Newspaper Page Text
Vol. 140
No. 14
24 Pages
2 Sections
Wednesday
MAY 25,2016
www.CommerceNewsTODAY.com
50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875
Newspaper
deadlines
moved up
Due to the Memorial Day
holiday on Monday, May 30,
all deadlines for the June
1 issue of The Commerce
News will be advanced to
noon on Friday, May 27.
All advertising copy, news
items and photographs
must be submitted by noon
on Friday to assure publica
tion in the June 1 edition.
All other MainStreet News
papers’ publications (The
Banks County News, The
Braselton News, The Jack-
son Herald, The Madison
County Journal and The
Barrow Journal) will have
the same deadlines.
In addition, all offices of
MainStreet Newspapers will
be closed on Monday, May
30, in observation of Memo
rial Day.
Railroad
project
to affect
crossings
Norfolk Southern Rail
road has begun replacing
railroad ties and tracks
along the Lula spur, which
runs from Lula south to Ath
ens. The work began last
week in Lula.
All of the railroad cross
ings on the line will be
reworked. Crews will tear
out the crossings ahead of
the work, and temporary
crossings will be installed,
followed by a permanent
final surface.
“The whole process will
take a couple of weeks from
when the crossing is taken
out until the final surface is
put down,” advised an email
from Joel Harrell, vice pres
ident of Norfolk Southern
Corporation. “During this
process, the crossing will be
rough until the final asphalt
surface is installed, but in
the end, all the crossings
will have a good, smooth
final asphalt.”
INDEX
Church News ....6BA
Classified Ads 8-9B
Crime News 6-7A
Obituaries 7B
Opinion 4A
School... 8-10A& 4-5B
Sports 1-3B
Social News 5A
MAILING LABEL BELOW
General Primary election
Incumbents prevail
Crow edges Stephens by 8 votes; Hix, Benton re-elected
Jackson County incumbents sur
vived the reported national anti-in
cumbent sentiment in Tuesday’s
general primary election.
For board of commissioners
chairman Tom Crow, however, it
was very close. Crow bested chal
lenger Ben Stephens by eight votes,
2,739-2,731, in one of the closest
local elections in decades. Those
results are subject to a recount
under Georgia law.
Crow won the central area of
Jackson County, carrying his home
area of Jefferson in addition to North
Jackson, South Jackson, Nicholson
and the area between Commerce
and Jefferson.
But Stephens ran strong in his
home area of West Jackson and in
Commerce.
“We appreciate all the words from
our supporters in the community,”
said Crow. “I am looking forward to
the next four years.”
Jim Hix, running for re-election in
BOC District 1, had an easier time of
it, capturing almost 69 percent of the
vote in turning back the challenge of
Dan Torbett, 792-357.
In the District 31 race for the
Georgia House of Representatives,
incumbent Tommy Benton romped,
beating challenger Wes Lewis, 3,648-
1,329.
Rep. Doug Collins defeated four
other challengers, including former
Rep. Paul Broun, to win re-election
in the 9th Congressional District seat
in the U.S. House of Representa
tives. He carried Jackson County
with 3,221 votes, compared to 1,494
for Broun, 492 for Roger Fitzpatrick,
109 for Bernie Fontaine and 142
for Mike Scupin. Garnering over 50
percent of the votes district-wide,
See “Election” on Page 3A
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101 graduate from Commerce High School
Rainy weather last Friday forced the 2016 Commerce High
School Graduation Ceremony into the high school gym, but
the 101 graduates — the largest graduating class in recent
CHS history —who received their diplomas didn’t mind a bit.
For more photos, see Page 5B and visit The Commerce News’
Facebook page.
Commerce government
Proposed city budget total is flat,
but use of funds varies widely
The proposed 2016-17 Commerce budget is up just a half a
percent from last year, but that does not mean the city will use
its money just like it has in 2015-16.
Total revenue projected in the proposed document is nearly
identical, but some departments will see substantially increased
expenditures, while others will see significantly less money than
the current budget allocates.
The Commerce City Council got a brief overview of the
140page spending plan on Monday, May 16, from interim city
manager/finance director James Wascher. Wascher asked the
council to look over the document and contact him regarding
any questions or proposed changes. The council will hold a
public hearing on the budget at 6 p.m. on Monday June 6, and
will approve a budget two weeks later, June 20, also at 6 p.m.
Wascher has indicated that he does not envision any tax
increase, and said the rate could go down slightly if the city’s
tax digest increases.
Total spending is projected at $25.22 million, up from $25.19
million this year.
General Fund expenses are actually going down slightly from
$6.91 million to $6.86 million.
Here’s how the numbers break down in the General Fund:
In addition, the city plans $4.38 million in capital projects,
compared to $4.7 million in the current budget. Among
those are half the cost of the Jefferson Road sidewalk exten
sion, the southside water pressure project, a new belt press
for the wastewater plant, the resurfacing of parts of 10 city
streets, all of which will be funded with SPLOST revenue.
Revenue from the General Fund comes from a variety of
taxes and fees, fines and forfeitures, plus transfers from its
electric and gas funds. For the next fiscal year, the budget
projects $557,527 being transferred out of the Electric Fund
and $446,519 from the Gas Fund. The current budget called
for $484,371 and $420,202 respectively, although it appears
that the city will not have to transfer that much into the Gen
eral Fund.
Some reasons for the variations on each line item:
•anticipated increases in health insurance cost of five
percent
•funding for a part-time employee for the Downtown
Development Authority ($9,142)
•purchase of a number of chairs for the civic center
($5,000)
• the funding of depreciation for the first time
Department
15-16
Proposed
•a new GPS unit for the Planning and development
Garage to a 1.65-acre tract
Mayor/council
$152,168
$173,948
($10,000)
adjacent to Quality Foods.
Police
2,170,998
2,011,469
•a new pumper/tanker tmck for the fire department
The property is already
Fire
306,479
932,606
($550,000 financed over 10 years)
zoned commercial, but
Public Works
1,270,768
1,340,490
• three new police cars ($80,000)
they need a variance to
Garage
146,934
191,373
•new trucks for Public Works, the garage and Electric
operate a tow lot on the
Recreation
999,123
502,061
Department ($35,000 each)
site.
Library
229,056
224,279
• a smoke testing system for the Water & Sewer Depart
“We are asking to build
Planning & Develop.
293,219
212,838
ment, estimated to cost $130,000-$140,000
a new building directly
DDA
129,868
148,677
• no capital expenditures for the recreation department
beside Quality Foods,”
Civic Center
86,528
109,023
($500,000 this current year)
Mrs. Wood said. The tow
Administrative
374,095
343,722
Finance
686,527
672,433
See “Budget” on 3A
See “Requests” on 3A
Planners
OK two
requests
Two applicants who
came before the Com
merce Planning Commis
sion Monday night went
away happy.
The planners voted to
recommend that Bryan
Wood’s request for a con
ditional use permit at 0 B
Wilson Road be granted
and that Stacey and Gina
Denton be given a vari
ance on their Mount Olive
Road property to locate
a swimming pool beside
their residence.
Both issues will go
before the Commerce
City Council on Monday,
June 30, at 6 p.m. for final
approval.
Wood and his wife,
Tawana, explained that
they’re relocating Wood’s
o