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“Where there is no vision, the people perish.” — Proverbs 29:18
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Common Sense
The Progress
Editorial
April 7,2022
From the Staff
Let’s consider merging
city/county water & sewage
To come right to the point, we believe that
the time is ripe for the city of Jasper and
county government to have an open, inde
pendent look at whether it would be in every
one’s interest to consolidate their water and
sewage operations under one joint authority.
On the surface it appears inefficient for a
county this size to have two different public
water entities. A perfect example is the
Grandview water deal. Right now the county
owns a permit for 330,000 gallons flowing
down Pendley Creek. Their water is used by
the city of Jasper who withdraws it at their
intake on Cove Road and compensates the
county. The city will then serve customers
who live well outside their corporate limits,
while the county flows water all around the
city to reach their customers. Seems like put
ting all this under one authority makes a lot
of sense.
But nothing is ever as simple. There are
some apples and oranges involved in the
comparison which could make any merger
unfeasible.
We would like to see the two governments
form an independent group of people knowl
edgeable with utilities, infrastructure and the
politics of growth to gather some facts and
present a report on the idea - much like the
county did when they moved from a sole
commissioner to a multi-person board.
It may come as a surprise for some to
leam there are two public water providers in
this small county. [And there are also cus
tomers served by neighboring Cherokee
County Water & Sewage in Nelson, plus Big
Canoe and Bent Tree operate their own sys
tems].
Both the city and county provide the exact
same end product, water into homes and
business. But just like Coke and Pepsi, there
are key differences.
County government got into the water
business decades after the city’s was estab
lished. The county has a solid plan with new
water lines and deals to partner with neigh
boring counties for additional supply. An in
teresting deal in the works is with the sewage
company that serves Big Canoe to expand
their services to the Foothills areas.
The city of Jasper is well established and
about double the county operation. Their
6,000 water customers are considerably more
than the county’s and the city already serves
2,500 customers with sewage, plus they have
a very lucrative side-gig processing leachate
for the Eagle Point landfill. But they are feel
ing the pains of skyrocketing residential
growth. Efforts to expand capacity have been
delayed over and over again by permitting is
sues and cost.
We don’t face a future where the citizens
of this county will be crawling in the desert
begging for “water” with chapped lips, but if
expansion can’t be accomplished, it may get
real expensive if the city or county is sud
denly forced to negotiate for more water with
neighbors. Or, if long range expansions plans
become a next week must do’s, it may force
poor decisions.
Jasper’s former Mayor John Weaver was
adamantly opposed to any merger citing the
city’s well-established system, running in the
black; while the county was then a startup
and constrained by the debts of the lines they
had run. Weaver was right then. Now it may
be a different story.
Here are the advantages we believe would
be gained by consolidation:
• More resources to throw at the problem
of expanding and serving existing areas of
the county and handling the growth. You get
more manpower, two department budgets,
equipment, not to mention more water supply
by combining forces and assets.
• Streamline all the service area issues and
put all the lines, which already cross at some
points, under one management.
• Better ability to control growth and man
age infrastructure at the same time. Put the
infrastructure under an independent board
and let the elected officials handle the politics
of growth. As our county commission chair
has recently said he doesn’t want to make a
decision on the sewage options in the
Foothills area without having the east end
commission seat filled because there are so
many factors at play there.
That’s exactly why you need an authority,
to make decisions on infrastructure free of
politics and let the political issues be handled
at the ballot box.
There may be very clear reasons that a
merger would not work. Finances, debts and
terms imposed by grants have a way of com
plicating things.
Nevertheless, the needs facing any gov
ernment in such a fast-growing area are great
and it certainly doesn’t hurt to explore op
tions and maybe a little teamwork is the an
swer.
Tell us your thoughts with a letter to the editor. E-mail to news@pickensprogress.com
See letter submission guidelines on the Letters to the Editor page or call us 706-253-2457.
The News?
By Jim Brescia
Let’s admit that there is very
little news on TV nowadays. It is
all almost exclusively commen
tary and it is biased. If you do
not think that most mainstream
news is biased, you should seek
mental counseling and soon.
But first, I have some swamp
land in Florida that I would like
to sell you.
The thing that bothers me the
most about news programs is the
overuse, nay, the abuse of the
phrase “breaking news.”
I would like to see the FCC
(or some other set of initials)
pass a new law that stipulates the
only time “breaking news” can
be used to introduce a story is if
it is being aired for the first time
on that channel.
If you watch the same news
channel for a day, you will hear
the same story introduced 15
times as “breaking news.” Also,
if you watch any news channel
all day, something is breaking
but it is your intellect and sanity.
What is covered and how it is
covered varies greatly and is to
tally dependent on the political
agenda to which a channel sub
scribes.
A story about a politician
who is involved in a clearly ille
gal business deal with their son
or daughter would get reported
as a crime on one channel and a
heartwarming story about a par
ent bonding with a child they
truly love on another channel.
Recently, I found myself
switching between a conserva
tive news broadcast and a liberal
newscast on the same evening
and I was amazed at the differ
ences. Stories were included or
excluded depending upon
whether or not they supported
the narrative being promulgated
by that channel.
The “news” channels name
specific channels they oppose
and ridicule their coverage of
important stories. It is like a
mixed martial arts cage grudge
match.
If you tell me the news
sources you monitor, I can tell
you your political views. That is
a major impediment to being
(USPS 431-820)
Published by Pickens County Progress, Inc.
94 North Main Street, Jasper, GA 30143
(706) 253-2457
www.pickensprogressonline.com
DAN POOL
Publisher/Editor
Published each Thursday at Jasper, Pickens County, Georgia.
