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PAGE 10A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. JUNE 17. 2021
Continued From 1A
Shooting
our families and friends. This
incident was not aviation re
lated and has nothing to do
with helicopters; all equip
ment is in perfect working
order. We simply ask that you
hug your families, enjoy a
beautiful weekend and re
spect our privacy during this
time. If you have a pre
scheduled trip this weekend,
we encourage you to
reschedule and fly with us
soon.”
There were nearly 100
comments on the Blue Ridge
Helicopter post from people
who knew Williams, and
who said he was a wonderful
person and exceptional pilot.
“Great pilot, great guy and
a great company,” one person
wrote. “So sad to see a life
ended so needlessly. Damon
was a true asset to the com
munity on many levels, hav
ing flown many medical
emergencies. What a fun per
son to be around. Our prayers
are with his family and his
friends.”
No details about the argu
ment or other details about
the case were available at
press time as it is still under
investigation. The GBI is ex
pected to issue a statement at
some point in the future. The
Progress contacted the GBI
but they did not respond be
fore press time.
Continued From 1A
Chair Kris Standi leafs through the more than 150
pages of fine print on how the relief funds can and can not
be used by the county.
County
the funds are not wide open
for whatever the county
wants. They come with 156
pages of federal stipulations
and regulations. Stancil an
ticipates being able to see
what is covered and then re
allocate already budgeted
items to give them leeway in
other budget sections. For ex
ample public safety salaries
can be covered with the fed
eral dollars and that will open
local funds already budgeted
there for other uses.
He said there will be a lot
of positive impacts all across
the budget from the unex
pected $6.33 million in relief
funds.
Among the items dis
cussed at the preliminary
meeting:
• $1.5 million for the
water system over the next
two years will provide
18,000 feet of pipe and a mil-
lion-gallon water tank for the
west side of the county. Stan
cil explained that the line
serving western Pickens is
currently a single line, not a
loop - anything that disrupts
services, shuts whole areas
down as there is no way to
flow water around breaks.
• Stancil said it is perplex
ing that the American Rescue
Plan funding may be used for
water systems, but does not
allow direct expenditures on
roads.
• The county wants to
complete the Tate Depot his
toric renovation project,
which has sat mostly idle for
years. This could run up to
$200,000 and would be a
prime use of the “tourism”
funds from the COVID relief
dollars.
• The county will offer
amnesty days at the recycling
center where paint may be
disposed of.
• The county will offer
free swimming at the pool
this year and could have free
summer camps next year.
There was discussion of
making all recreation activi
ties free. Commissioners said
they will look at what effect
dropping costs would have
on capacity. The rec. depart
ment summer camps are
well-attended and making
them completely free could
overwhelm the staff. Also for
this year, the camp period is
well underway and it would
be hard to make changes after
some people have already
paid.
• Discussion of free sports
league participation came up,
but with no strong consensus
at the preliminary meeting. A
member of the public sug
gested if they provide funds
to help children sports activ
ities, they should provide
funds for arts/music. The
commissioners seemed inter
ested and said they would
contact the local arts group to
see if that could be arranged.
• Commissioners Becky
Denney and Stancil made
several comments that they
want to see these funds go
back to the community as di
rectly as possible. Commis
sioner Jerry Barnes appeared
to agree but made few com
ments during the meeting.
•The county will replace
several heat/AC units in dif
ferent county buildings as
those are directly permitted
under the uses. In later com
ments, Stancil said that he
supposes they identified
HVAC needs because better
filters might help the health
of those in the buildings. He
said there wasn’t always a
clear explanation on what
was included and what
wasn’t.
• Several times during the
meeting Stancil asked his fel
low commissioners to get the
ball rolling on these projects
where they need some prep
work, like ordering 18,000
feet of pipe or engineering,
but emphasized that at the
start of the fourth quarter
they could re-adjust. Denney
said she felt this was a good
plan, “well thought-out with
the fourth quarter” which be
gins in October.
