Pickens County progress. (Jasper, Ga.) 1899-current, April 21, 2022, Image 1

Previous Issue Next Issue

Clip Visible Area View Page Text View PDF

Newspaper Page TextThursday, April 21,2022 | Volume 135 Number 1 | Jasper, Georgia | 28 pages, 2 sections | Published Weekly | $1-00 Arrest made in ATM theft case Pickens Sheriff / Photo John Brown Jr. has been arrested for stealing and breaking into an ATM last year. By Angela Reinhardt Staff Writer areinhardt@pickensprogress.com A College Park man has been arrested and charged for driving off with an entire ATM and stealing money from in side before leaving it on a road in west Pickens last year. The incident occurred November 20, 2021 at 1:42 a.m. The Pickens County Sheriff’s Office originally responded to a call regarding a suspicious object in the middle of Mullinax Road after a mo torist nearly crashed into it. Investigators deter mined it was a Commu nity Bank of Pickens County ATM from the BP convenience store on Highway 53 in Hill City. Surveillance footage from the convenience store showed a Dodge pickup See Arrest on 15A Summer Satterfield awarded Hope After Grief Scholarship Summer Satterfield Summer Satterfield of Pickens County has been awarded the $1,000 Hope After Grief Scholarship out of all applicants in the state of Georgia. Summer’s father died from pancreatic cancer when Summer was in middle school. The time he was in Hospice weighed heavily on her, as she watched him get sicker, and she misses watching horror movies and celebrating birthdays with him. She is one of five kids and wants to be come a physician’s assis tant. She has worked tirelessly toward this goal and wishes her father could see how far she has come. Summer will attend Mercer University and take steps toward her goals and continuing to make her father proud. The award goes to one high school senior in South Carolina and one in Georgia who have had a See Satterfield on 15A State of the County address presented by top officials Speakers: Jasper mayor, Pickens commission chair, school superintendent and sheriff By Dan Pool Editor dpool@pickensprogress.com Top officials from local government presented a “state of the county” address to members of the Pickens Chamber of Commerce at the April 12 breakfast meet ing. Not surprising for any one who follows county news, most of the points tied to the rampant growth here. Speaking were Jasper Mayor Steve Lawrence, Commission Chair Kris Stancil, School Superintend ent Tony Young and Sheriff Donnie Craig. All the speakers noted they were presenting their best state of the county speech that could be deliv ered in a 10 minute time- frame. Jasper Mayor Steve Lawrence began with a video promotion for Jasper and then went on to list the developments across the city and the number of homes permitted in each - a list that seemed to go on and on. After the count reached several hundred new resi dences in some stage of de velopment, Lawrence said, “Obviously this means more water, and more police and fire [protection]” are needed. Lawrence highlighted some of the tourism/enter- tainment businesses that are either open on Main Street or planning to open/re-open such as the Woodbridge Tav ern and Sharptop Distilling Company. Lawrence was followed by Commission Chair Kris Stancil who sought to high- Peer County Growth Data Dashboard Peer Counties Total Growth Rate Since 2010 Average Annual Growth Rate 2022 Projected Pop. Density Per Square Mile Square Miles of Water / Total Square Miles 2022 Projected Pop. Dawson 30.11% 2.74% 138 3.6/214 29,051 Union 23.21% 2.11% 82 7.1 / 329 26,329 White 22.15% 2.01% 138 1.5/241 33,228 Lumpkin 18.03% 1.64% 126 1.3 / 264 35,743 Pickens 16.60% © 1.51% © 148 O 0.7/233 © 34,322 © Gilmer 16.34% 1.48% 77 4.7 / 431 32,971 Fannin 13.19% 1.20% 69 5.2/392 26,809 Peer Counties Average 19.95% 1.81% 111 3.1/309 31,208 Forsyth 50.53% 4.59% 1,187.34 23 / 247 266,029 Cherokee 27.02% 2.46% 648.21 13 / 434 273,350 Pickens County government/ Photo Figures presented to chamber members by commission chair Kris Stancil show Pickens and other north Georgia growing quickly but still far less crowded than nearby Forsyth and Cherokee counties. PHS Principal Chris Wallace moves to key district position Pickens High School website / Photo Chris Wallace will leave his position as PHS principal to work as director of maintenance and transportation. By Angela Reinhardt Staff Writer areinhardt@pickensprogress.com Pickens High School principal Chris Wallace an nounced he will step down as principal at the end of this school year and transition to the school system’s director