Entered at the Post Office at Jasper, Georgia 30143
as Mail Matter of Second Class.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS, 94 N. Main St., Jasper, GA 30143.
One Year Subscription: $41.17 for residents of Pickens County
or the cities of Ball Ground, Fairmount, and Ranger;
$52.30 for all other Georgia residents; $62.32 out of state residents.
open to information that might
alter our view of events and in
tentions. I know people are hes
itant to change doctors, barbers
and news sources. There is com
fort in the sameness and pre
dictability of these providers.
What I do not understand is
why, after a news source is
proven to be wrong on story
after story, people do not aban
don that source. I think we all
seek the news source that con
firms our pre-determined view
of the world.
This entrenched bias helps to
explain why political polariza
tion makes compromise or con
cessions impossible. So, the
traditional give and take of poli
tics becomes the executive order.
More and more decisions are
made unilaterally. Post-election
transitions become whiplash
events with a cascade of
changes. In the past, I hoped that
all politicians had the best inter
est of our country at heart but
they disagreed on how to
achieve that goal.
But lately, I see politicians
who want to change the founda
tion upon which this country
was built. The alternative values
that they offer have been proven
throughout history to be bad for
a country and oppressive to its
people. I do not want these mis
guided people telling me how to
live my life.
Where to begin solving this
problem? Take baby steps.
Watch/read your usual news
source. Then watch/read a
source that you know to be the
polar opposite in political view.
If your usual source presents
only the stories that support its
biased narrative and ignores the
stories that are counter to its
bias, perhaps you should con
sider using other sources. That
is, if you really seek the truth.
[Jim Brescia is a regular
contributor the Progress. He is
involved in several veteran
groups in the area.]
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Other Voices
A Safe Place for Hurting People
photo/Rebecca Kamp
When a client walks through the door of the CARES coffee shop, they are greeted by
one of the encouragement team and offered a cup of coffee, tea and a donut and asked
what they need that day.
By Janice Snyder
Freelance Writer
Covid, businesses going
belly up and the political
malpractice taking place in
Washington has left many
Americans struggling in the
hardship of a recession.
Due to high gas prices,
some Americans will have to
alter their vacations this year
and spend their off days at
home while pulling back on
their leisure spending.
The rich will have the
money to ride out the low
tide of the stock market,
while the working class peo
ple will tighten their belts
again as our world leaders
play chess with the Ukraine
war.
The hardest hit with the
shenanigans taking place in
our political arena is the im
poverished and homeless
people across the United
States and, like other coun
ties; Pickens County has their
share of hurting people.
While the low income citi
zens of Pickens tighten their
belts, the "no income" of
Pickens doesn’t have a belt to
tighten.
Chris Rumble, executive
director of CARES for Pick
ens County, has a compas
sionate, nonjudgmental
vision for the disadvantaged
of Pickens County. Although
CARES does not offer a
homeless shelter, Rumble
with his trained staff and vol
unteers have taken his vision
and manifested it into a safe
place to visit for the forgotten
people of Pickens County.
The less fortunate people
of Pickens County who are
helped by CARES is a com
posite of the homeless, lonely
elderly, people with mental
and physical disabilities,
adults with no or limited
reading abilities, displaced
families, unemployed, teen
pregnancy and Grandparents
parenting their Grandchil
dren.
Although CARES contin
ues to feed the hungry the vi
sion of Mr. Rumble has taken
CARES to a new level of fur
nishing more than food to
their variety of clients.
Rumble has designed and
implemented an excellent
outreach program for the
clients of CARES that is
helping them get back on
their feet again and rekindle
their dignity.
With the continuing dona
tions from individuals,
churches and businesses in
Pickens County, CARES is in
a position to supply food, toi
letries, basic needs, help from
the outreach programs that
allows the clients to gain
back their independence.
The Pickens Progress
supplies a valuable tool each
week to CARES with free
copies of the newspaper for
all families receiving food.
The classifieds inform-
CARES clients of jobs avail
ability and qualifications.
Rumble has provided a
computer for clients to use as
well as a volunteer to help
them with constructing their
resume and connecting with
employers.
Perhaps the most precious
commodity of Rumble's vi
sion is the coffee shop. Love
is the ambiance that fills the
coffee shop at CARES.
When a client walks through
the door they are greeted by
one of the encouragement
team and offered a cup of
coffee, tea and a donut and
asked what they need that
day. If they are lonely, as
many elderly are, a team
member sits with them offer
ing companionship and con
versation with their coffee.
Life is very hard for low
income and homeless human
beings and to have a place to
go where they can sit with a
kind, nonjudgmental person
and have a friendly conversa
tion lightens their heavy bur
den of poverty for awhile.
Spiritual food is also
found at CARES. A Bible
study is given once a week
for those who want to attend.
There is no better thing
that a human can do but to
help relieve the suffering of
their brother. Rumble has
done this with his vision.
WEATHER
By William Dilbeck
HI LOW RAIN
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March
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March
31
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.08
April
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57
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April
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60
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April
3
63
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April
4
49
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Spot an
error?
Let our
editor hear about it.
dpool@pickensprogress .com
706-253-2457
Article
Archive
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HELP WANTED
South Cherokee/Jasper
Driver Improvement Clinic
1623 East Church Street, Jasper GA
Part-time Office Assistant
Basic computer skills required. Will
train. Minimum 16 hours per week
Part-time Behind-the-Wheel Instructor
Must have clean driving record and 15+ years of
driving experience. Background check will be re
quired. Evenings, weekends, school breaks and
summer. Will train.
Send resume to info@southcherokee.com
or call 770.928.3679