Entries by Mike Buffington

ARCADE leaders have again delayed voting on a proposed 1,600-acre mixed-use subdivision along Hwy. 129 and three other roads until water service issues with the Jackson County Water and Sewerage Authority (JCWSA) can be negotiated.

Arcade tabled the matter last month. On Monday, city council postponed any action indefinitely, pending those negotiations.

The subdivision called “Arcade Meadows” would potentially phase-in 4,000 homes, two school sites and commercial development over the next 40 years.

The city and the county water and sewerage are still trying to determine whether the developers will purchase water from Arcade or the JCWSA.

The development would encompass 1,604 acres along Hwy. 129, Holiday Cemetery Road, B. Whitfield Road and 4W Farm Road. Plans for Arcade Meadows include a city center, a commercial center (with opportunities for office, research and retail facilities) and multiple housing options.

The county’s contract with Don Clerici’s engineering firm, BM&K, will be renewed for one year after a motion by commissioner Dwain Smith to renew the contract for only three months failed Monday night.

The contract also calls for a four percent increase in the fees charged by the company. There is an “opt-out” clause that would allow the county or the company to end its relationship with 30 days notice.

Smith had made a motion, that was seconded by Tom Crow, that a three-month extension of the contract be approved in order to give the new county manager time to review it. This motion also included the provision that there be no four percent fee increase. Chairman Hunter Bicknell and commissioners Chas Hardy and Bruce Yates voted against the motion.

Smith said is “not right” for company to get four percent increase when regular county employees are not getting a salary increase and have furlough days.
“I don’t see getting a four percent increase in salary for a consultant or contractor when our county employees haven’t had a salary increase in four or five years,” Smith said. “It’s just not right…It’s not right for one group to get a raise and another group not to.”

Chairman Bicknell said the four percent increase would not necessarily go towards salaries. He said it could go toward other expenses.

Hardy asked if the county had compared the costs of other engineering firms in the area. Leonard said this has been done and BMK is lower on every item for comparable services.

Smith questioned some of the specific charges from the company, including $17,000 in engineering fees for a concrete pad and fence.

“We need to take a good, hard look at this,” he said.

Yates asked if the BOC could move forward on the agenda.

“Chairman, can we move on,” he asked Bicknell.

Smith responded, “This is pretty important.”

Bicknell said, “The motion (for a three month extension) failed.”

Smith added that he will continue to bring up costs from the company and other information in future meetings.

“I will be having discussions and figures at upcoming meetings as to how much we have spent,” he said.

Most government officials aren’t good at much, but they are very good at one thing: Spending taxpayer money. [Full Story »] 

Three mayor’s races, as well as several council seats will be on the ballot in general elections Tuesday in three Jackson County towns.

Four towns, Jefferson, Pendergrass, Braselton and Hoschton, will also decide whether alcohol sales will be allowed on Sundays.

JEFFERSON

In Jefferson, incumbent Steve Kinney and Robert Yates will be on the ballot for the District 1 City Council seat. In District 5, incumbent Roy Plott and David Parks will be on the ballot.

In the District 3 council race, Steve Quinn was the only candidate to qualify. Incumbent C.D. Kidd did not seek re-election.

In the three school board seats up for re-election, the incumbents were the only ones to qualify. They are: Angela McKinney, District 1; Willie Hughey, District 3; and Guy Dean Benson, District 5.

Jefferson voters will be asked to decide whether both malt beverage and wine sales will be allowed on Sundays between the hours of 12:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.

MAYSVILLE

In Maysville, former mayor Richard Presley, council member Lynn Villyard and Donna Chesonis are running for mayor. Incumbent Jerry Baker did not qualify.
Races were also set in Maysville for three of the four council seats on the ballot. They are:

Ward I: incumbent Clay Dorsey and Kathleen Bush

Ward II: Clyde (Junior) Hardy and Jerry C. Parr. Villyard currently holds this position.

Ward IV: Ricky Akins and former council member Scott Harper. Incumbent Stephen Lewis is not seeking re-election.

In the Ward III council race, Charlie Howington was the only one to qualify. This position is currently vacant.

NICHOLSON

In the Nicholson mayor’s race, incumbent Ronnie Maxwell will face current council member Lamar Watkins.

For the two at-large council seats, former council member Faye Seagraves, Jan Webster, incumbent Chuck Wheeler and Vernon Wilson are on the ballot. The two top vote-getters win. [Full Story »] 

By the early 1990s, there was a lot of fatigue over discussions of school system merger in Jackson County. The years of complicated contracts and court involvement were over between the county’s three school systems. Each school system was now independent of each other and free to pursue their own destiny without courts or contracts.

Talks of school merger had begun in the 1950s, and had waxed and waned over the years. Literally hundreds of meetings had been held on the issue; numerous studies and assessments by both citizens and professionals had been done. At least a dozen citizens’ civic groups had been formed on the issue. And once, every voter in the county got a chance to vote on school system merger, but that effort was defeated in 1982. [Full Story »]