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THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS • THE COMMERCE NEWS
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2016
Elton Collins ready to retire
from a 'complicated' issue
BY RON BRIDGEMAN
If would be fair to say Elton
Collins takes a long view
of an issue. He attended
meetings and served on the
Upper Oconee Basin Water
Authority for 15 years before
water was pumped to cus
tomers.
Now, he’s planning to
retire from the UOBWA - and
from its Resource Manage
ment Commission - but
that may take an act of the
legislature.
Collins suggested, and the
UOBWA agreed, the agency
should seek legislation that
would change the agreement
for the four-county agency.
The change would abolish
the RMC and alter the voting
structure of the water author
ity-
And Collins would give up
his spot.
He explained the RMC,
which was an advisory group
with representatives from all
affected local governments,
has fallen through.
“We (the RMC) never
had any authority and I
think that’s why it never held
together,” Collins said.
“I’m the last original mem
ber (of the UOBWA),” he
said in a recent interview. He
is the only finance chairman
the group has had.
The water authority was
legally created in 1994, and
it took another eight years to
plan and create a reservoir,
build a water treatment plant
and start pumping water.
Collins said he has been
on the authority for 22 years,
but he has been working on
water issues and getting the
authority established for 29
years.
He said he started
attending meetings of an
ad hoc group to discuss
water issues in 1987. Collins
also served on the Jackson
County Water & Sewerage
Authority. He was a charter
member there, too, and also
was chairman. He said he
was a member of that body
Stepping down
Having served on the Upper Oconee Basin Water
Authority for 15 years, Elton Collins is calling it
quits on Dec. 31.
for 14 years.
The UOBWA is a creation
of Jackson, Barrow, Clark
and Oconee counties. Col
lins said the “biggest sticking
point” was how to structure
the group so that one or
two counties - Clark and
Oconee, he singled out -
could not dominate it.
Collins said the negotia
tions “almost fell apart” over
that question. Getting the four
counties to agree was diffi
cult, he said.
Collins praised the rep
resentatives from Clarke
County.
“They have worked hard.
They have done everything
right,” he said.
The four-county arrange
ment has some odd quirks.
Athens-Clarke County owns
about 48 percent of the
reservoir, but it does not par
ticipate in the water treatment
plant.
Jackson County owns 25
percent of the reservoir.
The authority operates
the Bear Creek Reservoir
in southwestern Jackson
County and an adjacent
water treatment plant. Most
of the water for the reservoir
is pumped into it from the
Middle Oconee River. The
authority has three pumps in
the river. Each can pump 20
million gallons of water a day.
The UOBWA has a dif
ferent kind of structure. It
includes members with full
votes and members with pro
portional votes.
“That was the only way we
could get it done,” Collins
said.
The proposed legislation
will reduce the vote on the
authority from seven full
votes to six.
The four chairmen of
the county commissions in
the counties each have a
vote. The representative of
the RMC, which has been
Collins, has a vote. Four peo
ple - one from each county
- have the proportional votes
for a total of one. Then the
nine members of the author
ity agree on a 10th member,
who has a full vote.
The total of seven will go
down by one - Collins’ posi
tion - if the state legislature
approves it.
UOBWA continues to
function. It meets every other
month.
Collins admitted the meet
ings aren’t as “much fun” as
they once were. He said he’s
ready to give up the job.
Before that, Collins, a
retired banker, served on the
Commerce Board of Educa
tion. He also is a former pres
ident of the Jackson County
Area Chamber of Commerce
and the Commerce Kiwanis
Club.
His last public job, he said,
is his current position on the
Jackson County Board of
Equalization.
The original water group
that started meeting in 1987
reviewed an Army Corps of
Engineers study about water
in northeast Georgia, he said.
He said the group looked
at water needs and asked
each county to project its
needs for the next 40 years.
Those projections won’t last
40 years, Collins said.
A reason for the initial
meetings was the “growth up
the (Interstate) 85 corridor,”
Collins explained. Even with
the recession that stopped
growth in its tracks, the
projections are likely to be
surpassed before 40 years
are up.
At its November meeting,
the authority agreed to ask
for up-tCHjate water usage
numbers as part of its ongo
ing monitoring of drought
conditions. But Collins noted
projections of future water
use also need to be revisited.
“Water is complicated,”
he said.
SCORE starts in Jackson, Clarke counties
BY RON BRIDGEMAN
Charles Schrauth attended
a meeting about SCORE in
Gainesville in April because
he was invited. Now he is a
mentor for about a dozen
companies.
“I didn’t know what role I
would play” he said. “I had no
idea, really what SCORE was.
SCORE was created as “Ser
vice Corps of Retired Execu
tives” in the 1960s, but it now
uses just the acronym because
many of its mentors, such as
Schrauth, are not retired.
The organization is just
starting in Jackson and
Clarke counties. It is part of
the Gainesville chapter. That
group held its first meeting in
April, the one Schrauth attend
ed.
Eight months later, three
of which were required to
become “certified,” Schrauth
is a SCORE mentor.
SCORE mentors typically
work with four to six compa
nies.
