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THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS • THE COMMERCE NEWS
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 17, 2016
Jackson BOE Okays
list of personnel changes
The Jackson County Board of Edu
cation approved several hires the day
before school. The BOE approved its
list of personnel moves at its Aug. 4 work
session. They include:
HIRES
• Cindy Brooks, pre-K teacher, North
Jackson Elementary School
• Gilbert Cote, bus driver, West Jack-
son Elementary School
•Alicia Davidson, seventh grade
teacher, East Jackson Middle School
• Eric Flynn, special education para-
professional, South Jackson Elementary
School
•David Fountain, special education
paraprofessional, East Jackson Compre
hensive High School
•Anthony Gaddis, bus driver, SJES
• Ben Galis, paraprofessional, Benton
Elementary School
•Deana Garcia, special education
paraprofessional, East Jackson Elemen
tary School
•Judith Gault, 25% gifted and 10%
family engagement specialist, BES
•Amanda Gerber, special education
paraprofessional, EJCHS
•Greg Gilman, CTAE teacher 49%,
EJCHS
•Annel Hagerman, .5 special edu
cation paraprofessional and .5 reading
aide, BES
•Michelle Hardy, special education
paraprofessional, NJES
• Hannah Ingram, 63% Title I reading
aide, EJES
•Jennifer Lord, kindergarten para
professional, WJES
•Nicole Love, special education
paraprofessional, SJES
• Robin McKay, seventh grade teach
er, West Jackson Middle School
• Heather Nelson, special education
paraprofessional, Gum Springs Elemen
tary School
•Ashley Skelton, PE paraprofession
al, WJES
• Barbara Wheeler, special education
paraprofessional, BES
• Monica Whitesides, special educa
tion paraprofessional, GSES
• Karen Bridgeman, communications
coordinator
•Chris McCoy, special education
paraprofessional, NJES
TRANSFERS
•Alan Bunn, choms teacher from
EJCHS to Jackson County Comprehen
sive High School (50%), Maysville Ele
mentary School (25%) and NJES (25%)
•Todd Chandler, chorus teacher,
from EJMS to EJCHS/EJMS
•Angie Croy, custodian, NJES to
WJMS
• Phil King, custodian, WJMS to NJES
•Rhonda McKittrick, special educa
tion paraprofessional, EJES to EJCHS
•Briann Nash, GSES, from special
education paraprofessional to kinder
garten paraprofessional
•Telina Richardson, from special
education paraprofessional, NJES, to
50% special education teacher, GSES
• Sharon Williamson, EJES, 49% EIP
teacher to 49% counselor
•Jennifer Yearwood, special educa
tion teacher, from EJMS to WJMS
RESIGNATIONS OR
TERMINATIONS
•Tressa Dodd, counselor/teacher,
MES
• Steven Pearson, bus driver, NJES
• Elaine Roller, 49% counselor, EJES
•Richard Smith, special education
paraprofessional, SJES
• David Wilkerson, bus driver, MES
• Nancy Wood, bus driver, NJES
•Susan Martin, special education
paraprofessional, EJMS
MEDICAL LEAVE OF ABSENCE
• Lynn Tiller
• John Boone
SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS
Carolyn Deweese, Lindsey Erwin,
Donna Gaillard, John Hulett, Brandy
Keinard, Stephanie Lee, Melanie Sams,
Shea Smith, William Weatherly, Sarah
Williams and Carson Lee.
Nicholson authority upgrades pump
BY CHARLES PHELPS
The Nicholson Water
Authority unanimously
approved the installation of
a variable frequency drive
(VFD) on a 30-horsepower,
230-gallon-per-minute sub
mersible pumping system at
last Tuesday’s meeting.
The work is going to be
done on the Spud-Palmer
well. The cost is $9,898.
The most efficient way to
help in its use is by putting
in a soft start-stop controller,
said engineer Eric Bledsoe.
The controller will allow
the authority to speed up or
slow down the well accord
ing to demand, plus it will
reduce excessive operating
pressure and pressure surges
created by the existing setup,
Bledsoe stated in paperwork
submitted to the authority.
“It will allow us to manage
the water there a lot better,”
Bledsoe said. “It will also
save you guys (the authority)
on power.”
The controller is also
more “environmental friend
ly,” Bledsoe added.
Bledsoe also announced
the automated connection
with the Jackson County
Water and Sewerage Authori
ty project is ready to go.
