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THURSDAY. OCTOBER 10. 2013 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 15A
Purchase of $25 or more
Valid Friday, Oct. 11 th Only
Coupon must be presented
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Dining Hours:
Mon. - Sat.:
:00 AM-8:00 PM
Si
AM - 7:00 PM
706-253-PORK (7675)
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lams Mill Rd & Hwy 515
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Piggy Cupcakes from 11am - 2pm
There will be Door Prizes, T-Shirts & Hats
Submitted by school
Bright
Beginnings
visited by
soldier
The candidates are
coming to October
TEA Party meeting
her concern and goal is to serve
the people of Nelson better than
before. She cited improvements
such as the park, eliminating the
planning and zoning board, the
capital improvement budget, re
serve funds and the establish
ment of the city manager’s
positions as some of the accom
plishments since she joined the
council.
The minutes of the last regu
lar and called sessions were then
approved. City Manager Brandy
Edwards gave her monthly re
port. She cited a surplus of funds
in an amount over $120,000. The
new street signs are being placed
and the park construction is on
schedule. She also thanked
Councilman Jarrett and Thacker
for their help conducting the 16
tours of the Marble Museum dur
ing the Marble Festival this past
weekend.
The council held the second
reading of the amended Family
Protection that states that it will
not be enforced (result of the
lawsuit by the Brady Group).
The ordinance was approved.
The second reading of the City
Manager Ordinance refining re
sponsibilities of the city manager
was held and the ordinance was
approved. Councilwoman Por
tillo moved that the motion from
others like David Perdue, for
GA Senate seat will send a
representative. Any candidate
contacted and not replying in
any way will be put up for all
voters to see. This will act as
only way to fairly show that
they were asked but failed to
reply, come or send a repre
sentative.
In any event, this will be a
TEA Party meeting not to
miss! Also, this will be the
last event the Pickens County
TEA Party will hold until Jan
uary 2014. With the holidays
fast approaching, the thoughts
of candidates is going to be
replaced by family, presents
and fun!
Please be sme to mark your
calendar now for Saturday,
Oct. 26, 2-4 p.m., Chatta
hoochee Technical College in
Jasper so you are sure not to
miss this special Fair. For fur
ther info contact Penny at
pickenscountyteaparty
@mail.com or check the web
site at www.pickenscountytea
party.com
Small ads
produce
BIG
results
Progress classifieds
706-253-2457
daily operations of the city.
Councilman Jackie Jarrett
took the podium next. He said
when he first joined the council,
the city had many needs. He
cited some of them as equipment
in need of repairs, the condition
of the parks, the budget and ad
vanced planning. He said that
there was still work to be done to
make the city better. One major
thing he would like to see is a
community building or commu
nity center. He is working hard
toward that goal.
Councilwoman Edith Portillo
addressed the council and audi
ence. She said that there had
been some personal issues that
those been taken care of and now
Bright Beginnings Preschool
would like to thank CPT Nathan
Wilson of the Georgia Army Na
tional Guard for coming to our
preschool and sharing the impor
tance of saying the pledge to our
preschoolers in honor of Sept.
11. He also shared different as
pects of his uniform and what it
was like to be in the desert as he
served in Iraq during Operation
Iraqi Freedom. The preschoolers
really enjoyed visiting with him
and trying on his helmet.
Thank you CPT Wilson and
all our American Servicemen!
By Nancy Davis
TEA Party publicity
Yes, that’s right; this is Oc
tober 2013 but candidates
have only until March 3,
2014, to qualify for posts and
early voting in Georgia begins
on April 28 when we will be
asked to select our candidates
and decide on SPFOST
(again)!
In other words, it is time to
start “interviewing” the candi
dates who have already an
nounced so that you know
what you want to do at voting
time.
the last meeting appointing Sue
Cochran as the head of the Her
itage Committee be rescinded.
The motion carried. In a compan
ion motion, she moved to rescind
the action from the last meeting
adding a budget for the commit
tee of $1,200. This motion also
carried. A proposed Fund Bal
ance Policy and Bonds for the
council members was referred to
a work session to be held on
Monday, Oct. 14, at 6:30 p.m.
