Pickens County progress. (Jasper, Ga.) 1899-current, November 05, 2020, Image 1

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Newspaper Page TextThursday, November 5, 2020 Volume 133 Number 29 Jasper, Georgia 24 pages in two sections Published Weekly Heated election season comes to an end ; M ° n Election results available online at PickensProgress.com Veterans Day plans still on go for Nov. 11 By Suellen Reitz American Legion Writer This year has been fraught with lengthy postponements and can cellations due to the pandemic across our nation and in our own community. Its presence has af fected us all. However, there are some things that should not be dis missed or forgotten.. .and that in cludes honoring our veterans. With over 3,000 veterans living in Pickens County, Veterans Day has always been a special day of recognition for all who have served or are currently serving in the United States of America mil itary. This tradition of honoring our men and women in uniform continues with modifications to ensure the safety of our veterans and supporting citizens who wish to attend this year’s celebration. American Legion Post 149 along with See Veterans on 10A Don Russell leaves huge legacy in Pickens Don Russell hard at work at the Community Thrift Store, which he founded in 2000. By Dan Pool Editor dpool@pickensprogress.com Don Kent Russell, the leading voice in non-profit work in Pick ens County for two decades, died Thursday, October 29, 2020 after a year of declining health, though he continued to work a full sched ule until the very end. Russell, who moved here in 1997, leaves a legacy from found ing several of the biggest non profits in this county and serving on the boards of virtually all the non-profit groups here. He was recognized in 2001 as the Pickens County Citizen of the Year. Among his biggest accom plishments was the founding of the Community Thrift Store, which marked its 20th anniversary this year and has returned more than $6 million to other non-prof its in the community. He also founded the Commu nity Emergency Shelter, North Georgia Men’s Christian Fellow ship, and the local Boys & Girls Club of North Georgia. He is survived by his wife, Mary, who he credited as a partner on his different projects, and his son Mike Russell, his daughter Kim Liggin, and his grandsons Austin Russell and Nathan Rus sell. Services for Don Russell will be at the Jasper United Methodist Church Wednesday at 11 a.m. Due to COVID restrictions, seating is limited to 80, however it can See Don Russell on 11A This watchman repaireth & trades Dan Pool / Photos Charlie Russell at work in his Fairmount home basement workshop. He said he regrets that he only discovered the wonder of pocket watches in 2005 but has since developed skills to repair most watches where he can find parts. By Dan Pool Editor dpool@pickensprogress.com The time is so pervasive you rarely think about where to look for it. The current hour and minute shows everywhere - on car dash boards, on buildings, microwaves, cell phones (of course), television screens, computers, stoves and on wristwatches. But this constant presence of the time-of-day is a modem conven ience, only the briefest second in a long history of sundials, water- clocks, village clock towers and es timating by the amount of daylight. Since the 1960s, battery-pow- See Time on 10A Two pocket watches with covers removed resting on a repair manual. Every watch is a little machine, chock full of moving parts. Jasper proposes sweeping changes to zoning, sign code • Public hearing on big zoning changes November 24 • Reverse Christmas parade a go • Gateway developers request fees be reduced By Angela Reinhardt Staff Writer areinhardt@pickensprogress.com The city of Jasper is proposing an overhaul of their zoning and sign ordinances, which, if ap proved, will bring sweeping changes to the current code includ ing stricter limitations on building materials and signage to enhance aesthetics in the city limits. The proposal would also add new zoning designations, revamp/clean up the entire ordi nance for legal purposes, and pro vide council with better mechanisms for dealing with zon ing requests and building. Mayor Steve Lawrence said “there was nothing at all quick” about preparing the draft, a process that began in April with assistance of the firm Clark, Patterson & Lee. The firm worked alongside city manager Brandon Douglas and the city’s development committee, comprised of council members Kirk Raffield and Sonny Proctor. Proctor called Clark, Patterson & Lee “a known player in the south east with these kinds of projects.” “This is the culmination of a lot of hard work and does a lot of re ally important things for the phase of development that we are in,” Proctor said. “It addresses some aesthetic wishes so that the appear ance of our city long term will be somewhat set in stone, even though it is a very flexible docu ment. It also gives us flexibility... with respect to housing, which in any form of future for economic development, different types of housing are going to be very im portant. It also addresses some of the challenges that we have met in the last year or so with communi cations around zonings and some what simplifies that process.” See Changes on 11A Commissioners in budget negotiations Initial budget requests $1.8 million over revenues By Angela Reinhardt Staff Writer areinhardt@pickensprogress.com Last week, Pickens County commissioners held several days of budget meetings with depart ment heads and elected officials to hammer out numbers for FY 2021. Initial budget requests came in $1.8 million over projected rev enues of $28.6 million. Meetings were scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 28 through Fri day, Oct. 30, but Thursday times were cancelled and will be rescheduled due to issues created by Tropical Storm Zeta. The Pick ens Sheriff’s Office was one of those that will have their official public budget meeting with com missioners later, likely this week. After negotiations, a revised tentative budget will be presented to commissioners at their Novem ber 19 board meeting and submit ted for final approval at their December 17 meeting. According to Pickens County Chief Finance Officer Faye Har vey, the imbalance in the budget came from an increase in budget requests, not a decrease in antici pated revenue. “The projected 2021 revenues reflect a slight increase,” Harvey told the Progress in a later inter view. “The increase in requested expenditures were substantial even though the commissioners asked all departments to stay at or below FY 2020 expenditures when sub mitting FY 2021 requests. The county also received a 5 percent in crease in health insurance costs and a slight increase in retirement contributions for FY 2021.” Some of the biggest issues were requests for capital outlay projects in a department/office’s general fund that can be paid for with SPLOST revenue, as well as requests to budget unfilled posi tions. See Budget on 6A Inside: Farmers Market report Page 8B Reward for info Overnight vandal hits Jasper businesses Page 2A Government News Take your empty wine bottles, old paper to the new Recycling Center Page 3A Entertainment Deputies to grow beards to help kids at Christmas Page 4B PHS boys win region cross Country PagelB Obituaries - 5A • Alonzo Hampton • Andrew Raye • Annie Ruth Garlin • Don Russell • Errol Sanders • Jim Long • Marilyn McMahan • Michael Benedict Contact Us 94 North Main Street Jasper, Ga. 30143 706-253-2457 www.pickensprogress.com Open for business during these hours: Mon-Thurs, 9-5, and Fri, 9-4:30

Georgia Historic Newspapers

Pickens County progress. (Jasper, Ga.) 1899-current, November 05, 2020, Image 1