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About The Commerce news. (Commerce, Ga.) 1???-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 2016)
PAGE 2A THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS • THE COMMERCE NEWS WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2016 Chillin' in the downtown Sitting with their car Gerald Willoughby of Commerce checks his email as he sits behind his Mary Seabolt and Fred Haas sit behind their 1964 Ford Thunderbird during 1967 Camaro parked along South Broad Street during Cruisin’ Commerce the Cruisin’ Commerce event Saturday evening in downtown Commerce Saturday. Cruisin' Commerce brings classic vehicles Retro Rock-its on stage The Retro Rock-its provided music from a stage in Spencer Park during the were on display in the downtown, attracting hundreds of classic vehicle 2016 fall Cruisin’ Commerce event Saturday night. Scores of classic vehicles enthusiasts. Jackson County BOC considering slight drop in property tax rates Interviews for Commerce police chief to begin soon Tax rates for the Jackson County government could dip slightly this year. Tom Crow, chairman of the Jackson County Board of Commissioners asked coun ty manager Kevin Poe Mon day night to reconfigure the county’s proposed budget so that the board would have an option to cut its tax rates by 1 / 10th of a mill. The BOC had earlier looked at keeping the rates the same as last year — 9.7 mills in unincorporated areas and 11.210 in incorpo rated areas. But the county’s tax digest went up about six percent this year, meaning that some property owners will see a tax increase despite the mill- age rates staying the same. The BOC plans to have a final public hearing on the budget and tax rates at noon on Oct. 12 in the auditorium of the county administrative building and then set the tax rates at 6 p.m. during the board’s regular meeting at the courthouse. Two people spoke during Monday night’s public hear ing about the county’s tax rate. William Carlyle of Pen dergrass told the BOC that senior citizens should have their school taxes lowered. He said some seniors were going to retirement com munities in other counties because tax rates were lower for seniors there. “Give us a break,” he said. Crow said that for the county to lower senior tax rates, the county would need a lot more commercial and businesses in its tax digest. “We’re too heavy with res idential,” he said. Crow said that as the coun ty’s economic condition improves, the board would take another look at lower ing senior tax rates. Those rates are typically lowered by increasing exemptions for senior citizens. Medical Unit Supervisors A move by commission er Chas Hardy to give EMS supervisors more time off ambulance calls to do administrative duties failed for the lack of a second Monday night. Hardy said giving EMS supervisors more time to take care of administrative tasks would provide “better service for our community.” After a lengthy verbal dance on the issue, Poe said that there are “some com pelling reasons to expand (time off ambulances) from where we are now.” Of three options consid ered last year, Poe recom mended giving EMS super visors the first 12 hours of each shift off for administra tive duties. Currently, super visors have the first 12 hours for administrative duties only on Mondays, Wednes days and Fridays. The cost of expanding that to seven days would be around $37,000 per year. Hardy made a motion to put that plan on the board’s next meeting agenda for a vote, but no other com missioner seconded his motion. Interviews should begin soon the process of hir ing a new Commerce police chief. City manager James Wascher told the city council Monday night that he’d received 45 applicants for the position vacated by Brandon Sellers’ resignation on Sept. 9 and had selected 10 applicants to be interviewed. “I will do some preliminary interviews and nar row that to five applicants,’’Wascher said. Those five will be interviewed by a panel comprising Wascher; human resources director Tracey Williams; Michael Williams, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of Jackson County; and John Adams, a retired Georgia State Trooper. That group will narrow the field to a pair of final ists. Wascher said he hopes to bring in the finalists for a “meet-and-greet” with the city council prior to making the final decision. He declined to predict when the new police chief would be hired. “The drawback (to a panel interview) is that it is hard to get their schedules and the interviewees’ schedules together,” he said. “It can be a chal lenge.” Nicholson council sets meeting to discuss budget BY CHARLES PHELPS The first budget meeting for the city of Nicholson is set for Thursday, Oct. 27 at 6:30 p.m., before the city coun cil’s work session, Mayor Jan Webster announced at Monday night’s city council meeting. The second meeting is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 7 at 6:30 p.m. Old Business The council unanimous ly approved the city’s new cemetery policy at Mon day night’s meeting. The policy details the maintenance of the cem etery, what type of grave stones, access, hours of operation, the way the city utilizes and sells lots and more. An issue that sparked comments among the council at the Aug. 25 work session meeting was the proposal of burials on Sundays and what to do if someone needs a funeral plot on the weekends. Webster addressed those concerns at Monday night’s meeting. The city will have a list of telephone numbers that people can call in the case that someone needs a funeral plot that includes Webster as a person of contact. The deadline for submitting news or photographs to this newspaper is noon on the Monday prior to publication. J*E A m m [ 2 Bacon Biscuits f .v. j , $3- 33 IP* 8 *" i (_ Commerce Location Only • Expires 10/15/16 J r„ — ~T ~ ~ ~i r — — — — — — Buy 1 Off iGet 1 FreetijBgjgi I 1 ^ , 1 [Blizzards 11 Any Combrigj^ I f Commerce Location Only • Expires 10/15/16 ) ■ / | ^ — — — — — — -i 1 sT; W 1 y^sr' \CCommerce Location Only • Expires 10/15/16 V Can not be used with other deals. J L J 463 S. Elm St. • Downtown Commerce 706-335-9197 $5 Buck Lunch 11 a.m. - Close
