Monday night, the school
board:
•re-elected Rodney Gary as chair
man and Paul Sergent as vice chairman.
•re-elected Billl Davis as the board’s
legislative liaison with the Georgia
School Board Association
•learned that as of Dec. 31, the
school system had a fund balance of
$1.7 million, although superintendent
Joy Tolbert warned that the cost of
adding two more school days to the
2015-16 calendar had not been included
in that number. She also warned that
the system will incur additional costs as
it begins paying more for insurance for
its classified employees.
•learned that after depositing a
$98,059 check, the system’s education
local option sales tax account stood at
$850,032.
• reappointed the law firm of Harbin,
Hartley and Hawkins as its legal coun
sel.
• set its meeting dates for 2016.
• approved policies relating to “com
petitive foods,” free and reduced meals,
food service management and student
attendance.
• following a closed-to-the-public
session approved the recommenda
tion of Jeanan Martin, middle school
bookkeeper; Ken Wood, middle school
In-School Suspension (ISS) teacher;
Rebecca Gatlin, middle school art
teacher; Amy Partee, bus driver; and
Crystal Gerber, substitute teacher. The
board also accepted the resignation
of middle school art teacher Deanna
Neal.
Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Water project,
dog law on
council agenda
The Commerce City Council will likely approve a
$1.4 million water project, but not much else is on
its agenda for its Tuesday, Jan. 19, meeting.
The council, which normally meets on the third
Monday night of the month, will meet Tuesday at 6
p.m. because of the Monday Martin Luther King Jr.
federal holiday.
The water project, designed to improve water
pressure in the southeast part of the city system,
involves two new sections of 12-inch water mains, a
booster pump and the installation of five valves that
will monitor and help stabilize water pressure not
just on the southeast side of town, but throughout
the system.
To pay for the project, the city will tap into
$900,000 in special purpose local option sales tax
revenue already on hand and a $500,000 Georgia
Environmental Finance Authority loan — for which
the principal will be forgiven.
Monday night’s action will also include a vote to
approve an engineering services contract for the
project with Carter & Sloope Consulting Engineers,
which is included in the $1.4 million cost.
Other Agenda Items
Other items on the agenda Tuesday night include:
•approval of the new animal control ordinance,
which is intended to give the city more means of
dealing with vicious dogs.
• appointment of a city judge and city attorney.
• approval of a $2,385 contribution from Jackson
County Certified Literate Community — an annual
request.
•approval of a voting delegate for the Georgia
Municipal Association.
•approval of an updated certificate for the
Municipal Electric Authority with the signatures of
current elected officials.
•a report from finance director James Wascher
on the status of the city’s finances halfway through
the city’s fiscal year.
City could have new
Mainstreet manager
on board by spring
Commerce could have a permanent Mainstreet
manager,/Downtown Development Authority exec
utive director by spring.
Natalie Thomas has filled the position on an inter
im basis, but city manager Pete Pyrzenski said he is
working to make a permanent hire.
“We will go through the process in the next 90
days,” he said.
The city has come full circle — and then some —
with the two positions. Originally, the Mainstreet
manager also served as the DDA’s executive
director, but that changed when Pyrzenski cre
ated the position of “community improvement
director,” who took over the DDA responsibilities.
While the DDA formerly managed the Commerce
Business Information Center on Pine Street and the
Commerce Cultural Center, Pyrzenski turned those
buildings over to the civic center authority to be
managed by Justin Strickland.
After two community improvement directors
were hired and dismissed, Pyrzenski reorganized
the DDA and the Commerce Civic Center and
Tourism authority, keeping both but merging their
boards for regular meetings designed to foster
coordination and communication and to tap the
manpower of both groups.
The DDA will keep the Mainstreet program’s four-
part focus, with committees devoted to organiza
tion (operation of regular DDA downtown events),
promotions (branding the city, marketing, events
that bring revenue), design (beautification) and
economic restructuring (attracting new businesses).
City offices to close
on Monday for MLK Day
City of Commerce offices will be closed on
Monday, Jan. 18, in observance of the Martin
Luther King Jr. federal holiday.
There will be no interruption in garbage ser
vice because of the holiday, however.
Also because of the holiday, the Commerce
City Council’s January meeting will be held
on Tuesday, Jan. 19, at 6 p.m. at the Commerce
Civic Center.
