Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. JULY 19. 2007
Continued from page 1A
Weaver speaks to Legionnaires
Continued from page 1A
School Board Meeting
Jasper Mayor John Weaver spoke to a local meeting of the American Legion, Tuesday
evening, July 10, where he announced his candidacy for reelection and outlined in brief his
answer for bolstering the city’s water supply.
been in vain."
Jasper's present growth chal
lenge is finding enough water
for future customers, Weaver
said.
"Three weeks ago, we went
over 5,000 [water] customers,"
he stated. "The major issue fac
ing every community in the state
of Georgia is water. Without
water we're not here. Without
water our economy will dry up."
But Pickens County is water-
challenged. "We don't have any
rivers. We don't have any reser
voir," Weaver preached. And the
process of building a reservoir
can take 15 years just to gain
required government approvals,
he added, driving his point.
Still he is looking for an in
county water source, Weaver
declared, because relying on an
out-of-county source would
place the city and its citizenry at
the mercy of an outside govern
ment, he said.
Finding water in a county
without rivers is the problem.
“I think we have the problem
solved,” Weaver said. “There
are 350 watershed lakes in the
state. In Pickens County, there
are 19.”
These existing lakes (built by
the United States Department of
Agriculture for flood con
trol—most during the 50's and
60's) Weaver sees as standing
reservoirs, water readily avail
able without 15 years of gaining
government go-aheads.
After building the lakes, the
federal government turned them
over to Georgia for state over
sight within a local conservation
district.
Today, under the umbrella of
the Georgia Soil & Water
Conservation Commission, the
Limestone Valley Soil and
Water Conservation District has
responsibility for Pickens
County watershed lakes with an
unfunded mandate to administer
them.
"Those lakes are the secret,"
Weaver said. "The federal gov
ernment gave them the lakes.
They didn't give them any
money to maintain the lakes."
Weaver proposes an agree
ment with the state where the
City of Jasper would take over
control and maintenance of the
lakes for the purpose of gaining
access to water in them.
Jerry Edwards of Jasper
Banking Company serves on
Pickens County's local board of
the Limestone Valley Soil &
Water Conservation District.
Edwards said Dalton enjoys an
arrangement similar to the one
Weaver proposes for Jasper. The
Dalton agreement allows that
city to use water from a large
watershed lake in north
Whitfield County, Edwards said.
“I'm talking about lakes like
Cox's Lake, Simmon's Lake,
Watson's Lake,” Weaver said of
the arrangement he proposes
here. “Every lake paid for by
federal money, they want to turn
those over.”
Later Weaver clarified he has
discussed the arrangement with
Classes Continue at the Arts Center
As the summer winds down,
there is still time to participate
in classes offered by Sharptop
Arts Association. All classes are
held at the Tom Quinton Arts
Center located at 68 D.B.
Carroll Street in Jasper. Carroll
Street turns off of North Main
Street next to the Old Jail.
• Painting and Drawing for
Kids with Sulaine Sims. Ages
6 to 15. Classes are offered
every Friday afternoon from 1
to 2:30 through August 3rd. $65
for four classes but students
may take fewer classes for a
proportionately reduced fee.
Students may bring their own
supplies or pay $10 for the sup
plies to be furnished. Please
call Sulaine for details at 770-
605-1467.
• Yoga with Camille
Hammond. Classes are held
every Tuesday from 5 to 6 p.m.
$7.00 per class. Please call
Camille for details at 706-692-
6666.
• Social Dance (Ballroom,
Western, Line, and more) with
Rebecca Hampton. Classes are
held every Thursday evening at
8 p.m. $40.00 person, $80.00
couple, for four weeks of class
es starting any Thursday. For
details call Rebecca at 706-337-
4774.
• Intermediate Drawing
with wildlife artist Alan Young.
No classes this summer but call
Alan for details about future
sessions at 706-692-4002.
• Watercolor Painting with
Joy Lyons. No classes current
ly offered but call Joy for
details about future sessions at
706-636-1560.
