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THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS • THE COMMERCE NEWS
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016
Nicholson rejects acceptance
of three roads in Ivy Plantation
The city of Nicholson will
not assume responsibility for
the repairs and maintenance
of three roads in Ivy Planta
tion.
The council turned down
an ordinance declaring part of
Ivy Creek Drive, plus Summer
Lane and Autumn Lane, as
city streets at its Monday night
meeting. Mike Barfield made a
motion to accept the roads as
city streets but it failed due to
lack of a second.
The move would have
allowed the city to use special
purpose local option sales tax
(SPLOST) money to address
issues with paving and drain
age on the street.
The council discussed the
situation at length at its “work
session” last Thursday night.
City attorney Jody Campbell
said addressing the problems
“is not going to be a small
task. It will be a gradual pro
cess that’s going to take a lot
of planning to make sure it’s
done right.”
The developer of the sub
division is no longer involved,
and residents have long com
plained about severe potholes
and water drainage issues.
The streets do not meet Nich
olson’s current standards for
new road construction.
The city did not have an
estimate of the cost during
Thursday’s discussion. Mayor
Jan Webster said the city is
“trying to borrow an engineer
from Jackson County” to
assess the situation.
The action would not have
covered all of the roads in the
development.
“It is a very substantial
development,” Campbell
pointed out. “I don’t think the
city has the financial ability to
adopt everything and to take
on the responsibility for main
taining all of it. The phase that
is adopted is clearly the worst.
...To do the entire develop
ment is probably a 20-year
process.”
Councilman Max Whitlock
asked about a cost estimate,
but Campbell said the city
had not been able to use
SPLOST funds for an esti
mate prior to accepting the
roads because technically
they were private roads. But
Webster indicated that the city
fixed one major pothole and
has been “putting Band-Aids”
on streets there.
Monday Night
In other business Monday
night, the Nicholson council:
•approved an amendment
to its application to the Georgia
Department of Transportation
for a local maintenance and
improvement grant, removing
Daisy Lane and Broad Street
from the application, leaving
only Memorial Drive and
Hunters Ridge Road. Work
needed on Broad Street has
already been done.
•tabled action on the pur
chase a new pickup truck and
a new dump buck.
•approved its comprehen
sive plan, which had been
approved by the Northeast
Georgia Regional Commis
sion. State acceptance of
the plan means Nicholson
will again be eligible for state
grants and other funds.
Thursday Night
Also on Thursday night the
council:
•gave its blessings to Web
ster to talk with a company
about the possibility of creat
ing a “splash pad” in the city’s
park. Webster, who said she
had no idea of the costs that
might be involved, indicated
she wanted to bring more peo
ple to the park, which she
called “the best thing we have
going.”
• authorized Webster to
have a representative of anoth
er company she met at the
Georgia Municipal Association
meeting talk to her about creat
ing a “Welcome to Nicholson”
sign. Council action will be
required before the company
is authorized to do anything.
•discussed two bids to
replace broken concrete
around the Nicholson Civic
Center but tabled action on
that item (with a 3-2 vote)
during Monday’s meeting.
The bids, from Whitfield Pav
ing and Walter Barnett Con
struction, did not appear to be
based on the same amount
of concrete. Later in the work
session, officials acknowl
edged that the problem is that
garbage trucks servicing the
civic center’s dumpster are
breaking the concrete. Web
ster asked city workers to look
at the situation and make a
recommendation, possibly
on a new location for the
dumpster.
MainStreet News
acquires Barrow
County newspaper
Mainstreet Newspapers, the parent firm of The Commerce
News and Banks County News, acquired a newspaper in
Barrow County late last week.
The firm purchased the 123year-old Barrow County News
Friday and will merge it with the Barrow Journal, an 8-year-old
newspaper currently being published by Mainstreet Newspa
pers in Winder.
Mainstreet Newspapers, Jefferson, is owned by Mike and
Scott Buffington, second-generation publishers of the family
firm which publishes six weekly newspapers in Northeast
Georgia.
Barrow County News reporters, Scott Thompson and
Charles Phelps, have taken positions with MainStreet Newspa
pers. The name of the newly merged newspaper has not yet
been determined.
“By combining the resources of the Barrow County News
and the Barrow Journal, the community and our readers will
be better served by a stronger combined newspaper,” said
Scott Buffington, co-publisher of Mainstreet Newspapers, Inc.,
Jefferson. “We will do everything we can to make this transition
easy for both our advertisers and our subscribers.”
