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PAGE 6A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. MARCH 18. 2021
Cooling assistance program opens
for Homebound and Elderly April 1
The Low Income Cooling
Assistance Program adminis
tered by the Georgia Division
of Family and Children serv
ices will open to the Home-
bound and Elderly
households on April 1, 2021.
Homebound households are
defined as those households
in which every household
member is confined to the
home because of medical
conditions or disabilities.
Elderly households are de
fined as those households in
which every member is aged
65 years or older. (If anyone
in the household is under age
18 and all the other house
hold members are 65 or older
that household will meed the
definition of Elderly.)
All households participat
ing in the program must meet
the income criteria; be re
sponsible for paying the cost
of energy for home cooling
directly to the supplies; and
be U.S. citizens or aliens ad
mitted to the U.S. for lawful,
permanent residence.
To apply, applicants must
send in their most recent
electric bill, heating bill,
proof of household income,
proof of valid Social Security
Number, proof of citizenship
with a valid picture I.D. and/
or alien status. In addition,
Elderly households must pro
vide proof of age for all
household members.
All Community Service
Centers are closed to the pub
lic because of COVID-19. To
apply for assistance, you
must call the service center in
your county to receive in
structions on how to submit
your documents for your ap
plication.
Assistance will be in the
form of a one-time payment
on behalf of the eligible
household to help offset the
cost of heating their homes.
The checks are issued di
rectly to the home energy
supplier. No checks can be is
sued until North Georgia
Community Action, Inc. re
ceived the funds from the
state of Georgia, Department
of Human Services. Assis
tance is on a “first-come,
first-served” basis, while the
funds last.
Any low-income residents
of the county who feel that
their household meets the
definition of “Homebound”
or “Elderly” should contact
the North Georgia Commu
nity Action, Inc.’s Commu
nity Service Center for their
county of residence begin
ning April 1, 2021 at 8:30
a.m. If you are unable to get
through on the phone line,
please be patient and keep
trying. The Homebound/El-
derly “priority” is through
April 30, 2021. You do not
have to get on the list the first
day. Keep calling until you
reach someone. Do not leave
messages as they will not be
returned.
Pickens 706-692-6803
Gilmer 706-635-5858
Cherokee 770-345-6531
■ tirli
Pt
Report from the Capitol
1 By State Representative Rick Jasperse
Visitation rules
at healthcare
facilities during
pandemic bill hot
topic at state
house
This past week was a busy
one, and I’ll have to tell you
very long, because on Mon
day night we stayed there till
11:30 p.m. Monday was
Crossover Day, where a bill
had to pass out of the House
to be acted on by the Senate
this year.
The committees have
been very busy the last week
or so passing legislation they
thought was important, bills
that we needed to look at to
be voted on the House floor.
Some bills are a lot more im
portant than others, but im
portant if it affected you or
something you’re interested
in.
I’ll have to tell you the
most important bill we
passed and the most moving
over the past few weeks was
House Bill 290. It’s being
carried by my good friend Ed
Setzler from Cobb County.
HB 290 is called “Patient and
Resident Representation and
Visitation Act.” Ed did this
bill in an effort to protect vis
itation rights for authorized
legal representatives of pa
tients or residents in hospitals
or long-term facilities. If you
had a loved one you cared for
or were responsible for and
you couldn’t see them, you
have an interest in this bill.
This was an issue for families
throughout the pandemic. It
was not a simple issue for
anyone and has been difficult
to get to a solution.
I have had many, many
calls over the last year about
this and have personally been
affected by it, also. During
the Covid pandemic, espe
cially in the beginning,
everyone was scared and try
ing to do all they could to
prevent the spread of Covid
and keep our hospitals open
and functioning while they
learned how to deal with it. It
was a super stressful time for
everyone, especially those
that have loved ones with
Covid in the hospital or
maybe some other type of
sickness that they needed
care of healthcare profession
als.
Representative Setzler has
worked very hard with the
Human Relations and Aging
Committee, of which I’m a
member, and everyone in
volved to try to find the right
mix of law to help patients
and families and healthcare
providers do what they need
to do. I believe he had 12 or
13 different versions of the
bill we passed out last week
in an effort to meet the needs
of the healthcare folks and
preserve the needs of patients
and their families to be in
volved in their care. The tes
timony in the committees and
on the House floor was very
moving, and it showed the
stress that families and their
caregivers were under during
Covid.
