Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 12A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. MAY 12. 2022
Continued From 1A
Storage
storage unit locations with
some businesses having mul
tiple locations. R&R Self
Storage, for example, has six
locations. Mountain Rentals
& Mini Warehouses has two
locations. Affordable Storage
has three. Not all storage unit
businesses showed up on the
lists but this makes a good
snapshot of the industry here.
We contacted each busi
ness to get a count of how
many units they have. With
out being able to get figures
for four locations, there are at
least 3,262 storage units in
Pickens. [Note: At some of
these locations their figures
include parking spaces for
vehicles and RVs, but those
were a miniscule portion of
the total number].
At four of those locations,
owners have immediate plans
to add more units - 130 at
one, 150 at another, and 72
and 80 and a third and fourth.
This brings the number up to
3,694.
That’s at least one storage
unit for every 10.9 people in
Continued From 1A
Pickens County, which has a
total population of 34,024 ac
cording to the 2020 Census -
and this does not include the
several properties that have
recently been rezoned for the
purpose of building new
units, which will add several
hundred more (this includes
the massive U-Haul Moving
and Storage of Jasper facility
now under construction in
the old Bargain Bam building
on Camp Road.)
The Washington Post re
cently reported that, “In
2021, there were 50,523
(storage unit facilities) in the
United States, up from
44,149 in 2017, according to
the 2022 Self-Storage Al
manac, which tracks industry
statistics. And self-storage is
popular, with record occu
pancies of 94.5 percent (in
2021).”
“It’s been a crazy year for
sure,” said Joyce Foster of
R&R Self Storage, which has
over 602 units at their six lo
cations. “We’ve definitely
had increased demand maybe
in the last year and a half.
I’ve had several calls over the
weekend from people want
Continued From 1A
ing units, but we’re com
pletely full.”
Nearly everyone we spoke
with (minus those businesses
that recently opened) said the
same thing - interest has in
creased significantly over the
last year-and-a-half or so.
One owner said he’s seen an
increase in interest over the
last five years.
Housing market, pandemic
driving storage needs
While there were some
slight variations, business
owners or managers/employ
ees we spoke with resound
ingly pointed to the housing
market and pandemic as
causes for such a high de
mand.
“It’s been so busy really
since the beginning of the
COVID pandemic,” said
Keith Mills of Mountain
Rentals & Mini Storage,
which has around 30 people
on their waiting list. “With
everything with the govern
ment and economy since
2020, and high crime, people
are fleeing the cities and At
lanta to move here. We’re
seeing a high number of peo
ple from other states come
here, too.”
After they have a person
vacate a unit, Mills can have
it re-leased in less than an
hour.
“One time someone was
sitting there in their U-Haul
while I was cleaning out the
unit they were about to move
into,” he said.
Mills also believes that
with the pandemic lock-
downs people had time and
were more inclined to clean
out their homes and put items
in storage.
Corey Jimenez of Board
walk Storage, like everyone
else we spoke with, sees the
surge in demand as a result of
increased residential devel
opments in Pickens County
as well as people relocating
here from other areas. There
are numerous new subdivi
sions under construction cur
rently.
“Just look at the interstate
and all the housing being
built,” she said. “You’ve also
got people who are building
a home and don’t have any
where to stay so they live in
a camper on their property
and keep their stuff in storage
while it’s being built.”
West End Storage’s Pam
Edwards also used the word
“crazy” to describe the cur
rent storage unit market.
“We’re getting more and
more calls every day,” she
said, noting that they are also
getting more calls for cli
mate-controlled units.
Richie Hancock of Af
fordable Storage said the
good economy and housing
market is pushing the surge,
but he cautioned that “the
economy is like a roller
coaster,” and that what goes
up must come down. If inter
est rates continue to increase
like they’ve started to, and
building materials costs re
main high or increase, he be
lieves development could
slow down if people can’t af
ford housing anymore. He
added that if people aren’t
able to make mortgage pay
ments on higher priced
homes, they would likely de
fault on storage unit pay
ments. He knows one
business owner out of the
state that had 12 units default
over the weekend.
Hancock said some peo
ple sold their houses because
of the high prices being of
fered, “but jumped the gun
and sold their house for
$300,000, but then couldn’t
find a house for under
$400,000.”
This could cause the per
son to have to downsize and
store their belongings.
