About Pickens County progress. (Jasper, Ga.) 1899-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 10, 2019)
THURSDAY. OCTOBER 10. 2019 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 1B Congressman Collins’ staff tours marble quarry By Angela Reinhardt Staff writer areinhardt@piekensprogress.com Members of U.S. Con gressman Doug Collins’ staff visited the marble quarry in Tate last week, with trips to Blue Ridge Marble & Gran ite and the mines in White- stone slotted for an upcoming date. The tour was conducted by Polycor Quarry Manager Catherine Fortin with assis tance from local historian Bill Cagle. Pickens GOP Chair Katie Cagle was also in attendance. “Pickens County is home to some of the most incredi ble marble in the world, evi denced by the fact that it’s been used to build and en hance countless historic buildings, including the Lin coln Memorial and our na tion’s capitol,” said Rep. Collins in a follow-up state ment. “I’m proud of the re markable operation happening right here in our backyard, and I’m glad my staff had the opportunity to learn more about how we can best support this growing in dustry.” Collins’ staff was shown the main quarry - the largest open pit quarry in the world - and given details about mining and production. The quarry manager said while marble from that mine is used for a wide variety of ap plications, about 70 percent of it goes towards a contract they have with the Depart ment of Veterans Affairs for veterans’ headstones. She also pointed out the exact lo cation that marble from the Lincoln Memorial was mined. Collins’ staff was then shown the flooded quarry that is home to Tate’s iconic pink marble. Fortin said it would require a large amount of money to drain the mine, which has not been in use in a decade, construct a ramp, and get operations up and running again. The local GOP presented Collins’ staff with name plates made from marble from Tate, including one for Congressman Collins and one for President Donald Trump. Rep. Collins represents Georgia’s 9th Congressional District, which includes a portion of Pickens County. Photo / Angela Reinhardt Members of Congressman Doug Collins’ staff along with Pickens historian Bill Cagle (center) and Polycor Quarry Manager Catherine Fortin (front right) at the marble quarry in Tate. The Pickens Report ByTucker Green, Pickens County Government Spotlighting SPLOST September 2019 Submitted by Tucker Green On Tuesday, November 5th polls will open from 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. for voters across the county. Voters who reside in Jasper, Nelson and Talking Rock will have several munici pal officers to elect and county wide voters will see the SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) refer endum up for renewal on the ballot. Early voting will be available weekdays at the Board of Elections located on Pioneer Road starting October 14th through November 1st (8 a.m.- 5 p.m). The current SPLOST began July 1, 2014 and will end June 30, 2020. Here is a look at many of the ways the current SPLOST funds have been utilized. Roads - County roads, street and bridge projects: $11,156,522 - 157.85 miles of road resurfacing. Public Safety - Fire and EMS: $3,383,201 - purchased and equipped two 3,000 gallon super tankers and two fire en gines / constructed new Moss Fire Station (Carlan Road) and Tate Fire Station (in progress) / purchased breathing apparatus and turnout gear for personnel / laptops and mounts for vehicles. Sheriff’s Office - $899,235 - purchased and equipped 10 - 2015 Ford Explorers, six-2018 Ford Explorers and four Chevrolet Silverados Water. $426,594-purchased materials for water line addi tions and improvements to in frastructure City of Jasper. $4,662,166 City of Nelson: $566,454 City of Talking Rock: $51,284 During the month of Septem ber, the water department in stalled nine new meters. The department of planning and de velopment issued 41 new build ing permits. The 911 operations center received 1,840 total calls, 767 were medical re sponses and fire re lated. PCRD is still offer ing basketball registra tion until October 13th with a late registration period October 14-16. If you need additional information or would like to sign up contact 706-253-8863. Public works re sealed Monument Road, Old Grandview Road and Bessie Lane. Additionally, they resurfaced Pendley Road and Old White- stone East. They also made all necessary re pairs to Grandview Road. Subcontractor crews are scheduled to begin resurfacing roads on the phase two paving list next week. The Pickens County govern ment departments continue to stay busy working for the citi zens of Pickens County. The Pickens County Board of Com . w- ■ Parker Road was recently resur faced with SPLOSTfunds. missioners continue to do a great job of leading these ef forts. As work progresses, and projects continue, I will do my best to keep you informed of these developments. Until the next time, stay safe, and shop local. New Housing opportunity from Pickens Habitat For the last twenty years, Habitat for Hu manity volunteer teams have built homes for low-income families who have met these re quirements: • Financial • Need • Willingness to help build their home To date, the non-profit has built 19 homes throughout Pickens County. The last four homes (and most future homes) are being built in the affiliate’s sub-division, New Hope Acres. Last year Habitat lost their first homeowner to death. While this person did not die in the home, the house became vacant, nonetheless. Due to the small size of this home - two-bed- room/two bath - the second bedroom would be limited to a single child or two children of the same gender, provided there is no more than 5- years difference between their ages. There are no exceptions to this Habitat International ride. If you feel you would like to apply for this already built smaller home, please send an email to pickenshfh@gmail.com and then at tend one of two information classes being held for this particular home on these dates: •Wednesday, Nov. 6th at 6 p.m. •Tuesday, Nov 12th at 6 p.m. Please do not attend these meetings unless you can meet the above criteria. Thank you.
