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Front - Jan 30 1/28/03 4:08 PM Page 1 JANUARY 30,2003 VOLUME 115 NUMBER 38 JASPER, GEORGIA 30143 USPS 431-830 THREE SECTIONS 38 PAGES PLUS SUPPLEMENTS Briefly. . . It’s A Long Way From Pakistan To Jasper It was a journey of many miles and years that landed local pediatrician, Dr. K. Raza Mahmood and his wife, Asifa, in Pickens County by way of New York. But it only took a trial three-month stay here to convince the Mahmoods that this is a caring community where they not only want to raise their own sons but to pro vide the medical care for “little patients.” Page 14B How To Contact Elected Officials With the state legislature now in session along with the con tinuing national debate on a number of important issues, many residents may want to contact their elected represen tatives to voice their opinions. Addresses and phone numbers are given for Pickens County’s legislators in Atlanta and Washington. Page 4C 911 Operations Discussed Upgrading Pickens County’s 911 system is one of the major items that will be covered under a proposed new sales tax that goes before voters here in March. Layne Arnold, the county’s EMS & EMA Direc tor, discusses the county’s 911 operations. Page 13B Storm Relief Funds Still Needed Although the community has responded generously to a local relief fund for tornado victims, there is still help that is needed. At least five families with no insurance lost every thing during the November 11 storm. Page 4A Deaths Dr. Samuel Lerner Garvin Padgett Knute Reed Verna Collis James Garner Mary Lou Solomon Johnson OBITUARIES ... .See Page 12B Weather By WILLIAM DILBECK HI LOW RAIN Tuesday 55 33 Trace Wednesday 43 15 Flurries Thursday 21 3 .00 Friday 29 5 .00 Saturday 40 19 .00 Sunday 39 17 .00 Monday 35 17 .00 Visit Us On The Web www.pickensprogress .com The Progress is printed in part on recycled newsprint and is recyclable Building permit applications plunge following drops in temperature, economy Winter weather slows some county departments, adds stress to others By Dan Pool The wickedly cold winter weath er has eased the workload on the county’s land development/build ing permit office, while greatly adding to the stress of county emer gency personnel based on reports at the monthly commissioner’s meet ing Friday. The water department has checked out a few calls of frozen lines, but thus far they have all been at the homes of the customers, not on the county’s line, according to Water Department Superintendent Larry Coleman. Coleman also reported that two of the county’s wells which were recently tested by the EPD have excellent water quality. “They said the Palmer Springs Well in Tate is one of the best in North Georgia for water quality,” he said. A new well at Talking Rock was given the approval for a drinking water source following tests on it. Coleman said about the only thing the water needed was a sand filter at the source. Building permit applications plunge following drops in temperature, economy With one week left in January, the Land Development Office reported they had issued about half as many building permits this Janu ary as in January of last year. Planning Director Norman Pope attributed this to both the weather and economy. In January of 2002 the office issued 58 building permits. As of Friday they had only issued 28 for this year. “We’ve got another week, but if the weather stays this way, I’m not sure anyone will be pulling many building permits,” he said. Icy roads, cold mean “job security ” for emergency workers Layne Arnold, Pickens Emer gency Management Director, said the only thing good about the icy roads and cold is it means job secu rity for all the emergency personnel in the county. He said there had been no seri ous wrecks on the icy roads by emergency vehicles responding to calls. He said there had been a minor incident or two with sheriff deputies on patrol, but nothing sig nificant. The crews in ambulances, fire trucks and sheriff cars have taken precautions to winterize their vehi cles and equipment, he said. “With weather like this our call volume is way up and that means job security for all emergency workers,” he said. Arnold also gave an update of the call volumes for the month and final figures for 2002. In January, the 911 Center han dled 1,828 calls. These were divid ed with the Sheriff’s Department responding to 1,042; Nelson Police 112; Jasper Police 343; EMS 187; Fire Departments 132 and Campus Police 12. Arnold also gave final figures for the call volume of 2002 which was 29,322. It was up from 2001 when the center had 28,890 calls. Rec. Dept. committee working on skatepark Rec. Dept.. Director Bill Schmitz said a committee is work ing on plans for the skatepark. They recently received a $10,000 grant to help fund the park. They are coordinating with the county road crew to begin some of the work. Economic Development sees some layoffs, but expansion plans still on go Larry Toney, economic develop er for the county, said there is both good and bad news for Pickens, which saw two local firms lay off workers in the past month, but also had expansion plans announced from existing businesses. Toney said unemployment here, at 3.4 percent, is still well below the state average. “We’ve had a couple of layoffs announced,” he said. “Fortunately we’ve been spared a lot of layoffs even as the economy is struggling, but it may be catching up to us.” Following the meeting, Toney said locally, Goldkist and Royston had announced layoffs which will affect Pickens County and the Evenflo plant in Ball Ground has announced it is closing, putting local employees out of work. Toney did not know the number of jobs which are being lost. “Things seem to be softening in the industrial areas and we’re going to feel some of that here,” he said. Newton discusses water line, marshall In his report Commissioner Bill Newton highlighted two recent projects which have been reported previously. He said a grant and loan to con nect a water line from the Pickens water system to the City of Calhoun water system was awarded. Pickens County will eventually be able to draw 1.5 million gallons of water a day from the City of Cal houn’s system. The county has applied for a land disturbing permit to complete the work and a variance of a trout stream buffer to allow the line to be run. Continued on page 5A By Dan Pool James Johnson, the attorney for the City of Jasper, normally steers clear of controversy and politics, but said Monday he was compelled to respond to a downtown building owner’s challenge of the city’s authority to