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THURSDAY. JULY 26. 2007 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 15A
Continued from page 1A
Jasper Council holds July meeting
actually in the good range under
the state's threshold of accept
ability. According to Hall, some
46.8 million gallons of water
were pumped through the sys
tem last month. Of that figure,
just over 40 million gallons
were sold, leaving 6.4 million,
or 13.7 percent, unaccounted for
during June.
“Anything below 15 percent
is acceptable for the state,” Hall
said.
Finance Director Tacie Jo
Williams said the first month of
summer surcharge for dry-
weather water brought in an
additional $10,000 of revenue
for the city.
“We were flooded with
phone calls from customers,”
she said. “I think it was a wake
up call. We did a lot of rechecks
(on meters). People were sur
prised at how much water they
were using.”
Williams reported to the
council that all departments
were staying within budget.
In other news:
• The council gave the go
ahead for city workers to begin
constructing 4,600 feet of water
line on Parker Road. The line
will supply a new 180-acre sub
division called Hampton Farms
where approximately 36 homes
ranging in price from $300,000
- $400,000 will be constructed.
According to Weaver, the
homes will sit on five acre
tracts.
The contract calls for
$50,000 payable to the city from
developer Leon Bridges. In
addition, Bridges has already
paid $136,000 in cost-of-con-
struction aid to the city.
• The council unanimously
approved three requests for beer
and wine licenses within the
city. They are: Three Sisters
Coffee House and Dessert Bar
at 61 North Main Street (for
merly the Crowe's Nest); The
Last Catch, a seafood restaurant
to be located at 27 Burnt
Mountain Road next to the
Piggly Wiggly; and Jasper
Beverage at 1109 East Church
Street.
• Council members unani
mously approved the final
amendment to its property
maintenance ordinance, an issue
that has been debated for
months by Arbor Hills residents
both internally and at council
meetings.
The council began consider
ing changes to the ordinance
months ago when an Arbor Hills
resident raised concern that a
neighbor's decorative koi pond
posed a hazard for neighbor
hood children. City officials
reviewed the ordinance and
decided to amend it to require
fencing for ponds similar to the
swimming pool code.
The ordinance now calls for
proper barriers or fencing for
landscape ponds that are more
than 48 inches deep.
Some Arbor Hills residents
spoke against the ordinance.
“I would like to ask the city
council to rethink this before
putting this in place,” said Bill
Johnson, a security guard at
Arbor Hills. “It’s actually a per
sonal war that's come into a city
council issue. I don't think it is
in the city council's best interest
to back a few people on some
thing that hundreds are against.”
Mayor John Weaver said the
ordinance, which applies city
wide, is aimed at protecting
children.
“We’re addressing landscape
ponds this evening,” Weaver
said. “This was brought to the
council, and the council agreed
to err on the side of children.
We're taking it upon ourselves
to make sure common sense
will
prevail.
“I don’t want in your neigh
borhood argument. I wish it
would stop. I wish that you
could reconcile your differ
ences. My job is to address the
issue I think is a hazard to the
community.... I hope you under
stand that.”
• Sgt. Jim Gleason reported
the police department respond
ed to 819 calls for service from
the 911 center during June.
Officers responded to 33 motor
vehicle accidents and issued
216 citations. The following
arrests were made: 2 DUI’s, 3
driving with a suspended
license, 2 public intoxication
arrests, 1 DUI drug arrest, 2 dis
orderly conducts, 5 driving
without a license, 1 public inde
cency and 6 underage consump
tion of alcohol arrests. Officers
also responded to 1 burglary, 13
trespassing/ loitering calls, 48
alarm calls, 28 disorderly per
son calls, 30 suspicious person
or activity calls and 24 domestic
dispute calls.
• Fire Chief Steve Roper said
his department responded to
105 calls in June including one
structure fire, one vehicle fire,
one grass/ brush fire, 11 motor
vehicle accidents with injuries,
62 emergency medical calls and
29 others.
To date, fire personnel have
responded to 581 emergencies
this year, a small increase over
the same period last year.
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email: wantads@pickensprogress.com
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Continued from page 1A
Next Step:
Rebuild or Renovate main courthouse
building. The majority of work
will be done on the interior.
The project will consist
mainly of removal of several
walls, installation of new carpet,
plumbing, and electrical compo
nents, as well as repair of exist
ing water leaks.
A second courtroom (third
overall for the county) will be
added to the top floor with two
other rooms added to serve as
visiting judges' chambers, Slone
said. The Appalachian Judicial
Circuit’s chief judge Brenda
Weaver will move her office
from the main courthouse to the
remodeled annex.
Clerk of Court Gail Brown’s
office will expand to the annex
upper floor. Her office, which
includes a staff of ten and truck-
loads of government docu
ments, is now in the bottom
floor of the annex.
When renovation is com
plete, Brown and two members
of her staff will move their
workspaces upstairs. Archived
property deeds will also be
stored in the expanded area.
“That will free up space in
our vault for newer deeds that
have to be in fireproof storage,”
said Brown. “We’ve completely
run out of room down here.”
Currently the top floor of the
annex is empty of staff and fur
niture except for Slone’s office.
The double-glass-door
entrance on the ground floor of
the annex will become the
building’s main entrance and
exit, Slone said. State-mandated
security devices will be
installed.
