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PAGE 10A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. APRIL 15. 2021
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Roman Adams with his animals at the home on Highway 53 where the owner is allow
ing him to stay. Adams ran into trouble for his camp on Camp Road. Local government
and law enforcement officials have tried to help with the complicated situation.
Saga
the sequence of change
began early last week when
County Marshal Cole Connel
stopped to notify Adams that
the commercial zoning at that
property did not permit
camping or livestock.
Commission Chair Kris
Stancil said Monday that
they had been working with
Shouse (who ran against him
last November) to try and
find a permanent solution for
Adams. Stancil said the
county was aware of the sit
uation and had “let com
plaints pile up for three
months” without issuing any
written citations requiring
Adams to dismantle the camp
with any deadlines.
There was also an issue
with the horse getting into the
road. County Marshal Connel
said when he went to talk
with Adams, their discussion
was intemipted while Adams
went to retrieve his horse
from wandering over to the
nearby QuikTrip. Connel
said during his career as a
deputy, he had worked one
vehicle/horse accident and a
horse wandering into 515
could lead to fatalities of both
Gunshots
urday, April 10, an officer
spotted the vehicle at the Mc
Donald’s drive-thru and
pulled it out of the line and
proceeded with the investiga
tion. Dawkins applauded the
Crashes
a 2017 Subaru Outback. The
Outback, driven by Thomas
Dearmitt, 85, of Ellijay,
struck the rear of Rider’s mo
torcycle, according to GSP
reports. Rider was trans
ported to Kennestone Hospi
tal with minor injuries but
has since been released. The
Ellijay man did not sustain
injuries.
Nichols said he was not
aware of other crashes in
volving motorcycles this
year. Despite weather warm
ing up and more riders being
out, Nichols stressed motor
cycle accidents can happen
any season. He recalled a
fatal motorcycle crash, again
on Highway 515, near Cap
tain D’s in January 2020. The
motorists and horse.
Stancil wanted it noted
that the county did not force
Adams off the property and
that he had left voluntarily,
but that they were having a
“conversation” on what they
could do to resolve the situa
tion.
“We were aware of the sit
uation and we were trying to
officer for “vigilant” police
work.
Hamby has been charged
with Reckless Conduct and
Discharging a Firearm near a
Highway or Street. Both are
misdemeanors.
Progress also reported a mo
torcycle fatality in February
2020 near the Highway 136
and Ellijay Road intersection.
Nichols added that safety
precautions for motorcycles
go both ways. For other mo
torists, they should be careful
to look twice before making
turns or at intersections and
changing lanes; check blind
spots; and use turn signals.
“Motorcyclists are re
quired to have their headlight
on, but people still don’t see
them for whatever reason,”
Nichols said. “But motorcy
cle riders also need to prac
tice safe driving because in
some cases it is the motorcy
cle’s fault.”
help,” Stancil said.
Shouse said in an inter
view Tuesday that he has
talked with both Stancil and
Sheriff Donnie Craig and
agreed that all were trying to
help, though Shouse was
doubtful the county could le
gitimately kick someone in a
tent off a property. Shouse
added that as a Constitution
alist he didn’t agree that the
government should be able to
force him to evict someone
living on private property, re
gardless of what he was liv
ing in.
Shouse said he got in
volved after seeing Adams
homeless in the winter and
allowed him to live at his
properties. He said there is
something suspicious on the
original foreclosure of
Adams’ property, which ap
pears to have come without
legal advertising and during
a period when federal and
state governments imposed
moratoriums stopping any
foreclosures. “Whether he
was paying his bills or not, it
looks like an illegal foreclo
sure,” he said. Shouse has
asked his realtor and lawyers
to take a look at it and see
what they can do. Shouse
said the idea that Adams,
who may have some other is
sues, was wrongly kicked out
of his home led him to offer
the help.
Shouse said he has been
contacted by the ACLU, who
have been looking into cases
of improper foreclosures, re
garding Adams.
In the meantime, Adams
packed his camp up last
Thursday. With one dog on
the horse’s saddle, he and the
other dogs began walking to
wards his foreclosed house in
Tate. Shouse had already
taken all Adams’ possessions
in a trailer to the home.
But after a short distance,
Adams stopped and camped
again with him offering two
different rationales - either
because it was hot and he
worried about his animals
(one of the dogs is pregnant
and the other more than 13
years old), or because his gut
reaction said going to the
house was a bad idea. “There
is only one way in and one
way out and I would be
trapped there,” he said.
So, when he hit “a cool
spot” he stopped at a partly-
destroyed house not far from
where he left on Camp Road.
The owner said he could stay
one night. Adams agreed to
move along the next morn
ing, but in the mid-afternoon
a Pickens deputy responded
to a complaint about Adams.
Sheriff Donnie Craig said
it was as simple as the owner
wanted Adams gone and
Adams wouldn’t leave. Sgt.
Jody Weaver with the uni
form patrol division re
sponded and told Adams he
had to move along.
In Adams’ version he told
Weaver he was within his
rights to stay on the county
right-of-way, though he ac
knowledged that his horse
may have been over the line
and he told Weaver to go
ahead and arrest him, which
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Weaver did for trespassing.
There was some initial
confusion online with people
believing he had been ar
rested for being on Shouse’s
property, but the trespassing
charge was at the property
where he was trying to set up
a second camp on his march
to Tate.
