About Upson beacon. (Thomaston, Ga.) 2008-current | View Entire Issue (March 20, 2024)
Page 6A Salem Community News UPSON BEACON Wednesday, March 20, 2024 By Claudette Fagan Congratulations to Eme- cia (MeMe) Jefferson and Zacchaeus (Zacc) Raines on the arrival of their little bun dle of joy. Zaylon Marcel Raines was born on March 13, weighing six pounds, n ounces. Proud grandparents are Mr. and Mrs. Joel (Sa- wanna) Domineck and Mr. and Mrs. Maurice (Angela) Raines. Great grandparents are Mr. and Mrs. Albert (Claudette) Fagan. Youth Alive will sponsor its pancake breakfast on Sat urday, March 23 from 8- 10:30 a.m. The breakfast will be held at Chili’s in Thomaston. Please come out and support this Youth Alive fundraiser. Our prayers and sympa thy go out to the following: to the Simmons and Alex ander family on the passing of Mrs. Lillie B. Alexander; to the Traylor and Akins family on the passing of Mrs. Alberta R. Traylor Akins; to the Trower and Carter family on the passing of Mrs. Paula Jean Trower Carter; to the Howell and Ivey family on the passing of Mrs. Ella H. Ivey. May you take comfort with the family and friends that surround you. We send you healing prayers and comforting hugs during your time of bereavement. Continued prayers for the sick and shut in: Mrs. Sandra Stinson, Mrs. Mary W. Ivey, Mr. James Major, Mrs. Vivian Brown, Mrs. Claudette Fagan, and Mr. William Ivey. Anniversary wishes are extended to the following: Michael and Tabitha Smith will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary on March 21. Elvis and Ayumi Raines will celebrate their 29th wedding anniversary on March 21. Morris and Jacqueline James will cele brate their 11th anniversary on March 23. Best wishes on your special day. Birthday wishes are ex tended to the following: Sheila Raines, Ashanti Brawner, Wilhemenia Sibley, Tony Ogburn - March 20; Ronald Mcrary, Jeanette Howard, Necole Banks, Nodrick Hill, Greg ory Jordan - March 22; Keron Bluford, Trevon Walker, Diane Crafter - March 23; Janeisha Holsey, Dexter Lucas, Willie Raines, Kimberly Smith Stubbs, Gwen Stubbs - March 24; Bobbie Elison, Mathalyn Paschal, Kamira Foster - March 25; LaKendra Green - March 26. Happy birthday to each of you. Thought for the day: People can have the same parents, live in the same house, and be raised by the same morals... but one can be a crackhead and the other one a preacher... so you can’t say it was how somebody was raised. It’s the decisions you choose to make. Community News By Elaine Walker Wonderful Wednesday to Marcia Walker, Joyce Johnson, John and Cynthia Zorn, Teresa Gray, Barbara and Billy Quiller Ethel Maines, Sandra Sullivan, Nancy Chaney, Malachi Gates, Jessica Stinson, Sylvia Hollis, Walter Walker, Allen Hutcherson, Paula Dawson, Joyce Smith, Joy Searcy, Sylvia Stroud, Keitha An drews, Sharon King, Ty Tur man, Tessica Searcy, Tara Searcy, Mable Brown, Bar bara Smith, and Sharon Raines. 2024 FIRE DONA TIONS DUE NOW! The do nations are $25 per property. Send to Lincoln Park Volunteer Fire Depart ment, P.O. Box 695, Thom aston, Ga. 30286, or you can pay at Lincoln Park Vol unteer Fire Station on Mon days, 7-9 p.m. Chief Yancey Bell, 706-74t-i320. A special happy birthday to our daughters, Minister Tonika Pettigrew and Dr. Tonice Walker. Wishing them many more happy and blessed birthdays. Happy 90th birthday to Mother Janie Britt. She would like to say thanks to her family for the beautiful birthday celebration, and to all her friends and church family that came out on Sat urday, March 16, to help her celebrate. Thanks for all the love and gifts. But, most of all, thank you for your love and prayers. May God bless each of you in a special way. Continued prayers are extended to Susie Curtis, Georgia Brown, Elvis Searcy, Dorothy Carthon, Juanita Chastain, Dorothy Searcy, Clyde Middlebrooks, Janice Wilson, Loretta Braswell, Henrietta Chaney, Dorothy Mack, Shirley Searcy, Johnny Albert Brown, Mary Jo Pickard, Ida Walters, Jane Johnson, Josephine Fagan, Lakeitha Walker, Carl Colbert, Bernice Zeek, Jack Draine, Willie James Walker, Charles and Dapha- ney Andrews, and Walter Napier Jr. Happy 74th anniversary to Clarence and Mary Bush. Birthday wishes are ex tended to Jumaane Brawner, Andrew Harris, Crystal Wal ton, Curtis Carthon, Bobbie Meadows, Linda Edwards, Sandfort Montgomery, Annie Ruth Smith, Shamar Walker, and Patricia McCoy. Anniversary wishes are extended to Glenn and Shir ley Perry and James and Betty Johnson. Problems Related to Dia betes: Diabetes can lead to other serious health prob lems such as heart disease, stroke, kidney problems, foot problems (poor circula tion, ulcers and amputation, nerve damage, tingling pain, numbness, or weakness in your feet and hands), de pression, eye problems, and blindness. WORDS OF WISDOM: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths,” Proverbs 3:5-6. Rezonings, Continued from Front Matt Smith to rezone 2.25 acres at 270 Franklin Drive from A-R