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PAGE 4A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. APRIL 15. 2004
Continued from page 1A
Discussion of county’s comprehensive plan
would be even greater.
“The county will need 9 million gallons a day,
based on these projections, in the coming years
to meet the daily demand,” Pope said. “We need
to strive to get to a point where we are self-
reliant and not dependent on other cities for our
water.”
The county has several areas it is looking at as
water sources including Long Swamp Creek,
Sharp Mountain Creek, the Tate springs, and
mines and wells in the Marble Hill area, accord
ing to Pope.
“Water is an extremely high priority,” he said.
The report also recommended the county
establish a wastewater treatment plant in order to
encourage more compact development and less
dependency on septic tanks.
“The state will likely require that septic tanks
be allowed only on large lots because of water
quality issues in terms of when septic tanks fail,”
Pope said. “It may be a few years, but it’s on the
horizon.”
Pope also pointed out that the cost of housing
in Pickens County is rising substantially.
According to the report, the median value of a
home in Georgia in 1980 was $43,000 and for
Pickens County was $25,800. Ten years later
those averages had risen to $71,000 for the state
and $59,500 locally.
According to the 2000 census, the median
cost of a Pickens County home was $113,000, an
increase in the value of homes here of 338 per
cent over two decades.
Pope said the median value of homes in Pick
ens County is now climbing toward the $200,000
mark.
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PickensProgress .com
Continued from page 1A
Jasper Police to begin using radar
13 speeding tickets in less than an
hour and a half near Mountainside
Medical Center. Cantrell said all of
those cited were exceeding 70 miles
per hour.
The council’s approval gave
Cantrell the authority to request a
permit from the state for the depart
ment to use the speed detection
devices, and to purchase the equip
ment.
All council members present
voted to grant the request. Barry
Cheshire and Ralph Hicks were
absent.
When asked by council member
Jackie Gise how much the equip
ment would cost, Cantrell said dual
antenna radar detectors cost $1,500
each, while laser detectors cost up
to $3,000 each. He did not say how
many of the devices the department
would purchase.
He noted that about half of his
officers are already certified to use
radar detectors.
“I would like to move forward
with the laser as soon as we can get
certified,” said Cantrell.
Mayor John Weaver said the city
has experienced a “spurt in rev
enue” due to the growing number of
speeding tickets. He said the city
may receive up to an additional
$200,000 in annual revenue from
speeding tickets when the depart
ment gains its radar permit.
However, he also said the city
should not count on the citations as
a source of revenue.
“We don’t want this to be a rev
enue producer,” said Weaver. “We
want people to slow down, and we
hope we don’t have to issue any
citations.”
Both he and Cantrell said they
want all drivers to know that the
police will soon have radar devices,
as that knowledge will encourage
them to slow down. Cantrell said
one of the requirements of a radar
permit is to install signs near the
city limits indicating that speed
detection devices are used.
“It’s not a speed trap if we tell
you we’re going to stop you,” said
the mayor. “What’s worse than a
speed trap is a death trap.”
Weaver said the police depart
ment has enough money already in
their budget to begin seeking the
radar permit from the state Depart
ment of Transportation (DOT).
Cantrell also recommended that
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the council ask the DOT to conduct
a traffic study of Highway 515 to
determine if it would be feasible to
reduce the speed limit from 55 to
45 miles per hour.
Heightened attention to speed on
the four-lane follows a fatal wreck
at the intersection in front of Moun
tainside Medical Center last month.
Other news:
• Weaver reported that the city’s
Highway 515 sewer project is com
plete, and that commercial growth
along the corridor should acceler
ate.
“[Lack of sewer] was one of the
major issues holding back develop
ment on the highway, which is
going to increase at a rapid rate,”
said Weaver.
• The mayor said that vehicles
and other items the council request
ed to purchase at the last meeting
will be added to the 2005 budget
requests.
• The council approved planning
commission recommendations to
annex two pieces of land into the
city limits. One is land owned by
Jeff Patterson on East Church
Street. Planning commission mem
ber Sara Fowler said warehouses
are currently located on the proper
ty-
The other annexation was for
merly owned by Jasper Jeep, who
used it for used car sales. It is now
owned by Woodhaven Realty.
• A spokesman for the fire
department reported that for only
the second time in the department’s
history, they received more than
100 calls in one month. He said
they received a total of 104 calls in
the month of March.
Among the calls they answered
were one structure fire, two auto
fires, seven grass fires, nine motor
vehicle accidents, and 51 emer
gency medical.
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Continued from page 1A
Mountainside Medical
to be sold to Piedmont
Graves said having the Piedmont
“brand” will spur further growth.
“The Piedmont name instills confi
dence,” he said.
He said the reputation is well-
earned with Piedmont Hospital in
Atlanta being regularly listed in the
Top 100 Hospitals list produced
annually by Modern Healthcare
Magazine.
Graves said the new owners may
expand the hospital with another
floor to add more beds. The hospital
was designed to allow the expan
sion.
“We anticipate outgrowing our
current facility,” he said. “We will
need to make some expansion
plans.”
Graves said SunLink deserves
recognition for seeing that the new
hospital was built here. He said
having the modem facility was inte
gral to the deal with Piedmont.
“The community should not feel
that SunLink was profiteering by
the sale,” he said. “They went to
great trouble and expense to build
the new hospital. It is a great asset
to the community and never would
have happened if it weren’t for a
private for-profit firm willing to
take the risk.”
According to information from
SunLink, the sale, which is subject
to conditions and approvals, is
expected to be completed by June
30.
The company said it expects to
report an after-tax gain of approxi
mately $13.5 million from the sale.
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