Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, August 13, 2020
Volume 133 Number 17
Jasper, Georgia
20 pages in two sections
Published Weekly
A "hotbed of activity"
Building permits on the rise
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@piekensprogress.com
County and city planning lead
ers say their building departments
are going full steam ahead, with an
increase in interest from people
who want to move or develop in
Pickens. There are currently sev
eral residential projects underway,
as well as some commercial devel
opments and solicitations of inter
est.
“As everybody can tell.. .there’s
a whole lot going on in Pickens
County Georgia,” Pickens’ Chief
Tax Appraiser Roy Dobbs said at
the August commissioners work
session. “Each week as the deeds
come through from the clerk’s of
fice and the surveys come through
- it’s a hotbed of activity.”
During the same meeting, Pick
ens’ Planning & Development Di
rector Justin Kilgore discussed
activity in his department.
“Planning and development is
running full steam on permitting,”
he said.
Reports obtained from the plan
ning department show that for the
year they have issued: 84 house
permits, 36 mobile home permits,
142 miscellaneous, and 10 com
mercial permits.
Kilgore also said rezoning re
quests are busy, with four rezon-
ings and one conditional use
request scheduled for the Septem
ber planning commission meeting.
In the city limits of Jasper, there
are several residential housing
projects underway and an in
creased interest from commercial
developers and potential home-
owners. Jasper Development Man
ager Lonnie Waters said his
department could see building lev
els reach those like before the
housing market collapsed. The city
has issued 60 building permits to-
date for the year: 28 commercial
and 32 residential, with more an
ticipated.
“We’ve been really busy,” Wa
ters said. “Thirteen or 14 years ago
when 1 first joined the building de
partment and things were so busy
when See Permits on 10A
,ns pired
act,Ve adult h
starting
IN THE
GrandviewAtGatewaycom
Angela Reinhardt / Photo
Construction at “Grandview
at Gateway” off Highway
515 just north of 108 is un
derway. This is one of many
active development projects
in the county.
COVID-19 cases here rise by 95 in past week
COVID-19 By County
Last 2 Weeks Cases Cases per 10QK Deaths Deaths per 100k
Reported cases per 100,000 people last 14 days
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3Ws - Wear a mask,
wash your hands,
watch your distance
By Christie Pool
Staff writer
christie@piekensprogress.com
COVID-19 cases are rising in
Pickens County. The number of con
firmed cases here is now 390 as of
Tuesday, August 11th, an increase of
almost 100 new cases since Tuesday
of last week, according to the Geor
gia Department of Public Health’s
(GDPH) website.
On Monday morning, GDPH re
ported Pickens with 380 cases and 34
hospitalizations. By Tuesday that
number rose to 390 cases in Pickens
and 35 hospitalizations. To date, ac
cording to the GDPH, there have
been five deaths for Pickens residents
attributed to COVID-19.
In the state as of Tuesday, August
11, there were 219,025 confirmed
cases, 4,229 deaths, 20,676 hospital
izations and 3,767 ICU admissions.
In Georgia, the GDPH reports that
there have been 1,861,962 tests ad
ministered with 201,853 positive
tests. The percentage testing positive
is 10.8.
According to local reports, Pied
mont Mountainside Hospital’s ICU is
full.
The Retreat at Jasper (formerly
Windsor Lodge) now has ten resi
dents and five associates who have
tested positive for coronavirus, ac
cording to an e-mail sent to family
members of residents.
On Monday, the Progress spoke
with long-time local physician Dr.
Carl McCurdy about the state of
coronavirus in Pickens.
“We know that cases are rising in
Georgia,” said See COVID on 10A
Tax Commissioner
Satterfield resigns
Look Out Below
Falling bricks a danger at comer building
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
Citing the best interests of himself and the
citizens of Pickens County, Tax Commissioner
Darrin Satterfield resigned in a letter dated Au
gust 5 sent to the board of commissioners and
probate court.
Satterfield had been the subject of a 500-
page report conducted by an outside attorney
specializing in labor issues presented to the
board of commissioners last week. The com
missioners contracted with the “neutral” attor
ney to review complaints filed by employees
of the tax office alleging political discrimina
tion in March.
Progress open records requests for the re
port have been denied twice with the county at
torney citing attorney-client privilege and
personnel issues.
In addition to whatever the report may have
alleged, the Progress published an article last
week detailing accounts of Satterfield being
absent many days and being difficult to reach
for any response to the situation.
Commissioners Rob Jones, Becky Denney
and Jerry Bames released a joint statement last
week after reviewing the report in a closed ses
sion, saying they had concerns over “rampant
mismanagement” in the tax commissioner’s of
fice, but they didn’t have any authority to take
action against another elected official.
An executive summary of the report was
given to Satterfield and he references this in his
resignation though he doesn’t offer any
specifics.
Satterfield stated in his resignation: “Please
consider this letter my response to such letter
and my resignation as See Resign on 10A
Damon Howell / Photo
The city has roped off the sidewalk around
this vacant Main Street business until a safe
solution can be found for falling bricks.
Staff reports
Chicken Little may think the sky is falling near
57 South Main Street, but according to Jasper of
ficials falling bricks are the real threat.
The potential danger of more loose bricks has
forced the closure of a portion of sidewalk and
parking spots near Spring and Main streets.
Jasper’s Development Manager Lonnie Waters
said that last Friday, August 7, a few bricks and
some mortar dislodged from a building’s facade
and fell onto the sidewalk. The building is not oc
cupied now, previously housing Main Street Fit
ness. Waters said he was unsure if anyone
witnessed the falling bricks, but they were found
on the ground and reported to city hall.
“As a precaution the city has roped off the area
to avoid anyone getting hurt,” Waters said. “I’ve
been in discussion with the property owner and
they were supposed to have some people come
out Saturday to look at it. Right now we are wait
ing to hear back.”
The sidewalk will remain closed until a solu
tion can be reached. “The city is looking at it from
a safety issue, and we want to be sure to protect
the public,” he said.
Tadd Schreiber, who owns the adjacent 61
Main restaurant with his wife Jenna, said he rec
ognizes the hazard falling bricks pose, but hopes
that with all the good things going on in down
town, it can be addressed quickly.
“It’s hard enough to ran a business right now,”
Schreiber said. “This is taking away two parking
spots, including one handicapped spot and the
ramp [to access the sidewalk]. I understand the
safety aspect, but it would be a shame to just let
it sit there.”
According to county tax records, the building
is owned by local attorney George Weaver. It was
constructed in 1924 and is 4,200 sq. ft.
Find election
results online
Visit the Pickens Progress
website for election results
from the August 11 primary
runoff, which had two local
seats as well as congressional
seats on the ballot.
Election results were ex
pected to be finalized around
midnight Tuesday, well past
this publication’s print dead
line.
Pickens County seats up
for election were the School
Board Post 1 - candidates
Donna Enis (incumbent), and
Tommy Gartrell; and Tax
Commissioner - candidates
Amy Gibson and Daniel
Reeves.
Visit the Progress at
www.pickensprogress.com.
School News
Schools prepare
for first
day...again
Page 1B
Entertainment
Duck event will
raise money for
Boys & Girls
Clubs Page 11A
People
DAR celebrates
100 years of
women’s right
to vote
Page 5A
Sports
Recreation Dept,
open
Page 1B
Obituaries - 3A
• Larry Gowder
• Lillian Noland
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