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PAGE 10A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. MARCH 18. 2021
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The Jasper Fire Station on Burton Street has a mold problem according to tests that
the firefighters there have paid for themselves. City hall has said they will now get an of
ficial test.
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October 14, 2020 7:49 AM
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A mold test Jasper firefighters presented to city officials
in October.
said. “We have to act in ac
Fire
place in the living areas as
well.”
The baseline test taken
outside returned a total fungi
spore count of 5. It noted that
“These outside counts were
very low for the time of year
and are lower than average
for the season.”
The attic area, where fire
fighter gear and equipment is
stored, in “some cases, right
next to areas that are exhibit
ing mold growth,” had a total
fungi count of 509, and that,
“The mold counts in the out
side sampling were very low,
but the attic spore count was
extremely elevated....It is
clear that there has been
smaller water intrusions,
missing insulation, rodent in
festation, and mold growth
due to condensation over a
long period of time.”
There was also a swab
sample taken in the attic to
confirm that the growth on
the mechanical system and
duct work was mold, the re
port states.
“According to the swab
sampling, there was a high
amount of Cladosporium and
it is noted with an asterisk
which means it is either actu
ally ‘fruiting’ or ‘hyphae’ that
is associated with the Cla
dosporium spores.”
The report notes the attic
door does not close correctly.
Firefighters said this door is
directly above where they
sleep, which would allow air
to travel from the attic to the
living space.
The filter in the HVAC
unit was black, the report
states.
The report goes on to give
suggestions for remediation.
Sampling was done in the
main living space as well that
returned a spore county of 20
with several types of mold
that were ‘Slightly Elevated.’
“Most concerning is the
Asp ergillus/Penici Ilium
count. That is the prevalent
mold in the attic and one
could easily make the argu
ment that it is beginning to
affect the air quality in the
living space,” according to
the report.
The firefighter who spoke
with the Progress said this
most recent test has been
given to city officials on Fri
day, March 12.
“They told us they were
going to bring in another
company and do their own
test,” the firefighter said. “We
haven’t been given any time
line of remediation yet.”
The city manager said that
city standards require they
secure their own vendor to
conduct a test.
“This is not at all to mar
ginalize what those firefight
ers demonstrated,” Douglas
cordance with city stan
dards.”
The Pickens High School ‘Nettes were recognized for an outstanding season that brought them to compete in the
Elite 8 in Cairo, Ga. Coach Brandon Thomas commended them for their incredible teamwork during the year, and team
members said they were touched by the outpouring of support from the community.
The board recognized Megan Jarvis-Cantrell, who will
compete in the Certiport 2021 Microsoft Office Specialist
National Championship this summer after being named
Georgia’s champion. Jarvis-Cantrell had an exceptionally
high score on the Microsoft Office Specialist PowerPoint
2019 exam.
Continued From 1A
School
up their jobs. We know it has
not been easy. I am grateful
to work alongside people
who continue to prove an un
wavering commitment to
serve our students, their fam
ilies and our entire commu
nity. We will strive to
maintain a staff and student
focus at the heart of every ef
fort.”
Impact Pickens members
chides board for wasteful
spending, calls for attorney
to be relie ved
Christopher Pence and
Brian Rittenberry, both mem
bers of the group that has or
ganized to recall board
members Aaron Flolland and
Steve Smith, slammed the
BOE and county attorney
during the public comment
sections of the meeting.
These two board members,
along with chair Sue Finley,
are being referred to as the
“Frivolous Three” by critics.
Pence said over the years
the board has made the pub
lic believe additional funding
was needed through E-
SPLOST and other avenues
to provide a good education
for students, but that the
board’s actions are wasteful
and show “there’s plenty of
money in the school system
to provide tax relief to the
property owners and espe
cially our seniors.”
Fie cited the board’s pub
lic statements regarding a
plan to make the superintend
ent contract buyout “budget
neutral,” including the plan
to eliminate the assistant su
perintendent position and an
other position from the
central office. This would
save $565,605 over the next
two years, according to a
school press release sent out
in F ebruary.
Young served as assistant
superintendent before being
named interim superintend
ent.
“Are you trying to tell me
that over a year ago
[Young’s] position was not
needed...and that the board
knew these positions were
not needed but continued to
approve a budget that in
cluded them?” Pence asked
The budget neutral plan
also includes termination of
the contract with Pearson, the
The Jasper Lions Club an
nounces the opening of their
annual Vidalia Onion Sale!
The price is the same as it has
been for many years—$ 10 for
one 10-lb. bag OR three 10-
lb. bags for $25. The onions
will be arriving in early May
FRESH from Bland Farms.
Orders will be taken from
now until April 30th, and you
may order in one of three
online learning platform vir
tual students have used dur
ing the pandemic. The
district spent $301,940 on the
program this year, according
to the February press release.
Pence said the system is “uti
lizing these savings to stop
the bleeding from your deci
sion.”