Healthcare providers are
also under incredible stress in
a Herculean effort to prevent
further spread and to care for
Georgians. In HB 290, hospi
tals and long-term care facil
ities would be prohibited
from implementing policies
that deny in-person physical
contact with a designated
legal representative for at
least one hour per day during
any hospitalization, treat
ment, or residence that lasts
longer than 12 hours. If a
treatment lasts longer than 24
hours, residents could have
in-person visitations with at
least two legal representa
tives or essential caregivers
for at least two consecutive
hours each day. This bill
would allow a temporary sus
pension of visitation for pa
tients in operating rooms,
transplant wards, or those
who require physical isola
tion for immunocompro
mised conditions.
HB 290 would allow hos
pitals and long-term care fa
cilities to establish
reasonable safety require
ments that would also be
posted on the facility’s web
site for a visitor to follow.
Families and caregivers
would be given direct contact
information to submit com
plaints if these rights are in
fringed upon, and the
Governor’s ability to waive
these provisions during a
public health emergency,
such as the COVID-19 pan
demic, would be limited
under this bill.
Representative Setzler
will continue to work on his
bill as it works its way
through the Senate, and I
look forward to voting for it
again in the near future.
I know I didn’t talk about
all the other bills that were
passed on Crossover Day,
and if you would like a list of
them with a short description
about them, email me, and I
will be glad to provide them
for you.
I thought House 290 de
served an explanation all its
own. My Capitol office
number is 404-656-7153, my
home 770-893-2039, and my
email address is
rick.jasperse@house.ga.gov.
Please contact me anytime.
Cherokee
Chorale
The Cherokee Chorale
presents
Ola Gjeilo’s
Sunrise Mass
- & -
Timothy Powell’s
Consider the Lilies
An Appalachian Requiem
Scott L. Martin, conductor
Live Streaming
Sunday, March 21, 2021
at 4:00 p.m.
$10 lee for access to the livestream link
Visit CherokeeChorale.org
for More Information
Sponsored by:
Kate Rugani and Sarah McFather
in memory of their mother, Joan U. McFather
The Joe E. Johnston Foundation
444
L
Pickens GOP
j
On April 17, 2021 at 9:00 am the Pickens County Republican Party will
convene Precinct Caucuses to elect Delegates and Alternates to the Pickens
county Republican Party Convention.
All Pickens County residents who are legally registered to vote and believe
in the principles of the Republican Party are urged to participate in this
process.
Registration will open at 8:00 am on April 17 2021 at Chattahoochee
Technical College, 100 Campus Drive, Jasper, Ga. 30143 for Precinct Cau
cuses Pickens. (With regards to the State of Emergency for COVID-19 and in
compliance with the Governor’s Executive Order please refer to Pickens
County Party Web Site at www.pickensgop.com or Social Media Page
https://www.facebook.com/PickensGAGOP for specific times and locations).
The Pickens County Republican Party Convention will convene at 10:00
am on April 17, 2021 at Chattahoochee Tech College, 100 Campus Drive,
Jasper, Georgia to elect Delegates and Alternatives to the Congressional Dis
trict Convention and State Convention. Additionally, the Convention will con
duct all other business as necessary. Delegates and Alternates will be required
to pay a fee of $15.00 which is to cover the cost of the County Convention.
The 9th Congressional District Convention will convene on Saturday May
15, 2021, at 10:00 am at the Dillard House, Dillard, Georgia. The District
Convention will be electing officers for the district and State Committee
members for the next biennial. Delegates and Alternates will be required to
pay a fee of $35.00, which is to cover the cost of the Convention.
The Georgia Republican Party State Convention will convene at 2:00PM
on Friday, June 4, 2021, in a location to be determined and will elect state
party officers for the next biennial, in addition to conducting all other busi
ness as necessary.
Delegates and Alternates will be required to pay a fee, which is to cover
the cost of the Convention.