of maintenance and trans portation. In a statement released on Friday, April 15, Wallace, who has been the high school’s principal for the last five years, said the decision came “after much prayer and consideration,” and that he is proud to see strides within the school system and “wit ness first-hand the numerous accomplishments by the stu dents and staff of Pickens High School.” “It has been a privilege and an honor to serve in this capacity,” Wallace said. “The impact that our stu dents, staff and community have made on my life during my tenure here is immeasur able. For this, I am grateful.” Director of maintenance and operations is a new po sition within the system. Wallace will work under Pickens Schools Chief Oper ations Officer Stacy Gille- land, and will also oversee building safety and security. Superintendent Tony Young told the Progress the move puts the system in a good position looking ahead, but noted that Wallace will leave “big shoes to fill.” “We are very excited about Chris becoming our transportation and mainte nance director,” he said. “I believe this positions us nicely for the growth that the county will experience in the coming years. As for the process of replacement, those will be big shoes to fill but whatever Chris does, he does 110 percent and we look forward to him bringing that approach to his new po sition as we continue to wrestle with staff shortages in the area of transportation. The process of finding his replacement will be one that includes the voices of all of our stakeholders as we search for the best possible candidate to lead PHS into the future.” See more school news on page A14. Full statement from Chris Wallace To The Dragon Nation: Five years ago, I was af forded the opportunity to begin my tenure as principal at Pickens High School. When I made the commit ment to take on this role, I did so with the goal of chal lenging students and staff to See Wallace on 15A City monitoring minor sewage spill By Alex Goble Staff Writer agoble@pickensprogress.com A minor sanitary sewer spill occurred on Wednes day, April 13 near the south ernmost entrance of Doris Wigington Park along Gen- nett Drive. The spill was caused by a blockage in one of the city’s sanitary sewer manholes and was repaired on the same day as the blockage occurred. It is estimated that 500 gallons of sewage was dis charged and those gallons soaked back into the nearby ground. A ditch near the site flows into Hinton Creek and crews will be sampling the water for a minimum of seven days, with guidance from the Environmental Pro tection Division (EPD) of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources to check for abnormalities. According to Assistant City Manager Kim Gold- Alex Goble / Photo The site of the 500 gallon sanitary sewer spill in Doris Wigington Park after repairs had been made. ener, drinking water and other related issues remain safe. “I don’t believe [there is any risk], but that it the purpose behind sampling for at least a seven-day period,” she said. “We should have more direction from EPD soon, because we will be re quired to file our report to them with all the details in there, so we’re just waiting to find out from EPD how much longer beyond the seven days we will be re quired to sample, but we should be getting the results any time now.” The area has been taped off with signs posted on each side and treated with lime. When this reporter stopped by the site on Monday noth ing odd was visible and no discemable smell was pres ent. See Spill on 15A light the difference in growth between the incorporated city property and unincorporated county property. Stancil said the county is working to maintain growth management and growth control. He joked that there are plenty of experts found on social media who know exactly how to manage growth but “it’s not easy.” He emphasized that the county “is not a no growth county.” Nor can the county take the position See Address on 15A History Former Kyanite mine history Page 3B Obituaries - 5-6A • Anthony LaQuaglia • Betty Edmondson • Bobby Goble Sr. • Carl Grizzle • Debbie Armstrong • Hailette Mulkey • Jackie Ledbetter • Jake Pettee • Jane Raglin • John Moser III • Kenneth Garrison • Larry Starr • Melinda Wulfmeyer- Boatwright • Rosemary Mullins • Thomas Dillard • Warren Leverett Contact Us 94 North Main Street Jasper, Ga. 30143 706-253-2457 www.pickensproaress.com Open for business during these hours: Mon-Thurs, 9-5, and Fri, 9-4:30 $1.00 per copy 4879 08163" o

Georgia Historic Newspapers

Pickens County progress. (Jasper, Ga.) 1899-current, April 21, 2022, Image 1