Newspaper Page Text
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THURSDAY. JANUARY 14. 2021 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 11A
Vaccines
locations in Pickens that are
administering CO VID-19
vaccines - the health depart
ment and Good Samaritan
Health & Wellness Center.
People are being asked to
check back frequently as the
site will be updated regularly.
Good Sam's Dr. Ken
Austin said with the health
department overwhelmed,
they are trying to lighten the
load - but they are getting
slammed with people want
ing vaccines, too.
“I’m sitting here looking
at our phone lines and every
line is lit up,” he said Tues
day around lunch. “It’s been
unbelievable.”
He said they already had a
list of about 200 people inter
ested in getting a vaccine,
and anticipated it could reach
500 by the end of the day. If
you are interested in receiv
ing the COVID-19 vaccina
tion Dr. Austin said the best
option is to email Good Sam
cvl9vaccine@good-
samhwc.org and provide
your name and phone num
ber.
“Once we get more doses
we can continue to adminis
ter the vaccines,” he said.
Good Sam initially or
dered 100 doses and plans to
order more this week with
hopes the CDC will ship
them out Monday. Dr. Austin
said once they open a vial (11
doses worth) they have six
hours before the doses will
go bad, which means they
have to be sure they have 11
people scheduled within that
timeframe.
Good Sam is also admin
istering Moderna vaccines,
which do not require sub
zero storage temperatures
like the Pfizer vaccine.
Dr. Austin anticipated
they would vaccinate 33 peo
ple that Tuesday afternoon,
Jan. 12, and said they are
working on developing a
plan for more wide-scale vac
cines, which creates logisti
cal issues for the facility.
“We’re still doing CO VID
testing like crazy, and are try
ing to figure out if we will do
a drive-thru with the vac
cines,” he said. “We have to
take into account patients still
have to fill out our forms, and
will have to stay 15 minutes
to be sure they don’t have
side effects. It’s a real chal
lenge.”
With the drive-thru sce
nario, Dr. Austin also said
people will need to do some
planning with clothing and
possibly wear short sleeves
and a jacket that can be taken
off easily so the shot can be
administered.
He noted that they have
offered vaccines to the staff
and administered to those
who wanted one. At this
point, the only side effects he
has been informed of are a
sore arm at the injection site.
At their regular meeting,
Pickens Commission Chair
Kris Stancil and other com
missioners applauded EMS
& Fire Director Sloan Elrod
and his team, as well as the
sheriff’s office, for their help
at the Georgia Department of
Public Health drive-thru
COVID testing distribution
sites that have been running
for several months. Locally,
the North Georgia Health
District, part of the DPH,
held them at Mt. Zion Baptist
Church.
“I don’t think the depart
ment of public health could
have done the testing they’ve
been doing had they not
shown up on a daily basis,”
Stancil said.
Elrod said the Pickens
County Health Department
will no longer be administer
ing tests as the vaccination
phase rolls out.
“The general public has to
go to Woodstock or Whitfield
counties.. .or to your doctor’s
office or urgent care” for a
test, he said.
Elrod noted that the ma
jority of local public safety
workers that wanted to get a
vaccine have at this point.
Continued From 1A
Stancil
from the sheriff’s office.
Stancil told commission
ers the county has not made
use of community service
workers from accountability
courts for a while.
“And there’s been a rea
son,” he said. “It’s not been
as much of for a lack of peo
ple who have to work their
hours [off], it’s more that you
have to have people in the
road department or another
office who can oversee and
supervise.”
Stancil has met with Su
perior Court Judge Brenda
Weaver and said “she is more
than willing” to work with
the county to provide com
munity service workers.
Stancil has also been in
discussion with the road de
partment and sheriff recently.
“The sheriff is 100 percent
on board,” he said. “They’ve
had an issue with having to
keep the inmates quaran
tined, but I’ve talked with
him to see how we can col
lectively work with them.”
“It’s always been some
what of a problem but it
seems to be at its worst,” he
said.
