Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, September 8, 2022 | Volume 135 Number 21 | Jasper, Georgia | 22 pages, 2 sections | Published Weekly | $1.00
For possible Dragon Drive roundabout
public hearing will be online only
Project Location
Of agon Drive
A map from the Ga. DOT shows the site of a proposed roundabout.
The public will only have an opportunity to comment virtually.
Comments should
be submitted by
September 19
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
The public hearing for a proposed
roundabout at the intersection of
Dragon Drive and Highway 53 near
Pickens High School will be con
ducted online, not in person. The
proposed Georgia Department of
Transportation project will replace
the existing signaled intersection
with a three-legged roundabout.
According to GDOT, a round
about will reduce frequency and
severity of crashes at the intersec
tion. A roundabout is expected to re
duce fatality/injury crashes by 79
percent.
GDOT data shows that between
2014 and 2018 there were 40 crashes
at that intersection, including five
with injuries. Of those, 73 percent
were rear-end crashes that occurred
on the Dragon Drive westbound ap
proach. All angle-crashes involved a
vehicle traveling southbound on
Highway 53 and attempting to make
a left-turn onto Dragon Drive.
Project costs are estimated at:
$344,368 for preliminary engineer
ing; $119,000 for right-of-way ac
quisition; $2,995 million for
construction; and $30,000 for utili
ties work, all totaling $3,488 million.
Construction and utilities costs are
budgeted for the 2024 fiscal year.
To make your comment, visit
dot.ga.gov/GDOT/Pages/Publi-
cOutreach.aspx. The virtual public
hearing and comment period ends
Friday, September 16, 2022. Project
number is PI#0016116. Click the
“Upcoming Meetings” link to find
another link to the Dragon
Drive/Highway 53 roundabout proj
ect. Click that link then scroll to the
bottom of the page to find the com
ments section.
According to GDOT District 6
Communication Officer Joe Schul-
man, virtual public hearings were
borne out of the pandemic, but pro
vide ongoing benefits for people un
able to attend in person.
“We started virtual open house
See Dragon Drive on 11A
From
white
liquor to
white
powder
Smugglers' cocaine
drop 40 years ago
revisited
By Mark Millican
Progress Contributor
When George Johnston
noticed his cows gathering
around an odd, bright-blue
object on the ground and giv
ing it a sniff or two on the
morning of Sept. 10, 1982,
he decided to go check it out.
“The cows' attention
spiked George's curiosity as
to what they were seeing, so
he went to see what was
piquing their interest,” said
Glenda Sue Johnson, John
ston's niece and a retired
clerk of Gilmer County Su
perior Court. “That's when
he discovered the canister
that was dropped in his
Gilmer County pasture.”
The canister contained 50
pounds of cocaine from the
South American country of
Columbia. Johnston called
Gilmer Sheriff Ferman Stan
ley, and soon law enforce
ment officials were
swarming Johnston's farm
and the surrounding country
side off Roy Road.
United Press International
reported at the time over 500
pounds of cocaine dropped
from an airplane were even
tually recovered - worth half
a billion dollars - packed in
three duffel bags holding 18
fiberglass canisters.
Pickens Sheriff CID di
rector John Cagle, who re
tired from the Georgia
Bureau of Investigation 14
years ago, worked the case
with fellow agents Fran
Wiley, the late Charles King
and Buddy Henry.
Last week, he spoke at
length about the biggest co
caine bust in Georgia history
(up to that point) on the 40-
year-anniversary of the case
that sent several local and re
gional men to prison.
Cagle said the flight orig
inated from the Gilmer
County Airport and flew
straight to Columbia.
“As I recall, this was a
Queen Air twin-engine and
the way they configured it,
they took all but the two pi
lots' seats out and put in a
bladder fuel tank because
they had to have extra fuel to
get down there and back,” he
said. “They would refuel that
bladder in Columbia.”
However, the drug-smug
gling effort became some
what of a comedy of errors,
Cagle noted.
“The night of the cocaine
See Smugglers on 11A
JeepFest powers through the rain
Photo/Max Caylor
For the 2022 event, the mud-pit at the JeepFest Homebase was not much different than some of the trails
as 1.4 inches of rain fell beginning early Sunday. Even with rain on the final day, the number of registered
Jeep owners was still roughly as large as previous years. More event pics on pages 5-7A.
Staff Reports
Despite weather on Sun
day that would have made
most events a complete
washout, Sheriff’s JeepFest
in Marble Hill kept right on
rolling.
Sheriff Donnie Craig, the
founder, said surprisingly the
number of registered Jeep
owners from all over the re
gion still topped 2,000, only
slightly below some of the
largest crowds in the event’s
history. And that was with
out any registrations taken
after it became apparent
Sunday’s rain was not going
to let up. Trails and portions
of the obstacle course were
so slick they had to be closed
early on the final day.
“It started raining during
the Sunday morning church
service but folks stayed,”
said the sheriff. “Not many
left even when it really
See JeepFest on 11A
Gibbs Gardens rezone approved; another request denied,
overturning planning commission’s recommendations
Chair discusses
Talking Rock’s
fire service/lSO
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
It was standing room
only at the Sept. 1 commis
sioners’ meeting, where the
board approved a special use
request for a retreat center at
Gibbs Gardens and over
turned the planning commis
sion’s recommendation on a
different rezoning request.
Several in attendance
were from Gibb’s Gardens
including Jim Gibbs,
founder and owner of the
destination gardens. Many
were wearing Gibbs Gar
dens shirts.
The request, made by
Rodney Buckingham on be
half of Jim Gibbs, was for a
special use permit for a re
treat center/event facility on
a 40-acre parcel that has an
existing structure on it.
At the public hearing at a
recent Pickens County Plan
ning Commission meeting,
Photo/Angela Reinhardt
A packed house at the Pickens County commissioners ’ meeting where the board voted
on two requests, including one for a retreat/events space at Gibbs Gardens. Jim Gibbs
was in attendance, seen here in a tan ball cap.
which also drew a standing-
room only crowd, the com
mission made no
recommendation regarding
the request after it was pre
sented. There were members
of the public there who
spoke for and against the re
quest.
At last week’s meeting,
Pickens Commissioner Josh
Tippens motioned to ap
prove the request with the
stipulations that there be no
outdoor amphitheater or any
other outdoor structure to be
used for outdoor concerts,
outdoor events, outdoor
weddings, or other similar
outdoor activities con-
See Commissioners on 11A
JUMC Youth
Choir always
welcomes new
members
Page 2B
New Event
ArtWalk Jasper
brings together
businesses &
artists this
Friday, Sept. 9
Page 5A
Weight loss
support group
marks 7th year
Page 8A
Obituaries - 10A
• Donald Kaiser
• James Ingram
• Kalah Gill
• Leslie Evans
• Linda Harper
• Marla Ramsey
• Michael Dobbs
• Peggy Townsend
• Shirley Aaron
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