Newspaper Page Text
Vol. 140
No. 22
24 Pages
2 Sections
rpl WEDi
/ hp JUULY
Commerce News
Wednesday
JUULY 20,2016
www.CommerceNewsTODAY.com
50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875
Feds call
Jackson a
disaster area
from drought
Jackson, Banks and
Madison counties are
among nine counties in
Georgia designated as
primary natural disaster
areas due to damag
es caused by a recent
drought. Farmers in those
counties can seek low-in
terest loans to recover
losses from drought.
The U.S. Department
of Agriculture announced
the declaration last week,
listing Banks, Catoosa,
Dade, Elbert, Franklin,
Hart, Jackson, Madison
and Walker counties.
Farm operators in
those counties are eli
gible for low-interest
emergency loans from
USDA’s Farm Service
Agency, provided eligi
bility requirements are
met. Farmers have eight
months from July 6 to
apply for loans to help
cover part of their loss
es. Other FSA programs
that can provide assis
tance but do not require
a disaster declaration
include the Emergency
Conservation Program,
Livestock Forage Disas
ter Program, Livestock
Indemnity Program,
Emergency Assistance
for Livestock, Honeybees
and Farm-Raised Fish
Program and the Tree
Assistance Program.
Interested farmers
may contact their local
USDA Service Centers
for information on eligi
bility requirements and
application procedures
for these and other pro
grams. Additional infor
mation is online at http://
disaster.fsa.usda.gov.
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INDEX
Church News 7B
Classified Ads 8-9B
Crime News 6-8A
Obituaries 6B
Opinion 4A
School 9-1OA
Sports 1-3B
Social News...9-1 OA
MAILING LABEL BELOW
At the farmers' market
Terry Ivey of Commerce checks out his supply of flowers, shrubs
and other landscape plants during the Commerce Farmers’ Market last
Saturday morning. The market is open every Saturday morning through
September from 8 to noon, in the parking lot across South Elm Street from
Spencer Park. A variety of vendors offer Georgia-grown crops from toma
toes to watermelons, honey, eggs, preserves and other products.
Authority mulls Northiidge
property acquisition
Commerce’s fledgling hospital authority
met behind closed doors Monday night as
it attempts to figure out how best to help
Northridge Medical Center.
Created to give the medical center access
to federal funds, the authority reportedly
expects at some point to take over legal
ownerships of the medical center’s build
ings in a non-cash transaction yet to be
determined.
“We needed to get an update from our
attorney,” said interim city manager James
Wascher, who serves as treasurer of the
group, which comprises the entire mayor
and city council plus Dr. Narasimhulu
Neelagam and Jo Totherow. “There are so
many aspects coming into this that we’re
trying to get our heads wrapped around —
what the city is comfortable with.”
The authority took no action. Wascher
said it could be months before the authority
determines a course of action.
The concept is that the authority would
assume ownership of the property and
See “Northridge” on Page 3A
$3# ’
Encounter with a snake
Josalyn Jasper meets a native rat snake during the Bear Hollow Zoo
visit to the Commerce Public Library last week. Children and their care
givers got up-close experiences with a number of animals as part of the
library’s Summer Reading Program activities.
Murals going
up this week
in downtown
Local artists helping DDA
beautify rear facades of
South Broad Street buildings
The back side of a couple
of South Broad Street build
ings will get some new color
as early as this week.
“We completed the first set
of murals for the back of the
Commerce printing and one
row of the Opera House,”
Downtown Development
Authority executive director
Natalie Thomas announced
Monday. “Hopefully, they will
go up this week. They will
add a lot of color and life to
the back.”
The DDA came up with
the idea of the murals to
improve the rear facades
of buildings adjacent to the
city’s new Cherry Street park
ing lot, which the DDA is pro
moting as an event venue.
The murals, painted by Com
merce High School student
Sadie Robertson and graphic
artist Alexis Hill, will replace
windows boarded up with
plywood.
Home Depot and Sher
win-Williams donated ply
wood and paint for the proj
ect.
The first round of murals
got done a lot quicker than
expected.
“It amazed me,” Thomas
said. “I thought it would take
a couple of weeks to paint
all those boards. They had
it done, really, in two days.
Amazing.”
The murals to go on the
Commerce Printing build
ing relate to the Facebook
Page of its new owner, Rena
Cantrell. Thomas said one
end is a half sun, the other
a half moon, with a lamp-
post and a banner “South on
Broad” between them.
The second-floor win
dows on one of the Opera
House buildings (there are
three buildings) will have the
appearance of red velvet cur
tains on each end, and in
between silhouettes of danc
ers in the middle.
See “Murals” on Page 3A
Commerce moves
to eliminate
'donation boxes'
As expected, the Commerce City Council took action
Monday night effectively banning the use of “donation
boxes” for the collection of used clothing and other items.
The council’s unanimous vote came after Troy Street
resident Tim Redmond spoke against the measure.
“You would ban these boxes because of litter?” Redmond
asked. “You do realize that the owners of these boxes are
probably not the ones littering. Someone else is littering.”
At issue is the fact that citizens make after-hours drops at
and around the boxes, disposing of anything from house
hold garbage to mattresses and old carpet, littering the area
around the boxes, all of which are on private property.
“The problem is we don’t have any way to control the way
it looks and how it trashes up the city” commented mayor
pro tern Keith Burchett. “The only way to control it is to get
rid of them unless you have another great idea to control it.”
“Local businesses shouldn’t be affected,” observed
Mayor Clark Hill. “They have the ability to take donations
and let people drop things off.”
City manager James Wascher said the city has contacted
the businesses that have such boxes.
“They understand the problem,” he said.
Businesses have 30 days to remove the boxes.
Responding to a question from councilman Bobby Red-
mon about whether the ordinance would affect the Com
merce Fire Department’s collection of aluminum cans in
support of a program for burn victims, city attorney John
Stell said it would not, because that is considered part of the
city’s recycling program.
Other Business
In other business, the council:
• approved an updated version of its purchasing policy.
Hill said the policy “sets into place what we’re already
See “Council” on Page 3A
City planners
cancel July meeting
The Commerce Planning Commission cancelled its July 25
meeting for lack of business.
The planning commission meets at 6 p.m. on the fourth
Monday of each month in the Commerce Civic Center to con
sider applications changes in zoning and land use on which it
makes recommendations to the Commerce City Council.
Members are Joe Leffew, chairman; Andre Rollins, vice
chairman; Jimbo Stephenson, Adam Fouche and Melinda
Cochran Davis.
The planning commission’s next meeting is scheduled for
Monday, Aug. 22, at 6 p.m. in the Peach Room of the Com
merce Civic Center. All meetings are open to the public.