Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. APRIL 29. 2004
Continued from page 1A
Prevent Child Abuse recognized at commissioner’s meeting
and knowledge needed to care for
their children.
“We are not an arm of DFCS.
We work with first-time parents
who may be at risk of abusing or
neglecting their children,” said
Lohman.
She said many of the parents
with whom they work were abused
as children themselves, or grew up
in households where domestic vio
lence and drug and alcohol abuse
occurred frequently.
PCAP provides their own parent
ing classes and counseling. One of
their programs consists of home
visitation to the first-time parents.
Often they direct outside services to
the families.
Currently, PCAP is working with
70 families in Pickens County, and
some of the mothers are as young
as seventh grade, Lohman said.
Funding for PCAP comes from
grants, the children’s trust fund, pri
vate donations and fund raisers.
Lohman said the biggest cause
of child neglect in Pickens is drug
use.
Priorities for government spend
ing are not on child abuse preven
tion, Lohman said. She said while
the state spends millions of dollars
every year on treating the victims of
child abuse, they spend literally
nothing on preventing the abuse in
the first place.
“Preventing child abuse would
actually be cost effective to the
county,” said Lohman, noting 383
cases of abuse and neglect in Pick
ens last year.
The program has had a positive
effect in preventing child abuse and
neglect, Lohman said. She said last
year there were only two reports to
DFCS from parents served by
PCAP, and both of those were for
domestic violence rather than child
abuse.
ENT
of Cherokee, LLC
Carl Shipp, M.D.
Board Certified Otolaryngology &
Head and Neck Surgery
Fellow, American College of Surgeons (F.A.C.S.)
NOW SEEING PATIENTS
TUESDAY
MOU N TAIN SIDE SPECIALTY CLIN IC
211 Hospital Road • Canton, GA 30114
770-720-0838
www.entcherokee.com
Specializes in Adult and Pediatric Ear,
Nose and Throat Problems
Commissioner Bill Newton recognized key volunteers of "Prevent
Child Abuse" of Pickens County at Friday's commission meeting.
Members standing behind Newton are (l-r) Salem Suber, Olga Knight,
Liz Davis, Charlene Miller, Sebrina Shipley ,Denise Duncan, Margy
Lohman and Jenny Caudill.
"These citizens are officially thanked for their commitment in prevent
ing child maltreatment and for promoting positive parenting through
events such as 'Change for Change' and thepinwheels project," Commis
sioner Newton said.
Salem Suber, a former PCAP
director who now serves on the Pre
vent Child Abuse Georgia board,
said at Friday’s meeting that Pickens
is used as an example for other
county programs throughout the
state.
He also said the families are gen
erally receptive to the idea of work
ing with PCAP.
Continued from page 1A
Commissioner holds monthly meeting
department has received 413 appli
cations for the Homestead exemp
tion on site built houses, and 47 for
mobile homes.
“We expect several more exemp
tions, and the majority will be for
newer construction,” Dobbs said.
He reminded homeowners that they
have until June 1 to get a homestead
exemption.
He said the “biggest hurdle” his
office is facing is an overwhelming
number of property transfers.
Dobbs also predicted that this
year’s net tax digest will be “about
the same” as last year’s.
•Public works director Sonny
Underwood reported ongoing road
work throughout the county.
A recent striping project has
resulted in new side and center lines
being painted on 22 miles of county
roads. Also various paving and
resealing jobs have been completed
in April.
Public works is currently prepar
ing three county roads to be paved
during the summer, said Under
wood. Those roads are Old Grand
view Rd., Old Burnt Mountain Rd.,
and Orchard Rd.
•Charlotte Arnold, operations
manager of the water department,
reported that they have installed
19,650 feet of water main so far this
year. That figure includes the com
pletion of three subdivisions —
Saddle Ridge, Willow Creek, and
Black Knob Falls.
21,000 feet of eight-inch line to
tie on to the city of Calhoun’s water
system has been contracted by Stan-
cil Underground, Arnold said.
As of Friday the county had
1,711 total water customers.
•The county is in the process of
purchasing new ambulances and
fire trucks, according to Emergency
Services director Layne Arnold.
Arnold said “within the next few
months we should have a couple
new ambulances to replace our old
worn-out ones.”
Also, the county last week
ordered six new 1,500-gallon
pumper tankers for the fire depart
ments. It may be up to 360 days
before those trucks are in the coun
ty’s possession, Arnold said. The
total cost for the six trucks is just
over $222,000.
The county’s cut-over to
Enhanced-911 is ahead of schedule,
Arnold reported. The new system is
scheduled to be online by July 12.
•Director of the Parks and Recre
ation Department, Greg Walker
reported that all 47 baseball, soft-
ball, and t-ball teams were present
at opening day Saturday, April 17,
for which “very large crowds”
showed up. He said more than 550
children are registered for this sum
mer’s ball season.
