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THURSDAY. AUGUST 25. 2022 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 3A
New elections office location opens on Camp Road
West end town hall meeting coming September 13
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
The Pickens County Elec
tions Office has a new home
in the same building as the
Georgia State Patrol Office
on Camp Road.
On Friday, Aug. 19, the
office was moved from its
former location at Pioneer
Road, which has been criti
cized for being inadequate
for an elections office. Critics
said the building was too
small, did not have enough
parking, no public restrooms,
and had a steep grade outside
that made standing in line to
vote difficult for many seg
ments of the population.
The announcement came
at the Pickens County Board
of Commissioners meeting
on Wednesday, Aug. 17.
Commission Chair Kris
Stancil said there is signage
at the building to direct vot
ers to the correct area.
“Look for the sign. If you
go into the door where the
sign is not there you’re going
to be met with somebody
armed in a blue uniform,” he
said laughing. “Don’t vote
there.”
Stancil said moving ef
forts went smoothly, with
county crews doing much of
the work which kept costs
low.
“We avoided having to
pay movers,” he said. “We
were able to use the internal
staff for getting everything
moved and set up...It’s the
minimal amount of expense
to actually convert a space.
You’d be amazed at how well
they all did.”
Stancil specifically recog
nized county grounds crew
for going above and beyond.
He called them “the hardest
working individuals I’ve ever
seen” and thanked them for
their work.
In their much-improved office, elections staff Rhonda Waggoner, Kay Hughes and Su
pervisor Stacey Godfrey.
The elections office would like to remind people that their Camp Road office is now
open standard business hours for anyone wishing to request absentee ballots by mail for
the upcoming general election.
They also remind the public that all early voting will continue to be at the community
center in Roper Park. And their old office on Pioneer Road will not be used for any elec
tion/voting purposes. It has been permanently closed.
West end town hall meeting
announced
A town hall meeting will
be held on Tuesday, Sept. 13
at 6 p.m. the Hinton Commu
nity Center in the west end of
the county.
“One of the first things I
really wanted to work on if I
was elected was improving
the line of communication
between the residents of the
county and the board of com
missioners,” said west dis
trict Commissioner Josh
Tippens. “Generally, the idea
is that we give an overview
of some projects that are
going on in the county,
specifically the west end of
the county. We will provide
an opportunity for some
questions and answers at the
end.”
Commission Chair Stancil
will attend.
“So if you have any ques
tions about the day-to-day
operations of the county he
can certainly answer those,”
Tippens said.
East district Commis
sioner Josh Tatum will also
attend, and announced he is
planning a town hall in the
east end of the county, with
date and place to be an
nounced.
“If you can come see us
we’d be glad to have you,” he
said.
Road department going full
steam ahead
Pickens Road Department
Director Kirk Anderson
called his department grand
central station, with several
projects in various stages of
completion.
•Cove Road
patching/paving is under
way. Paving began at the
roundabout at the Steve Tate
Road intersection. They
patched/paved the westbound
lane headed into Jasper city
limits, then will turn around
and work the east bound lane
back to the Marble Hill area.
In a later interview, Anderson
noted that these patch repairs
are temporary, and that a
complete repaving of Cove
Road should be in the budget
next year.
•Over half of Talc Mine
Road was chip sealed. On
the other half, utilities needed
to be moved for the other
portion of the road to be
widened. He anticipates the
project will be completed by
the end of the year.
•Patch work has been
done on several streets
where the road was damaged
because utilities had to be re
paired, including Twin
Mountain Lake. Repairs were
slated the week after the
meeting on Henderson
Mountain Road.
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At the August commissioners ’ meeting, Pickens County Fire & Rescue held the first promotion ceremony for firefighters who were promoted to the
position of fire lieutenant.
Pickens Fire Chief Tim Prather thanked the board of commissioners, then read a promotion warrant. Firefighters were also congratulated by
Pickens Public Safety Director Sloan Elrod.
(L-R) Pickens Public Safety Director Sloan Elrod; Lt. Paul Elder; Lt. Eric Irish; Lt. Johnathan Thomas; Lt. Walter Waddell; Lt. Andy Scott; Pickens
Fire Chief Tim Prather. The new lieutenants will soon receive their assignment and will be in charge of their company/station during their shift.
State to “supercharge” school-based
health center program
Governor Brian P. Kemp
today announced that he will
dedicate $125 million to su
percharge Georgia’s School-
Based Health Center
Program and help strengthen
healthcare options for fami
lies across the state, including
those in underserved and
rural communities. The fund
ing will be administered by
the Georgia Department of
Education through a grant
program. Awardees will be
able to use grants of up to $1
million per project to support
the planning and start-up of
new School-Based Health
Centers (SBHCs) in ap
proved Title 1 schools.
"School-Based Health
Centers are effective models
for meeting the unique needs
of students, families, and
their communities," said
Governor Kemp. "By invest
ing these funds, we're paving
the way for new centers
across the state where they
are needed most. This inno
vative program is in line with
our ongoing efforts to lower
costs and increase access to
quality healthcare coverage
for everyone — especially
those in rural Georgia —
without assigning an unfair
price tag to taxpayers."
The goal of SBHCs is to
provide students the best op
portunity to succeed by ad
dressing medical, behavioral,
dental, and vision health
needs. SBHCs are a proven,
effective method for address
ing those needs by meeting
students where they are - in
school, eliminating barriers
like transportation, accessi
bility, and cost for children
and families living in com
munities with healthcare ac
cess challenges. SBHCs have
also been proven to help
communities by reducing
avoidable or unnecessary
emergency room visits, in
creasing access to quality
healthcare options, improv
ing school attendance
records, and increasing the
likelihood of students and
families seeking care. Addi
tionally, SHBCs comprehen
sive services support schools
with safe reopening and
COVID-19 mitigation strate
gies.
To learn more about
SBHCs, please follow this
link. Depending on the needs
of the individual school and
the local community, SBHCs
provide the following com
prehensive services:
■ Primary Care (including
child wellness exams)
■ Behavioral health screen
ing and counseling
■ Diagnosis and treatment
of acute chronic illnesses and
minor injuries (i.e. asthma,
diabetes, and sickle cell)
■ Immunizations
■ Vision and hearing
screenings
■ Lab tests
■ Sport physicals
■ Referrals to and coordina
tion of outside services
■ Dental care (including fill
ings, extractions, fluoride
treatments, sealants, and
restorative services)
■ Full-service vision center:
eye exams and prescription
glasses
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restaurant.
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