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PAGE 12A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. DECEMBER 9. 2021
Continued From 1A I Continued From 1A
Plans
Next year JMA will host
the event again, with plans to
work closely with the city of
Jasper and the Downtown Al
liance and beef it up even
more.
“We want to make it big
ger and better for the commu
nity,” Bouchie said,
mentioning the possibility of
a chili cookoff, earlier enter
tainment, and other elements
still in preliminary discussion
phases.
JMA also plans to move
the event to the first Sunday
of the month instead of the
first Saturday to increase
crowd size. This year and in
years past the parade has co
incided with the popular
Southeastern Conference
football game, which has
likely impacted participation.
In addition, Bouchie said
they are working around Ball
Ground and Holly Springs’
parade schedule, which are
on the first Friday and first
Saturday in December.
This year’s float winners
were: 1st place: Bethany
Salem Fire Department; 2nd
place: Pickens County Gov
ernment; 3rd place: APEX
Offroad Club.
Buildings
planning by council and the
Downtown Alliance.
At the Monday, Dec. 6
meeting, Jasper Mayor Steve
Lawrence briefly discussed
next steps at the site, the first
of which are to remove the
three existing structures. The
structures were at one time
owned by the Perrow family,
including Dr. Guerrant Per
row who operated his prac
tice there. The old wooden
outparcel was built in the
1920s by professor Eber Per
row, who taught at Harvard
University and moved here in
1919 with his family to live
off the land.
But before the city can
perform demolition work,
which they plan to do using
in-house labor, they have to
hammer out an Intergovern
mental Agreement with the
Downtown Development Au
thority of Jasper, which
owns the smaller 0.94-acre
property with the buildings
on it. The city of Jasper pur
chased the property in 2016
through loans taken out by
the DDA because of limita
tions municipalities have for
going into indebtedness. In
2016 the city’s intention was
to convert and use at least
one of the buildings for
downtown restrooms, but
those plans never came to
fruition.
The city has been making
payments on the loan since
2016, with around $150,000
remaining on the note, ac
cording to Lawrence. The
city is responsible for paying
off the loan, not the DDA.
The title will eventually be
transferred to the city of
Jasper.
Earlier this year council
allocated $525,000 in the
2021 budget to begin im
provements to green space
area, which the mayor said
will be developed in phases.
“First we have to get the
buildings removed so we can
move ahead, get our plans fi
nalized and, yes, get an am
phitheater out there,” he told
the Progress.
Bids were presented for
removing utilities lines,
dumpsters, and other items
that will be needed during the
demolition phase.
Take-home vehicles, facial
hair approved for city police
Council approved two
items that Jasper Interim Po-
Continued From 1A
Grandview
long.
“That way we’re not just
doing a Band-Aid on top of a
Band-Aid that’s just going to
cause more problems in the
future. We want to go in there
and fix it and fix it right and
be done with it,” Anderson
said.
Cove Road is also on the
list for similar repairs with
deep grinding in areas, but
those will not cover the entire
road.
“We’ve got the same type
thing going on there [as on
Grandview Road], but it’s not
as extensive,” said Anderson,
noting that they will do more
minor repairs to that road in
spot areas. “It’s going to end
up patched looking, but it’s
better for it to be like that and
us let it sit like that for a
while and see if it holds up
before we resurface it - and
hopefully we’ll be looking at
resurfacing it in years to
come.”
Other roads on the list that
will be paved using outside
contractors will be Adams
Road from Big Ridge to the
cul-de-sac; Bethel/Damascus
Road from Big Ridge to the
cul-de-sac; Double Branches
Road from New Town Street
to the dead end; Hill City
Road from Highway 53 to
Jerusalem Church Road;
Priest Circle from Highway
136 to Highway 136; Math
ews Road from Hill City
Road to Henderson Mountain
Road; and Old Grandview
Road from Old Burnt Moun
tain Road to Grandview
Road.
Hill City Road will be
widened slightly in areas dur
ing resurfacing.
