Ellijay, East Ellijay and the County, this week, in a joint effort started putting together road projects for our area for the next ten years, based on the 277 house bill passed last year for the purpose of improving the road system on a state wide basis. We will have a vote on a one cent sales tax for our North West region in 2012 to fund these projects. If approved by the voters it will provide funding to bring our county roads up to the standards they should be.April 4 we will, barring any unforeseen problems, start collecting the $1.00 per bag charge for household garbage. This will be on a cash basis, no checks and we have not yet been able to arrange the use of credit or debit cards. We will continue to work on making this possible in the future. You will need to have the correct change for your bag count as the operator at the center will not have change.
I would like to change to the subject of jobs for our county. There is a need to increase the volume of tourist who visit our county, which I believe over time will provide employment for local residents in a substantial manner. We have two new attractions in the planning stage for the county which I believe will be good for our community.
I believe we sometimes overlook what we have in hand. A prime example is the agricultural cash flow we have in Gilmer County at the present time, according to The Georgia County Guide, produced by the research department at the University of Georgia. The five hundred or so farms in Gilmer County currently generate over one hundred million dollars in net income for these farmers. These are people who live here, raise their families here and spend their money here. This does not include the products, equipment and services they obtain mostly from local businesses in our community. These farmers also keep our county a rural community which most of the tourist prefer to visit. They come to enjoy the scenery, open spaces and in general a relaxed place to visit.
Again please do business with local firms here in our county. They will in return help our local economy to grow.
You can reach me at 706-635-4361 or email: JC Sanford