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PAGE 10A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. MAY 13. 2021
From the commission board:
County denies 278-acre
rezoning; election update
Tater Patch Man and Funny
Little Thing Called Love
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@piekensprogress.com
A 278-acre proposed resi
dential development will not
come to west Pickens after
commissioners denied a re
quest to rezone the property
at a meeting, Thursday, May
6.
The project would have
brought around 80 new
homes to Big Ridge Road. In
a public hearing on March 8,
residents expressed concerns
that the development would
negatively impact Talking
Rock Creek, which flows
through some of the lots.
There were also concerns
about how to supply water to
the property. The motion
failed the Pickens County
Planning Commission 1-0.
“That proposal had a lot of
issues, but if they installed a
water system and it ended up
failing, the county is required
to take that over,” said Com
missioner Becky Denney re
garding her no vote. “I’ve
been told it would cost
around $2 million for us to
get our water out there.”
Denney said that after
studying the issue she felt it
was appropriate to follow
Commissioner Jerry Barnes’
lead.
“That’s his district and I
just feel like he really knows
the community and area so I
wanted to follow his lead in
the vote,” she said.
Barnes made the initial
motion to vote against the re
zoning request by RLF Talk
ing Rock to have the property
rezoned from Agricultural to
Rural Residential. The
Progress attempted to contact
Barnes but he could not be
reached before press time.
Commission Chair Kris
Stancil, who only votes in the
case of a tie, said while he
can’t speak on behalf of the
other board members, “I
know that they have received
a lot of feedback from the
community that they used in
making their decision.”
Elections board appoint
ments expected by June
Gov. Brian Kemp has
signed the revised Pickens
Elections Board legislation,
which will go into effect on
July 1 and which changes the
way the local board is se
lected. Stancil expects to
make these board appoint
ments at commissioners’
June meeting.
Under the new structure,
the Pickens Republican and
Democratic parties will each
submit four nominations to
serve. The board of commis
sioners will select two mem
bers from each list of four,
and will also appoint an addi
tional fifth chair person.
Under the old system,
each political party would se
lect two members and the
chair would then be ap
pointed by those four mem
bers of the board.
Stancil has contacted
chairs of the local Demo
cratic and Republican parties
requesting they submit their
four recommendations. Com
missioners are also soliciting
the public for people inter
ested in serving as chair. To
be eligible to serve as chair,
individuals must be regis
tered voters, residents of
Pickens County, and cannot
be a member of any political
party (non-partisan). After
those appointments are made,
the new board will hire an
elections supervisor. Former
Pickens Elections Supervisor
Julianne Roberts recently re
signed because she felt like
the new legislation was tar
geting her and election board
members.
When asked if having that
position vacant was creating
issues, Stancil said in a later
interview “There is an in
terim supervisor that has
been put in place by the cur
rent Board of Elections that is
covering the office until the
new board takes their posi
tions in July.”
Stancil said the elections
office is open at this time.
Public invited to apply for
county boards
Pickens County is accept
ing applications from mem
bers of the public who would
like to serve on their authori
ties, boards, and commis
sions.
The following are ap
pointed by the board of com
missioners: Board of Tax
Assessors (5-year term);
Water & Sewer Authority (3-
year term); Beer & Wine
Board (open term); Planning
Commission (4-year term);
Development Authority (6-
year term); Recreation Board
(2-year term); Airport Au
thority (4-year term); Elec
tion Board (chairman only);
Board of Appeals (3-year
term).
If you are interested, there
is an online application form
available on the Pickens
County government’s Face-
book page. Openings on
these boards occur through
out the year.
County approves $4 million
TAN
The county solicited bids
from five local banks for a $4
million Tax Anticipated Note
(TAN), a short-term loan
governments can use to fond
operations.
Two banks submitted bids
for the note - United Com
munity Bank (0.99 percent
interest rate and $3,800 clos
ing cost), and Community
Bank (1.24 percent interest
rate with drawdown and no
closing cost).
Commissioners approved
United Community Bank’s
bid because there would be
an overall $6,200 savings
over the life of the loan.
Children at Play signs to
phase out
Stancil said the county re
ceives constant requests for
Children at Play signs to be
installed, but the signs are
now considered unsafe.
Responding to those re
quests, Stancil asked the sign
department to look into regu
lations about where they
should and should not be
placed and during research
found that “The Federal
Highway Administration has
revised their manual...that
no longer includes Children
at Play signs because they’re
considered a violation of the
federal code of regulations,
basically stating that it cre
ated a false sense of security
for people that allow their
kids to play. They made the
common sense recommenda
tion that the best advice to
give parents is to tell their
kids not to play in the street.”
The county will not re
move the Children at Play
signs currently up, but as
they age and/or become dam
aged and need to be replaced
the county will just remove
them permanently.
“It will kind of be phased
out,” Stancil said. “I know a
lot of parents they feel better
if they see that sign in their
neighborhood but the reality
of it is they’ve proven it
doesn’t slow people down.”
Other news from the meet-
ing:
•The county pool has been
filled, with plans to open Me
morial Day weekend.