to C-2 for devel opment of commercial “flex” space. The site at Northside is the former location of Moore Automotive Company. Members also approved a request from Mike Railey to rezone 1.89 acres at 286 Shaw Road from M-i-C to A-R to re turn the property to residential use. County staff and the plan ning commission both rec ommended approval for the site of former Railey’s Rebuild ing Service. County Manager Jason Tinsley told commissioners staff located a Chevrolet 2500 truck with a work body for $58,804 which could he pur chased for less than a compa rable Ford previously considered at $62,397. The road department purchase was approved and will be paid with special purpose local option sales tax proceeds, according to officials. Tinsley also read an update of the county’s vision and mis sion statements: Mission - “We demon strate unwavering commit ment to our mission by embodying leadership with in tegrity, fostering accountabil ity, delivering exceptional customer service, and ensur ing fiscal responsibility.” Vision - “As trusted stew ards of Upson County, we ac tively engage with our community by actively seeking input from our citizens. Our unwavering commitment is to cultivate a prosperous, safe, and financially stable com munity our residents are proud to call home.” Tinsley added that the county’s five care values are leadership, integrity, account ability, service, and fiscal re sponsibility. Upson Historical Society President Joe Gazafy pre sented the group’s annual $6,000 donation to commis sioners to be used for Thomas- ton-Upson Archives operation. “UHS presents many pro grams there, and many visitors to Upson County utilize the ar chives for information,” Gazafy said, noting that the resource was created in 1996 by the city, county, and local board of edu cation. “The society invites anyone with interest in Upson history to join the historical so ciety and participate in our ac tivities.” Commissioner Ben Wat son said the county is accept ing applications to the newly formed joint recreation board, and encouraged interested res idents to participate. The City of Thomaston has appointed two representatives, but the county is required to undergo a “formal process,” he said. Action on recreation board appointments is expected at the March 26 meeting. “I wish all candidates good luck,” Commissioner James Ellington said of the upcoming county election. “Let’s keep it clean, run on the facts, and let voters make the decision — and please don’t put campaign signs too close to the right-of- way.” Upson County Sheriff s Of fice recently received reports of “missing” political signs along Highway 74 West and is inves tigating the alleged theft, ac cording to law enforcement. As part of a “consent agenda,” commissioners ap proved extension of a contract with GFL Environmental for solid waste collection in the county. The agreement pro vides for the same service throughout the county with a built-in, annual three percent inflationary increase, accord ing to officials. Keep Your Family Safe By Locking Up & Disposing Medication! https://stoprxabuseinga.org/prescription-drug-disposal/ Secure Drug Drop-Off Boxes are located at the Thomaston Police Office and Upson County Sheriff’s Office. For More Information about Drug Drop Boxes and Personal Medication Lock Boxes, Email Tara at tcombs@!ivedrugfree.org rOUKiV A ».. < o A*** Since 1969 Generation Rx Project D'BHDD Raw sewage leaking from inside of an apartment at Thomaston Gardens. Submitted Complaints, Continued from Front most has not been completed. City code enforcement said, “Thomaston Gardens has two open citations now - one for unit 8, Structure Unfit for Human Occupancy. Also, the property in general has a citation for ‘accumulation of rubbish and garbage.’ They were previously cited for illicit discharge, but this citation was dismissed. “Please keep in mind that those cases have not been ad judicated in court, so at this point they have not been judged or found guilty. We just visited unit 12J in refer ence to complaints about water leakage from the above apartment. They replaced the water heater in the above unit. We also recently re sponded to a complaint at unit 6N about lack of heating. The HVAC contractor did pull a permit today (Monday) on that. “Unit 11T and 11M pre viously had several code is sues, but those were resolved. Unit 11D had complaints of mold, but we were unable to see mold or smell mold. Man agement provided invoices showing the unit was profes sionally cleaned. Several com plaints from different units about bugs, but I was able to get an agreement from Pres ervation Management with a pest control company. “We’ve had other com plaints over the past year, but those issues are almost al ways addressed once we give the property management notice. The most concerning issue for me has been the lift pump issue. But I was pro vided a letter showing that the part to make the permanent repair is being custom made and