Mills, of R&R Storage,
told the story of one couple
who drove up from Buck-
head, saw a house they liked
and offered one of their cus
tomers so much for it they
sold on the spot without the
home being on the market.
Jerry Edwards of West
End Storage, whose facility
is also full, said a surge in
newly constructed storage
unit facilities could result in
units sitting empty in the fu
ture if there is a bust in the
housing market.
In the end, it appears that
like much of booming North
Georgia’s economy, storage
unit demand ties directly
back to real estate in general.
A childhood photo shows Jent and Duncan’s academic
career together began at the earliest grades.
Roundabout
which is a sloped curb
around the center island that
allows tractor trailers and
larger vehicles with wide
turning radiuses to navigate
the circle. Shulman antici
pates the concrete will arrive
within two to three weeks.
“And after that comes in
the roundabout project
should be completed very
quickly,” he said.
The other portions of the
project include a second
roundabout at the intersection
of Highway 136 and the
Highway 136 Connector
(near Bart’s Bait n’ Tackle),
and resurfacing the 2.7 mile
stretch of roadway between
the two roundabouts. Paving
is now underway, and mo
torists can anticipate periodic
lane closures along Highway
136 (see page 2A for more
details).
The entire project is ex
pected to be completed by
this fall. Construction cost is
approximately $16.75 mil
lion.
Are we
getting it
straight?
If you spot a mistake, let
our editor hear about it.
dpool @pickensprogress. com
Va I/Sal
regimented way to get to the
correct answer. Then lit. is al
most the exact opposite.
Will: I think lit was mostly
Mr. [Keith] Petty. Piper: Mr.
Petty was our teacher, and he
made it fun. We got to choose
our essay topics and had a lot
of freedom. Will: I liked
band. I was in band all four
years. Piper: Yeah, I’ll put
band on my list too. I’m an
oboist. Will: And I play the
trumpet.
Q. What did you do to suc
ceed academically?
Piper: I think I just got
lucky. Will: Yeah. Neither of
us study that much. Piper: I
honestly think it’s just some
thing you get lucky with, like
natural talent, and obviously
a lot of hard work. I think
90% of academics is just
memorization. Will: Oh
yeah. Piper: And if you’re
bad at memorization school’s
going to be hard for you. I
feel like a lot of our current
academic system is based on
memorization. Will: If I did
have to pick one thing that
did help me a lot it was writ
ing down the key facts from
class and looking over it for
like 10 minutes before the
test and that was enough.
Piper: I think we got lucky,
but we do work very hard.
Q. What are some of your
interests outside of academ
ics?
Piper: Well, I do a little
bit of everything honestly.
I’m involved in like a dozen
programs, but mainly I do
mock trial because I want to
go to law school in the future.
I do a lot of volunteer work
for a lot of community organ
izations, like the local library.
I do literary team which is ac
tually a GHSA (Georgia
High School Sports Associa
tion) event. Basically, I did
international extemporane
ous speaking...I won state
champion. [Note: Piper put in
the order for her champi
onship ring on the day of the
interview]. Will: My ex
tracurricular list is just one -
band. But outside of school I
have one main hobby that I
really like to do. I have a 3D
printer and I like to 3D model
stuff. I actually took a sum
mer class in eighth grade to
learn 3D modeling [a Duke
TIP class]. My favorite things
to print are useful stuff. I’ll
just find something around
the house and think ‘I could
3D print something that will
make this so much more con
venient for me.’ That’s what
I like to print, but I obviously
print stuff that I find cool too.
Q. What are you most ex
cited about post high
school?
Piper: I’m most excited
for the classes I’m going to
be taking. I’ve been obsessed
with anthropology since I
was in third grade, and I
never thought that I’d be able
to do it because it’s not nec
essarily a viable career op
tion, but the fact that I got a
full ride and can double
major means that I can take
anthropology classes. I also
need to minor in a language
for my degree and right now
I’m thinking Korean. It’s just
so exciting to be taking
classes that would never be
offered in a high school set
ting. Will: For me, it’s simi
lar to her, I’m just excited to
leam about stuff that I’m ac
tually interested in. I’ve been
interested in engineering for
so long, but you don’t really
get to do that in high school
and I’m just excited to leam
and apply what I know to the
real world.
Q. Who has been influential
in your life outside of
school?