For further information contact Craig Stallings, Chairman of the
Pickens County Republican Party at craig@stallingsindustries.com
South Cherokee/Jasper
Driver Improvement Clinic, Inc. #2102
1623 East Church Street • Jasper, Georgia 30143
.'v • NEW DRIVER EDUCATION
(30/6 Joshua’s Law)
DEFENSIVE DRIVING
(6 Hour Course)
DUI-RISK REDUCTION
(20 Hour Course)
Registration/Assessments
Monday & Thursdays 11am to 7pm
All Classes meet Georgia State Requirements
CLASSES FORMING NOW
www.SouthCherokee.com 706-692-1632 or 770-928-3679
Attention Bidders
The bid is for five (5) permanent mounted genera
tors.
2331 Hwy 136 Jasper Ga 30143
306 Hawkins Ridge Jasper Ga 30143
184 Pinhook Rd Ranger Ga 30734
3379 Steve Tate Rd Marble Hill Ga 30148
3043 Camp Rd Jasper Ga 30143
Contractor to provide the following services:
• Furnish and install Kohler propane and natural
gas driven generators.
• Generator system include engine block heater,
flexible fuel lines, sound attenuated enclosure,
weather resistance steel enclosure, stainless
steel flexible exhaust connector,
• Critical grade exhaust silencer, battery
charger, or kohler DEC 3000 Microprocessor
control. And RSAIII-Remote annunciator,
Factory authorized startup, operator training,
and system load testing using building load at
beginning and all conduit and wiring for
connection.
• Generator to be located in area specified by
Pickens County and contractor to construct
concrete pad (3,000 psig) as foundation for
generator with in conduit in concrete.
• Five-year equivalent extended warranty on
generator system to be provided.
• Full first year factory authorized maintenance to
be included.
The work will consist of producing and installing
the generator with all applicable connections and
wiring. The work is to be completed within 120 con
secutive calendar days from date of the awarding
contract.
All bids must be in by Thursday April 8, 2021
at 3:00 pm. No bids will be received or accepted
after 3:00 pm, April 8, 2021. Bids submitted after
the designated hour will be deemed invalid and re
turned unopened to the bidder. Pickens County re
serves the right to waive any irregularities or reject
any and all bids.
Bid Packages can be picked up in the Water De
partment at the Administrative Building located at:
1266 East Church St. Jasper GA 30143
Notice to Bidders
April 2021
SEPARATE sealed BIDS for the construction of 2021
ASPHALT PAVING PROJECT will be received by
Pickens County, 1266 East Church Street, Suite 188,
Jasper, Georgia 30143, until 2:00 p.m. local time on
the 8th day of April 2021, and at said place publicly
opened and read aloud.
The work to be done consists of cleaning, tacking,
and placing an asphaltic overlay on selected streets
in Pickens County, the approximate length of the
streets are as follows: Carver Mill Road 9,821 ft.,
East Price Creek Road 14,996 ft., Sutton Road 4,964
ft., Old Mill White Road 4,594 ft., Evans Road 5,492
ft., Thompson Lane 2,429 ft., Yellow Creek Road
13,200 ft., Scarecorn Creek Road 7,023 ft., Old
Waleska Road South 1,848 ft., Refuge Valley Road
2,904 ft., and Roland Road 2,218 ft., for an approx
imate total of 69,489 linear feet of resurfacing and
approximate tonnage to be 13,809 tons.
No bids will be received or accepted after the above
specified time for the opening of Bids. Bids submit
ted after the designated hour will be deemed invalid
and returned unopened to the Bidder.
Copies of BIDDING DOCUMENTS may be obtained
at Pickens County Administration Office, 1266 East
Church Street, Suite 188, Jasper, Georgia 30143.
The successful bidder will be required to furnish a
Bid Bond and a Performance and Payment Bond. A
certified check in the amount of 5% of the bid
amount will also be acceptable. Check to be re
tained by the County until all work is completed to
satisfaction.
Provide the County a copy of Certificate of Insurance
as additional insured.
After the award of the contract and before the start
of work, you will be required to attend a preconstruc
tion conference with representatives of the County.
The conference will serve to acquaint the partici
pants with the general plan for paving of the streets
and to discuss any special conditions that the
County may have that may alter the original bid
price.
Eleven (11) roads in the project herein described are
to be completed within sixty (60) calendar days from
the date of award of contract.
No bidder may withdraw his bid within thirty (30)
days after the actual bid date of the opening thereof.
Pickens County reserves the right to waive any ir
regularities or reject any or all bids.
Pickens County
1266 East Church Street, Suite 188
Jasper, Georgia 30143