The department has also been
busy with registration for its sum
mer day camp, and they are putting
together a summer soccer camp
with students from Reinhardt Col
lege.
Walker also said the date for this
year’s Movie Under the Stars is set
for August 21.
Also progressing at the Recre
ation Department is a master plan to
develop new facilities on county-
owned land adjacent to Roper Park.
•Sheriff Billy Wofford said the
sheriff’s department is expecting
delivery of six new marked cars,
five of which will be equipped with
Pressure Washers & String Edgers
Pressure Washer
Briggs & Stratton
Model 1802 2 G. P. M. $389.00
NEW 4 Cycle EDGER
Authorized Dealer and
SS-18 Straight Shaft $199.95
Service Center
ReadyA
I 706-253-7737
934 South Main Street
PoweR/
Jasper, GA30143
www.readypower.com
“Power When You Need It”
on-board cameras.
Plans are “proceeding” for the
new county jail, Wofford said. He
said there were 59 inmates in jail
Friday morning, and the jail popula
tion has consistently been in the
“upper 60s” for the past month.
The Sheriff’s Department has
investigated 1,238 incidents for the
year to date, said Wofford.
He said the department has
applied for a grant for criminal jus
tice records improvement, which
would allow the county to purchase
a computerized finger printing sys
tem. Wofford said such a system
would improve efficiency and speed
up the booking process for crime
offenders.
Wofford also reported his depart
ment has requested a permit for a
K-9 drug unit.
•County marshall Chris Romine
noted that in April, which is desig
nated Cleanup Month in Pickens,
there have been 34 complaints of
illegal dumping and environmental
code violations.
He said 11 of the dump sites
throughout the county have been
cleaned up by the violator. “Most of
those were in residential areas,”
said Romine.
Romine said lately his office has
focused on community cleanup
rather than isolated incidents. He
said they have finished the cleanup
on Old Philadelphia Road and
Clearview Lane. He said the goal is
to get the community involved in
keeping the roads clean.
The county has put in a bid for
two vans for litter pickup, Romine
said. He noted they had one van on
loan from the state last year, but it
was moved to another area.
“We’ll start to see more litter
picked up on the side of the road.
That’s an ongoing problem,” said
Romine.
He said illegal dumping has
“slowed down.”
•The commissioner applied for a
series of federal grants to assist with
the development of the Pickens
County airport. The grants would
help fund the paving of taxiways,
developing the terminal area, con
struction of a new taxiway, and the
building of a new access road.
Another request filed with the
Federal Aviation Administration
would allow the county to acquire
more land to expand the airport’s
hangar space, the commissioner
said.
•Also in April, Newton awarded
a bid contract for resurfacing more
than eight miles of Cove Road. The
company winning the bid was
Colditz Paving. The commissioner
said the paving is needed due to the
increase of traffic on the road while
Highway 53 was closed last year.
Gifts to make Mom Smile.
The Teleflora’s Monet’s
Garden Bouquet
“We [at PCAP] have had entire
years when no one has declined our
services,” said Suber.
Most of those guilty of mistreat
ing children do not fit the common
public stereotype of the abuser as a
“monster,” Suber added.
“The vast majority of cases are
neglect,” he said.
Teleflora’s Lena Liu
Teleflora’s Lena
Liu Butterfly
Teacup Bouquet
Cinn tj ) s diarist
648 E. Church St. • Jasper
706-692-3737
www.gmnysflorist.com
Teleflora’s Jeweled
Dragonfly Bouquet
Teleflora’s Lavender
Pitcher Bouquet
Teleflora
JASPER, GA 30143 • 678-454-4877
Honda; - Saturday 8:90 AM - 8:00 PM
ImteiHwy. S75ttBsj. IBS
North Georgia’s Newest Western Store
with 20,000 sq. ft. of Clothing, Boots,
Hats, Tack, Saddles, Vet. Meds, & Feed
DI,
Salter cd. ib'.'
fMfl
PURINA
eave
V
m
FEEDS
Counbetten
Stubben Saddles
I RESISTOn
r best all-arouiu9j^|
Come Join the Fun
May 8, 2004
Our Official Grand Opening
-South 107 Country FM Live Broadcast
from 12-2 with 4 Jimmy Buffet
Concert tickets to be given away
-Entertainment
-Hamburgers & Hot Dogs
-Plenty of Door Prizes
-Family Activities
Wrangler
:j (StUTBACT
6 THt cr-:ix»L
STETSON
Su'd. 186s
Full Line
of Western
& English
Saddles
•Circle Y
•Crates
•Big Horn
•Stubben
•Courbette
FRM
Super 12
Horse
Feed
$499
50#lb
Purina
Country
Acres 10%
Horse
Feed
$499
H 50#lb
Manna
Pro
All Grain
10%
$g25
50#lb
MOCCASIN)
Ni&CONA
SUBAKW
HIPPEWA
• AtaUCAX HADt you J9CI