• Commissioner Denney
asked if broadband expan
sion is an acceptable use of
the funds and Stancil replied
it is for “underserved areas,”
naming both Marble Hill and
Ludville. He explained the
state is working to iron out
rules ensuring counties keep
it fair for all vendors. The
state is looking to define a
program so that no vendors
are given an edge over oth
ers, said Stancil, asking that
they hold off until the Octo
ber re-assessment to allocate
funds to broadband.
• Responding to a ques
tion from Phillip Dean, utili
ties director, Stancil said for
programs such as the water
line expansion they will be
able to start after the commis
sioners make their accept
ance of the federal funds
official Thursday. Dean said
with waterline prices bounc
ing all over the place, he is
anxious to lock in prices
when he sees a good deal.
• The county has until
2024 to spend all their rescue
funding under the federal
guidelines.
Continued From 1A
Nelson
city forward without working
together as a team. Commu
nication and open minds to
the citizens and communities
within the city of Nelson is
highly important to continue
to complete capital projects
that have been stagnant, pre
viously approved and worked
on since the original 2013
Capital Improvement Pro
gram implementation.
“In 2013, the then elected
officials worked diligently to
create a capital plan to im
prove many areas of the city.
This included parks and
recreation, infrastructure and
other capital purchases all to
be funded by SPLOST dollars
received from both Cherokee
and Pickens counties. Coun-
cilmember David Hamby
stated that he did not vote for
the Capital Improvement
Program Pickens Stree t park
project, however as a two-
term council member he
votes for it each time he votes
to approve the SPLOST
budget. Councilman Nathan
Hamby suggested using gen
eral funds for the Pickens
Street park project which has
been a part of the Nelson
Capital Improvement Pro
gram since 2013, and the city
has a backlog of parks and
rec SPLOST dollars from 10
years of $344,492
“A longtime resident and
active member of the Nelson
community Lamar Kellett ad
dressed the council and
mayor and the youth, reiter
ating that SPLOST (Special
Purpose Local Option Sales
Tax) is a special tax collected
by the Georgia Department
of Revenue in the form as a
percentage on each respec
tive sale within each county.
This is not a set tax to the in
dividual citizens/ taxpayers
of the city, i.e. property taxes,
but rather a tax to everyone
that benefits everyone. These
dollars are regulated by state
law with state law require
ments. Elected officials at
county level can chose to
place such tax on the ballot
for the district voters to ap
prove based off of proposed
project lists. If the voters ap
prove the referendum, then
it’s state law that the original
proposed project list be car
ried out by the overseeing,
responsible government to
which is receiving the funds.
“For several years the
city has struggled to com
plete, plan, and move proj
ects along as city resources
and manpower - as well as
different elected officials -
have come and gone. This is
increasingly becoming dis
heartening for myself and
city officials that want to see
the progress and provide the
citizens with the best quality
decisions during their re
spected tenure. Some of our
Nelson residences conducted
a survey of both downtown
area of Nelson and the subdi
vision tracks on the south end
of Pickens Street -100 per
cent of the folks that were
shown the rendering were in
favor. This was provided to
the council as well.
“As the mayor of Nelson,
I ran for office to provide a
HALF BASKETBALL COURT
(37X42)
L-1.0
HORSESHOE PIT
(6'X48') j**
EXISTING WATEtfTOWER TO REMAIN
RETAINING WALL
3-BENCHES WITH SHADE CANOPY
PICNIC PAVILION
(16'X20', 2 TABLES)
6'-8' WOODEN PRIVACY FENCE
(ALONG NORTH AND WEST
PROPERTY LINES)
An artist rendering ofproposed improvements to a park on Pickens Street in Nelson. These drawings were presented
to Nelson council last week. Three members of council voted not to move ahead with park renovations as presented in
the design. Instead they want to do much more limited repairs that are insufficient and do not fulfill the city’s needs, ac
cording to the mayor.
voice for the citizens of Nel
son. The citizens of the city of
Nelson deserve to have better
service delivery and they
have spoken out, they been
involved, and they expressed
their concerns and ultimate
visions for their city - a city
to which they want to be
proud and utilize as a small
community should.
