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Thursday, January 7,2016 Jasper, Georgia Volume 128 Number 37 www.pickensprogress.com 75 cents Not a ripple from water park proj ect Meeting held on Port Royal mostly a formality By Angela Reinhardt Staff writer areinhardt@pickensprogress.com The Development Authority of the City of Jasper met briefly Tues day, January 5, to address an issue regarding bonds for the Port Royal water park resort - but the authority’s action is considered a formality and in no way indicates the project is any closer to becoming a reality. Per request of their bond attorney for the high-dollar project, the au thority - which has had no business since September of last year - unan imously voted to assign an under writer for tax-exempt project bonds that may or may not be requested by Port Royal developers in the future. It was stressed that the authority’s agreement to appoint an underwriter for these bonds does not imply the Port Royal team will be able to se cure the remaining funding needed or will request the bonds from the Development Authority at all. “We are basically putting the foundation in place and staying out of the way if this does go forward,” said city attorney Bill Pickett, who later noted he has not met with any- See Water Park on Page 15A Jasper man charged with murder Talking Rock will fight road change "tooth and nail" Dan Pool / Photo Talking Rock’s incoming mayor Randy Banks, left, offers an alternative to a plan presented by the state trans portation officials during a meeting on the Antioch Church Road/Highway 515 intersection Monday. By Dan Pool Editor dpool@pickensprogress.com A group of Talking Rock business owners expressed vigorous opposi tion to a state proposed change in the intersection at Antioch Church Road and Highway 515 in a Monday night forum. Georgia Transportation offi cials believe the change would im prove safety there. “We live here and we do not like this,” Talking Rock council member Cheryl Sams told representatives from the Ga. Department of Trans portation (GDOT). “We will go as high as we have to [to stop this]. We will fight you tooth and nail.” According to a number of mer chants in the small town, the pro posal by the GDOT to install a median island to prevent drivers from crossing over Highway 515 at that spot would “kill the small town” by limiting access to one of their main entrances. The plans presented last month by GDOT call for a raised island across the median that will stop anyone from turning left to access or exit the four-lane or driving across all four lanes of Highway 515 to go straight on Antioch Church Road. Plans call for new u-tum lanes a short distance “both upstream and downstream” from the intersection. GDOT statis tics indicate this is a particularly dan gerous intersection which needs to be improved. The owner of one of the antique stores in Talking Rock said many of their customers come from Ellijay and Blue Ridge in addition to people taking trips to the mountains and anything that makes it more difficult to get on and off the four-lane will See Road on Page 15A INSIDE: "Thar's gold in them hills" A prolific gold mine once located in the Yellow Creek area ex tracted enough gold ore to be worth $112 million in today's money Page 2A Nelson council members take oath The Nelson City Council started off the new year by swearing in councilmember David Hamby Page 6A Police chase covers 36 miles After trying to pull over a speeder, a Ga. State Trooper and backup patrol units ended up chasing the driver for 36 miles before the man ran out of gas and was arrested Page 8A 3 arrested for fatal Gilmer home invasion Leaders see 2016 as positive year for growth Reprinted courtesy of Ellijay Times Courier By Mark Millican Times-Courier Three arrests have been made in a fatal shooting that occurred three days after Christmas in the Tails Creek community of Gilmer County. Charged with murder and armed robbery in the death of Andrew Abernathy are Joseph Christopher Ledford, 21, of Jasper; Tyler Anto nio Monte Nunez, 23, of Acworth; and Justin Savon Heard, 24, of Smyrna. When Abernathy, 21, was shot Dec. 28 at his residence in the Tails Creek community, no suspects were See Murder on Page 15A By Angela Reinhardt Staff writer areinhardt@pickens progress.com After several years of stagnant growth, city and county leaders say they see a light at the end of the tun nel, citing a welcome eco nomic uptick in 2015 they expect to gain momentum in 2016. At a recent Family Con nections meeting, Jasper Mayor Weaver said he be lieves the area is on the cusp of a growth wave that will “wash over us, wash over Blue Ridge and bounce back and wash over us again.” Weaver said he believes growth will pick up again in 2016, much like it was before the real estate collapse in 2007. At the December city council meeting, Sonny Underwood, city planning and development director, gave a report that covered the surge of business his department has fielded in the past year. “The building and plan ning and development de partment has been busy with new construction, an nexation and new business licenses,” Underwood said, Suzy Price / Photo 2016 STARTS OUT WITH A BANG - The New Year’s Eve celebration in Jasper saw a large number ofpeople on Main Street to ring in the new year with a ball drop and a firework show. See photos on page 16A. Angela Reinhardt / Photo Things are looking up for economy, local leaders believe. They; are definitely aiming high at the recently relocated Get to the Pointe Dance Studio that opened this month. citing 50 new business li censes issued in 2015. Underwood said several construction projects have been completed in the past year including the largest, the Days Chevrolet build ing. Other completed proj ects include a retail strip beside Walmart that houses Hibbett Sports, Dollar Tree, Verizon Wireless and Royal Nails; a retail strip on Noah Drive that houses H&R Block and which has four other suites available; the Northside Hospital Imag ing Center, Dairy Queen renovations, completion of the Hardee’s restaurant, and renovations at the large building at the corner of Main Street and Church Street (known locally as the old NAPA building). An other new building on Noah Drive houses Get to the Pointe Dance Studio. “And Standridge Color Corporation is going to double the size of their op eration and is adding an other building with 22,000 square feet,” Underwood said. Pickens County Eco nomic Development Direc tor Gerry Nechvatal pointed to industry growth at Quality Synthetic Rub ber, and new businesses that have moved into Jasper Enterprise Center and the Sharp Mountain Industrial Park. Construction of the new Boys & Girls Club of North Georgia is currently under way at Roper Park. The city has also an nexed three properties, in cluding the Pickens County Airport and the Mountain Express BP convenience store and gas station on Highway 53 and Highway 515. Pickens County Com mission Chair Rob Jones said he is pleased to see an uptick in the local econ omy, going on to cite im proved building activity in Big Canoe and increased water meters, up to 28 for the year. “That’s more meters than we’ve had in three years,” Jones said. “And Big Canoe is going strong. I’m glad to see things pick ing up.” New home building is the highest in the county since 2008. New home building permits peaked in See 2016 on Page 15A Subscribe to our Print edition and/or E-edition - Call our office at 706-253-2457 or do it online at www.pickensprogress.com nD|TQ • David Lewallen • Mary Ruth Weaver ‘Thelma Fields v/Dl l . j am es Prince • Sarah Eubanks • Wayne Collis PAGE 13A oiflDu