Regarding the Burnt
Mountain overlook graffiti,
Stancil told the board that
area is state property, but that
he would like to find creative
ways to mitigate the issue
working with the marshal’s
office and sheriff. One solu
tion could be to install cam
eras.
“If we can find a way to
start making an example of
those occasionally, maybe we
can change that culture,”
Stancil said. “It’s one of the
prettiest spots and greatest
destinations in the county and
it’s constantly destroyed.”
In other news:
•Recycling Center Direc
tor Kenny Woodard reported
that since opening the new
facility, they have seen a 25
percent increase in what is
coming in. He plans to add
another employee and an ad
ditional trash compactor. “It’s
just going crazy,” he said. In
just two months since they
opened, they have taken in
13,000 small bags of trash
and 565 large bags. They
have also produced 300 bales
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Pickens Commission Chair Kris Stancil, center, with commissioners Becky Denney and
Jerry Barnes after Stancil’s first board meeting.
of recyclable material, which
Woodard said is “300,000
pounds staying out of the
landfill so far, just from No
vember and December.”
•It was reported there
have been 1,200 miles of
shoidder mowing, installa
tion of 28 pipes, 11 miles of
paving by subcontractors,
and clearing of over 450 trees
through the road department.
•Planning & Development
Director Justin Kilgore said
they are on track to end 2020
about $20,000 under budget
and $39,000 over projected
revenue. He said 2021 has
started strong, with a busy
building inspection schedule.
Preliminary numbers show
that in December 2020 they
collected $7,000 more in rev
enue than in December of
2019. They are projected to
end 2020 with a total of
$51,000 more in revenue
than in 2019. “Building is
picking up hard in Pickens
County,” he said.
•Tax Commissioner
Daniel Reeves said collec
tions are higher in 2020 than
in 2019. “Overall we’ve done
quite well,” he said.
•It was reported that there
are currently four cats and
five dogs at the Pickens Ani
mal Shelter, and that the fa
cility had no pets over the
holiday season. The shelter
had 14 dog bite calls and 516
animal calls go through 911
dispatch in 2020, and another
91 calls that came directly to
the shelter. During 2020, they
took in 253 dogs and 245
cats, and had 271 dogs and
252 cats adopted out/relo
cated to rescues. There were
six euthanizations - one a
dog deemed dangerous in the
court system and four kittens
who were vet-checked and
deemed unable to be saved.
•Pickens Chief Tax Ap
praiser Roy Dobbs reminded
property owners they have
until April 1 to file for home
stead exemption or update
other changes to their prop
erty. Personal property ac
count update forms have also
been mailed out. “Update
those returns because that’s
what we’re going to go off of
for the next year...Just be
cause it’s not a bill, don’t
throw it in the trash. Let us
know if it’s the same or if it’s
changed,” he said.
•County Marshal Jim Har
vey reported increased
dumping problems, which
they typically see during the
holidays. He asked for any
one to report names and ad
dresses of people they know
have dumped garbage inap
propriately so he can issue a
citation. He noted that the
court system is behind pro
cessing those citations his de
partment issues. “Some I’ve
written in January, February,
March of last year have still
not gone through the process
of being completed,” he said.
•911 Center Director
Kristy Easterwood reported
they will upgrade their phone
system in March. The current
system has been in use since
2004.
Continued From 1A
Fewer calls
Fridays were the days most
wrecks occurred, he said.
Drivers between the ages
of 16-24 made up 20 percent
of the overall crashes in
2020, down two percent from
2019’s 22 percent for that age
group.
Drugs and alcohol across
all age groups accounted for
one percent of crashes, ac
cording to the GSP figures.
“The largest contributing
factor to these accidents was
rear-end crashes,” Nichols
said. “They accounted for
27.9 percent of all crashes.”
Nichols said 34 percent of
crashes involved single-vehi
cles with “people running out
of the road and hitting other
things.”