The merged newspapers will be delivered to subscribers via
mail on a weekly basis and will be available in stores and news
racks around Barrow County.
The Barrow County News traces its origins to before Bar-
row County existed. In 1893, a newspaper called The Jackson
Economist opened in Winder, which was then part of Jackson
County.
The Barrow Journal began publishing in 2008.
In addition to the Barrow Journal, the Mainstreet News
papers publishing family includes The Jackson Herald, The
Comma ce News, The Braselton News, The Banks County
News and The Madison County Journal.
Nicholson OKs use of park for business
The Nicholson City Coun
cil gave its blessing — and
promised promotional help
— to a mnning-related busi
ness that will use the city
park.
Ashley Beauchamp, who
owns Fashion Fitness In
Athens, proposed at the city
council’s Thursday “work
session” using the park for
boot camps and other per
sonal training, offering free
introductory classes to gauge
the interest. The goal, she
said, is to expand her busi
ness to the east side of Jack-
son County.
The Commerce High
School graduate said she
hoped to get some boot
camps started as well as
some senior classes and
to hold a 5K “to utilize this
beautiful park that nobody
seems to be using.”
“On this side of the county,
there is not a lot of recre
ation going on for adults,”
Beauchamp told the council.
“The community could use a
little bit of spark and fun and
exercise.”
As for her business, Beau
champ said she hoped to
“reach a whole new pop
ulation that lives right here
in Nicholson and in Com
merce.”
She asked the city for
access to its fields, and the
park’s rest rooms and said
she would like the city to
mention the events on its
website and Facebook page.
Beauchamp conducts
boot camps at Memorial and
Bishop parks in Athens, she
said, as well as on University
of Georgia fields. She indi
cated a willingness to pay a
fee for use of the Nicholson
park, noting that she pays a
rental fee for use of facilities
in Athens.
“The average class in Ath
ens mns about 25 people.
A free day 50,” Beauchamp
said. “If I could have a class
of 15 people (in Nicholson),
I think that would be great.”
She told the council it will
take some time to figure out
what schedules are best for
Nicholson area residents.
In response to a question
from councilman Mike Bar-
field, Beauchamp said she is
fully insured.
“My whole thinking is that
it will promote the park,”
Mayor Jan Webster said.
No water restrictions on horizon
In spite of unusually dry
weather, the Bear Creek
Regional Reservoir in south
west Jackson County remains
full and there are no plans to
curtail water usage in Barrow,
Jackson, Athens-Clarke and
Oconee counties for the fore
seeable future.
Members of the Upper
Oconee Basin Water Author
ity learned July 27 that the
authority’s water model indi
cates that the reservoir will
stay full through November,
eliminating the need to imple
ment drought restrictions.
“The model was updated
July 11,” noted Bobby Snipes,
Athens-Clarke’s former deputy
city manager who is now the
authority’s “owner’s represen
tative.”
The model, Snipes said,
indicates that “we do not need
to designate a drought sever
ity stage or declare a drought
response level,” steps that
would mandate reductions in
water usage.
The model considers the
probable levels of water in the
Middle Oconee River (mea
sured at Arcade), soil mois
ture and the long-range rainfall
forecast.
The model indicates
that the flow of the Middle
Oconee — from which water
is pumped into the reservoir—
will run from 50 to 60 percent
of normal levels, while the soil
moisture remains above the
threshold for drought status
and the rainfall forecast for
August, September and Octo
ber has a 50-percent probabil
ity of being normal for those
months.
“Those factors at this point
do not suggest an adjustment
to the stream flow probabili
ties,” Snipes advised. “...The
reservoir, given our predic
tions, will remain full through
the end of November.”
That is good news for those
who sell water. Hot, dry condi
tions have led to sharp increas
es in the amount of water sold.
Other Business
The authority also:
•watched as the Resource
Management Commission,
representing cities and water
authorities in the four-county
area, re-elected Elton Collins
as chairman; Harry Sims as
vice chairman; Mott Beck as
secretary; and Collins as its
representative on the author
ity-
•voted to accept the bid
of Mauldin & Jenkins as its
auditors at a cost of $12,500
per year. The vote covers one
year, with the authority having
the option to keep the com-
Priscilla Baker Whitlock
October 1,1979 -July 31,2012
Forever In Our Hearts
fjoec tyon
and diicnds
pany on board for two more
years at the same price. The
current company, McNair,
McLemore, Middlebrooks &
Co., currently charges $18,000
per year, Collins said. “I think
this was a good move on our
part to go back and look at
it (accounting services),”
Collins said. The authority
received five bids.
