Newspaper Page Text
Vol. 132
No. 45
50 Pages
4 Sections
Commerce News
Wednesday
DECEMBER 19, 2007
mainstreetnews.com
50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875
Kids' Christmas
Section Inside
MainStreet Newspapers'
2007 Kids' Christmas sec
tion features photos of
children from Jackson and
Banks counties — along
with Christmas ads from
local merchants.
Newspaper
Deadlines To
Be Moved Up
Because of the Christmas
holiday, all deadlines for
The Commerce News will be
Friday at noon.
All copy for the Dec. 26
edition, including classi
fied ads, display ads, social
announcements, photos,
etc., must be turned in by
noon Friday.
The Commerce News
office will be closed Tuesday,
Dec. 25, for Christmas.
The paper will be print
ed Wednesday, Dec. 26,
will be available at local
stores that evening and will
arrive with local subscrib
ers' mail Thursday, Dec. 27.
The same schedule will be
followed for the following
week, thanks to the New
Year's holiday.
I N D E X
Births 12A
Church News 5B
Classified Ads 1-4C
Calendar 3A
Crime News 7-8A
News Roundup 2A
Obituaries 9A
Opinions 4A
School News 9-11B
Sports 1-4B
Social News . . . . 12-13A
WEATHER OUTLOOK
THURSDAY FRIDAY
Showers: Mostly cloudy:
Low, 40; high, 54; Low, 40; high, 53;
30% chance rain 10% chance rain
SATURDAY SUNDAY
Cloudy: Showers:
Low, 47; high, 54; Low, 30; high, 58;
10% chance rain 40% chance rain
CONTACT US
Phone: 706-335-2927
FAX: 706-387-5435
E-mail:
news@mainstreetnews. com
mark@mainstreetnews.com
brandon@mainstreetnews.com
teresa@mainstreetnews.com
Mail: PO. Box 459,
Commerce, GA 30529
A Drought Contingency
Jackson Could Tap Into Lake Lanier
If the drought deepens, Jackson County
could get relief from Lake Lanier.
The Jackson County Water and Sewerage
Authority last Thursday approved a $26,750
change order to cover engineering costs for
a connection with the city of Gainesville.
According to manager Eric Klerk,
Gainesville has offered Jackson County “all
the water you want” via the connection.
But, hedging its bets, Gainesville also
waived an $88,000 tap fee to encourage
Jackson County to install a two-way valve
— so Jackson County could help supply
Gainesville in an emergency.
Gainesville gets its water from Lake Lanier,
which also supplies water for Gwinnett
County and much of Atlanta. While the
falling level of Lake Lanier is a concern
statewide, Gainesville officials are appar
ently confident that their supply is not
threatened.
“Given the situation we’re in, I think we’re
fortunate to have the opportunity to make
the connection,” said member Alex Bryan.
Chairman Hunter Bicknell agreed, not
ing that “the opportunity to connect with
Gainesville may not always be there.”
The connection should be completed by
the end of January.
Currently, the authority, which provides
water to more than 6,700 retail customers,
has ample water available. The Bear Creek
Reservoir appears to be slowly recharging,
and the authority continues to buy water
Please Turn to Page 3A
Commissioners
OK $45 Million
In Road Bonds
Hospital Road Extension, Bana Road, 'Commerce
Retail Boulevard' Scheduled To Be Funded
Jackson County Area Chamber
of Commerce leaders announced
this week that Gerry Nechvatal
is the new vice president of
economic development for the
organization. The newly-created
position will focus on marketing
and retention of businesses, as
well as workforce development
for Jackson County.
“Gerry is an excellent choice
for Jackson County,” said Shane
Short, president and chief execu
tive officer of the chamber. “The
chamber has made a commit
ment to move our community
to a new level of involvement
and recruitment in the econom
ic development arena. Gerry
is going to be an integral part
of that movement. At the rate
Jackson County has grown over
the past ten years, it is important
to have an experienced profes
sional who is dedicated solely
to marketing our community
and working with existing busi
nesses.”
Since 2002, Nechvatal has
served as regional director of
CSX Transportation in Atlanta.
He was directly responsible for
all industrial development activi
ties in Georgia, including recruit-
ment, project
management,
incentive for
mulation, site
development
and market
ing.