The city has several pieces of
property that they need to dis
pose of. These are 35 Dogwood
Pass/352 Blue Ridge Avenue
(two addresses making one piece
of property), 1444 Pickens
Street, 1310 Pickens Street and
68 Blue Ridge Avenue. The
council voted to sell these pieces
and left the method to the city
manager. Any interested party
should see the city manager.
Councilman Cronic moved
for the adoption of the Public
Comment Rules. These rules are
in use at this time but needed to
be formally approved and printed
for each meeting. By doing this,
members of the public address
ing the council would know what
the guidelines are. This motion
carried.
The next item was the adop
tion of the 2014 mileage rate.
The original proposed rate was
1.546 mills for the Cherokee side
of the city, 1.538 for the Pickens
side and 3.373 for both sides for
Cherokee Fire Tax. Councilman
Cronic moved to change it to
1.25 mills for both sides leaving
the fire the same. After a discus
sion, his motion carried 4 to 1.
This is a rollback of 18 percent.
When the public appearance
portion of the meeting was
opened, one resident asked the
council to tell the citizens what
happened to Police Chief Heath
Mitchell. Why was he no longer
the chief? The council chairman
advised that was a personnel
matter and had to be discussed in
executive session before public
comment could be made. The
council then retired into execu
tive session. Upon the council’s
return, a motion was immedi
ately made to accept Chief
Mitchell’s resignation which in
cluded a severance package as
agreed upon with the chief. No
other comments on this matter
were made by the council mem
bers when questioned again.
One other resident made some
brief comments on the condition
of the city and the performance
of the council. The meeting was
then adjourned.
Join us to ceCe6rate our
5 th Anniversary!.
Friday, October 11th
Nelson City Council meeting
By Ralph Dennis
Nelson Correspondent
The Nelson City Council held
its regular monthly meeting in
their chambers on Monday, Oct.
7. The meeting was called to
order by Council Chair Bishop.
Council members Tipton and
Cronic were late arrivals. Fol
lowing the Pledge of Allegiance,
the agenda for the evening was
approved.
Tacie Jo Williams of Welch,
Walker & Associates auditors,
was introduced. She gave the
council the report on the finan
cial audit for the fiscal year that
ended on June 30, 2013. The re
port was a good report with no
errors. She commended City
Manager Brandy Edwards for
her efforts in maintaining the
books and for having everything
ready for the audit. She com
mended the council for the over
all improvement of the city’s
financial status in having a sur
plus of funds. She also com
mented on the need for a Fund
Balance Policy. This will allow
the city to plan for overages and
shortfalls and methods of recov
ery should there be a shortfall.
Farry Ray, the sole candidate
for mayor, was introduced. He
gave some remarks on his back
ground in working with the
county commissioner of Pickens
County and in serving as Chief
Magistrate Judge for 18 1/2
years. He cited his business
background and told those pres
ent that he wanted to work for
the good of the citizens of Nel
son. He has been a lifelong resi
dent of the city.
Thad Thacker, candidate for
city council, was introduced. He
told those present that he has
lived in Nelson since he was five
years old except when in military
service or on work assignment.
He wants to serve with equality,
fairness and the interest of the
citizens first and foremost. He
stated that he will be available
and will be involved with the
On Saturday (not the usual
Tuesday night meeting), Oct.
26, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Chatta
hoochee Technical College in
Jasper, the Pickens County
TEA Party will hold a 2014
Candidate Indoor Fair. The
candidates are being contacted
daily and replies are being re
ceived as quickly to have an
opportunity to assemble the
largest number of “applicants”
for your pleasure. They will
have a table and chairs to set
up information, handouts,
give away’s or whatever and
you, the “potential employer,”
will be able to go from place
to place and spend time with
each.
Meet and greet is the key
to this set-up. Candidates
from all parties are being
asked to attend. Some have
indicated they will personally
attend such as candidate for
Governor, David Pennington;
Rick Jasperse, State Represen
tative; Bart Connelly, Pickens
County Commission Post; and