Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, March 2,2017 Jasper, Georgia Volume 129 Number 45 www.pickensprogress.com 75 cents
Jasper man
dies in single
vehicle wreck
Page 3A
■Han
■L
Interview with
each STAR
student, teacher
Page 17-19A
PHS students
share thoughts
on love
Page 11A
Helen, Ga.
shooter
sentenced to
seven years
By Linda Erbele, White County News
Reprinted with permission from White
County News
A Pickens County man was sentenced to seven
years for two counts of involuntary manslaughter
in White County’s Superior Court Feb. 21.
Glenn Lampien, 56, of Jasper, stood silently be
tween his lawyers while Superior Court Judge
Miller imposed the sentence. Lampien was con
victed Jan. 17 in the August 2014 shooting in
Helen that caused the death of May Araim.
He had quietly cried just minutes earlier, when
Valerie Lampien, his wife of 28 years, described
him to the judge as a hard-working man who had
always been fully engaged in raising their children
and has been her best friend.
She told Judge Miller that she was aware that
her husband’s negli- See Lampien on 15A
County has new 24/7 dropbox for tax payments
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
In an effort to provide an
extra level of convenience,
the Pickens County govern
ment has installed a drop box
outside their main office for
after-hours tax payments.
Pickens County Tax Com
missioner Darrin Satterfield
said the move was made in
response to high demand
from the public.
“I’ve been working in this
office for 10 years and we
have had so many requests,”
Satterfield said. “This way
during hours we are closed,
including holidays or days
we are closed a half day, peo
ple can drop them off at their
convenience. Most counties
already have this as an option
and we thought it was way
past due.”
Residents can drop tag re
newals and property tax pay
ments in the box, located at Pickens County Tax Commissioner Darrin Satterfield, right, and the office’s delin-
See Dropbox on 15A quent tax manager Daniel Reeves show off the new dropbox.
Jasper's wastewater future at crossroads
Sewage will dictate
growth but up-front
costs a major hurdle
for city
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
Sewage flows into
Jasper’s wastewater plant
on Montview Drive. The
plant can handle 800,000
gallons a day but growth
will require expansion.
Jasper’s longtime mayor
and longtime water/waste
water superintendent took
slightly different views of the
city’s sewage position in an
interview last week while
providing a tour of the city’s
infrastructure.
Water Superintendent
David Hall explained the dif
fering opinions come from
him being a pessimist and
Jasper Mayor John Weaver
being an optimist.
The city officials agreed
that Jasper is at a “cross
roads,” with both water and
sewage at or near capacity.
And both men agree strongly
that water and sewage avail
ability will dictate growth po
tential for the future.
The issues the city faces
with water and sewage are
different. With sewage, the
city needs a very expensive
expansion at their processing
plant to handle growth; with
water the infrastructure is
there, but the city lacks the
raw water to expand [lookfor
a followup article on the
water in coming weeks].
Both Weaver and the
water department chief ex
pressed full confidence that
the infrastructure is in great
shape for existing users. But,
expansion will be mandatory
if Jasper grows like areas to
the south.
The city of Jasper has the
capacity at their wastewater
plant on Montview Drive to
process 800,000 gallons of
sewage a day. Most days they
run 600,000 gallons or
slightly more. [This includes
20,000 to 30,000 gallons of
leachate per day, see related
story Lowdown on Leachate,
Page 23A.]
A drawing on the wall at
See Wastewater on 10A
Reports of counterfeit $20s circulating in area
By Christie Pool
Staff writer
christie@pickensprogress.com
While Jasper’s police de
partment has no active cases
of counterfeit money, at least
one bank has recently taken a
couple of counterfeit 20s.
Sgt. Matt Dawkins with
the Jasper Police Department
said it’s not unusual for coun
terfeit bills to crop up this
time of year, aroimd tax time,
and advises anyone dealing
in cash to be on the lookout
for bogus bills.
Dawkins pointed out that
many people who are willing
to try and pass counterfeit
money don’t take them to
banks or businesses, but
rather to places like yard
sales where people may not
be on the lookout for phony
currency.
These places, he said,
don’t have counterfeit pens
on hand to check the bills.
While pens aren’t foolproof,
Dawkins said they can be
good indicators of a fake bill.
Dawkins said most coun
terfeit money comes in the
form of $ 10s and $20s.
“Very seldom do you see
one hundred dollar bills,” he
said. “They’ve made it harder
to do SlOOs because there are
more security features on
them now. You see a lot of
$10s.”
While banks who are
passed counterfeit money
send the bills to the Secret
Service, Dawkins said others
can call 911 and have police
See Fake $20s on 15A
lions secure massive grant for Good Samaritan
On February 23rd, the
Jasper Lions Club completed
a project at least three years in
the making. The civic organi
zation presented a $90,000
check to the Good Samaritan
Health & Wellness Center for
their Vision Clinic. This grant
was made possible by the
Lions Club International
Foundation (LCIF), the chari
table arm of Lions Clubs In
ternational.
In September, the Jasper
Lions Club donated $10,000
to Good Samaritan Health &
Wellness Center. That dona
tion along with the $90,000
grant bring a $100,000 gift to
the local clinic, which pro
vides services to the medically
underserved. A private foun
dation that wishes only to be
See Lions on 10A
KnowPickens.com / Photo
Lions 18L District Governor Leslie Miller, Lions Club President Ken Austin and Willie
Alexander LCIF Representative for Lions District 18L (Atlanta Metro Club) presented the
check to the following representatives of Good Samaritan Health & Wellness Center: Dr.
Gilbert James, Optometrist and head of the Vision Clinic, Melinda Smith, director of devel
opment, Lois Bryant, NP and chairman of the board, and Tammy Sorrells, chief financial
officer. Margo Austin who served on the Capital Campaign representing the Lions Club looks
on. Not pictured is Ed Harshbarger, Georgia State Representative to LCIF.
Photo/Max Caylor
Royalty recognized at gala
2017 Mardi Gras in the Mountains King Lonnie
Waters and Queen Amy Leake are all smiles on their
thrones after being crowned royalty at the Georgia
Mountains Hospice yearly fundraiser. See page 24A
for full story and photos.
OBITS
PAGE 20A
• Arlettia Wood • Roger McDaniel
• Donald Hammontree • Ruth Huff
•John Nardo
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