Newspaper Page Text
Continued From 1A
THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 27. 2020 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 3A
Holsters
a commonly-sold style of
holster and as far as he was
aware, no nearby sheriff’s of
fice had any policy or issue
with that style of holster.
Pickens will now re-de-
fine how officers can carry
backup weapons as a result
of this incident, he said. “I
believe the issue is there is no
trigger guard,” he said.
When asked if he felt that
his clothing has caused the
discharge, Craig said, “I can’t
disagree. Obviously some
thing caused the weapon to
discharge. I am not going to
blame the weapon; it’s a great
weapon. But I am going to
send it back to the manufac
turer to have it dou-
blechecked.”
The report from the DA
noted that it was an acciden
tal discharge. It would have
been nded a negligent dis
charge if the weapon was
being handled at the time.
Craig said he has heard a
lot of negative comments
about this case and has not
responded while it was under
investigation but wanted to
set the record straight on a
few points.
First, as to the argument
that a private citizen with an
accidental discharge would
face charges, Craig said al
though there have been quite
a few accidental discharge
calls in recent years, only one
person has faced a charge and
that person was a felon who
wasn’t permitted to have a
gun.
Second, Craig said accu
sations that they would
sweep this under a rag were
way off-base. Here, not only
did his office look at it, but
they called the GBI first, then
Cherokee County and the
district attorney who pre
sented it to the grand jury.
“We went above and be
yond,” he said. “I did that be
cause it was the right thing to
do. No other person would
have had that much scrutiny
and had it looked at by four
different agencies. But that
goes with the territory of
being sheriff.”
Craig said he hopes their
efforts to be transparent with
this case shows that he holds
himself and his officers ac
countable and this case will
also set a standard for his
own officers.
“The big thing is that I
have been in law enforce
ment for 20-plus years and
handled firearms almost
every day. After that much
time anyone can get compla
cent. But you can see if it can
happen to me, it can happen
to anyone. You just need to
be careful.”
Continued From 1A
Voting
ing” on the new machines,
which are a combination of a
touch screen and paper bal
lot. Voters will select candi
dates on a touch screen, after
which time a paper ballot will
be printed out. Voters will
then check the paper ballot
for accuracy and send it
through a scanner that will
log the image. The hard copy
will be stored in a large
sealed container connected to
the scanner. The testers said
the new system takes longer
to calibrate. The old system
that only used touch screens
could be tested in two days.
The new machines take three
to four.
The number of voting ma
chines will vary by precinct,
depending on the number of
registered voters at that loca
tion. More machines will be
used for the General Primary
in May, and likely even more
in the General Election in
November.
The Monday the Progress
visited the elections office
was also the last day to regis
ter to vote in the presidential
primary. Roberts said they
had several people come to
the office that day, and that
they would be entering voters
into the system up for several
days leading up to the elec
tion.
Continued From 1A
Generators
strained tree limbs. And then
there were additional inches
of rain last week, with more
trees falling from water
logged soil.
Some residents living in
isolated areas, or even just
outlying communities, are
depending on generators for
a power source during out
ages. And it's not just to keep
the lights on. With Pickens
becoming more of a retire
ment community in the last
couple of decades - along
with the rest of the north
Georgia mountains - there
are now medical needs as
well.
Scott Fowler, owner and
operator of Power Solutions
Unlimited in Jasper, was
asked for a ballpark figure of
how many county residents
use generators when outages
occur.
“I'd say probably at least
10 percent,” he replied. “The
demographics (of those who)
buy generators are mostly
older people. We have a vari
ety of people having them for
medical reasons - CPAP
(sleep breathing) machines is
the number one call that we
get ... if the power goes off,
they can't breathe. The num
ber two thing is they're start
ing to do a lot of medical
treatments in homes.”
Fowler mentioned minor
chemotherapy treatments,
hospital beds that pulsate to
help with circulation, and
other scenarios that require
electrical power as examples.
“The other 90 percent
want (generators) just be
cause they don't want to be
inconvenienced,” he contin
ued. “There's probably 5 per
cent that work from home.
We have several people that
code medical stuff for insur
ance agencies, and they work
from home. The rale is, if the
power's out more than two
hours, they have to go in to
the office.”
Guerry Bruner moved to
Jasper in late 2013, and re
calls the first “major power
outage” that following Janu
ary.
“We got a Generac
portable (generator) to power
home essentials,” he said.