“We’re not talking three
or four feet, we’re just talking
a few inches here and there,
but it will make the road safer
if we’ve got a little more as
phalt and a little bit better
shoulder,” Anderson said.
“We’re not going to go take
anyone’s property.”
Anderson said in a later
interview his hopes are for
bid advertising to go out in
January, with a bid opening
in February, and paving to
begin in the spring. The only
thing that would change cur
rent paving plans would be if
bids come in higher than an
ticipated.
“We might have to
tweak,” he said. “Materials
just went through the roof -
but as long as everything
stays at where we have it es
timated at I don’t see any
problem with that.”
Using in-house crews the
county will tar and gravel the
dirt road portion of Talc Mine
Road, and also on some sec
ondary roads that have spider
cracking to prevent water
from seeping into the asphalt
and causing damage.
“It’s a way for us to buy
some time until we can resur
face,” he said.
Funding for the projects
come primarily from the
Georgia Department of
Transportation’s LMIG pro
gram, including a special
LMIG funding for the dam
area on Grandview Road.
The remaining road paving
funding will from SPLOST
revenues.
Commission Chair Kris
Stancil said the county ap
plied to have the LMIG grant
fund the entire Grandview
Road project but it didn’t pan
out.
“We put in for it last year,”
Stancil said. “They funded a
portion of it, not the entire
thing. We added it as a
SPLOST project for next
year.”
According to Anderson,
LMIG will cover $227,000
for the area at Grandview
dam, with the county re
quired to match 30 percent.
LMIG will pay for $604,192
for other road paving projects
on the list, with the county to
match 30 percent. SPLOST
will cover remaining costs.
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EOE/Drug Free Workplace
lice Chief Matt Dawkins be
lieves will be excellent incen
tives for attracting and
retaining officers - allowing
officers to take their police
vehicles home while off-duty
and allowing for neatly-
trimmed beards and goatees.
Dawkins said these were
shot down by the previous
administration, but gained
traction under current council
and mayor who he said have
put the city “leaps and
bounds” above where they
used to be. Dawkins told
council his department sur
veyed 19 surrounding munic
ipalities and Jasper was the
only one that did not offer
take-home vehicles. Council
member Kirk Raffield said
the measure was way past
due.
The city is able to provide
the perk after they recently
purchased new vehicles for
the police fleet. Two new
Ford Explorers arrived earlier
this year, and five Chevrolet
Tahoes have been ordered
and should arrive around
March 2022. Prior to this
purchase, most city officers
shared their vehicles. This
meant the vehicles ran
around the clock and wore
out much quicker, Dawkins
said.
Currently the city has 10
patrol officers. Take-home
vehicles provide between
$5,000 to $7,000 a year in
benefits through fuel and
maintenance savings to offi
cers’ personal vehicles.
In terms of facial hair, al
lowing for some neatly-
trimmed beards and goatees
“is small, but one of those lit
tle things that helps morale,”
Dawkins told the Progress.
“Some guys like to have a
beard, like me, but some
guys will still choose not to
have one - or can’t grow one
- but still it’s a way to pro
vide a little incentive.”
In the past, officers have
been allowed to have mus
taches.
The interim chief noted
that his officers are at the tail-
end of their first “No-Shave
November.” For the event,
officers are allowed to grow
a beard if they raise money
for the Pickens Sheriff’s Of
fice Shop With a Hero pro
gram, which gets toys to
at-need kids during the holi
days. Jasper officers also par
ticipate by shopping with
children alongside sheriff’s
deputies.
In other news from coun
cil:
•During executive session,
council finalized and ap
proved the contract for the
new city manager Sonia
Jammes. Jammes was most
recently employed as the as
sistant town manager for
Bedford, Va. She was se
lected as the sole finalist for
the Jasper position in mid-
November. Jammes’ first day
on the job will be in early
January 2022.
•Council adopted an em
ployee handbook that council
and mayor said was long
overdue. The handbook ad
dresses items like overtime,
payroll schedules, vacation,
and other areas to create
clear, consistent policies in
all departments.