Nechvatal
routinely par
ticipated in
confidential
recruitment
projects led
by the Georgia Department of
Economic Development includ
ing Kia Motors, Toyo Tire and
Del Monte Foods. He also
functioned as a team leader on
numerous new business place
ments, such as The Middlesex
Company, Columbia Farms and
Global Green Technologies.
The chamber’s board of direc
tors has been planning for a
change in organizational struc
ture since May of this year.
The increased demand on the
president’s time with economic
development spurred the board
to split the responsibilities into
two posts.
“The business and government
groups here in Jackson County
have made it clear they want
to be known as the leader in
economic development in the
southeast,” said Roy Stowe, vice
president for marketing and
member relations for Jackson
EMC and chair of the cham
ber’s Economic Development
Council. “Gerry’s knowledge
of the economic development
process and network of brokers
and others in the business is
extremely impressive. I am total
ly committed to making this a
successful endeavor for Jackson
County by working through the
Economic Development Council
of the chamber.”
Nechvatal’s position with CSX
kept him involved in Jackson
County projects and others
along the Interstate 85 corridor.
“I am very excited about the
opportunity to work with the
business and government entities
in Jackson County,” Nechvatal
said .
Nechvatal’s first day at the
chamber will be Jan. 2. He and
his wife Ann currently live in
Canton with their two children.
Nechvatal holds a bachelor of
business administration degree
Please Turn to Page 3A
By Angela Gary
Jackson County leaders
approved $45.9 million in road
bonds Monday night in an effort
to boost the county’s long-term
economic outlook. Several
Commerce area projects are
included.
The Jackson County Board of
Commissioners unanimously
approved the bonds for nine
economic development projects.
County leaders point out that the
cost of the projects could be less
than $45.9 million depending on
donated right of way, developer
participation and DOT funds.
Scott Martin, chairman of the
county industrial development
authority, and Dr. Shannon
Adams, county school superin
tendent, attended to offer sup
port for the projects.
If Ingles gets a third large sign
for its new store south of town,
it’ll be over the objection of a
unanimous Commerce Planning
Commission.
The commission voted 3-0
Monday night to recommend that
the city council turn down Ingles’
request for a variance in the city’s
sign ordinance to allow a third
“monument” sign near the Hwy.
334 entrance.
The city council will rule on
the matter at its Monday, Jan. 14,
meeting at the Commerce Civic
Center.
Chad Priest and John Caputo
appeared before the planning
panel with a pair of boards con
taining the site plan and archi
tect’s rendering of the proposed
sign and with the argument that a
third sign is necessary so travelers
on Hwy. 334 can find the store.
The planning commission did
not buy the Ingles argument.
“You think there’s going to be so
many strangers coming to Ingles
The IDA recently held a day
long retreat with the BOC to
discuss possible projects to be
funded.
“We have worked on this for
quite some time,” Martin said.
“Our goal has been to be on a
fact-finding mission.”
Martin pointed out that the
2004 economic road bond pack
age has been making money for
the county.
“These projects are bringing
back more money than it cost to
build them,” he said. “These proj
ects are paying for themselves
and they are good for Jackson
County.”
Chairman Pat Bell said she sup
ports the projects but added that
the county should be “very, very
Please Turn to Page 3A
on 334 that won’t be able to find it
without this huge monument sign?”
asked Chairman Greg Perry.
Priest answered that drivers will
not realize the store is there until
they’ve passed it.
“You ever live in a small town?”
Perry countered. “It’s not hard to
find your grocery stores in a small
town.”
The city’s sign ordinance cover
ing all areas but the central busi
ness district allow one sign per
business. Ingles has been granted
a large sign for its grocery store
and another for its gas station. It
wants to promote its drive-through
pharmacy and the gasoline pric
ing on the third sign.
Perry indicated a concern that
any variance granted to Ingles
would come back to haunt the
planning commission when
Walgreens opens. No date has
been set for Walgreens to begin
construction, according to build-
Please Turn to Page 5A
The residence of
Emma Nell Henderson,
63 Barber Street,
Commerce, is all deco
rated for Christmas. An
array of lights and fig
ures are arrayed in the
front yard and on the
front porch.
The home of Cindy
and Jonathan Finck,
192 Washington
Street, boasts a big
front porch decorated
for the holidays, with
Santa as the center
piece.
Chamber Taps CSX Director
As VP Of Economic Development
City Planners Say No
To Ingles Sign Request
City Council To Make Final Decision
Nechvatal