“Luckily, our house was
wired with a generator hook
up, so we were instantly
ready. It has saved us through
numerous outages and the
four-day (Tropical Storm)
Irma outage. I wouldn’t
dream of being here without
I i it ~ A frrnm
Scott Fowler, owner/op
erator, Power Solutions Un
limited, says that the
retirement population mov
ing here is definitely driving
the generator market.
it.”
Bruner has added a bat
tery/inverter solution to
power up their CPAP ma
chines if they lose power in
the middle of the night, and
even solar power for his trac
tor shed.
“I’d say between the gen
erator, solar, CPAP battery
pack - and several back-up
batteries for our Ryobi flash
and flood lights, plus numer
ous battery bricks for phones
and such - we are as prepared
as we can be,” he said.
Fowler was asked about
how Pickens and other
mountain counties being re
tirement communities drives
his business.
“It does, it does,” he con
firmed. “And (there are) a lot
of people from Florida up
here that are not here all the
time, so they want to make
sure the power stays on - and
we do monitoring, so we can
make sure it stays on.”
How many days a year, on
average, does he think it
would be necessary for a gen
erator to kick in during an
outage?
“That's a million-dollar
question, because I go to a
site visit on a certain part of
town, and one person says,
'We've been here five years
and we've only lost power
once.' Then I had a guy tell
me last week, 'We've only
lived here since January and
we've lost power eight
times,'” he shared. “Then just
down the road (from that per
son), I had a guy tell me he's
lived there nine years and
only lost power once. So it
really just depends on the
area you're in - there's no
rhyme or reason.
“Bent Tree is off all the
time. The sun can be shining
and Bent Tree's out of power.
They have power outages all
the time.”
So those wouldn't be nec
essarily related to storms?
“No, there's lots of power
outages that's not related to
storms,” he said.
Fowler said he is not
being derogatory toward any
utility companies regarding
power outages, and has “a
good relationship” with the
ones his firm works with in
the mountains and Metro At
lanta area.
Mark Hess waits until the
power has been out 2-3 hours
before cranking his genera
tor.
“One of the first purchases
we made when we moved to
Pickens County full time was
a portable generator,” he said.
“We had a transfer switch in
stalled that allowed us to
safely power the important
parts of the house and the
well pump.”
Alvin Rothe Jr., who
moved to Pickens 20 years
ago, reported the longest
they've been without power
is around four hours.
“That was late night, so
we just went to bed,” he said.
“Other than that, we have
only had occasional short
outages. (It's) aggravating be
cause all the clocks have to
be reset.”
Stacey Fields, director of
Communications for Am-
icalola EMC, said after a re
view of the utility's records,
the findings do not indicate
an increase in power outages
that are not storm-related.
“Of the outages that did
occur, most were the result of
wind, saturated ground con
ditions and/or falling trees,”
she said. “Our right of way is
in excellent shape as a result
of a consistent and timely
right-of-way maintenance
schedule. However, from
time to time, we do experi
ence falling trees that bring
our lines down.”
Fields said normal right of
way easement only allows
for 30 feet of clearing, typi
cally 15 feet to either side of
the wire.
“In many cases, trees are
outside of this right of way
but are taller than our lines, in
some cases as the result of el
evation and terrain,” she ex
plained. “These taller trees
can fall as a result of wind,
saturated ground, etc., and
can strike the wires when
falling.”
Peter Tinkham scheduled
his whole-home generator in
stallation last Monday.
“Living in the sticks, you
have to expect outages with
all the trees, etc.,” he said.
“(It's) a small price to pay.”
Continued From 1A
Support
read the resolution proclaiming that Pickens
commissioners are “in full support” of the
Second Amendment. Commissioner Becky
Denney also signed the resolution. Commis
sioner Jerry Barnes was absent.
In after-meeting comments, Jones said
there have been no challenges to this na
tional right here, but he wanted to “reiterate”
they are solidly gun rights in this county “as
everyone should be.” Although Barnes was
absent, Jones said he had discussed it with
him and knew the west end commissioner
was also in support.
The resolution gave a history of the Sec
ond Amendment and showed where it has
been consistently re-affirmed over the years
by the U.S. Supreme Court.
“Whereas the citizens of Pickens County,
Georgia regard the right of people to keep
and bear arms for defense of life, liberty and
property as an inalienable right of the people
and whereas citizens of Pickens County,
Georgia derive economic and social benefit
from all safe forms of firearms recreation,
hunting and shooting within Pickens
County,” the resolution read.