The top-floor entrance will
be accessed only by authorized
users with a card-key.
Entrances to courtrooms and
restrooms will be made handi
capped-accessible, said Slone.
While the remodeling pro
ceeds, Jones will ask the voters
to decide what to provide in
terms of a permanent facility to
house all the courtrooms and
offices related to the county’s
judicial system.
The construction of such a
facility would ideally be funded
by the next SPLOST (Special
Purpose Local Option Sales
Tax), he said.
Jones said the next SPLOST
referendum will contain as a top
priority either the construction
of a new courthouse, or exten
sive renovations to the existing
building, which was built in
1949. That referendum will
appear on the March 2008 bal
lot.
By Georgia law, the ballot
must contain a specific plan as
to what funds collected under
the tax would be used for, if
approved by a majority of vot
ers. As sole commissioner,
Jones will submit his proposed
referendum to the state legisla
ture early next year. The
SPLOST will not appear on the
ballot unless it is approved by
the legislature.
“We’re still finalizing the
plans,” said Jones, adding he
will seek public input on the
matter prior to submitting a bal
lot to the state. He said in com
ing months the county will con
tinue to consult with architects
to determine the most efficient
and cost-effective courthouse
plan to present to the voters.
Whether that plan consists of
a totally new building or a mas
sive renovation project, it will
likely include demolition of the
annex, said Jones. Offices and
courtrooms housed in the annex
at that time will move to the
main courthouse, which would
be a sizably larger building than
what stands now.
Aside from concerns relating
to lack of space, Jones said the
current courthouse is “out of
date.” It has no central heating
or air conditioning system, and
water leaks in the basement are
numerous. Plus, it is not handi
capped-accessible.
“We need a more modern
facility,” said the commissioner.
Jones said he would also like
to include additional parking
behind the courthouse, perhaps
in the form of a multi-level
parking deck.
The trademark marble slabs
adorning the exterior of the
existing building will not be
demolished with the rest of the
courthouse, assured Jones. He
said the marble will be carefully
stripped, and hopefully re-used
to decorate the front of the new
building when it is complete.
Other tentative items to
appear on a March 2008
SPLOST referendum include
recreation and parks projects, a
new library, fire protection,
water and roads.
Jones wanted to be abundant
ly clear, the annex project that
will begin in August “has noth
ing to do with SPLOST.”
Rather, it will complete a
multi-step transaction carried
out to develop county offices.
That process began in 2006
when the county sold the
Landrum building and the
Sidebar in downtown Jasper,
and used the proceeds to pur
chase the former Mountainside
hospital building.
The former hospital has since
been remodeled and turned into
headquarters for all county
departments.
The county received $1.2
million from the sale of the
Sidebar and Landrum building.
Total cost for purchase and ren
ovation of the former
Mountainside building was
about two million dollars.
Because extra cash was
needed to revamp the old hospi
tal, Jones sold the building to
the Association of County
Commissioners of Georgia
(ACCG) for one hundred per
cent of its appraised value, or
$3.2 million.
ACCG, a nonprofit agency
that represents Georgia coun
ties, now leases the building to
Pickens County, said Jones.
After all the payments are made
under the ten-year lease agree
ment, the building will return to
the county’s ownership.
The ACCG lease-purchase
program allows Georgia coun
ties to avoid incurring long-term
debt, which is prohibited by
state law, said Jones.
“The rent payments are
essentially loan payments,”
explained Jones. “But we’re not
putting the taxpayers in debt.”
County finance director
Mechelle Champion said the
county is paying 4.09 percent
interest on the cost of the build
ing. Payments are budgeted in
the county’s general fund.
Construction of the new
county jail in 2005, which cost
more than expected, was facili
tated through a similar agree
ment, with a fifteen-year lease
and a 3.745 percent interest rate,
Champion said.
She expects the county to
have enough money left over
from the sale of the admin
building, after remodeling
expenses, to pay for the upcom
ing annex renovations. The sale
of the admin building also pro
vided the county enough money
to pay off what was owed on the
Sidebar and Landrum buildings
at the time of their sale.
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Continued from page 1A
School board announces
millage rate
According to the budget,
another $565,000 in revenue
will come from “other local
sources” and $368,885 from
other state funds.
Expenditures in the 07-08
budget include $26.1 million for
instruction, $3.1 million for
maintenance and plant opera
tions, $2.3 million for student
transportation, $2.2 million for
school administration, $1.4 mil
lion for pupil services and just
over $1 million for improve
ment of instruction.
In addition, $899,209 will be
spent on general administration
and $718,479 on educational
media. Under a category for
business services, the board will
expend $350,512 and $56,000
for school nutrition and $20,000
for central support services.
"This puts us at the next to
the lowest millage in our RESA
district," said Board Chairman
John Trammell.
Pickens County is included
in the same RESA district with
Cherokee, Dalton City, Fannin,
Gilmer, Murray and Whitfield
counties.
"We're very pleased with
that," Ballew said.
For taxpayers, the lower rate
will mean lower property taxes.
According to Assistant
Superintendent of Finance Amy
Burgess, the lower rate will save
a homeowner around $50 on a
$200,000 home.
"The higher the value of the
home, the larger the decrease,"
she said.
Board Member Ervin
Easterwood praised the work of
the staff and the board's finance
committee on providing a "well
thought-out budget" that took
"hours and hours of work".
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