• Oil Painting with Steve
Moore. Steve will be teaching
oil painting at the Arts Center
this summer as soon as a class
can be assembled. Please call
Steve at 404-281-3947 if inter
ested.
regional representative for
Georgia Soil & Water
Conservation Commission
Region One, Keith Gilmer of the
Rome office and with Bob
Fulmer, a Soil & Water
Conservation Commission rep
resentative based in Athens.
Weaver said that combined,
Pickens County watershed lakes
contain "300 acre-feet" of water.
An acre-foot of water is an acre
of lake surface, one foot deep.
One acre-foot amounts to
325,851 gallons.
Multiply one acre-foot by the
mayor’s 300 spread among 19
watershed lakes, and you are
looking at a combined
97,755,300 gallons.
Moving those gallons to the
city water plant would require a
new and substantial raw water
piping network. But with
Jasper’s state-designated service
area extending well outside the
city limits, Weaver said he sees
the possibility of multiple city
water plants spread over the
city’s broad service area.
"I have city engineers already
working," Weaver told
Legionnaires.
And engineers can probably
determine if Weaver's water
work-up can float Jasper into
the future as the city celebrates
150 years of chartered exis
tence—a full tenth of that under
Weaver's leadership.
“If you have a better plan for
water,” Weaver smiled, “I
always need a vice mayor.”
If you want to take a class
not currently offered, or if you
are an artist and wish to offer a
class at the Arts Center, please
call Mark Dickerson at 706-
692-6061. The Sharptop Arts
Association is committed to
offering classes in all areas
where sufficient numbers of
students have an interest.
will prohibit guns and drugs
from the school.”
Owens said the kids who
would bring these things to
school will find ways (if they
want) to bring it in regardless of
the new dress code.
Owens said the dress code
was discriminatory because ele
mentary school children are not
held to the same standards as
their older counterparts. In addi
tion, Owens also pointed out
there were no similar changes in
employee dress codes.
“How can we expect kids to
enforce the dress code when
adults are not?” he said.
In response to earlier board
member comments that a more
conservative attire at school
would allow for a better educa
tion, Owens said his generation
dressed more conservatively
but, nonetheless, many were not
geniuses.
“What happened to my gen
eration of geniuses?” he said.
Owens said children do best
when they are comfortable. He
said when his children come
home and start to work on their
homework, they first change
into comfortable clothing.
“As a parent it is my job to
see that my children dress
appropriately - not the board,”
he said. “Instead of wasting time
on restricting kids who follow
the rules, why not focus on kids
who break them?”
In other business,
• Maintenance Update
Assistant Superintendent of
Operations, Lloyd Shaddix,
reported many summer projects
are winding down in preparation
for the beginning of school.
Shaddix said with the comple
tion of a new telephone system
at Jasper Elementary, all of the
county's school are now
Trooper Larry Schnall, the acci
dent took place in wet and rainy
conditions on Highway 136.
Torbett was driving east in a
state patrol vehicle when the car
left the north shoulder of the
road at 2:40 p.m. The car struck
a tree, and Torbett was deceased
at the scene of the accident, said
Schnall. He was wearing his
safety belt.
Torbett was a
Communications Equipment
Operator (CEO), who worked
for the Georgia State Patrol for
sixteen years. He was Chief
CEO of Troop B, which
includes north Georgia patrol
equipped with a telephone in
each classroom.
Shaddix said grading is com
plete at Tate Elementary’s new
parking area and paving, which
was rained out last week, is set
to begin soon. The county’s old
est school also received new air
conditioning units in the gymna
sium.
Work started on July 2 with
the scheduled renovations and
additions at Pickens High
School.
“We’re still locating utili
ties,” Shaddix said. “Some
we’re finding easy and some by
accident. We located an eight
inch water line this week. We
didn’t know where it was but we
know now.”
• Financial Update
Assistant Superintendent of
Finance Amy Burgess reported
the school system collected 106
percent of what was budgeted
for 06-07, including some
$585,000 more in property taxes
than expected.
Burgess also said the schools
received around $700,000 more
from the state’s QBE (Quality
Basic Education) fund than was
anticipated at the beginning of
the year.
