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Thursday, February 10, 2022 | Volume 134 Number 43 | Jasper, Georgia | 24 pages, 2 sections | Published Weekly | $1-00
Homeless shelter board not backing
down on permitting fight with city
Angela Reinhardt / Photo
Board members of Refuge in Jesus during a live Q&A that aired on the Jasper, GA News Facebook page
Monday, Feb. 7. The video was filmed in a building off South East Street where the non-profit wants to permit
a homeless shelter. (L-R) Refuge in Jesus board members Steve Lovell, Amy Ghorley, and Jasper, GA News
Facebook administrator and Q&A host John Phares.
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
A non-profit that wants to permit
a homeless shelter in downtown
Jasper is digging its heels in against
the city, which has claimed the shel
ter is unlicensed, in violation of the
city’s zoning ordinance, and in vio
lation of building fire and safety
codes.
But leaders with Refuge In Jesus,
LLC counter that Jasper does not
have an ordinance that prohibits a
homeless shelter, and said the city
will not grant them a reasonable
timeframe to get the South East
Street building up to code, which
they began leasing around three
months ago. The non-profit’s board
has plans to file litigation against the
city over the matter.
Refuge in Christ was formed late
last year, spurred on by Amy Ghor
ley, owner of Golden Day Coin
Laundry on South East Street. The
24-hour laundromat would regularly
attract members of the homeless
population, especially in the
evenings to get out of the cold.
Ghorley, who dealt with the issue for
several years at her business, said
she felt called by God to support the
homeless and formed the board with
Barry Eckman and Steve Lovell. The
board secured a lease for a building
next to the laundry mat “for a price
we could afford,” and incorporated
the non-profit in late December with
the Georgia Secretary of State.
“Then we started to approach the
city to get our permitting and have
everything legal, and that’s when
things started falling apart,” said
board member Lovell. “But, God is
on our side with this and it will hap
pen. Our total mission is to assist the
homeless with a place to rest with
dignity, and rehabilitate them so they
can return to society.”
County drops anchor on Grandview
Lake project after prices triple
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
The long-awaited Grandview
Lake water treatment project, which
has been in the works for many
years, hit a massive stumbling block
after bids to build a water treatment
facility came in three times what was
initially budgeted.
The project is the result of an
agreement made between Grand-
There was concern the floating
dock for the project would harm the
view from Grandview Road as seen
in this 1980s painting by Lorraine
Fitts.
view Lake Company and Pickens
County in 2018. GLC, which owns
Grandview Lake, agreed to allow the
county to purchase water rights and
withdraw up to 333,000 gallons a
day in exchange for funding $1.5
million in needed dam repairs. The
deal was considered a “win-win” for
both sides, with the county to benefit
by having an affordable way to se
cure a reservoir, and Grandview
Lake Company to benefit with dam
repair funding from the county.
The original estimate for this
treatment plant project was about $2
million,” said Pickens Commis
sioner Kris Stancil at the Thursday,
Jan. 3 work session, with total bids
See Water on 2A
Planned airport
terminal cost
estimated at
$2.2 million
By Alex Goble
Staff Writer
agoble@pickensprogress.com
Pickens County Airport’s planned terminal
building will cost about $2.2 million and in
clude a lobby area, pilot lounge, conference
room, offices, and bathrooms.
According to airport authority treasurer Ed
Wood the plans were space and floor-plan
driven after a team toured several north Geor
gia airports of similar size and function doing
a needs assessment. The tour included Barwick
LaFayette Airport, Green County Regional
Airport, Thomson-McDuffie Regional Airport,
and Habersham County Airport.
See Terminal on 11A
Pickens, Gilmer
counties awarded
$25 million for
broadband project
Governor Brian P. Kemp and House
Speaker David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) joined
by members of the Broadband Infrastructure
Committee and state leaders, today announced
almost $408 million in preliminary awards
which will provide communities, households,
and businesses in 70 Georgia counties access
to faster and more reliable broadband. 49
American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant proj
ects were awarded of which the Joint Devel
opment Authority of Gilmer and Pickens
County was one of the recipients.
See Broadband on 2A
Landfill seeks to re-open
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@piekensprogress.com
County leaders held a cordial
meeting with the owner of the
private Whitestone landfill on
February 2, with both sides dis
cussing how they could move
forward lifting the closure order
that has been in place for over a
month.
Both sides danced around di
rect conflict, with the White-
stone Valley Construction and
Demolition Landfill’s owner
even suggesting at one point that
the horrible odor never came
from his landfill. Perhaps it was
a chicken house, owner Eric
Cash told the commissioners
and county staff.
The meeting, however, ended
on a very different note when
Kelly Teal, owner of nearby
Bigun’s BBQ, lambasted the
landfill’s owner during public
comments, saying he doesn’t
want to be known “as the place
next to the place that smells like
a septic tank.”
Teal, who has sold two
houses in the area near his
restaurant and now lives in a
third home nearby, said there
had never been a smell problem
until three months ago.
The restaurant owner said
people driving south on High
way 515 are not going to pass
through that smell “that stays in
side your vehicle,” then pull
over a few moments later to eat
barbecue.
Furthermore, Teal said he
sold his first house in that area
to someone for $700,000 when
there was no smell but he feels
bad that now the new owner
can’t even go onto his deck.
“You have got to understand
someone not wanting to go
home and smell a rotten egg in
side their house,” he said. Teal
also said he had grown up in the
country and there is no way that
is a chicken house smell, more
of a “run over skunk” that just
doesn’t’ go away.
The meeting opened with
Commission Chair Kris Stancil
referencing a split screen photo
See Landfill on 8A
photo/Pickens County government
What lies beneath — This split-screen photo was presented by Commission Chair Kris Stancil
who told landfill operators if they keep it looking as it does on the right, there is a path forward.
But any future evidence of municipal waste, like that shown on the left, won’t be tolerated.
Lovell said they allowed a
few people to stay at the shelter
prior to obtaining permitting
because temperatures were
around or below freezing, and
“nights were such that people
should not have been sleeping
outside.”
The city of Jasper issued a
press release about the home
less shelter on February 3,
2022. The release states that
the city became aware of the
shelter in December, but be
cause of temperatures “made a
humanitarian decision and
gave the unlicensed homeless
See Shelter on 11A
Of Interest
Shooting the
Breeze with
Camille Morgan
Page12A
Obituaries - 5A
• Amma Dell Whitsell
• Beverly Drew
• Bruce Love
• Evelyn Fox
• Jack Arrendale
• Jacob Buttrum
• James Kraemer
• James Poole
• Maggie Young
• Mary Gibson
• Mike Goode
• Sara Goss
• Suelane Chastain
• Tiny Teague
Contact Us
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Jasper, Ga. 30143
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