The authority approved
the project nearly six months
ago, Bledsoe said, and the
actuator and valve needed
to work on the project have
arrived at the water authority.
The project is currently in
the pre-construction check
list, Bledsoe said. The work
is going to be done at Water
works Road and Wilson
Cemetery Road.
As part of the most recent
water service agreement
the city signed with Jackson
County some of the language
suggests the county putting
in a second connection on
Kings Bridge Road, Bledsoe
stated, and he’s had talks
with their engineer about the
timing of the connection to
make sure “expectations”
are met for both sides on
that agreement.
“We’re ready to get the
one on Waterworks Road
installed, but we’re just mak
ing sure everyone is ready,”
Bledsoe said.
Old Business
The authority tabled the
issue of leak recovery until
the next work session.
Title searches for what
is and isn’t property in the
authority’s name was com
plete before the last meeting.
Maysville moves on opening new park
BY ANGELA GARY
No swimming. No hunting
but fishing is allowed.
These are among the mles
the Maysville City Council
approved for the new city
park, which is scheduled to
open on Sept. 10.
The city council held an
early morning meeting at
7:15 on Aug. 10, to go over
the mles for the park and
handle other city business.
The hours of the park will
be 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. March
through October and 8 a.m.
to 6 p.m. November through
Febmary.
The park is located just
past City Hall on Hwy. 98 on
the right. A pavilion located
at the park will be available
for rent for $50 per day.
The park grand opening
will be held from 11 a.m. to
2 p.m. on Saturday Sept. 10.
There will be local enter
tainment, and refreshments
Brad Johnson joins
Pinnacle Bank branch
Pinnacle Bank last week
announced that Commerce
banker Brad Johnson has
joined Pinnacle’s Commerce
branch as a lender. Johnson
brings over 20 years of bank
ing experience to a role of
focusing on serving the per
sonal, commercial and real
estate needs of the area.
Johnson and his family
have lived in the Commerce
area for 26 years. He is trea
surer of the Commerce Lions
Club and the Commerce Ath
letic Booster Club. He is a
member of Maysville Baptist
Church.
Jackson McConnell, pres
ident and CEO of Pinnacle
Bank said, “We are pleased
to have Brad on our Pinna
cle team and know he will
continue to serve our market
well.”
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will be offered.
In other business at the
meeting, the city council:
•agreed to pay $886 to
Boyd Tech Electronics to
locate an emergency call
box at the park.
•agreed to pay $1,999 to
Scott’s Northstar Aerator to
place a water fountain/aera
tor in the park.
• listed Hogan Street,
Cemetery Street and Hogan
Street on the list for possi
ble funding if state funds are
available.
• agreed to pay Banks and
Jackson counties $1.50 per
bill to include city tax bills
with county tax bills.
19th Hole at
Chimney
Oaks
Golf Club
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Dinner 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm
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148 Hammers Glen Dr.
Homer, GA 30547
manager@chimneyoaksgolfclub.com
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Bill Anderson
book signing
planned Sept. 6
Country music legend Bill Anderson will be in Com
merce on Tuesday, Sept. 6, to promote his new book,
“Whisperin’ Bill Anderson: An Unprecedented Life in
Country Music.”
He’ll be at the Bill Anderson Center for the Performing
Arts at Commerce High School at 6 p.m.
“He’ll perform a couple of songs, read excerpts from the
book and sign everybody’s book,” said Rob Jordan of WJJC
Radio. “As long as the line is there, he’ll stay.”
The book, co-written with Peter Cooper, traces Ander
son’s music career, which got its start with the writing of
“City Lights” as Anderson looked down from the Andrew
Jackson Hotel in Commerce, where he worked as a disk
jockey for WJJC Radio. “City Lights” rose to the top of the
country music charts. Anderson is one of the industry’s
most prolific songwriters and is a member of the Country
Music Hall of Fame.
He made a lot of friends during his tenure in Commerce.
“You see, it was the people of Commerce, Georgia, who
adopted me and believed in me long before anybody else
did,” Anderson writes in the book, “and I’ve never forgotten
that. I don’t get back there very much anymore, but a big
part of my heart lives there all the time. And it probably
always will.”
Jackson water authority
finalizes city agreement
BY SCOTT THOMPSON
The Jackson County
Water & Sewage Authority
has officially reached a new
water sales agreement with
the City of Commerce.
