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Awards given
at Mountain
City Soccer
Banquet
Page 20A
A look
down the
the original
Hwy. 5
Page 6A
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County refinances,
saves $3,600,000
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
After consolidating and refinanc
ing seven water department loans the
county will save an estimated $3.6
million because of lower interest rates
and shorter payoff periods.
The seven original loans have bal
ances of $8.06 million (principal only
without interest figured) and were is
sued by either the Georgia Environ
mental Finance Authority of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture for infra
structure projects.
The amount of the refinanced loan
through Chase Bank, including under
writing and bond council fees, is
$8.09 million with an interest rate of
2.35 percent. The maturity date is De
cember 1, 2029.
"Pickens County and the Pickens
County Water Authority were very
fortunate to be able to take advantage
of historically low interest rates, re
ducing the term of bond debt from 32
years to 15 years while saving $3.6
million in interest cost,” said county
finance officer Faye Harvey.
The seven original loans had inter
est rates that ranged from 3 percent to
5.3 percent. Maturity dates ranged
from 2017 to 2047.
Total amount to be paid on the new
loan, with interest, will be $9,614 mil
lion. Debt service on the original loans
would have been $13,213 million.
Payments will be made twice a
year. Principal and interest average
$641,000 annually for 15 years. Ac
cording to Harvey, the water depart
ment collects more than enough
revenue to cover current debt service
on the loan. She said since water rates
were increased in 2012 the authority
has operated with approximately
$200,000 in contingency funding
since 2013. Harvey told commission
ers that any revenue above debt serv
ice and water department operating
costs will be put into an escrow fund
to cover future principal and interest
See Savings, Page 16A
Dairy Queen moving to new location
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
Over six months after the Dairy Queen on Highway 53
East was destroyed by a fire, owner Kamil Momin an
nounced that the business will reopen in the building next
to Zaxby’s on Bill Wigington Parkway.
Momin, in statements released via A.J. Momin, his
brother and manager, said the popular establishment is
moving closer to Highway 515 because of the heavy con
centration of retail businesses along the corridor and in
creased visibility from motorists traveling through the
county.
“We are so grateful for all the support and prayers from
the community,” Momin said. “We hope that they continue
to support us in our new location.”
The new location has been home to several restaurants
in the past, most recently Julee’s.
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The building that was previously Julee’s Restaurant
on Bill Wigington Blvd. will reopen as Dairy Queen.
Momin is now working with contractors who will retro
fit the space to accommodate the Dairy Queen, but at this
point he is not able to make a public announcement about
the opening date.
Damon Howell / Photo
Tuesday, Feb. 10 florists like Judy Parker, head designer at Artistic Designs in
Jasper, were already filling orders for the Valentine’s Day rush, expected to peak
later in the week. Office manager Barbie Parker said “most of the time people
will wait until the last minute to order, so we’ll be really busy on Friday. ’’Money
spent on this arrangement of classic red roses will be part of the $19 billion the
National Retail Federation predicts Americans will spend on Valentine giving this
year.
Mystery of the
Trees unveiled
at film premier
By Hank Hollensbe
Contributing writer
The showing at the Episcopal Chinch
of the Holy Family Saturday was billed
as the world-wide premier of the Moun
tain Stewards’ new motion picture.
I was disappointed by the lack of the
Hollywood Klieg lights sweeping across
the skies above Cove Road, but I was
not disappointed by the size of the
crowd. I arrived at what I imagined
would be early enough to secure a front
row seat Saturday. Wrong. The sanctuary
was jammed, I was relegated to a seat on
the side and folding chairs were required
at the rear.
Promptly at 7 p.m., Don Wells, Presi
dent of the Mountain Stewards, opened
the evening, assuring the audience that
the screening was in fact the premier,
then briefly describing the history of the
film’s production and introducing Bob
Wells, the multi-role wizard who man
aged the picture’s design and production.
The setting for the screening was per
fect. The location of the church is an old
Cherokee site and just outside of the
church to the east is an authenticated In
dian ball ground used by the Cherokees
in the early 1800's —having the pre
miere at that location made an ideal spot
to talk about the Indian culture.
The wooded interior of the sanctuary
provided the feeling of nature, the world
outside the building. The church’s altar
had been replaced by a truly giant screen.
And viewing and listening were as good
See Trees, Page 16A
Obituaries-Page 12A
Catherine Gilbert
Charles Holcomb
Donald Hottinger
Ella Ingram
Eric Wood
John Cagle
John Ray
Thelma Darnell
Timmy Lolley
Rates rise in city for landfill runoff treatment
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
In order to combat high power
bills at the water treatment facility
and to get fees in line with regional
prices, the city of Jasper recently
raised the rate it charges Advanced
Disposal’s Eagle Point Landfill to
treat landfill runoff, called leachate.
According to Jasper’s Water Su
perintendent David Hall they have in
creased rates to collect and treat
leachate from 3 cents per gallon to 8
cents per gallon.
Leachate is a solution created after
water or some other liquid percolates
through a substance such as soil or a
landfill.
“Because we charged 3 cents we
were getting a deal on solids from the
wastewater plant and our trash, but
we realized they were still getting the
better deal,” he said. “We needed to
look at raising those rates because the
power bills are killing us. In the sum
mer the Georgia Power bills have
about doubled. They keep going up.”
Hall said there are approximately
four to six loads of leachate trans
ported from the Ball Ground landfill
each day, Monday through Friday.
Each load is about 6,000 gallons.
Monday afternoon an employee
See Leachate, Page 16A
Optimist STAR Banquet recognizes students and teachers
L-R: (Students Seated/Teachers Standing) Brad Rutledge/Sue Gibbons, Kyle Watters/Bobby Timms, Johnson Collins/Joe Wright, Jesse Brooks/Christi
Hobgood, Andrew Haygood/Michael Oubre (STAR Student & Teacher), Olivia Parker/Nikki Towery, Savannah Friedman/Gail Culbreth, Abygayle Gib
son/Lisa Payne, Kari Henke/Robbie Cheatham and Ryan Evans/Lynn Cantrell
Submitted by Reeder Burch
The 2015 STAR Banquet is set for
Thursday evening, March 5, at Chat
tahoochee Technical College. The
Optimist Club of Jasper is the local
sponsor of the STAR Program. An
drew Haygood has been named the
2015 STAR Student of Pickens High
School and he selected Mr. Michael
Oubre as his STAR Teacher.
The PAGE STAR (Student
Teacher Achievement Recognition)
Program begins each year in partici
pating high schools throughout Geor
gia when the STAR Student is named
and chooses a STAR Teacher to share
in this recognition. The students and
teachers are honored by their schools
and receive recognition in their com
munities from one of the more than
165 statewide civic organizations and
businesses that serve as local spon-
See STAR, Page 16A
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