conduct building inspections. In last week’s Progress, it was reported that Rubble Smith blamed a longstanding feud with city hall as the reason he was denied a business license for his building at 35 N. Main Street. Johnson, however, said, “There is no feud. A feud takes two sides and we’re not against Mr. Smith.” Although they have never gone to trial. Smith filed two lawsuits against the city several years ago. One sought to stop the renovation of the Main Street sidewalk in front of his building. The second was over the removal of vending machines from his property after a ban against the machines on Main Street was passed. Johnson said the city’s code clearly grants them the authority to inspect buildings and renovation work and they are not applying any codes to Smith’s building not applied everywhere else in the city limits. He said it is a prime responsibili ty of government not only to insure the safety of anyone in Smith’s building, but to also look out for nearby structures. The city has long maintained that electrical renovations in Smith’s building must be inspected before a Certificate of Occupancy is granted, and that certificate is required before a business license will be issued. Johnson points out that the city has negotiated with Smith and given him several options for the inspec tion, including using any qualified inspector without any city personnel involved. “We’ve never told anyone they could use an independent inspector without our personnel entering the building, but the owner wouldn’t agree to that,” he said. “It doesn’t seem that he wants to settle this.” Johnson said the inspection would probably take less than fif teen minutes. Smith has claimed that because of lawsuits he has filed against the city over other issues, his building will automatically fail any city inspection. He also cited concerns that if an inspection were conducted his prop erty might be condemned and seized by the city. Johnson said the inspection wouldn’t just fail him. “If some thing were found, we’d cite stan dard codes and have to show what points didn’t meet the code,” he said. Smith would be allowed to do any required work and be inspected again. Smith would also have the right to appeal the inspection to a city board, according to the city’s code. Johnson dismissed claims of the city seeking to condemn or seize the building as ridiculous. Although the owner claims the city wants to hamper him from using or renting the space, Johnson said city hall is anxious to see the space rented with a business occu pant. “The mayor has said he’d like to see someone renting it and I know the other merchants nearby don’t like having it empty,” Johnson said. Johnson provided a copy of the city’s ordinance on inspections, Continued on page 5A Nelson Council meets Feb 3 City wants public input before adopting Short Term Works Program The Nelson City Council will consider what projects get the highest priority under a Short Term Works Program when they convene at 7 p.m. Monday. The plan focuses on different areas the council would like to improve in the south Pickens town during the next five years. Other items on the agenda are: a land purchase from Dan Sewell to expand their park; and a report on abandoned unsafe housing. The Short Term Works Plan emphasizes historic preservation relat ing to the town’s marble industry heritage as well as general improve ments for the community. Among some of the plans: • “Develop a business plan to attract marble based vendors and retail trade to the city.” • Work to attract businesses for a “light industrial park.” • Consider an “annual festival. • “Explore possibilities and grant sources for a marble museum.” • Develop a streetscape plan. • Expand the park. • The city also plans to become qualified to issue their own land dis turbing permits. The council meeting is open to the public. They have asked for pub lic comment before adopting plan. City attorney responds to challenges made by downtown building owner Stocking up on bread and milk — Jess and Cathy Duckett from Marble Hill do their weekly grocery shopping at Piggly Wiggly. The Ducketts, like many families in Pickens County, say they load up when they hear bad weather is on the way. (Photo by Damon Howell) It’s true — Bread and milk are most popular groceries when snow in the forecast By Michael Moore Most of us have heard or told the joke about Pick ens residents responding to snowy weather forecasts by rushing to the grocery store and emptying the shelves of milk and bread. When asked if there is any truth to this widely held claim, Jerry Watkins, manager of the Piggly Wiggly, said, “It’s an absolute truth. They’ll wipe the bread shelves clean out.” Perhaps that’s why the long-running joke never gets stale. Managers of local grocery stores say the two staples are indeed shoppers’ favorite items when the weather man says snow or ice may trap them inside for a day or two. Even the new supersized Ingles has trouble keeping the bread in stock when the weather turns nasty. “Bread and milk are the first things to go,” said Richard Hudgins of Ingles. Other non-perishable and easily prepared foods follow closely behind, they say. Canned items, especially Vienna sausages and Spam, are popular when the mercury drops to freezing. “Anything people think they can eat if the power goes out,” said Charlene Higgins of Blue Star. Cereal usually accompanies the milk for a quick meal or snack, and bread is typically used to make the ever dependable sandwich when there is no electrici ty- “You can always eat sandwiches in the dark,” Hudgins said. Coping with the possibility of getting trapped in the house for several days is a major concern for the shoppers. Eggs are almost as popular as bread and milk at Ingles, and all the stores sell more snack items when the snow is about to fall. Potato chips, Little Debbie cakes, and cookies are popular when a threatening weather report comes in. “People sit in front of the TV and snack a lot if they’re in the house all day,” Hudgins said. He added that if there is no school, parents buy extra snacks for their kids. Many people buy ingredients to make what they normally would buy in restaurants. Frozen pizzas and the ingredi ents for chili sell a lot at Ingles. Higgins said some people buy charcoal, planning to grill out while it snows. If a blizzard or ice storm is expected, Hudgins said canned items and foods that don’t require cooking will be in high demand. Continued on page 5A “A lot of people wait until they see the snow start falling, then it really fills up in here, ” says Ingles ’ Manager.