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PAGE 18A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. APRIL 9. 2009
Continued from page 1A
Courthouse committee continues deliberations
Jones said the company will
review the structural soundness
of the building. He cited con
crete columns that support the
building as a main concern. He
said the company, Mactec, will
core-drill these columns to
determine if there is steel sup
port in the concrete and to check
their general condition. Jones
said, at this point, the county
doesn’t know the quality of the
concrete that was used, where it
came from or how it was mixed.
He said it may have been mixed
using local convict labor.
Jones said they need to
assess the building and then
look at options based on its
soundness.
For the first time during
these committee meetings, the
option of demolishing the build
ing and salvaging only its mar
ble siding was broached. The
commissioner said they need to
be confident of the building’s
structural soundness before
spending a great deal of money
on renovation.
Jones said the structural
assessment, “should give us an
overview of what we have
going forward.”
Tom Eubanks, who is man
aging the project for the county,
said the assessment will almost
certainly find some asbestos and
other environmental issues. He
said they would also look at
what parts of the courthouse are
historically significant.
Committee member Frank
Martin, a former commissioner,
speculated the assessment
would find a buried fuel tank on
the property, which would have
to be removed. Martin said the
removal will be expensive, but
it’s better to find it now than
after construction begins.
Friday, committee members
expanded on an idea first
tossed-out in a work session last
month: Can some offices cur
rently housed in the main court
house be moved to new loca
tions permanently?
By spreading departments to
different sites, the county could
build a smaller courthouse and
better accommodate Superior
Court functions at the Main
Street site. However, members
of the committee said they must
weigh any potential construc
tion savings against the costs of
providing security at different
sites.
Several committee members
have speculated that if the
Probate and Magistrate courts
could be moved to a building
recently purchased by the coun
ty (adjacent to the County
Admin Building), it makes the
idea of a renovated courthouse
on Main Street more manage
able.
The 8,200 square foot former
doctor’s building beside the
Admin Building was purchased
as a temporary location for
court offices while construction
is underway on the Main Street
courthouse. Plans call for the
doctor’s building to be rented to
DFACS after two years when
construction of the new court
house is scheduled to be com
plete.
Committee member Mimi Jo
Butler, said, “If we only keep
the judicial departments - the
judges, the clerk and their sup
port - and took out the
Magistrate and Probate courts,
then we won’t need as big of a
building [in the downtown loca
tion].”
As an alternative, Jones sug
gested moving the Juvenile
Courts permanently to the new
building beside the Admin
Building. Moving juvenile
departments near to DFACS
offices would seem to offer
some advantages, Jones said.
Another idea, presented by
Jones, is to build a small, afford
able building adjacent to the jail
that could serve as investigative
offices for the sheriff and a
place for probation offices also.
Jones said that would greatly
help with future parking at the
main courthouse. He said more
than 100 probationers must
report to the probation office on
some weekdays for drug tests.
There was limited discussion
on the need to determine securi
ty implications and costs of
adding different court locations.
According to his research,
Eubanks said there are few def
inite rules on what is required
for courthouse security other
than the chief judge and sheriff
need to determine what is ade
quate.
Martin said with the slow
economy, the one-time budget
of $12 million for courthouse
construction is looking closer to
$8.5 million. Having different
locations and being able to do
“phased construction” in two
different locations makes a lot
of sense, he said.
Committee Chairman
Sanford Chandler said it was
encouraging to see the different
options. “These look like some
great options, and it makes
sense to look at different
options,” he said.
Chandler said he would like
to see the options drawn up in
some form of presentable “ Plan
A, Plan B, Plan C.”
“We don’t really have plans
that we could show and get pub
lic input,” he said.
Jones said he hadn’t had an
architect draw up different
options, because that is expen
sive.
Committee member Terry
Long said with the courthouse
structural assessment and space
assessment they should be able
to look at the different options.
“We have to be realistic with the
budget,” he said. “We can reach
for the sky, but we have a set
budget.”
Butler said they need to bal
ance the wish lists of the judges
and departments with the needs
of the general public.
“For someone recording a
deed, that is more important to
them than somebody’s kid who
is up in juvenile court,” she
said. “We need to make some
thing work for all of the coun
ty.”
Among other points dis
cussed:
• The committee voted to
recommend the county proceed
with “construction management
at risk” style of construction.
This would have a contractor
handle the project and also
guarantee a price. Martin noted
they are going to accept a proce
dure, not name a company.
Eubanks said this style
of construction only works if
the architect is on-board with it,
which may pose a problem as an
architect has already been hired.
He said they would need to re
negotiate with the architect.
• The committee indicated
they will recommend every
effort be made to use local con
tractors but will not propose
specific targets or quotas. In the
discussion, they agreed to leave
it to the commissioner to deal
with legal issues and implemen
tation of a policy to discriminate
in favor of local companies.
• It was announced that Jan
Oda had resigned from the com
mittee. Commissioner Rob
Jones will name a replacement.
• The committee will meet
next on May 29th at 1 p.m. at
Appalachian Technical College.