Pickens Finance Officer
Amy Smith explained later
during a budget amendment
portion of the meeting that
the system will use $175,000
in unspent funds earmarked
for the Pearson platform
from this year to cover im
mediate costs of the superin
ways:
• From any member of the
Lions Club
•By calling 706.253.LION
(5466) — Please leave your
full name and a phone num
ber at which you can be
reached when the onions ar
rive
• By emailing us at geor-
gialions@mac.com
tendent buyout. They origi
nally budgeted for $477,000
for the Pearson platform, but
only used $301,940 of that
amount. This will be com
bined with $175,000 from the
instruction category in the
budget to cover immediate
costs of the buyout. Smith
explained these instruction
monies came from state
health coverage they bud
geted for, but that some em
ployees chose not to take.
“This is not taking salary
away from anybody; it is not
taking instructional funds
from the schools, or mainte
nance and operations, or
transportation or any of the
other departments,” Smith
said. “It is unspent because
employees, by their own
choice, decided not to take
state health with us.”
Superintendent Young
said in a later interview the
system will not use the Pear
son platform next year, citing
curriculum issues and other
significant problems teachers
and students encountered.
Young is working with prin
cipals to hammer out how to
best manage online learning
through the It’s Learning
platform.
During his allotted time
WL
Brian Rittenberry be
lieves the board should not
have their attorney, Phil
Landrum, III, on staff as an
employee of the system. He
said legal counsel should be
on an as-needed basis.
Rittenberry zeroed in on
county attorney Phil Lan
drum, III. He argued the
county does not need to pay
to have legal counsel on staff,
which he called an “unessen
tial position,” and that by
eliminating it the board could
save money. He said legal
counsel in schools is typi
cally paid on an as-needed
basis and discussed legal fees
the county incurred in 2020.
In a later interview, Superin
tendent Young broke down
those fees - Landrum was
paid a gross salary of
$40,938 and benefits totaling
$23,153. Hall Booth Smith,
P.C. was contracted for
$26,195 in legal services.
Rittenberry argued that
Landrum is provided health
insurance, retirement and
other benefits, but does not
have an office with the
schools and does not use the
system’s “tools or resources”
as an employee would do. He
said the way Landrum works
is more of a vendor-style
employment.
“Since he’s an employee
on our payroll do we require
him to be on the job over half
the day?” he said. “...Phillip
Landrum is another common
denominator aside from the
Christopher Pence chides
the board for fiscal irrespon
sibility.
Frivolous Three that have
consistently contributed to
much of the agony and dis
cord in our system, and it is
time this employee be re
lieved of his duties.”
In a later interview, board
chair Sue Finley said their at
torney works and is available
after-hours, and that “school
attorney is not a 9 - 5 kind of
job.”
Other news from the school
board:
•Board member Tommy
Gartrell asked about cameras
on bus systems, citing a re
cent incident where a mo
torist ran through a lowered
stop arm. The operations di
rector, Stacy Gilleland, said
the Pickens fleet does not
currently have bus arm cam
eras. Gilleland said he would
pull some numbers for the
board, and added that the
courts, sheriff and school sys
tem would all be involved in
that process. Larger systems
can benefit financially from
those camera systems with
fines they generate, which
are shared between the
school and courts, but in
smaller systems they do not
“because it’s not financially
feasible.”
•Harmony Elementary,
Hill City Elementary, Pick
ens Jr. High and Pickens
High all scored 100 on their
latest health inspection.
Jasper Middle School scored
a 99.
Officials
hopeful
junior high
ag center
will be
open in fall
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
At the March school
board meeting, Pickens Chief
Operations Officer Stacy
Gilleland said the goal is to
have the new agriculture cen
ter at Pickens Junior High
School built and ready for
use by next school year.
A recent meeting between
operations personnel, ag
teachers, construction, archi
tects and engineers, and ad
ministration in both the
junior and high schools have
gone very well, Gilleland
told the board. He asked for
the ag department’s wants,
not just needs, and he was
told they liked current plans.
“I think we’re on the right
track,” Gilleland said. “We
didn’t really have to change
the floor plans. All that
worked out well. We had a lot
of good feedback from our
staff to get this to that point.
The only thing we’ve got left
to do is a little site work.”
The operations depart
ment is in the process of or
dering steel, which Pickens
Superintendent Tony Young
later told the Progress is in a
shortage. If they can acquire
steel they expect the project
will be completed by fall.
“We’re wanting to fast
track this,” Young said.
There will be a meeting
soon to finalize plans and put
the project out for bids. No
layout plans are available yet
as final tweaks are being
made.
A new agriculture facility
will also be built at the high
school as part of future proj
ect plans. Young said that fa
cility will be in a field near
the new tennis courts, and
that the hope to have it open
by the start of the 2022-2023
school year.
“That one is a big proj
ect,” Young said.
Continued From 1A
Harvey
Harvey will work through
June 30, which will get the
county through the standard
yearly audits. Harvey joined
the county government in
September of 2012. She
started here after 12 years
working in Gilmer County
government. She was cred
ited with bringing order to
ongoing financial turmoil at
the county in 2012 and doing
much to establish the current
operating practices of the
county’s finance department.
Jasper Lions kicks off
Vidalia Onion sale