With everyone in the room standing to
signal their support of this move, Bill Cagle,
a dedicated gun rights advocate, addressed
the need to send a message to law abiding
citizens, that “Pickens County respects your
right to bear arms.”
Cagle said unfortunately there is a need
today for citizens and local governments to
be pro-active in defending gun rights. “The
Founding Fathers were far wiser than we are
today.”
In other business:
Budget adjusted for economic
development position
The county re-adjusted their budget to
implement the partnership for economic de
velopment between the county and city of
Jasper, where each government will provide
half of the funding for the office and a paid
director.
Previously the county had funded the
majority of the position.
Following the meeting, Faye Harvey, the
chief financial officer for the county, pro
vided budget information for economic de
velopment. The total budget for the office,
including the salary of the recently hired
Green B. Suttles, is $162,222. Of this, the
annual base salary of the economic devel
oper is $95,000 with another $ 15,500 for in
surance. The remainder goes to cover basic
costs plus travel, advertising and other pro
jected expenses. The county and city each
fund half of this amount in an agreement
reached last year.
The office will be housed in the chamber
of commerce building and the business or
ganization will provide secretarial support.
Road/water departments get
new equipment
The county signed a capital lease for the
road/water departments to purchase new
equipment.
Information provided by Harvey, follow
ing the meeting, listed the specifics in
cluded: Road department - one Etnyre
Centennial Series Asphalt Distributor, two
Kubota Track Skid Loaders and one Ford F-
150 Track. The road department’s portion of
the Capital Lease is $270,000 - 4-year term
at an interest rate of 2.67 percent. The water
department also budgeted to purchase two
Kubota Track Skid Loaders for $90k and
they are included in this lease.
• The county approved a modification of
a GEFA loan. As Jones explained, GEFA
loans are for enterprise funds and are used
for specific purposes. He said this loan was
specifically for water lines, which will be
funded only by tap-on fees from water cus
tomers. “So people who are in Ludville and
not on these lines don’t pay for the loans,”
he said.
Harvey explained after the meeting by e-
mail, “There are two GEFA loans. The $2.6
million loan allowed the county to purchase
the water withdrawal permit for Grandview
Lake ($1.5 million - and those funds were
allocated for repair of the dam). The bal
ance will be used to construct a water treat
ment plant to process the water from
Grandview Lake.
The other GEFA loan is for $1,413,000
and it is to construct water distribution lines
from the water treatment plant to customers
on the water system.
The modification of the loan documents
didn’t change the amounts of the loan, only
the completion dates of the project. Initial
documents stated that the projects would be
completed by April, 2020 and that deadline
needs to be extended.
When the projects are completed, the
debt service will be repaid with revenue
from the sale of water to customers.
AA meeting times
Mon-Fri at 6 p.m. Also Monday at 7:30
a.m. Sunday meeting at 4. Holy Family
Episcopal Church. Follow signs to food
pantry at back of church property (past
Sunday School building). 706-253-2323.
Also Mon/Fri at 7 p.m. at Trinity Church
at 2685 Steve Tate Hwy., Marble Hill. 770-
401-7004.
(l-r) Donnie Low, project conceptualist; Jim Heilman, Save Georgia Hemlocks; Steve
Lawrence, mayor of Jasper; Kirk Raffield, city council member; Donna Shearer, state
chair of Save Georgia Hemlocks; Brandon Douglas, Jasper city manager; and Sonny
Proctor, city council member.
Hemlocks
personnel in planting one
hemlock sapling donated by
Low and two more donated
by SGH. The long-range plan
is that between now and De
cember 31 citizens will be in
vited to symbolically adopt
additional saplings for plant
ing in the park on Arbor Day
2021. One tree will be
planted for each donation re
ceived.
Adoption donation forms
can be obtained from Jasper
City Hall (706-692-9100),
Save Georgia’s Hemlocks
(706-429-8010), or the How
You Can Help page at
www.savegeorgiashem-
locks.org. Donors who fill
out the form may indicate
whether they wish to be rec
ognized in the newspaper in
conjunction with next year’s
planting event. Pickens
County is within the native
hemlock range, and anyone
wanting to learn more about
saving the trees or to adopt
hemlock saplings for their
own property is encouraged
to call Save Georgia’s Hem
locks at 706-429-8010.
Save Georgia’s Hemlocks
is a 100% volunteer,
501(c)(3) nonprofit organiza
tion of concerned citizens
dedicated to preserving, con
serving, and restoring endan
gered hemlocks through
education and charitable
service.
706-253-2457
Office hours are U-F, 9 am.- 4:30p.m.