Newspaper Page Text
THURSDAY. DECEMBER 22. 2022 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 11A
Continued From 1A
Commissioners -- County
looks for a better way to
see results with economic
development
you have three sets of bosses
you can be successful,” Stan-
cil said regarding the current
arrangement between the
city, county and authority,
the latter of which is tasked
with oversight and annual re
views for the position.
Back in 2018, issues with
the previous economic devel
opment office resulted in a
public debacle after some
members of the county au
thority called for the former
economic development de
veloper’s termination. The
three-year IGA was devel
oped and adopted in 2019
after it became unclear which
entity could legally relieve
the outgoing director of his
duties.
That economic developer
eventually resigned, then the
position sat empty for over a
year. During that interim pe
riod the county and city con
tinued to send their payments
for the position to the Pick
ens County Chamber of
Commerce, which kept it in
an escrow account.
Eventually Development
Authority Chair Don Boggus
told commissioners he be
lieved the county was miss
ing out on crucial economic
development opportunities
with no one in that role.
A six-person economic
development hiring commit
tee was formed in 2019 to
formalize duties of the posi
tion; how the economic de
velopment director would be
held accountable for those
duties; and who they would
answer to. The committee
was made up of three indi
viduals from the county and
three from the city.
The Tuesday following
the county’s recent decision
to not renew the IGA, Jasper
Mayor Steve Lawrence told
the Progress it was too soon
to comment on any future de
cision the city will make re
garding the economic
development office.
“At this point all we have
received is a letter from the
county, and the [Develop
ment Authority] board has
not met yet to discuss any
thing,” Lawrence said. “It’s
just too soon to say anything
at this point.”
The authority was set to
meet that Tuesday, Dec. 20 at
5 p.m. after press time.
Georgia Supreme Court
upholds agreement to
delay death-row
execution
By Rebecca Grapevine
Staff Reporter
Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA - An agree
ment reached by email con
stitutes a valid contract the
state must uphold, even if
that means delaying the exe
cution of a person on death
row, the Georgia Supreme
Court ruled unanimously
Tuesday.
The email was an agree
ment between defense
lawyers and the state Attor
ney General’s office that cap
ital cases would not move
forward during the COVID
pandemic unless certain con
ditions were met.
One result was a delay in
the execution of Virgil Pres-
nell Jr., the longest-serving
person on Georgia’s death
row. Presnell was sentenced
to death in 1976 after convic
tions on murder, rape, and
kidnapping charges.
In April of last year, a
deputy attorney general and
Presnell’s lawyers agreed -
via email - that no execu
tions could take place until
six months after three condi
tions related to the COVID
pandemic were met. Vac
cines had to be widely avail
able to the public, the state
Department of Corrections
must have resumed its nor
mal visitation rides, and the
COVID-19 statewide judi
cial emergency order must
have been lifted.
The Attorney General’s
office moved ahead and set
Presnell’s execution for May
of this year but provided only
two days’ advance notice to
his lawyers. They sued the
state for breach of contract,
arguing Georgia had violated
its agreement, that the condi
tions had not all been met,
and that six months had not
elapsed.
Lawyers for the state ar
gued the state cannot be sued
because of the doctrine of
sovereign immunity, which
bars lawsuits against the state
government without its con
sent. A Fulton County court
judge sided with Presnell and
his lawyers and blocked the
state from moving ahead
with the execution.
The state then appealed to
the Georgia Supreme Court,
arguing the attorneys’ email
agreement was not a written
contract that could override
the sovereign immunity doc
trine.
The state Supreme Court
unanimously sided with
Presnell and his lawyers on
Tuesday, finding the email
agreement was a valid con
tract that the state violated by
scheduling the execution.
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Hurry and stop by the Pickens Progress
office, to purchase what’s left in stock of
these amazing clothing items!
Also visit pickensprogress.com for more options.
Continued From 1A
Jasper Fire Department members accept the $35,320 grant from Firehouse Subs. (Back Row L-R) Matt Lampkin,
Firehouse Subs franchise owner; Jasper Fire Asst. Chief Von Headrick; firefighter Chuck Foster; Sgt. Jordan Burton;
firefighter Jon Jones; Lt. Josh McMillan; Jasper Fire Chief John Sherrer; Fire Marshal Ian Norton. (Front Row)
General managers for the Dawsonville and Camming restaurants.
Firehouse
A north Georgia fran
chisee spoke on behalf of the
Firehouse Subs Public Safety
Foundation, in addition to
corporate and PR representa
tives.
