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THURSDAY. SEPTEMBER 23. 2021 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 11A
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Bridge
him was the night before on
Wednesday, Sept. 15 around
5:45 p.m.
“That was the last time
anyone saw him,” Nichols
said.
Reed was unrestrained at
the time of the crash.
Tax Bills
the holidays. In a few years
tax bills were mailed late
enough to have due dates in
the next calendar year, mean
ing property owners got two
tax bills in the same calendar
year.
Reeves credited his staff’s
dedication, prompt work
from the tax assessor’s office
and cooperation among the
different governments hold
ing hearings in a timely fash-
By Max Caylor
Contributing Writer
“We will need precision
blasting” for the rock, as to
not damage the foundations
of the three new T-hangars al
most completed, said airport
engineer Phil Eberly at the
local airport authority’s quar
terly meeting last week.
The rock was discovered
between two new T-hangars
as a ditch was being cut to
complete the sewage pump
station for the horseshoe area
A & T Towing used their
large rotator truck to lift out
the vehicle.
The city has been working
for months to get the road re
opened, with delays created
because of Georgia Depart
ment of Transportation re
quirements that must be met
before funding for repairs
would be granted. Bids for
ion and getting paperwork
handled so that everything
could be approved at the state
level to allow the bills to be
sent.
Everyone involved this
year at all levels, “got us
what we needed,” the tax
commissioner said.
For anyone who has not
received their bill, call the tax
commissioner’s office at
706-253-8882 or find your
bill online at
pickensgatax.com.
of the airport. “We are in dis
cussions concerning liability
of blasting the rock,” Eberly
said. Even with the slow
down the chief engineer be
lieves the 24 new T-hangars
and three new box hangars
will be ready by Thanksgiv
ing.
Airport Manager Randy
Thomason gave a fuel sum
mary, noting 36 jets were
serviced in July and August.
The county treasurer’s report
shows a Jet-A fuel profit of
$46,338 and civilian fuel
repairs will be opened on Oc
tober 4.
This was the second time
the culvert on that road had
been blown out in big storms
in the past decade, both times
left massive gaps where cul
verts completely washed
away, carrying a stretch of
roadway with it.
The office has continued
to expand online payment
options. They now accept e-
checks with flat fees, which
means those with larger bills
can avoid hefty credit card
percentages added to their
payments.
Tax bills have a QR code
for scanning or you can log
on to the website, pickens-
gatax.com to make pay
ments. The website will also
allow users to set reminders
and offers more information.
profit of $38,230 since the
first of the year. Thomason
says, ‘customer service keeps
pilots coming back to buy
fuel and seek a home for their
aircraft.”
The main area of business
for the authority was to adopt
a Five-Year Airport Capital
Improvement Program
(ACIP) through 2027. The
plan is a year off, because the
FFA 2022 was part of the cur
rent fiscal year in which the
Pickens County airport re
ceived funds for capital im
provements, including a new
terminal building which is in
the planning stages.
The $13,286,668 program
will fund new airfield light
ing LED and south terminal
apron rehabilitation in 2023.
The 2024-2027 program calls
for new security fencing, run
way extension to 5,505’, en
vironmental assessment,
hangar site preparation and
paving, south hangar area
apron expansion, and secu
rity fencing completion with
property acquisition on the
east and west sides. The com
pletion of the improvements
planned will be the installa
tion of a Supplemental Wind
Cone.
Eberly was quick to point
out that Pickens County’s
share of the FFA plan would
be only $1,548,086, about 10
percent of the total cost, with
$10,765,500 coming from
FFA and $973,082 from
GDOT.
Authority members unan
imously approved the plan.
“We have come a long
way in the last six to eight
years because of having a
plan and following it to the
letter,” said Ed Wood, vice
chair of the authority.
Eberly added, “The FFA
and GDOT give favorable at
tention to airports that adhere
to their guidelines and com
plete projects on a timely
basis.”
County Commission
Chair Kris Stancil said, “I be
lieve we are moving in the
right direction developing the
airport as a focus area for
economic development.”
The Pickens County air
port is on course to be one of
the top 10 airports in the state
with 129 land based aircrafts
with hangar completion.