“We should be in very good
shape at the end of the year,”
Burgess said of the 06-07 school
budget which runs from July 1
to June 30.
According to Burgess, the
SPLOST II and III account bal
ances are $1.4 million and $1.2
million, respectfully.
“Our regular revenue has
jumped way up in the SPLOST
III account,” she said. “The
funds we received from the state
this month was $449,000 which
is $83,000 above our projec
tions. That gets us back in the
black (on this account).”
posts.
When the accident occurred,
Torbett was on his way to start
an evening shift at the state
patrol post in Gumming,
Georgia.
Other details of the accident,
such as rate of speed, will be
determined after an investiga
tion is complete.
Schnall said he worked with
Torbett earlier in his career, at a
State Patrol office in Atlanta.
“He knew his job really well.
He had a passion for being a
public servant, and he was well
thought of by his peers,” said
Schnall.
When SPLOST III collec
tions began in January, Burgess
said the county received
$337,925.
Board Member Jerry
Chastain said it was a top prior
ity of the current board of edu
cation to fully monitor the
school’s finances.
“We want to monitor the
inflow and outflow of money in
our school system,” Chastain
said. “Every board member
wants that. I hope we are fund
ing our schools and classrooms
at a level the community
expects.”
• Superintendent Mike
Ballew said all of the county’s
schools made the AYP designa
tion for the second year in a row.
AYP, adequate yearly progress,
is an annual performance goal
set by the state for each school
district. Federal funding is tied
to a school’s performance based
on CRCT testing, high school
testing and other subgroups like
attendance.
“You just can’t make it on the
grade, there are a lot of other
things too,” Ballew said. “The
state is raising the bar again next
year also. I’m very pleased with
our schools’ performance,”
Board Member Mark Mitton
applauded not only the faculty
and staff but also students and
parents for their efforts at keep
ing kids in school and on time.
“Congratulations to faculty
and staff but to our students and
parents for their hard work in
helping to education their chil
dren. Parents are an active part
of the education process,”
Mitton said.
• Pickens County Board of
Education meets the Second
Thursday of each month at 5
p.m in the Jasper Elementary
School Media Center. For infor
mation call 706-253-1700.
Georgia State Patrol offi
cer Michael Bradley Torbett
died in a traffic accident
Monday/
Continued from page 1A
Crash on wet road
takes state patrol officer’s life
Your Connection to the World
Broadband Internet
Cable TV
Telephone
Security
Professional Services
Advertising
□ver enn
Local
Employees
With 4 Local
Offices To
Serve You!
Ellijay
786-276-2271
Jasper
786-253-2271
Blue Ridge
786-946-2271
WATCH
THIS
WEEK!
YOUR COMMUNITY
YOUR NEWS
ONLY ON ETC
TV
Your Connection to the World
Local IMews ... That Matters To YOU!
IMORTH GEORGIA MOW
Local Events. Weather. Sports & More
From Ball Ground to Bucktown
We Lover What's Happening In YOL1R Community!
Watch Monday-Friday
7-30 a.m.. 11:30 p.m.. and 7.30 p.m.
Watch
Hans Cooks the World
Thursday, July 19 @ 7:00 p.m
PAY-PER-VIEW
Bucktown
423-548-2271
Ball Ground
678-454-2271
lYoi/v Playing an
Pay-Per-View*
Starting at 93.99
To order, go to:
Channels 1D1-1DB on ynur
ETC Digital Cable Cine-Up
"Must subscribe to ETC Digital
The Astronaut Happy Feet
Farmer PG PG
Cable TV service in order to
Night at the Daddy’s Little
Museum PG Girls PG-13
receive Pay-Per-View.
'
LITTLE
rcim-st
BOXING
Hopkins
vs. Wright
Live
July 21
8:30 p.m.
Jared Ethan Davis, age five ;years, son of Josh and
Kristie Davis of the Ludviile Community is pictured with his
grape tomato plant that he grew on his Gamma and Popa’s
patio. The plant is now six feet tall. Jared likes to water and
check for the ripe tomatoes everyday. He loves doing this
every year. Way to go Jared!!
Love you
Gamma and Popa Townsend