•Commissioners are re
modeling their board room
and adding a large podium (a
piece of furniture commis
sioners will sit behind) simi
lar to the one in the Board of
Education meeting room.
Cost of the podium project is
$23,600, with additional fees
for audio/visual hookups.
The podium will be installed
at the end of May or early
June.
•Recreation Director
Brian Jones said vaccine de
mand has “come to a
screeching halt” at the Pick
ens Community Center,
which the health department
has used as a vaccination site.
The health department will
stop using the facility on May
28 “and we’ll finally get our
building back 100 percent,
which is awesome. It’s been
interesting,” he said.
•The county issued 184
permits in April, which
brings the annual total to 647
permits (this number in
cludes all permitted items. Of
the 647 permits, 282 of those
are building permits). “Build
ing permits are still on the
rise,” said Planning & Devel
opment Director Justin Kil
gore.
•Following a question
from Commissioner Denny
regarding the status of the
Grandview Lake project,
which will allow the county
to be able to withdraw over
300,000 gallons of water a
day, Dean reported that they
are waiting on the EPD be
fore the project can move
ahead. “Since COVID hit
[the EPD] slowed down and
now they’ve started picking
back up,” Dean said. The
EPD is working out testing
that will be performed at the
plant after it is built. “Once
they nail down all the testing
we’ll have to do for the first
six months, to year, year and
a half, then they’re going to
release everything and we’ll
start opening up getting pre
pared for bids, and hopefully
breaking ground in the next
couple of months.”
•Pickens County has been
approved to receive federal
disaster funding/assistance
due to storms and flooding
from March 25-26, 2021.
By Heather Giambra
Love. What Funny Little
Thing Called Love the latest
Tater Patch production, and
a superhero, Tater Patch
Man, have in common is
love. That all fired up, sweet
and silly emotion that makes
us laugh inside and out, es
pecially when it comes to
the Tater Patch Theater.
Finally, the Players have
returned to their stage with a
fun production that keeps
the audience smiling with all
the different forms of love;
from heartfelt pure adora
tion, to singing telegrams, to
jealousy and forgiveness,
and even to love at first
sight, plus, an unlikely su
perhero played by John
Kuehl, TP Player since
2012. And all because of a
beautiful full moon.
Several Players play mul
tiple and multicultural roles
in the series of love vi
gnettes beginning with a San
Francisco Bay Area news
program. The full moon
casts its spell on many peo
ple in many ways and it's all
about love in a fun and
lively performance. The
singing telegram lady,
played by Jan Simpson,
wants to finish her song and
the ancient waitress, played
by Nancy Loy, in a London
cafe definitely does in a big
way. (By the way, Nancy
plays four characters.)
Chelsea Walker and Kim
Martin each play three char
acters. What a challenge, but
well done. Veteran TPP, Nan
Nawrocki wasn’t even iden
tifiable in her character,
Elsie, the mother who is de
termined to get her son mar
ried so she can rest easy.
And the son, with over 40
plays experience with Tater
Patch, Alex Nawrocki,
shows off his best attributes.
One young lady confessed
“seeing a man in his under
pants” was the funniest part.
Newcomer, Derek Perry,
goes from newscaster to di
vorcee in a wonderful love
filled way that warms the
heart. Steve Lewis plays
Jake, the ever-supportive
buddy who tries to set his
tom-cattin friend straight
then ends up with the cham
pagne and his own heart
singing of love.
Phyllis Zerkle clearly en
joyed her roles, plus, saves
the day and the superhero.
Or at least we are assured
she is trying to save him. All
this under a glowing full
moon with many beautiful
moon songs to sing along
with between acts.
If you haven’t already
seen this heartwarming,
smile stretching, funny bone
tickling play, you better
make it this Friday or Satur
day night at 7:30 p.m. or
Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.
Plus, there is the following
week, May 21, 22, at 7:30
and Sunday the 23rd. When
the moon hits your eye like
a big That’s amore.
Job Opportunity
Pickens County Government has an opening
for full-time Finance Director
This position is responsible for the accurate account
ing of Pickens County’s financial records in confor
mance with GAAP, budget development and
implementation, monitoring revenues and expenditures,
providing timely reporting to departments, managing
and accounting for Pickens County’s property and fixed
assets and facilitating the annual audit.
Minimum Qualifications
Knowledge and level of competency commonly as
sociated with the completion of a baccalaureate degree
in a course of study related to the occupational field.
Experience sufficient to thoroughly understand the
diverse objectives and functions of the subunits in the
division/department in order to direct and coordinate
work within the division/department, usually interpreted
to require three to five years of related experience.
Ability to be bonded.
All applicants must pass a pre-employment back
ground check.
For a full job description and to apply for this posi
tion, go to our website
https://pickenscountvaa.aov/emplovvment-opportunities/
Qualified candidates may submit a resume and ap
plication to applications@pickenscountvaa.aov or in
person at Pickens County Administrative Offices; 1266
E Church St., Jasper, GA 30143. Monday - Friday, 8:00
A.M. and 5:00 P. M.
Salary commensurate with experience.
Open until filled.
Pickens County is an Equal Opportunity Employer
and a Drug Free Workplace.
The Sheriff’s
Beat
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