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APRIL IS SEXUAL ASSAULT AWARENESS MONTH
THE NORTH GEORGIA MOUNTAIN CRISIS NETWORK, INC
IS SPONSORING THE 2009
CLOTHESLINE PROJECT
Sexual Assault is one of the most under reported crimes
in the United States, with 60% of incidents still being
left unreported. Males are the least likely to report a
sexual assault. At the North Georgia Mountain Crisis
Network, Inc., we work hard to help the victims of sex
ual assault cope. Victims of rape, molestation, incest,
and sexual assault can call our agency 24 hours a day,
7 days a week. We have advocates available for imme
diate response. Our services include professional coun
seling, help with medical costs/appointments, support
groups, accompaniment throughout the judicial
process and shelter, food, clothing if needed. We work
closely with the local hospitals, law enforcement, the
Department of Family and Children Services and the
Georgia Network to End Sexual Assault (GNESA).
Every 2 minutes, someone in the United States is
sexually assaulted. 80% of victims are under the age
of 30. 58.7% of attackers are acquaintances, with
34.2% being family members. Some of the effects of
Sexual Assault are: Victims are 3 times more likely to
suffer from depression, 6 times more likely to suffer
from post-traumatic stress disorder, 13 times more
likely to abuse alcohol, 26 times more likely to abuse
drugs, and 4 times more likely to contemplate suicide.
Throughout the month of April, we invite the com
munity to join us in celebration with survivors and
loved ones to view displays of artwork. The artwork
comes in the form of T-Shirts that have been used to
express their thoughts and feelings. Each color used in
this project represents events and tragedies in the sur
vivors story. This project is called:
THE CLOTHESLINE PRO TECT LEGEND
• WHITE is for murder or death as a result of violence.
• YELLOW, BROWN, or BEIGE is for assault or battery.
• PINK, RED, or ORANGE is for rape or sexual assault.
• GREEN or BLUE is for the child sexual assault or incest.
• PURPLE or LAVENDER is for homophobic violence.
• BLACK is for gang rape.
My name is Jane Doe. I was raped and this is my story.
I grew up in foster care, but I desperately wanted to go to college.
I worked very hard through high school and even skipped a grade. I
knew in my heart that I wanted to do something with my life. I was
beyond excited when I received full funding to a major state university. Right
out of high school, I went to the big campus for the Summer Session. I obtained
perfect grades for that session and I was one step closer to accomplishing my dreams
and goals. A few days before the Fall Semester was to start, I had met a charming fellow
student who asked me out on a date. I was never on an official date before and I was thrilled
and ecstatic. The following day I went to the restaurant where we were to meet. He had showed up
late just as I was about to walk home. Instead of him being alone, he had brought a group of his
friends. I was disappointed and I just wanted to go back to my dorm, but he begged me to hang
out with them. He told me how beautiful I was and he desperately wanted to get to know me.
He took me to a party instead. I felt sick, tired, and pleaded with him to take me home. He told
me that I couldn’t enter the dorms so late or else I would have been reprimanded. He took me
back to his apartment as the alternative, gave me a glass of water, and sent me to his room to
sleep. He assured me that I would be back on campus the next morning. He eased
my mind by convincing me that I was safe and would have his room to myself. He
left the room and I drifted off to sleep immediately due to feeling dizzy, groggy and
disoriented. Next thing I knew, I felt like I couldn’t breath. I was suffocating. I
opened my eyes. There were men on top of me. I didn’t know how many men
there were as i I was completely dazed. My mind was saying over and over
again, I am being raped, I am being raped, but I was absolute
ly powerless. I could not move, I could not speak, and I
could not fight back. I was completely paralyzed. I drifted
off again. The next morning I woke up with him on top of
1 me. Then he handed me $10 for cab fare and sent me out
side. I was shocked, baffled, confused and terrified. I was
flooded with emotions that I had never felt before and did
not know how to handle. I have heard of women being
raped, I have seen it on movies and TV, but I never thought
that it would happen to me. How could this have hap
pened to me? I got back to my dorm room and crawled
into a ball and cried until there were no more tears to cry.
All I wanted to do was take a shower and cry some more.
I finally mustered up the strength and called the police.
For the first time in my life I was standing up for myself.
I found a voice inside of me that I didn’t know I had. I
had to speak out. It was not my fault and I did not ask
for this to happen. They stole something from me and I
wanted it back. When I started college I was a passive,
shy, feeble and naive 17 year old girl. I have since then
become a determined, out-going, empowered woman who
has learned to heal and to find strength deep inside of my
EXHIBIT LOCATIONS
AND DATES ARE AS FOLLOWS:
April 14-17 at the Gilmer County Library
268 Calvin Jackson Dr.
Ellijay, Georgia
April 20-24 at the Fannin County Library
400 West Main Street
Blue Ridge, Georgia
April 27-30 The Pickens County Admin.
Building: Second Lobby
1266 East Church Street
Jasper, Georgia
heart.
My name is Jane Doe and I am a survivor of rape
DONATIONS CAN BE MADE
DIRECTLY TO:
THE NORTH GEORGIA
MOUNTAIN CRISIS NETWORK, INC.
P.O. BOX 1249
BLUE RIDGE, GA 30559
For more information, please call:
706-492-3836
1-800-33-HAVEN