“Chloe Martin, a Nelson
youth, addressed the mayor
and council during the June
7th meeting, representing
herself and 17 other youths,
speaking out about the Pick
ens Street Park Project. It s
time the city officials stop,
listen and collaborate not
only amongst themselves but
with the citizens and espe
cially the youth. They are the
future. ”
A copy of Chloe Martin’s
statement was emailed to the
Progress. In it she discusses
the Pickens Street park’s con
dition, as well as the condi
tion of a park on School
Street. She states the Pickens
Street park is too small, and
that when they play, their
basketball goes into the road
50 percent of the time be
cause the fence is too small
for a basketball court.
“How are we supposed to
play safely on a court that
isn’t large enough?” she
writes.
She calls the court on
School Street “junky,” with a
failing wall and basketballs
that end up in a sewage creek
where they have seen snakes.
The goals are not equal
heights, nets are broken, and
rocks near a bench end up on
the court making it difficult
to play safely, she said.
“The basketball courts on
Pickens Street and School
Street need to be updated for
the good of our community,”
she writes.
Continued From 1A
These Big Canoe Treetoppers were built in the early 70s.
Big Canoe
ling development. After
much discussion and an elab
orate presentation, they pre
sented Cousins with,
“Valkadia.” He hated it and
their second choice, too (“Ar
cadia”). The firm was
promptly fired and Tom
Cousins held a contest
among his employees. One of
his secretaries won with “Big
Canoe” and they never
looked back.
In Charlene Terrell’s
book, Wolfscratch Wilder
ness, which was first printed
in 1994, Cousins said of de
veloping the property, “God
had made the land one of the
most beautiful spots on Earth
and that our mission was
simply to do nothing to di
minish that beauty.”
Over the years, the prop
erty evolved from an At
lantan’s weekend
cabin-in-the-woods to a vi
brant community of part-time
and full-time residents in sin
gle family or vacation homes.
Many start as part-timers,
with eyes on eventually retir
ing from city life to fresh air
and no traffic. Others move
in with young children to
raise families in the moun
tains. In 50 years, the number
of residents has increased to
around 5,000. A strong long
term commitment to the nat
ural beauty of the land has
kept Cousins’ brainchild
thriving.
There are a few structures
that were on the property that
pre-dated Big Canoe. The
Wolfscratch School is now
the Racquet Club, and the
Canoe Lodge that is now
used for offices and meeting
space. The Weaver Cabin
was moved from its original
location to Nature Valley.
Treetoppers were the first
dwellings built. They are oc
tagonal in shape and perched
among the trees providing
beautiful views. (Think fancy
treehouses with kitchens and
bathrooms.) Early on they
housed a restaurant, real es
tate office, and the first incar
nation of the Big Canoe
Chapel. They are still popular
among renters.
Along with Cousins’ de
sire to protect the beauty of
the land, he also wanted a
place of worship. He re
cruited the retired pastor of
Atlanta’s North Avenue Pres
byterian Church, Dr. Vernon
S. Broyles, Jr., who would
become Big Canoe Chapel’s
first chaplain. Early thoughts
were to build the chapel at
the top of a mountain, but
that idea was vetoed. The
chapel would be in the center
of the community. The first
service in the new building
was Christmas Eve, 1977.
In 1989 Big Canoe Chapel
was gifted roughly 11 acres
of land off Steve Tate Road.
On that property, the Terraces
Amphitheater, the Scout Hut
and Meditation Park were
built. The park holds a ceme
tery, Memorial Wall, and the
Robert B. Platt Botanical
Garden.
Events are in the planning
stages for early 2022, when
Big Canoe residents plan to
commemorate the commu
nity’s 50-year anniversary.