“I’m a headhunter,” Schr
auth said about his own busi
ness. He looks for employees
for clients, primarily in the
engineering field, he said.
Most of his clients
are out of town, he said.
“I use the email for the ini
tial contact,” he said. “I rarely
meet my candidates in per
son.”
Scharuth lives in Nichol
son, where he has been since
2005.
He said his wife wanted to
have a horse and the couple
found a house and land. They
moved from Dunwoody he
said.
He said business activity is
bustling in Clarke and Jackson
counties.
If SCORE promoted itself
more, it could “have 50 clients
within a relatively short period
of time” in Clarke, he said.
Schrauth is a typical SCORE
mentor, a business profession
al. The organization provides
advice, “real world” advice,
he, and the group’s website,
emphasizes.
It does not provide loans or
financing for business, he said.
“Most of these (his clients)
are startups,” Schrauth said,
“and many just involve a
dream in somebody’s brain.”
Mentors seeks to help move
those dreams to financially sta
ble businesses.
He said he meets with
clients monthly ideally but
added that changes with the
needs of the business. It’s
sometimes more frequently.
“Most small companies,
including my company have
a difficult time planning,” he
said.
“We (mentors) can encour
age. We can advise, but they
(SCORE) don’t encourage us
to do any of the real work.”
He said he hopes to have
three or four mentors work
ing with companies soon.
He expects one to start on or
about the first of 2017
The new SCORE chapter
has not started a marketing
effort in either Jackson or
Clarke counties, Schrauth said.
The organization is more
than 50 years old. Its website
says SCORE is the country’s
“premier source of free, con
fidential business education
and mentoring.” Its website is
www.score.org and includes
information about business,
mentors and workshops.
Courage to Quit
BOC ends year with
appointments, actions
In its year-end meeting on Dec. 19, the Jackson County
Board of Commissioners finished appointing members to
various county committees and approved a slew of zoning
and other actions.
In appointments, James Scott was reappointed to the
county’s board of adjustment for three years; Jack Legg
was reappointed to a two-year term to the county’s historic
courthouse committee; and Josh Huskins was reappoint
ed to a one-year term to the county’s recreation advisory
board.
In other actions, the BOC:
• adopted a new county animal control ordinance.
•amended the county’s alcohol ordinance to allow
temporary permits for special events.
• approved Magnolia Veterinary Hospital as the primary
provider of vet services to the county’s new animal control
shelter.
• approved an agreement with the county school system
for the use of the old West Jackson Primary School gym.
• approved an agreement with UGA for the use of Center
Park for 4-H programs.
• approved the creation of a chief deputy tax commis
sioner position.
• approved an agreement for S&ME to perform environ
mental investigations on property owned by the county.
• renewed a lease with American Tower Corporation for
the McMullan tower site.
• approved a list of roads for repaving using state and
local funds.
• approved a contract with Tyler Technologies to buy
new software for E911 and other county law enforcement
agencies.
• approved the rezoning of 219 Ruby Lane, Commerce
from A-l to R-l.
• approved amendments to the county’s Unified Devel
opment Code.
• approved rezoning of 3281 Old State Road from A-2
to M-H.
• approved the rezoning of 10 acres on Hwy. 124 W. from
A-2 to R-3 along with the approval of private roadways for
development.
Controversial map
amendment OK'd
A tentative first step was taken last week to develop 89 acres
for industrial use at the intersection of Hog Mountain Road
and Storey Lane.
The Jackson County Board of Commissioners approved a
Future Land Use Map amendment change for the tract from
“commercial and industrial” to “industrial.” The request was
made by Inland Holdings LLC.
The change affects only a small part of the tract that was
initially designated commercial. The majority of the tract
is already designated industrial on the FLU map. The map
change does not affect the property’s zoning, which is cur
rently A2. The owners stated in their application that they
intend to sell the tract for a manufacturing or distribution cen
ter and would seek a rezoning following the map amendment
change. That would bring the matter back to the BOC.
A concept map for the property shows two large ware
house buildings totaling over 1 million square feet of space.
While much of the property in the area is inside Jefferson,
this tract is not, so its land use is determined by the BOC, not
the Jefferson City Council.
Opposition Voiced
While the map amendment was approved, a number
of nearby residents oppose the property being developed
for industrial use. Heritage Subdivision sits across from the
proposed project and a number of homeowners wrote in
opposition to the project.
“We have a great neighborhood with lots of children and I
am very concerned about the additional traffic to our commu
nity” wrote Selina Cash.
Todd Comes also voiced opposition to the plan.
“There are not enough bodies to supply the industries that
are here now,” he said.
Christopher Vegas said the property would be “seriously
encroaching on residential property of many longstanding
Jefferson residents along this road and area.
Road Of Development
Hog Mountain Road runs parallel to 1-85 and has seen other
development in recent years. The former Tiger Direct ware
house anchors the south end of the road while two new large
spec warehouses have been built further north near the Pos
sum Creek Road intersection. On the north end, which has
been renamed McClure Industrial Blvd., Kubota has a major
manufacturing facility, which it is in the process of expanding.
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