Newspaper Page Text
WATER LINES PLANNED
If Jackson County voters approve another round of SPLOST
on March 1, the east side of Jackson County stands to
receive seven miles of new water lines: See Page 12A
CONTROVERSIAL REMARKS
Rep. Tommy Benton pulled three bills after controversial
remarks mode about preserving Confederate history and
about the Ku Klux Klan went viral: See Page 2A
Vol. 139
No. 51
24 Pages
2 Sections
The
Wednesday
FEBRUARY 3,2016
Commerce New
www.CommerceNewsTODAY.com
50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875
Sales tax votes, presidential primaries
Advance voting starts on Monday
Voters who want to cast their ballots early to avoid the rush
of the March 1 presidential preference primaries and the ref-
erendums on two sales tax issues can do just that starting on
Monday, Feb. 8.
That’s when three weeks of advance voting begins at the
Jackson County Administrative Building, Athens Street, Jef
ferson.
In addition to the Georgia presidential primaries for both
the Republican and Democratic parties, voters in Jackson
County will vote in two sales tax referendums, one to extend
the special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST) for
another six years, and the other to extend the education local
option sales tax (ELOST) for another five years.
Voters can cast early ballots Monday through Friday Feb.
8-26, from 8-5 each day at the administrative building. There
will also be advance voting on Saturday, Feb. 20, from 9 a.m.
to 4 p.m. at the administrative building.
In addition, during the week of Feb. 22-26, advance voting
will take place at the Commerce Parks and Recreation office
on Carson Street and at the Braselton police and municipal
building. Hours will be 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Georgia General Primary Elections
Voters will return to the polls on May 24 to elect local offi
cials and members of the Georgia General Assembly, plus
fire board members. The last day to register to vote in that
election will be Tuesday, April 26, with advance voting starting
on Monday, May 2. Any runoffs required will take place on
Tuesday, July 26.
The General Election will be held Tuesday Nov. 8, with a
mnoff date for local and state offices set for Tuesday Dec. 6.
LOST revenue
down from
2014 levels
Jackson County’s proceeds
from the local option sales tax
(LOST) for 2015 wound up
$145,000 lower than revenue
from 2014, but were $33,000
over what they were budgeted.
Trey D. Wood, county
finance director, reported last
week that the county received
a $569,326 check from the
Department of Revenue for
LOST proceeds primarily from
December 2015 sales.
“Our budgeted FY 2015
goal for local option sales tax
receipts is $5,550,000,” Wood
wrote in an email to county
officials. “The 12 months of
LOST revenue for FY 2015 is
down $145,772 over the same
period last year. Overall, collec
tions are still slightly over bud
get by 0.60 percent or $33,096
through the period.”
The county also received an
$882,479 disbursement from
the DOR from proceeds of the
special purpose local option
sales tax (SPLOST).
“We are now 75 percent or
54 months into the six-year
SPLOST V collection,” Wood
said. “SPLOST V collections
will end on June 30,2017. Over
all, SPLOST V revenues are
trending approximately 17 per
cent above budget.”
INDEX
Church News 6B
Classified Ads 8-9B
Crime News 6-8A
Obituaries 7 B
Opinion 4A
School 9-1OA
Sports 1-4B
Social News. 10-11A
MAILING LABEL BELOW
HOT TOPIC
Supporting their firemen
A large group of Commerce firemen, their families and other
supporters turned out at the Commerce City Council’s work
session Monday night to show support for the fire department
and fire chief Kevin Dean. The group is angry because city
manager Pete Pyrzenski put Dean on “probation” and the city
council did not approve Dean’s Nov 5 re-election (by firefight
ers) as fire chief.
Big crowd turns out to support fire
department and chief Kevin Dean
There is strength in numbers.
With more than 100 supporters packed into the
Commerce Room of the Commerce Civic Center
Monday night, the Commerce Fire Department
secured a meeting with the mayor and city council
to resolve a dispute over the status of fire chief
Kevin Dean.
No one from the audience spoke at the council
“work session,” but as it began, Mayor Clark Hill
told the group that he had talked with Dean and
that the city council will meet with the firemen as
soon as a date can be selected.
At the heart of the issue, from the firemen’s view
point, is the city council’s inaction on the confirma
tion of the department’s Nov. 5 re-election of Kevin
Dean as chief and action by city manager Pete
Pyrzenski putting Dean on “probation.” Frustrated
by what they considered a lack of response from
the city council, the firemen went public with their
complaint on social media and generated a packed
room full of supporters that did not go unnoticed by
the mayor and city council.
Traditionally, the fire department elects its offi
cers, who are confirmed by a vote of the mayor
and council.
The council has yet to confirm Dean and
Pyrzenski is reportedly talking to the city council
about replacing Dean with a full-time paid fire chief.
Pyrzenski, who was out of the country did not
attend Monday’s meeting.
The controversy raises the possibility of firemen
walking off the job in protest.
Assistant fire chief Josh Spear said earlier that all
19 members of the fire department who attended
a Jan. 28 meeting showed support for walking out.
“They are going to walk if it (Dean’s confirma
tion) is not done in a timely matter,” Spear said.
“They will walk.”
There are 29 firemen in the department.
Ten firemen came to the city council’s Jan. 19
meeting, sitting silently in support of Dean. Accord
ing to Spear, Pyrzenski called Dean, told him he
was still on probation and warned that if Dean does
not improve, Pyrzenski “will take his badge and get
a new chief.”
“And those of us at the council meeting can pack
our bags also,” Spear said.
The impasse led the firemen to go public with
the long-simmering situation, so last week local
Facebook posts in support of the fire department
showed up on multiple news feeds, prompting the
huge turnout Monday night. Many of those in the
audience carried signs proclaiming, “I support the
CFD.”
A Commerce fireman receives $20 for each fire
call he attends. The city also pays each fireman’s
$25 monthly retirement benefit, but firemen get
no insurance, city retirement benefits or paid
vacations.
Ward 4 councilman Bobby Redmon, a retired
fireman who reportedly supports the department
in the matter, thanked the group for its turnout.
“Your passion is what makes Commerce a very
special place,” he said. “Your silence has been
heard. Thank you for showing up, for bringing your
signs and your smiling faces.”
4 8 7 9 1 4 1 4 1
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Nicholson contracts for new comp plan
The Nicholson City Council and
Mayor Jan Webster outlined a year
long todo list at an all-day retreat meet
ing in early January. Now, the council
is seeing some of its planning come
to fruition as Nicholson checked off
a number of items on its to-do list on
Monday.
The council accepted the bid of
Jerry Weitz of Jerry Weitz and Asso
ciates for a proposed comprehensive
plan and on-call services.
The state requires that municipal
ities submit a comprehensive plan
every five years. Nicholson failed to
complete its plan by the October 2015
due date and has since fallen out
of compliance with state regulations.
With the plan now under way the
council hopes to regain eligibility for
state and federal grants.
Weitz quoted his services, which
include a future development map, a
future land use map and future zoning
map, at a cost of $7,750. Weitz worked
with Nicholson on its most recent
comprehensive plan in 2009.
In other business, the council:
• approved a request for proposal
to accept bids for the demolition of
the house on the city-owned property
of 348 Mulberry Street. The previous
owner of the property was bound by
contract to remove the house, but
failed to do so. Nicholson plans to run
an advertisement accepting bids for
demolition of the house.
• approved the installation of 18-22
streetlights along the U.S. 441 corridor.
The installation will be provided by the
Georgia DOT at no cost to the city. The
lights are expected to cost Nicholson
an average of $21.25 per month in
electricity charges.