• learned that the authority
has yet to issue a notice to
proceed on modifications to a
Jackson County high-service
pump.
•learned that an upgrade
of the meter system telemetry
for Barrow County should be
done by the Sept. 1 deadline.
•voted to authorize chair
man Melvin Davis to approve
a scope of services for engi
neering on a project to modi
fy the discharge of water from
its lagoons so that it goes back
into the reservoir instead of
downstream. The total proj
ect is estimated to cost less
than $30,000 and the author
ity expects to realize substan
tial savings in both energy
costs and in water “wasted”
because it is not available to
sell.
•was advised by Snipes to
keep in mind that Jacobs Engi
neering’s seven-year service
as manager of the reservoir
and treatment plant will soon
end, necessitating a request
for proposals to provide that
service for the next period of
time.
• learned that over the nine
weeks prior to the meeting,
the authority was treating 11.4
million gallons of water per
day, an increase of about one
million gallons over the same
period in 2015.
•received financial infor
mation indicating that six
months into the year, Jackson
County has spent $1.1 million
buying water from the authori
ty followed by Barrow County
at $1 million, Oconee County
at $751,000 and Athens-Clarke
at $142,000. Athens-Clarke
uses the reservoir only to sup
plement its withdrawals from
the Middle and North Oconee
rivers and does not use the
authority’s water treatment
plant.
r \
THANK YOU
I want to sincerely
thank my fellow
Banks Countians
for the trust you
have placed in me
by electing me as
your coroner. Your
faith in my ability
to serve is appre
ciated more than I
can express. It will
truly be an honor
to serve our county in this position and I
will keep the only promise I made during
this election: to serve you with honesty and
dependability.
Sincerely, Mark Savage
J
LOST revenue still
running under budget
Collections from the local option sales tax (LOST) con
tinue to fall below budget for 2016 and are down from 2015
as well, according to information released last week by
Jackson County finance director Trey Wood.
The county received a $510,794 distribution last week,
representing the one-percent tax on items sold primarily
in June.
“Our budgeted FY 2016 goal for local option sales tax
receipts is $5,600,000,” Wood said in an email to local
officials. “The sixth month of LOST revenue for FY 2016
is down $15,196 over the same period last year. Overall,
collections are under budget by three percent or $88,380
through the period.”
The county also received an $851,267 distribution from
the special purpose local option sales tax, also on sales
made mostly in June.
“We are now 83 percent or 60 months into the six-year
SPLOST 5 collection,” Wood wrote. “SPLOST 5 collections
will end on June 30, 2017. Overall, SPLOST 5 revenues are
trending approximately 17 percent above budget.”
Since both taxes are one-percent sales taxes, SPLOST’s
better performance relative to budget is likely related to
more conservative budgeting when Jackson County and its
municipalities drafted plans for SPLOST 5.
NOTICE OF HEARINGS
The Jackson County Board of Education will
hold two public hearings, one at 7:30 P.M. on
Monday, August 8, 2016 at East Jackson Middle
School and the second at 6:30 P.M. on Monday,
August 15, 2016 at the East Jackson
Comprehensive High School’s Auditorium.
East Jackson Middle School is located at 1880
Hoods Mill Road, Commerce. East Jackson
Comprehensive High School is located at 1435
Hoods Mille Road, Commerce. The purpose of
the hearings will be to allow a full discussion of
the Superintendent’s recommendation to close
Benton Elementary School.
If the recommendation is approved, the students
currently attending Benton Elementary School
would attend either East Jackson Elementary
School or South Jackson Elementary School.
East Jackson Elementary School will continue to
be composed of grades K-5 and would have an
anticipated enrollment of approximately 650
students. South Jackson Elementary School will
continue to be composed of grades K-5 and
would have an anticipated enrollment of
approximately 670 students. There are no
construction projects contemplated in order to
complete these moves.
The Benton Elementary School facility would
be repurposed to serve as Foothills Charter High
School and a flexible leading space for Jackson
County School District students.
The Jackson County Board of Education invites
the public to attend these hearings and comment
on these plans. All speakers will be asked to
sign in prior to the beginning of the meeting and
only those who have signed in prior to the
meeting will be allowed to speak. Requests to
speak may also be made prior to the hearings by
sending an email to: ahewell@icss.us specifying
which date the speaker would like to comment.
The Board of Education also requests written
comments or suggestions regarding these
plans. Such written comments can be sent to
1660 Winder Highway, Jefferson, Georgia
30549 or emailed to: ahewell@icss.us.