City of Jasper Police
The City of Jasper Police
Department responded to
8,088 calls in 2020, down an
estimated 2,000 calls from
2019, according to Assistant
Police Chief Matt Dawkins.
Calls ranged from wanted
persons to entering auto to
domestic calls and many oth
ers, he said.
“Calls are lower because
with COVID and the shut
downs we’ve had people stay
at home. Traffic slowed
down, which reduced vehicle
crashes; people were home
so there were less burglaries
and vandalism and entering
autos.”
Dawkins did say they
fielded a large number of do
mestic calls, 186, for the year.
“More people were pent
up at home with each other. If
things shut down again we
coidd see shortfalls in 2021
again with calls - but even
with the 8,000, that’s a lot for
a city of our size. Our guys
still stayed busy.”
Jasper Fire Department
Numbers were actually
down from last year by about
100 calls, according to Fire
Chief Steve Roper.
“People spent several
months self-quarantined at
home and the numbers show
it,” he said.
In 2020, the city’s fire de
partment responded to 16
structure fires, 10 vehicle
fires, 11 grass/brush fires,
115 auto accidents with in
juries, 835 emergency med
ical calls, and 253 other
incidents for a total of 1,240
total calls.
Pickens Sheriff
According to numbers
provided by the Pickens
Sheriff’s Department, offi
cers responded to 2,187
fewer calls in 2020 than in
2019. In 2020 they fielded
11,430 calls compared to
13,617 in 2019. Notably, do
mestic calls were up by
seven, there were 65 more
accident calls, and 47 more
theft/burglary related calls in
2020 than 2019.
County officers responded
to 799 accident calls in 2020,
up from 734 calls over the
previous year; 116 suicide
threats/attempts calls, one
over 2019; 733 domestics,
seven above the previous
year; 826 thefts/burglary
calls, up 47 over 2019’s 779
calls; 187 forgery/fraud calls,
up one over the previous
year; 4,455 traffic stops, a de
crease of 1,394 over the pre
vious year; issued 463
citations, down 710 over the
1,173 issued in 2019; con
ducted 519 animal investiga
tions, down 33 over the
previous year; responded to
1,479 calls of suspicious per
sons/activity, down by 107
calls from 2019; 515 alarm
calls, up five from the year
before; 473 stranded motorist
calls, down 35 from the pre
vious year; 508 street hazard
calls, up 24 from the previous
year; 183 vandalism calls,
down 20 from the previous
year’s 203 calls; 174 aban
doned vehicle calls, down 38
from 2019.
“It is worth noting that
during the beginning of the
pandemic, uniform patrol
deputies were asked to only
engage with the public in
emergent instances and in re
sponse to calls sent out by
dispatch in an effort to mini
mize the spread of COVID-
19 to the public and within
the agency,” said Hannah
Wise, administrative assistant
with the sheriff’s office who
provided the numbers. “Dur
ing the few month period, ci
tations, traffic stops, and
non-emergent responses
were greatly reduced.”
City of Jasper
Candidate
Qualifying Fee
Notice
An election for the purpose of electing 2 Council
members will be held in the City of Jasper on Tuesday,
November 2, 2021. Post 1, which will be elected at
large for a term of four (4) years beginning on January
1,2022 through December 31,2025, with the incum
bent being Dr. Folsom (Sonny) Proctor. Post 2, which
will be elected at large for a term of four (4) years be
ginning on January 1, 2022 through December 31,
2025, with the incumbent being Anne Sneve.
Pursuant to O.C.G.A. §21-2-131 (a)(1), the following
qualifying fees for candidates seeking office in 2021
were set by the Mayor and Council of the City of Jasper
at the January 11,2021 special called council meeting:
The qualifying fee for each council seat will be $35.00.
The qualifying period for the election shall open Mon
day, August 16, 2021 and will continue from day-to-day
through Wednesday, August 18, 2021. The hours of
qualifying each day shall be from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30
p.m. at the administrative office of the Pickens County
Board of Elections located at 83 Pioneer Road, Jasper,
Georgia 30143.