Craig emphasized that
they had responded to a call
from a property owner who
wanted Adams to move
along. They had not sought
him out or followed him and
they tried to offer him rides
or alternatives to being ar
rested.
While in jail, Sheriff Craig
went personally and tried to
convince Adams to go to the
house that Shouse was pro
viding near Bub-ba-Q. But
when bond papers arrived to
let him out, Adams refused to
sign them with a condition
that he wouldn’t return to the
private property where he
was arrested.
On Saturday, Adams
changed his mind and signed
the bond papers and was re
leased.
Adams said he was ini
tially content to stay in jail as
he felt he had been improp
erly jailed and he could sue
for the days he was kept
there, but he began to worry
about his animals. He ac
knowledged that he could
have bonded out any time but
stayed almost 72 hours as he
didn’t want to sign the pa
pers.
His dogs had been taken
by animal control, whom
Adams said he believes has
his animals’ best interest at
heart and he trusts — sort of.
When he was arrested one of
his supporters was there and
agreed to take the horse to a
farm in Talking Rock.
Adams said he recognizes
that his horse, which he uses
for transportation, gives him
a bit of fame; “Nobody
would give a [crap] about
Roman Adams on the side of
the road, if I didn’t have the
animals.” So he believes
there is a plot by the forces
against him to take his horse.
Adams said he refused to
sign the bond conditions as
they requires he not keep his
horse in an area where it was
not permitted. He said there
was a six-acre grassy field
near the house he is currently
living in where his horse
might eventually go, but did
n’t elaborate on whether the
horse was permitted in that
area, which is also commer
cial. On Tuesday, before
press time, Stancil said the
county was already getting
complaints about the horse
tied so near Highway 53.
When asked what he plans
to do now, things with Adams
get even more murky. He be
lieves his home in Tate and
his family were taken from
him by powerful people who
wanted it as part of a land
grab. Adams believes they
want to make it into a reser
voir and the prices of the sur
rounding property will go
from $15,000 an acre to
$800,000.
“I kept thinking someone
would pull up one day and
offer me $5 million dollars,”
he said. “I don’t know why
they haven’t.”
He said that even if he
were given money, it would
n’t be enough. He wants the
powerful people to acknowl
edge they have been plotting
against him for the past 15
years and apologize. “I am
under the impression that
they are people with a lot of
clout, probably with ties to
Washington, as so much of
the nation’s capitol was built
with Georgia marble from
here.”
Adams has mentioned
Freemasons, the UN, and the
European Rothschild family
as suspects for working to de
stroy his life so they can ac
quire his property in Tate,
where he believes they intend
to build a massive reservoir.
“It’s about real estate,” he
said. “If you control the
water, you control every
thing. It’s like controlling the
air we breathe.”
Shouse said that Adams,
on his own initiative, has
begun cleaning up the house,
spreading mulch.
And Adams took his new
neighbors out for lunch from
some of his donations be
cause they helped him unload
and welcomed him to the
area. He also apparently has
found a night job at a nearby
business, according to
Shouse.
Shouse said it was amaz
ing how many supporters
contacted him to find out
what was happening while
Adams was in jail. “If it was
n’t 200 messages, then it was
300 from people wanting to
know what was happening,”
he said.
Adams said he considers
all his misfortunes to be
“fiery darts” that God has
used to reveal things to him.
So, as to what he is going to
do next, he is awaiting on
God to set his course. “Can I
rebuild my life from just two
sleeping bags and a turkey
blind [used as a tent]?” he
asked while standing on the
front porch of his latest
home. “Yes. I am sure I can.”
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Pickens County Board of Education
Called Meeting
April 15, 2021 at 5 p.m.
Pickens County Board of Education Central
Office at 100 D.B. Carroll St., Jasper, GA
The Pickens County Board of Education will meet on
Thursday, April I 5, 2021, at 5:00 pm for a called
board meeting and will follow the governor's guidelines
for groups of people gathering.
I. Call to Order
II. Approval of Agenda
III. Executive Session
IV. Approval of Executive Session Minutes
V. Adjourn
Pickens County Board of Education
Regular Meeting
April 15, 2021 at 6 p.m.
Pickens County Board of Education Central
Office at 100 D.B. Carroll St., Jasper, GA
The Pickens County Board of Education will meet on
Thursday April I 5 at 6:00 pm for the regular monthly
board meeting and will follow the governor’s guidelines for
groups of people gathering.
This meeting will available for viewing at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch7vW45CRQ89
m-g&ab channel=PCBOEGA
AGENDA:
I. Call to Order
II. Invocation
III. Pledge of Allegiance
IV. Approval of Agenda
V. Recognitions
A. GeorgiaYoung Authors' Writing Contest Regional
Winners - Destini Shope, Director of PublicRelations
B. PHS Band Recognitions
C. CONGRATULATIONS! - PHSVarsity Boys and Girls
Cross Country Teams
VI. Superintendent Reports
A. Financial Update (Amy Smith, Chief Financial Officer)
B. Operations and Construction (Stacy Gilleland, Chief
Operations Officer)
C. Policy BCBI - Public Participation in Board Meetings
VII. Action Items
A. Approval of Financial Reports
B. Approval of Personnel
C. Approval of MEC Contract
D. Approval of Minutes
E. Approval of Surplus - Books and Buses
F. Request for Approval of Employee Bonus Pay
VIII. Board Comments
IX. Adjourn
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