Under the agreement
approved last week by
the authority and already
approved by Commerce City
Council in May, the authority
and city will be able to pur
chase water from each other
on an as-needed basis.
Water will be sold at a
$3-per-thousand-gallon rate
for the first 1 million gallons
and then on a descending
scale from there.
“The more you buy drives
the cost down,” authority
manager Eric Klerk said,
“and what one party pays,
the other party pays, essen
tially.”
The new agreement
comes as a previous one
reached in 2006 is set to
expire. Under that agree
ment, the city sold water to
the authority, as needed, at
a minimum of $3,000 per
month.
But when the authority
made upgrades to the pump
station where the water is
sold from in 2014, it became
a “two-way station,” where
the parties could sell to each
other, Klerk said.
The new agreement has
been in the works for two
years, but has been slow to
materialize while the author
ity weighed its options on
how it wanted to proceed
with the city Klerk said.
“In the final analysis, we’ve
decided to stick with what we
have,” he said.
In other business at its
meeting on Thursday, the
board:
•reviewed a preliminary
application by Seefried Indus
trial Properties for sewer ser
vice for a proposed develop
ment at the vacant 183-acre
Valentine 85 Logistics Center
north of Wayne Poultry Road
in Pendergrass. According
to the application, Seefried
estimates the flow would be
63,750 gallons per day which
would mean a sewer tap
fee of more than $1 million,
authority engineer Joey Les
lie said. The board deemed
the application too specula
tive to take any action. No
Seefried officials attended
Thursday’s meeting, and the
board has requested they
attend the next meeting on
Sept. 8 to further explain their
intentions for the property
before it votes on the appli
cation.
Grace Crump
August 18,1941 - June 23, 2016
The day God took
you home
A million times
I’ve needed you
A million times I’ve cried,
If love alone
Could have saved you
You never would have died.
In life I loved you dearly;
In death I love you still.
In my heart you hold a space,
Where no one can ever fill.
It broke my heart to lose you,
But you didn’t go alone
Part of me went with you
The day God took you home.
With love & memory,
Brothers & Sisters
WANTED!
NEW CUSTOMERS
We have money to lend.
Installment loans from
$236 to $1,516
SECURITY
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1816 IV Broad St
Commerce, GA 30529
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'All loans are subject to credit limitations and our
underwriting policies. Actual loan proceeds may vary based
upon loan terms and any ancillary products selected. Dollar
amounts are rounded to the lowest whole dollar.
The Board of Education for Commerce City Schools does hereby announce that the millage rate will be set at a meeting to be
held at the Commerce Board of Education Office located at 270 Lakeview Dr., Commerce, Georgia on September 12, 2016 at
6:00 pm and pursuant to the requirementsof O.C.G.A. Section 48-5-32 do hereby publish the following presentation of the
current year’s tax digest and levy, along with the history of the tax digest and levy for the past five years. The Board
has tentatively adopted a millage rate which will not require an increase in property taxes.
CURRENT 2016 TAX DIGEST AND 5 YEAR HISTORY OF LEVY
County School
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Real & Personal
179,760,372
172,432,939
175,076,080
167,785,319
186,330,074
189,089,140
Motor Vehicles
12,686,090
13,360,470
14,654,880
11,679,040
8,649,760
6,376,380
Mobile Homes
935,385
860,036
878,759
811,447
799,345
831,229
Timber - 100%
131,675
60,706
-
35,889
-
Heavy Duty Equipment
Gross Digest
193,513,522
186,714,151
190,609,719
180,275,806
195,815,068
196,296,749
Less M&O Exemptions
27,691,021
24,688,760
27,779,876
30,715,225
36,578,694
38,002,894
Net M&O Digest
165,822,501
162,025,391
162,829,843
149,560,581
159,236,374
158,293,855
Gross M&O Millage
17.75
19.00
20.00
20
20
19.845
Less Rollbacks
0
0
0
0
0.155
0.706
Net M&O Millage
17.75
19.00
20.00
20
19.845
19.139
Net Taxes Levied
2,943,349
3,078,482
3,256,597
2,991,211.62
3,160,842.02
3,029,586.09
Net Taxes $ Increase
(22,361.00)
135,133
178,114
(265,385.24)
169,630.40
(131,255.93)
Net Taxes % Increase
0.75%
4.59%
5.79%
-8.15%
5.67%
-4.15%