Piper: Jessica Cantrell,
George Weaver Jr., and John
Luke Weaver, who were my
three mock trial coaches
throughout high school and
they did a lot to help me.
Will: The person who has
been most influential in my
schooling has been my sister,
Kaileigh Jent.
Q. Do you have a high
school memory that will
stick with you?
Piper: Most of our high
school memories center
around band. Band has con
sumed our lives for the past
four years. Will: And it’s
where our friends were.
Continued From 1A
Help Wanted
Maintenance Technician
The City of Nelson is now accepting applica
tions for a Maintenance Technician. This posi
tion is responsible for operating standard
trucks, small equipment, weed eaters, blowers
etc.in addition to General Maintenance Worker
duties. To support the vision, mission and
guiding principles of the City of Nelson. While
performing any procedure, all employees and
contract personnel must observe applicable
Safety, Health, and Environmental rules and
guidelines. The use of appropriate personal
protective equipment is re
quired. This is a full-time
position. Please apply in
person at Nelson City Hall,
1985 Kennesaw Ave, Nel
son, GA 30151
t
momm
STORAGE
MUST
weeks. The goal is to serve
that many children again this
year, if not more.
“The number of children
we serve continues to grow
each summer, particularly in
our current environment of
increasing need,” said MUST
Seasonal Programs Director
Paula Rigsby. “These chil
dren can only be fed through
an abundance of generous
volunteers and donations. We
are facing shortages of every
thing from juice boxes to
people willing to help.”
Leading up to the start of
Summer Lunch on June 1,
churches, businesses, fami
lies, neighborhoods or organ
izations gather the items
listed below. Please deliver
all the items at once to the
MUST Donation Center,
1280 Field Parkway, Mari
etta, open Tuesday through
Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5
p.m., and designate your do
nations for Summer Lunch.
Items needed most:
Plastic bags
Lunch entrees
• Macaroni and cheese cups
(microwavable)
• Microwavable pasta
• Ramon noodle Cups
• Rice cups (microwave-
able)
• Noodle bowls (mi-
crowaveable)
• 12-or 16-ozjars ofpeanut
butter
• 12- or 16-ozjars of jelly
(plastic jars only please)
Juice boxes
• 8-oz bottles of water
• Capri Sun pouches
• Juice boxes
Salty snacks (individual
sizes, please)
• Chips
• Cheese dip & pretzel stick
packs
• Crackers
Sweet snacks (individual
sizes, please)
• Cookies
• Fruit snacks/fruit roll ups
• Raisins
• Fruit cups/cans
Breakfast entrees
• Cereal cups
Public invited to Doris
Wigington Park meeting
The city of Jasper will
hold a stakeholders meeting
Wednesday, May 18 at 6 p.m.
to discuss plans for Doris
Wigington Park. It is being
designed for use as a family-
friendly mountain bike,
walking, and hiking park. It
is meant to accommodate all
levels of mountain bike trail
users, as well as hikers and
runners. The trail designer
will be in attendance. A skills
development area a pump
track are also in the design
plans. The public is invited to
attend and look at the design
and ask questions.
Sample Ballots for the upcoming primary,
were printed in last week’s Progress.
They are still available at our E-edition at
www.pickensprogress.com
• Breakfast bars
• Pop Tarts
• Oatmeal packets
For more information on
the Summer Lunch program
and volunteer opportunities,
please visit
mustministries.org/summer-
lunch or email summer-
lunch@mustministries.org.
• Sign Up Today! . .
.* *404-662-9098
13372 Hwy. 53 E.
. Marble Hill, GA 30148
knighttimestorage.com
Suzanne Weville Fowler
Republican Candidate
Pickens County Board of Education District 2
Thank you everyone for the kind words, encouragement, and most of all
the insight and opinions you have shared with me to this point.
It is wonderful to see and hear from so many people who are engaged
and excited for the future of Pickens County Schools!
Friday, May 20th will be the last day of early voting.
Please remember that Saturday, May 14th will be the last Saturday
voting opportunity during this primary period.
If you haven’t voted already, grab a friend or two and GO COTE!
• 30 years on the front lines of education
• Common sense, collaborative approach to problem solving
• Focused on managing growth
• Committed to transparency and accountability
• Fiscal conservative
#SuzanneWevilleFowler