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THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 10. 2022 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 9A
From the Jasper Council meeting
Moratorium extended, council
moves ahead on Perrow Park
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@piekensprogress.com
Jasper Council members
have extended their tempo
rary moratorium on residen
tial rezonings and associated
building permits an addi
tional 90 days, through June
1,2022.
Council originally imple
mented the moratorium in
August of 2021 through
March 2022 to review zoning
ordinances in light of in
creased interest in residential
development. Jasper City At
torney David Syfan said at
the Monday, Feb. 7 meeting,
“Council wanted to look at
the provisions of the zoning
ordinance and sort of do a
comprehensive review of
whether the densities in vari
ous residential districts are
appropriate, and whether
changes are needed in order
to reflect what is best for the
community.”
Syfan added, “It’s taking a
little more time than ex
pected” to sift through.
“They need some additional
time.”
The end result of the
moratorium and ordinance
review will be amendments
to the city’s zoning ordi
nance.
Council member Sonny
Proctor, who serves on the
development committee, said
they meet weekly to discuss
the issue.
“We are making progress
every meeting in refining the
future,” he said.
Council has the ability to
end the moratorium if need
be.
Council moves forward
with Perrow Park project
Jasper Council approved a
purchase sale agreement that
will transfer ownership of the
Perrow Park property from
the Downtown Development
Authority back to the city of
Jasper. The site is located at
the comer of Spring Street
and South Main Street, the
location where the city has
plans to develop a downtown
city park and amphitheater.
City Manager Sonia
Jammes said, “The desire of
staff and legal is for this to
take place in order to demol
ish some of the structures on
the property that are unsafe
for our citizens.”
Jammes said the DDAhas
scheduled a meeting for Feb
ruary 15 to authorize the
agreement. The city of Jasper
will be responsible for the
outstanding loan balance on
the property.
In other news from Jasper
Council:
•Council briefly discussed
the restroom project on Main
Street at the old Entegra
Bank drive thru. There was a
partially-completed construc
tion drawing presented by
council member Jim Looney,
with council agreeing to dis
cuss the project in more de
tail at their upcoming retreat.
•Council approved up to
$25,000 for EXP engineering
firm to oversee the bid
process, engineering, and in
spection of Gennett Drive re
pairs. The bridge collapsed
last March due to flooding in
the area. Bids for repairs
came in significantly over
budget last year, and council
adjusted their approach. A
separate bid went out to re
pair the waterlines, which has
been completed. The site has
also been cleared, with some
in-kind work done by city
crews. Bids for the project
will be opened February 14,
and include everything but
paving and guard rails. The
bridge will be repaired to
Georgia Department of
Transportation standards be
cause the city received a por
tion of project funding from
GDOT. EXP is qualified to
oversee that a project be
completed to GDOT stan
dards.
•During executive session,
council reviewed applica
tions for position of Jasper
Fire Chief and Jasper Police
Chief. One city official said
there were over 30 applica
tions for each position. Coun
cil had a called special work
session the following day to
continue reviewing applica
tions.
•Council approved a new
Certificate of Occupancy res
idential fee schedule. The
city will now charge a fee to
issue COs based on size of
residence. The fee schedule
mirrors rates in Pickens
County. Following a question
from council member Proc
tor, it was stated that charging
for COs is typical and “best
practices.”
• The meeting was han
dled by Mayor Pro Tem Kirk
Raffield filling in for Mayor
Steve Lawrence who was
sick.
•Council approved a new
Jasper Fire Department fee
schedule that will allow the
department to impose fees
for re-inspections, false
alarms, and other services.
The fee schedule will bring
the department in line with
other municipalities.
•Council approved Sharp-
top Distilling Company,
Woodbridge Tavern LLC,
and Culinary Getaway LLC
(The Lunch Box) to advertise
for an alcohol license. Coun
cil also directed staff to re
view their alcohol ordinances
and possibly have approval
of advertising for an alcohol
license not need to come be
fore council in the future.
•Jasper’s Development
Director Lonnie Waters re
ported 10 building permits
were issued in January, in
cluding seven new residences
and three remodels. There
were also 122 on-site inspec
tions and four animal control
calls.
Nelson City Council Feb. meeting highlights
By Alex Goble
Staff Writer
The city of Nelson had a
routine meeting on Monday,
Feb. 7.
Of note was approval of
the purchase of a new sanita
tion truck and cans to begin
the process of city-wide san
itation, at $205,000, using
SPLOST funding.
Due to supply bottlenecks,
the truck may not be received
for up to a year, giving the
city time to prepare and lease
space for the truck and sani
tation supplies.
Other discussion included
the budget and the possible
auctioning of city owned
property at 80 Blue Ridge
Ave.
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The Professional Women of Pickens County (PWPC) held their first networking luncheon meeting for 2022 on Thurs
day, Feb. 3. The program was Heart Healthy Tips for Women in honor of February being American Heart Month. The
meeting was sponsored by iTHINK Financial. The guest speaker was Negin Bauer, a nurse practitioner with Northside
Hospital Cherokee. PWPC is a program of the Pickens County Chamber of Commerce and the meetings are open for
chamber members as well as non-chamber members. Save the date for the next networking luncheon meeting on April
7. For more information about attending contact the Chamber at 706-692-5600 or visitpickenschamber.com.
Pictured L-R is Sally Stenger, PWPC secretary, attorney at law; Jennifer Stanley and Negin Bauer, Northside Hospital
Cherokee representative and speaker; Kelly Stover, PWPC president, iTHINK Financial; Sheri Crowe, PWPC past pres
ident, Pickens County Progress; Michelle Tidwell, PWPC president-elect, iTHINK Financial; and Tami Caspersen,
iTHINK Financial sponsor representative
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Little Free Food Pantry now at First Baptist
Lions thank 4-H
Jasper Lions Club President Pauline Maturo (R) pres
ents a $500 check to Traci Buckingham (L) of the Pickens
4-H Club. It is given in gratitude for the 4-H allowing the
Lions Club to use their building numerous years for the 4th
of July celebration and their help with our Fill A Stocking
Project. The money will go to a 4-H Scholarship which
bears Traci's name.
By Alex Goble
Staff Writer
The Rotaract Club, a sub
group of the Rotary Club, has
placed Pickens County’s first
Little Free Food Pantry at
The First Baptist Church of
Jasper near E. Spring Street.
The pantry is open for
anyone who needs to use it
and is filled with non-perish
able foodstuffs and other
items that might be useful.
The Rotaract Club is in
charge of keeping and main
taining the 13 Little Free Li
braries in the county and
landed on the idea of the Lit
tle Free Pantry, a concept
gaining traction across the
country. They refer to theirs
as the pay-it-forward pantry
to try to encourage people to
someday go back and con
tribute to it themselves.
“We wanted to start small,
but the ultimate long-term
goal is that there is a Little
Free Pantry beside every Lit
tle Free Library,” said Cassie
Rasco, president of the Ro
taract Club. “We will use the
first six months to work out
all the kinks and find out
what works and what does
n’t.”
The club plans on putting
the next pantry in Hill City
and the third in Marble Hill
and hope to have all three in
stalled by the end of 2022.
If you would like to do
nate you can drop off any
non-perishable items at The
First Baptist Church of Jasper
office between 8 a.m. and 2
p.m. Monday through Friday.
They are also taking toiletry
items or anything that some
one could use.
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