•Mayor Lawrence was ap
pointed to temporarily fill a
seat on the Pickens County
Industrial Development Au
thority as representative for
the city of Jasper for a two-
year term. Council member
Sonny Proctor said the city
fought hard to get that seat on
the development authority,
“and to think that just a few
years ago, how far we’ve
come to be able to have the
input of our city in that room
where those important devel
opmental strategies are being
developed.” Proctor said the
mayor will do a good job in
that seat with “his negotiating
skills, his integrity.”
•Council member Kirk
Raffield was appointed to fill
a seat on the Downtown De
velopment Authority of
Jasper.
•Mayor Lawrence was ap
pointed to the Economic De
velopment Hiring
Committee. Council member
Proctor said the appoint
ments “demonstrate the
progress we’ve made not
only in our city but in our
county and the relationship
therein.”
•Council approved an al
cohol license for First Moun
tain Tasting Room, to be
located at 69 N. Main Street
in Jasper.
Continued From 1A
Drugs
The search of the car un
covered numerous pills in
cluding three morphine
tablets, one plastic bag with
6.15 ounces of methamphet-
amine and one plastic bag
with 21.46 ounces of
methamphetamine, plus the
minor amount of the sus
pected marijuana.
Wise said the pills were of
a quantity that it was only
possession charges. Brook
shire will face Felony Traf
ficking In Methamphetamine
for the two bags of meth.
Wise said detectives
didn’t have any definite rea
son regarding why Brook
shire was in this area.
Are we getting it straight?
If you spot an error in our pages,
let our staff hear about it.
Call 706-253-2457 or email
dpool@pickensprogress.com
ATTN: All Bent Tree Homeowners
There is a Planning & Development Commissioners meeting
this coming Monday, December 13, at 6:00PM at 1266 East
Church Street, in the Commissioner’s Conference Room, Suite
168.
YOUR ATTENDANCE IS IMPORTANT!!
The Owner of the existing storage & mini-warehouses located
on Bent Tree Drive has purchased the adjacent property and is
planning to expand his existing mini-warehouse business and is
also requesting permission for RV storage.
Earlier this year, the Owner submitted an application requesting
2.83 acres of this newly purchased property be re-zoned from RR
(Rural Residential) to NC (Neighborhood Commercial.) After an
extensive review, the Pickens County Planning & Development
Staff (“Staff’) recommended a DENIAL of this request to the Pick
ens County Planning & Development Board (“Board.”) Despite the
recommendation for DENIAL, the Board approved the re-zoning
request. For some reason, the Owner subsequently pulled his ap
plication.
The Owner has now filed an application to re-zone this property
to HB. As part of the Staff’s written recommendation to DENY the
re-zoning of this property to NC, they wrote that they would have
suggested a DENIAL to the request even if it had been requested
to be re-zoned to HB. Among their reasons for the DENIAL, they
wrote “...the Comprehensive Plan does not provide for this zoning
(NC or HB) within this Character Area.”
If this application requesting to re-zone this property to HB is
approved, we strongly believe:
• It will be detrimental to preserving the beautiful rural quality
of the area, specifically along Bent Tree Drive, and
• It will diminish residential property values, and
• It will attract even more crime to the surrounding area. The
Owner has acknowledged this concern of the current level
of crime; hence, he has already installed unsightly
High-Density LED “prison” lighting to his existing mini-ware
houses, and
•Additional existing screening will continue to be eliminated
and existing trees will not be preserved - notice the trees
that have recently been cut down, exposing the existing
buildings, and leaving the resulting piles of debris visible as
you drive on Bent Tree Drive, and
• If the HB re-zoning is approved, it will most likely encourage
other additional commercial development along Bent Tree
Drive.
For your benefit and for the benefit of the entire Bent Tree
Community, please attend the re-zoning hearing this coming Mon
day, December 13 at 6:00PM, if you’re able to do so.
If you have any questions or concerns, have any suggestions,
or need additional information, please feel free to go to “Keep
Bent Tree Drive Rural” (via Facebook.)
Thank you!!