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WEDNESDAY, MAY 7, 2008 THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS PAGE 3A Planning commission gives OK to mud-bogging facility BY CHRIS BRIDGES Despite expressing various con cerns, members of the Banks County Planning Commission approved a conditional use application for a mud-bogging facility on Browns Bridge Road during its May meet ing Tuesday night. Property owner Michael Cline wants to use 38 acres of land for the mud track which would operate on weekends only. Cline outline several details of the operation which would include providing security from the Banks County Sheriff’s Office and on-site EMS personnel. Planning commission chairper son Alicia Andrews said Madison County had a similar operation and one issue which began a concern was vehicles getting mud on nearby highways. Cline addressed this by saying his operation would make sure all vehicles leave the mud track street safe by having to pass through a wash area. “We will also have pressure wash ers available,” Cline said. “There is also going to be approximately 300 feet of gravel which trucks will travel over before getting back to the highway.” Cline also said when his operation first opens it would have a street sweeper available although he did not believe it would be a necessary use. The run-off from washing the vehicles would go back into the mud pit. Cline also noted his facility would not be for monster trucks such as Bigfoot and those with “six foot tires.” Andrews also expressed concern over spectators consuming alcohol and asked Cline if he was going to allow this. Cline said he was not going to deny the people the right to consume alcohol but noted he would have professional security on hand. “We are going to have a uni formed deputy from the sheriff’s office as well as others working the crowd,” he said. “We aren’t going to have high school students serving as security. We will have a true security presence around.” Andrews asked Cline if alcohol issues became a concern would he consider banning it. Cline said he would have to see how “concern” was defined. “If we have one person get drunk and fall down out of 1,000 people, then I don’t know if I call that a problem,” he said. “It is not our goal to cause problems for the commu nity. We want to provide a way to have fun.” Planning commission members also expressed concern about traffic entering the event but Cline said the makeup of the facility would be able to handle the expected traffic. Andrews also requested that Cline not begin operations on Sunday until 1 p.m. to which he agreed. The Planning commission unani mously voted to approve Cline’s request, which still must meet approval from the Banks County Board of Commissioners Tuesday during their May meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the courthouse. No one spoke in opposition to the mud track facility during the Planning com mission meeting. Cline originally spoke at a BOC meet in March but commissioners told him to first speak with zoning officer Keith Covington about the matter. Maysville to change garbage pickup BY JUSTIN POOLE The city of Maysville will be swit ching companies for trash pickup. During the meeting Monday eve ning, the council discussed staying with R&W Sanitation or changing to WastePro. John Bellamy from WastePro spoke about the kinds of services that the company could offer to city residents. “Essentially, what we are going to be doing is somewhat like you have now,” said Bellamy. “We are going to be bringing brand new containers for everybody, and we are adjusting pricing to $12 for the first year ... in addition to basic weekly services, we have established a location, not definitive yet, for a drop-off recy cling service.” After the first year, the cost would increase by one dollar. Any future increases would have to be approved by the council. The recycling servi ces, open to residents who want to participate, could include drop-off aluminum, plastic, newspaper, and cardboard boxes. WastePro would continue garbage pickups on Wednesdays. Mayor Jerry Baker said that the transition would not take place until July. The council members voted to change services after a brief dis cussion about what each company offered the city. OTHER BUSINESS The Maysville City Council also took the following action during Monday’s meeting: •approved a slate of five resi dents to serve on the Downtown Development Authority: Mary Hart, Kay Daniel, Catherine Daniels, Charles Floyd, Melody Stancil, and Marilyn Sherry. Council member Lyn Villyard will serve as the city council representative on the DDA. •approved the short term work program resolution. AM A KISH! Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY! This year give her dinner and a show!^ 706-423-0040 228 Steven B. Tanger Blvd. • Commerce, GA 30529 Across From Home Depot One-of-a-kind Handmade Gifts for One-of-a-kind MOTHERS!!! HANDCRAFTED POTTERY Bowls, Vases, Casseroles, Glasses, Pitchers, Cookware HANDBLOWN GLASS Hummingbird Feeders, Garden Globes, Oil Lamps, Scent Diffusers CUSTOM FRAMED ART Kevin Burchett, Lee Fox, Ray Byram 249 Pottery Factory Drive - Commerce Commerce Crossing Shopping Center (across the parking lot from The Pottery) 706-336-8080 DOT to install I-85 cable barriers starting late summer WRECK PREVENTED This photo, provided by the Georgia Department of Transportation, depicts how cable barrier help in preventing cross-over collisions. CABLE BARRIER A cable barrier system is shown along I-85 in Franklin County. The DOT plans to install a similar system through Gwinnett, Barrow, Jackson and Banks counties starting late summer or early fall. Photo provided by the Georgia DOT BY KERRI TESTEMENT Motorists are being warned: Come late summer, those won’t be sidewalks being installed in the median of Interstate 85. Instead, those two-foot wide concrete pads will run under a new cable barrier system designed to prevent deadly cross-over wrecks. Already, the Georgia Depart ment of Transportation is receiv ing plenty of “silly questions” related to a similar project in Forsyth County, where crews are installing 13.3 miles of cable bar rier along Ga. Hwy. 400, accord ing to spokesperson Teri Pope. “It’s not sidewalks. It’s illegal to walk on (I-85) and we don’t encourage anyone to walk on (I-85). This is to improve safety,” Pope said. The Georgia DOT will install a cable barrier system along 41.3 miles along I-85 from Ga. Hwy. 20 in Gwinnett County, through Barrow, Jackson and Banks coun ties. The $6.1 million project will end at the Franklin County line, where cable barriers along the interstate now extend to Hart County. Construction — which will also include replacing some guardrails — is expected to start by late summer or early fall, Pope said. Despite hundreds of “silly” inquiries about the “sidewalks” along Ga. 400, the cable barrier system is viewed as a life-saving tool. “It used to be — when cars weren’t so powerful and speeds weren’t so high and cars didn’t weigh as much — vehicles couldn’t cross that really wide grassy median,” Pope said. “It was enough. It’s not enough any more.” And that’s why the DOT is installing cable barrier systems along some of Georgia’s limited- access roads to prevent cross over wrecks. The cable barrier system includes four steel cables pulled tightly together by a series of posts anchored by a concrete pad, Pope explained. State transportation officials have said the cable barriers have helped prevent vehicles crossing the median and striking vehicles going in the other direction. In May 2007, the DOT said the cable barrier in Franklin and Hart counties stopped four potential cross-over wrecks in a single weekend on I-85. The DOT will also install 22.3 miles of cable barrier on I-985, between I-85 and U.S. Hwy. 129 (Jesse Jewel Parkway) for $3.8 million. Nationwide Fence and Supply Company, of Chesterfield, Mich., is the contractor for all of the barrier projects. FRIDAY, MAY 9™THRU SUNDAY, MAY 11™ COMMERCE SEARS OWNED & OPERATED BY ALLEN & JILL COOPER 40095 Hwy. 441 • Commerce, GA • (706) 335-3879 Open Mon.-Sat. 9-6; Sunday 12-5 COMMERCE 12 MONTHS, NO INTEREST, NO PAYMENTS ON ANY APPLIANCE OVER $399 WITH YOUR SEARS CARDHttfl Offer applies fo any appliance over $399 after discounts and coupons when you use a qualifying Sears card and If paid in full within 12 months and account is kepi In good standing. 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