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PAGE 12A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. APRIL 21.2022
Talking Rock looks to improve aesthetics
Heritage Days plans include new events
Developer David Wilbanks, of Wildcat Timber, shows plans of the proposed 220 acre
residential project on Fisher Creek Road to interested city officials and residents of Talking
Rock at the council meeting Thursday.
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@piekensprogress.com
During a brief but produc
tive town council meeting
Thursday, city leaders in
Talking Rock discussed an
array of topics that would be
common for any small town,
including lawn mowers,
waste disposal and their fall
festival.
• The town voted to pur
chase a new lawn mower ex
pected to cost between
$4,000-$5,000. Mayor Pro
Tem James Bryant Jr. wanted
to publicly commend their
maintenance person, Jerry
Wright, for handling a variety
of projects around city hall
and in the park. The town
clerk added Wright had re
sponded very quickly to the
complaint of a broken swing
seat in the park.
• Council member Tony
Hawf is working with the
state Department of Trans
portation on some survey
work ahead of beautification,
along Talking Rock’s main
route through town, which is
State Route 136. He also ref
erenced the steep section of
road at the comer of down
town as you approach from
Jones Mountain where peo
ple drive into the congested
downtown too fast.
It was also mentioned in
this report that someone had
driven into the septic area in
downtown and had to be
towed out.
Acting Mayor Bryant said
there is a real effort to im
prove the aesthetics of the
city. If they can’t accomplish
all they want at once, then
they will look at what are the
priorities.
• The council discussed
adding a Farmers Market
through the summer. Council
member Steve Lewis is at
work on this. Lewis can be
found at Shadow Creek An
tiques for anyone interested
in helping.
• Council member Mary
Bregantini reported they will
add events to the Heritage
Days Festival in October.
They hope to add a duck
race, silent auction, raffles
with donations benefitting
two non-profits (the Joy
House and Pickens Animal
Rescue) and a sunrise church
service on Sunday. The
mayor said it is shaping up to
be a phenomenal event.
• The only place where the
meeting saw the old contro
versy that had plagued the
council much of last year was
with their intention to name
Hawf as the town’s building
inspector. Cheryl Sams, a
longtime town official, ob
jected saying Hawf is on the
council and is a builder in
town with the brewery lo
cated in the rail car; making
him the building inspector
will be a conflict of interest.
It was explained that the for
mer building inspector had
medical issues and wouldn’t
be back any time soon,
maybe not at all. The mayor
said he would check with the
town attorney regarding the
Hawf appointment.
• A building inspector may
be needed shortly as the
council heard from Wildcat
Timber developers who have
plans for a 21-lot residential
project on 220 acres between
Fisher Creek Road and High
way 136. The development
will be accessed on the gravel
Fisher Creek Road and the
homes on gravel roads with
lots between 6 acres and 21
acres. The development will
go through the town’s devel
opment process regarding
permits.
• Mayor Bryant asked cit
izens “to use but not abuse”
the dumpster near city hall
for town garbage. He said
this is a great thing set up by
former mayor Randy Banks,
but they have been getting
additional charges/fines for
garbage flowing over the top
in recent months. He said
they will look at options but
asked the townspeople to
keep the overages in mind
and not put so much in the
dumpster that the lid won’t
close, which incurs extra
charges.
Free rides to Atlanta VA from the DAY resume
By Jennifer Paire
Progress Contributor
Transportation to the At
lanta VA Medical Center in
Decatur has resumed for vet
erans in Pickens and sur
rounding counties.
Prior to the COVID-19
pandemic, veterans across
north Georgia relied on the
free van service provided by
the Fannin Disabled Ameri
can Veterans (DAV) Chapter
28. Transportation Coordina
tor John Bailey said veterans
may not know the van is back
on the road.
“We have not had a lot of
calls yet,” said Bailey, one of
four approved van drivers
who volunteers in honor of
his son who is a disabled vet
eran. “We just started back in
the first part of February and
word is starting to get around
to the vets. A lot of vets had
to transport on their own dur
ing COVID.”
While veterans have ac
cess to the Pickens County
VA Clinic, they may be re
ferred for services that are
only available at the VA hos
pital.
The van’s first pick up lo
cation is at the Fannin
County Veterans Conference
Center in Blue Ridge. The
van makes other stops in El-
lijay, Jasper, Canton and
Woodstock on its way to De
catur.
Veterans from all counties
are welcome “as long as they
are able to have someone to
bring them to pickup loca
tions,” Bailey said.
More volunteer drivers
are needed and must have a
good driving record.
“We’d like to have enough
so our drivers only have to
drive one day a month,” said
Fannin DAV Commander
Paul Hunter of Blue Ridge.
“They have to volunteer their
time and we don’t want to tie
up their time every day. With
one or two you will run them
to death, that is why we are
always hunting for drivers.”
Caregivers are also wel
come to accompany veterans.
“A lot of our older people
cannot drive in Atlanta or
they don’t have good enough
vehicles, or they don’t have
someone to go there and back
with them - it’s a hard ride by
yourself,” Hunter said. “I
enjoy helping veterans, and it
doesn’t matter if we have one
veteran or a vanload, as long
as we help one veteran.”
For transport and informa
tion call John Bailey at 706-
851-5204.
John Bailey, transportation coordinator for the Fannin
DAV Chapter 28, volunteers to drive veterans to the Atlanta
VA Medical Center in the organization’s latest van, pur
chased in 2020. The chapter has supplied free rides to be
tween 80 and 120 veterans per year in the past.
Atlanta Gas Light
atlantagaslight.com/safety
Smell Gas? Act Fast!
Natural gas is a colorless and odorless fuel. For safety reasons, a chemical odorant called
mercaptan is added for easy detection of a suspected natural gas leak. This odorant has a
distinctive "rotten egg" type odor. Natural gas odors should be reported immediately.
IHay olor a gas? jActue rapldo! El gas natural es un combustible Incoloro e Inodoro. Por razones de segurldad, se le agrega
un aromatlzante gui'mlco llamado mercaptano para gue se pueda detector facllmente. Este aromatlzante tlene un olor
caracteri'stlco a "huevo podrldo." Los olores a gas natural deben Informarse de Inmedlato.
If you detect even a small amount
of this odor in the air:
Si detecta este olor en el aire, por mmimo que sea:
• Do not try to locate the source of the smell.
No intente locallzar la fuente del olor
• Leave the area immediately and alert others.
Abandone el area inmediatamentey alerte a los demas.
• Avoid using any sources of ignition, such as cell
phones, cigarettes, matches, flashlights, electronic
devices, motorized vehicles, light switches or landlines.
Evite usar cualquler fuente de ignlclon, por ejemplo, telefonos celulares,
clgarrillos, fosforos, linternas, aparatos electronicos, vehiculos a motor,
interruptores de luz o telefonos fijos.
• Call Atlanta Gas Light at 877.427.4321 or 911 once you
are out of the area and in a safe place.
Llame a Atlanta Gas Light at 877.427.4321 o al 911 una vez que este fuera del
area yen un lugar seguro.
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