“We are thrilled to be here
on behalf of the foundation to
award this grant to you all,”
said Nancy Palmer, Fire
house Subs Manager of De
velopment and Outreach.
“This equipment is much
needed and useful. You hope
you don’t have to use it,
but...we want to make sure
you have the very best equip
ment. Our mission is to make
sure that our first responders
have everything they need to
improve their life-saving ca
pabilities and the lives of the
heroes in their local commu
nities.”
Franchisee Matt Lampkin
said, “Remind your friends
and family that that nine
cents or that seven cents
when your round up, that’s
where we get this.”
Firehouse Subs gave out
over $2 million this quarter
to first responders in the form
of 96 grants nationwide.
Since the franchise chain was
founded in 2005 they have
given over $73 million to
5,800 public safety organiza
tions. Around 70 percent of
that funding comes from in
restaurant fundraising.
Continued From 1A
Bent Tree
leading a department that has
been recognized nationally
for its excellence.
His Forsyth department
has a $16 million operating
budget, and Pryor is leading
the planning for $97 million
in future projects to serve
that county’s 260,000 resi
dents. He previously was
head of parks and recreation
departments in two North
Carolina communities. His
Forsyth department manages
26 parks, four recreation cen
ters and more than 2,700
acres of parkland. In 2019 he
was tabbed as one of the 11
most influential people in
Forsyth County.
Pryor recently spent two
days in Bent Tree, touring the
community and meeting with
board members, department
heads and other staff mem
bers. All reported strong pos
itive impressions. He has an
outgoing personality, enjoys
interacting with people and is
an advocate for involving the
community in future plan
ning.
During his interviews
here he checked all boxes the
search committee and Board
of Directors were looking
for. He has strong planning
skills and has already advo
cated for preparation of a
comprehensive plan for Bent
Tree. His ability to match
plans with funding sources
was especially attractive. In
touring Bent Tree he inde
pendently came up with
ideas for raising funds and
cutting costs, ideas the board
will explore.
While he does not come
from the community associ
ation field, Pryor has been
president of two HOAs
where he resided.
He is originally from
Peachtree Comers, Ga., and
played baseball, basketball,
soccer, tennis and ran cross
country at Greater Atlanta
Christian School. He played
baseball at the University of
North Carolina where he
graduated with a degree in
business, then received a
masters degree from Ap
palachian State University in
sports management.
He holds two certifica
tions in the parks and recre
ation industry and in 2005
received the Robert W.
Crawford Award as the top
young professional in that
field.
Before entering the parks
and recreation field he
worked at the University of
North Carolina Athletic De
partment, the Jeep Aloha
Bowl and the National
Hockey League’s Florida
Panthers.
(And for those really curi
ous about Pryor, his favorite
restaurant is Rico’s World
Kitchen in Buford, his fa
vorite TV show is Yellow
stone. his favorite singer is
Jason Aldean, his favorite
football team is the UNC Tar
Heels, and his dream car is
the Acura NSX.)
And, by the way, he’s a
fan of professional wrestling
and acknowledges that
Roman Reigns is the “Head
of the Table.”
Pryor and his wife Mar
garet Ann live in Cumming
and she works in the Forsyth
County planning department.
Their two children both are
graduates of Shorter Univer
sity.
Pryor is expected to be on
the job in Bent Tree in Janu
ary and events will be sched
uled to introduce him to the
community.
May His word bring
exceeding great joy to
you and your family
on Christmas Day
and all season long.
Merry Christmas
Rick & Marcia
Jasperse
State Representative
y
City of Jasper
2022 Report of Projects Funded Through Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax
(as required by OCGA 48-8-122)
Amount Total Amount Project Estimated Project
Splost Projects
Year
Approved
Original
Estimated Cost
Current
Estimated Cost
Expended
Current Year
Expended to
Date
Completed
This Year
Completion
Date
Behind
Schedule
Project
Underfunded
Excess
Funds
Public Safety Vehicles
2020
$
750,000.00
$
750,000.00
$
247,246.49
$
476,357.83
NO
2026
NO
NO
$ -
Park Improvements
2020
$
350,000.00
$
350,000.00
$
50,400.00
$
102,853.77
NO
2026
NO
NO
$ -
Public Safety Equipment
2020
$
100,000.00
$
100,000.00
$
44,757.22
$
44,757.22
NO
2026
NO
NO
$ -