is not expected to be de livered until June 14.1 believe EPD was notified about the issues when we first noticed it,” code enforcement con cluded. Michele Folino, senior vice president of operations of Preservation Management, the owner of the complex, was contacted and asked if she would allow the Beacon to ac company her or someone from corporate on a site visit to inspect every apartment. No response was received. Folino responded to ini tial questions about raw sew age, stating that the lift station at the facility has a temporary fix, and that a part had to be custom ordered and won’t be in until summer to per manently fix it. Folino followed with an email a couple of days later: “I just wanted to follow up with you pursuant to your call on Tuesday. Thanks so much again for providing details re lated to resident concerns. Often, I will receive a call from a third party, about a property who does not want to share details but expects me to solve a problem that I have no knowledge of, which is tough. “My project manager and regional manager are located closer to the property than I am, so I asked both to visit without notice and help me take a holistic look at what is going on at Thomaston. As I said before, it is sometimes difficult to figure out who or what is the real problem be cause we hear the resident’s side but then hear something a bit different from site staff. The three of us interviewed residents and staff then pulled resident files and also incident reports to try to better understand the com plaints. “Attached is a workbook that has two tabs; the first tab is any info related to the spe cific complaints but also any additional information we picked up in the file, etc. As you read through the details, let me know your thoughts, but I think I am leaning more toward the site staff trying to take care of the residents. In the spirit of being sure though... I am trying to re arrange the schedule of my floating maintenance team who typically visits my smaller properties for things like preventative mainte nance a couple times a year. “As it stands now, they are on the schedule to go to Thomaston late in April, but I reached out to their supervi sor to see if we can get them there sooner. I am also work ing on a notice to the res idents clarifying how to report the day-to-day work orders pursuant to their lease, as well as making sure they know they can call our resident ex change if they are not satisfied with our service, staff, etc. Those calls are routed directly to me and the regional man ager. “When we spoke, I also told you that we have had some pretty serious chal lenges at Thomaston pertain ing to the behavior of our residents and their guests. I do feel pretty lucky to have a team that is still hanging in there despite those chal lenges, but thought providing some of those details might give you some context for that feedback on the second tab of the workbook. “Our owners will always do the right thing. The second I told them we needed cam eras, they sent me a check to get that project started. We have security budgeted but have had a very difficult time finding good security because they did not feel supported by the police. We even reached out to police to see if they have an off-duty officer pro gram, which does not sound like an option, but we are still trying to get consistent secu rity patrols there, particularly as we move into the summer months,” Folino concluded. Thomaston Police Chief Mike Richardson said no one from Preservation Manage ment has contacted the police department to assist with se curity, apart from requesting extra security during Memo rial Day, Emancipation week end in 2022. Chief Richardson said an independent security guard met with him once, last year, to ask for assistance with se curity. Richardson told him he needed his license and other information to make that happen, but the man never responded. He added that TPD patrols the area on a regular basis. Richardson said TPD has always invited the opportu nity to provide extra security at Thomaston Gardens. The attachment sent to the Beacon from Folino was an excel spreadsheet that had various information about the tenants who complained, apartment numbers, and ac cusations of tenant violations. When we shared the file with tenants, they denied the accu sations and said they were being threatened by local management with eviction. The Beacon asked Folino if the tenants were being evicted and did not receive a response. As of press time, Folino did not respond with a comment about the latest complaints. The Beacon filed com plaints with Sen. Raphael Wamock’s office for further investigation. Thomaston Gardens offers rental and utility assis tance to low- and moderate- income families at its complex on West County Road. HUD is responsible for annual inspections of the units. Several residents said HUD has never inspected their apartments. 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