Buchanan
Criminal Attempt to Commit
Aggravated Child Molesta
tion, one count of Pandering,
and one count of Sexual Ex
ploitation of Children by the
GBI Child Exploitation and
Computer Crimes (CEACC)
Unit. Information was re
ceived regarding Buchanan’s
potential involvement in a
transaction involving the ex
change of currency for sexual
contact with a child. An in
vestigation was conducted by
the GBI CEACC Unit, the
Hall County Sheriff’s Office,
the Pickens County Sheriff’s
Office, and the Homeland
Security Investigations Of
fice in Dalton, GA. This in
vestigation led to a search
Meeting
vere symptoms and hospital
izations, he does not feel it is
government’s place to man
date people take a vaccine.
“I’m still of the stance that
it should be your choice,” he
said. “I encourage you
strongly to go take care of
yourself and get it unless you
have health issues preventing
it, but I’m a believer in you
should have the right to
choose. That shouldn’t be our
job as a government.”
Mt. Zion Church will also
be the location for a drive-by
flu shot clinic on Tuesday,
Sept. 28.
Other news from the commis
sioners meeting and work
session:
•Phillip Dean, utility di
rector, gave a timeline for the
long-awaited water treatment
facility to be built at Grand
view Lake. The facility will
allow the county to withdraw
333,000 gallons of water a
day. EPD approved the proj
ect a few months ago. Con
struction bids will be opened
in December, with notice to
proceed expected in April of
2022 and completion ex
warrant at a home in Jasper,
GA, and resulted in the col
lection of evidence revealing
that on multiple occasions,
Buchanan was offering cur
rency to an adult in exchange
for sexual contact with a
child who resided outside of
the United States.
Buchanan was transported
to the Pickens County Jail
upon his arrest. He remained
there with no bond set on
Monday.
This investigation is part
of the ongoing effort by the
Internet Crimes Against Chil
dren (ICAC) Task Force,
housed within the GBI’s
Child Exploitation and Com
puter Crimes Unit, to identify
those involved in the child
pornography trade. The
ICAC Program, created by
pected in April of 2023.
•Commissioners imple
mented a new policy that will
allow employees to donate
sick leave time into a bank.
That donated time can be
used by employees who need
to be out of work on ex
tended leave due to medical
issues.
•Recycling Center Direc
tor Kenny Woodard an
nounced a milestone at the
new facility, where recycled
materials are baled on site,
then shipped out and sold to
other entities. The local facil
ity has shipped out 1 million
pounds of recyclable mate
rial. They also have a new
glass crushing machine that
can crash glass down to sand
form, which can be used for
the U.S. Department of Jus
tice, was developed in re
sponse to the increasing
number of children and
teenagers using the Internet,
the proliferation of child
pornography, and the height
ened online activity by pred
ators searching for
unsupervised contact with
underage victims.
Anyone with information
about other cases is asked to
contact the Georgia Bureau
of Investigation at 404-270-
8870. Tips can also be sub
mitted by calling
l-800-597-TIPS(8477), on
line at
https://gbi.georgia.gov/sub-
mit-tips-online, or by down
loading the See Something,
Send Something mobile app.
other county needs.
•Pickens CFO Charlene
Bunch reported that as of Au
gust, the county has spent
54.6 percent of the allowable
67 percent of the budget.
This time last year, the
county had spent 64.26 per
cent. Of those total expendi
tures, general government
has expended 61.45 percent
of its budget; judicial has ex
pended 59.75 percent; public
safety has expended 50.56
percent; public works 56.65
percent; health & welfare
27.57 percent; culture &
recreation 67.52 percent; and
housing and development
53.22 percent. The enterprise
funds (water department and
airport) have spent 63.76 per
cent of their budget.
Estate Sale
74 Georgianna Street,
behind Mary Ann's.
Thursday, Friday &
Saturday, 9-3.
Moving, everything
must go.
Eire nas ant
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Precise blasting needed
to complete latest hangars
Airport Authority approves $13,286,668
capital improvement plan
Deep rock is blocking the path of a sewage line in the “horseshoe” area at the county
airport. Precise blasting will be required to remove the rock and not damage the founda
tions of the new hangars. The newest set of T-hangars will base 24 planes and additional
and larger box hangars will hold three more aircraft. This latest expansion at the airport
will increase the total based planes there to 126.
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