Pickens County progress. (Jasper, Ga.) 1899-current, February 26, 2015, Image 1

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Newspaper Page Textliiifi COPYRIGHT-THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015 • VOLUME 127 NUMBER 44 • JASPER, GEORGIA • 750 > Koby Milner y wins state Under Investigation: If you \w\\ would like yyV to subscribe \\ fkhm (*n% ftijrm tm :==rP»miHK iS rnt Sheriff’s K-9 deputy wrestling title shoots neighbor’s dog call 706-253-2457 or fill out a form at m Page IB Page 2B DickensDroaress.com Waves of winter weather keep coming • Missed days piling up for Pickens school system Page 18A • Firefighters battle blaze at 2 degrees Page 16A • Major damage from frozen pipes at First Baptist Page 18A • Five days with no power on Burnt Mountain Page 16A • Big Canoe still cleaning up from first round Page 19A Damon Howell / Photo Taking full advantage of the snow day, Alyster Rich gives a thumbs-up from the passenger seat of the sled, steered by Johnny Rich, Tuesday morning. Robyn Pitkins / Photo Sarah Barnhill (l) and Sarah Ruth Pitkins col lapse in laughter as they enjoy the snow in their Arbor Hills neighborhood. Damon Howell / Photo Jasper firefighters held leaking water at bay with garbage cans after the sprinkler system froze and busied at First Baptist Church of Jasper Friday. Foster parent classes to begin in March By Angela Reinhardt Staff writer areinhardt@pickensprogress.com Following a recent Progress article about the dire need for foster parents in Pickens, a handful of families have stepped forward with plans to attend upcoming orientation and training classes - but there’s still room for more. “We’ve had five or six fam ilies call since that article,” said Pickens DFCS employee Carla Poole who works strictly with foster parents. “But it’s a long process so they haven’t been approved yet. They’ve got to attend orientation, IMPACT classes, which are once a week for eight weeks, then they need background checks and home evaluations.” If all of those potentials are given the stamp of approval by DFCS, it will double the num ber of foster homes in Pickens, which currently stands at six. “What happens is they will go through orientation to be sure they really want to become a foster parent,” Poole said, “That is done individually. Then in March we’ll have IM PACT and that is about eight couples in each class.” If you are interested in be coming a foster parent call 1- 877-210-KIDS or call Pickens County DFCS at 706-692- 4701. The Pickens office is lo cated at 255 Chambers Street, Jasper, Ga. 30143. From the commissioners’ meeting County fulfills promise, cuts TAN By Angela Reinhardt Staff writer areinhardt@pickensprogress.com The county has fulfilled a promise made to taxpayers during the 2015 budgeting cycle, reducing the amount of money bor rowed through this year’s Tax Anticipated Note (TAN) by $500,000. TANs - loans that must be paid back in one fiscal year - have regularly been used by the county since 2006 to fund day-to-day operations. The amount the county bor rowed each year steadily increased over time, rising from $1.5 million to $6 million over the ten years. In a pointed effort to re duce this amount and address what finance officer Faye Harvey called a “cash flow problem,” at the end of last year county commissioners approved a 6.55 percent tax hike. Additional revenue from property taxes allowed the county to end the 2014 fiscal year with about $ 1 million in contin gency funds and reduce this year’s TAN to $5.5 million. Harvey said she expects to be able to continue to reduce the loan amount each year and, eventually, stop using TANs alto gether. The county secured a 0.98 percent inter est rate through BB&T Governmental Fi nance for the $5.5 million TAN. In total, the county will pay $45,000 in interest. Harvey said seven Request for Proposals were sent out to lending institutions. In ad dition to the BB&T rate, two other bids were returned. Community Bank of Pickens County submitted a bid for a 3.75 percent interest rate. United Community Bank re turned a bid of 2.21 percent. Closing date for the loan is expected in early March. In other news from the county: •Commissioners recognized more county employees for their years of service. See photo and caption for a full list of those employees, page 16A. •County attorney Phil Landrum is ham mering out details of the contract for the de fense attorney to represent indigent and depravation cases for juveniles in the Ap palachian Judicial Circuit. According to Landrum, attorney Jennifer Galligan has ex pressed interest in the position. Landrum is working out details at this point with all three counties in the circuit. • The county contracted with Buenas Veritas, Inc. to handle commercial building inspections. In recent months the county has operated without a building inspector qual ified to perform commercial inspections. “The only time we will use them is on an as-needed basis,” said commission chair Rob Jones. Buenas Veritas will retain 80 percent of revenue from these inspections. The remaining 20 percent will go to the county for administrative fees. •Commissioners signed a proclamation de claring World Rotary Day. •Commissioners signed a proclamation de claring February 21-28 as FFA Week. See Full Page ad on 11 A. Owners uninjured after tractor-trailer slams into home ‘Ungodly thunder’ is how those in home described impact By Dan Pool Editor dpool@pickensprogress.com You couldn’t blame passing motorists for rub bernecking on Highway 53 East in Marble Hill Monday seeing a demolished home with a tractor trailer sticking out of it. The people who lived there, fortunately, were in front of the damaged home remarking about passersby with “their mouths open gasping at the sight.” The truck driver suffered minor injuries, includ ing a possible broken arm, but none of the occu pants of the home were injured at all. Steven Jones, whose bedroom was underneath where the cab of the truck came to rest, works third shift in Ball Ground and was at work. Jones said he was lucky to have worked third shift as he surveyed the damaged after returning to his relatives’ house. See Crash, Page 16A .va .?&&&& “We will re-build a little further from the road, ” say the owners of this Hwy. 53 home after it was badly damaged by a tractor trailer Monday. Obituaries Dorothy Kelley Jewell Brooks Willie Prather Page12A Julia Jordan Marion Bennett H 0 Part of this newspaper is made up of recycled newsprint and is recyclable. 4 8 7 9 0 8 16 3

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Pickens County progress. (Jasper, Ga.) 1899-current, February 26, 2015, Image 1