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THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 16. 2023 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 7A
Playground, private investigator
discussed at Nelson Council
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
Nelson City Council held
a brief meeting Monday, Feb.
13 where playgrounds and
Pis were among items dis
cussed.
Playground equipment
arrives early
Playground equipment for
the park at the comer of Blue
Ridge Avenue and Spring
Street arrived two months
ahead of schedule, with city
leaders now working to have
the area prepped for installa
tion.
Mayor Sylvia Green said
they will need to put a bid
packet together to have the
area graded and old equip
ment demolished.
“My suggestion is we
don’t go back to fencing until
everything is in it,” she said.
“It’ll just make it a lot easier.
Then we can talk, once the
playground equipment is in,
what we want it to look like.”
There was brief discus
sion about trees on the prop
erty and possibly replacing
them with more mature trees,
like an oak or maple, “some
thing that has longevity.”
Council member David
Hamby suggested they store
mulch on the property to re
purpose rather than throwing
it away.
PI raises eyebrows in
Laurel Lakes
Cherokee County Sheriff
Lt. Darrin Downey reported
that a private investigator
working surveillance in the
Laurel Lakes subdivision
caused alarm with some resi
dents, who thought the vehi
cle was suspicious.
The PI was driving a gold
van.
“He is legit,” Lt. Downey
said. “He actually had his pa
perwork and is a former po
lice officer. I know he raised
concerns driving through the
neighborhood, but he did
have good reason to be in
there.”
Downey also report extra
patrols were assigned to the
same subdivision because of
a different incident involving
officers searching for a
wanted person.
“I know I got several calls
in reference to officers being
in the neighborhood and
looking for the suspect,” he
said. “He was taken into cus
tody that night.”
Other news:
•Mayor Sylvia Green told
council she will meet with
Pickens Commissioner Kris
Stancil on Friday to discuss
service delivery strategy.
•The audit presentation
was postponed until next
month’s meeting due to an
illness. It was noted that
everything related to the
audit has been submitted on
time.
•Finance Manager Mi
randa McDowell reported
$1,023 million in the general
fund and $698,648 in the
Pickens SPLOST 2020 fund.
Economists offer insights into effects of
possible recession on agriculture, groceries
photo/CAES News
The USD A Food Price Outlook for 2023 predicts prices to decrease for some meats and
fresh fruits but increase for a wide variety of other food categories. The best consumers
can do is deploy cost-saving strategies at the grocery store and build a buffer through in
creased savings when possible.
By Emily Cabrera
CAES News
Chances are good that you
have felt the pinch at the gro
cery store and bemoaned the
price of some of your stan
dard weekly staples. Econo
mists at the University of
Georgia say to brace your
selves for more of the same
in the upcoming months.
“In the case of eggs, the
price increase has been dra
matic and in a very quick
timeframe,” said Benjamin
Campbell, associate profes
sor in the Department of
Agricultural and Applied
Economics at the College of
Agricultural and Environ
mental Sciences.
The average price for a
dozen eggs has more than
doubled in recent months.
Retail egg prices increased
11.1% in December 2022,
reaching 59.9% above De
cember 2021 prices.
The reason for the price
hike, explained Campbell, is
a confluence of factors such
as increased demand during
the holidays and rising input
costs for feed, fuel and labor.
More importantly, the in
crease is due to the impact of
the highly pathogenic avian
influenza (HPAI), a conta
gious disease that causes high
mortality in poultry such as
chickens, turkeys and quail.
According to the United
States Department of Agri
culture (USDA), the current
outbreak is the deadliest in
U.S. history, present in 47
states and impacting more
than 58 million birds, 300
commercial flocks and 433
backyard flocks.
Farm gate values reported
by the UGA Center for
Agribusiness and Economic
Development hail Georgia as
the No. 1 producer of poultry
in the country, but only 5% of
the state’s poultry produce
table eggs, Campbell ex
plained. “Most of our eggs
come from Midwestern
states, such as Iowa, which
has suffered catastrophic
losses from the ongoing out
break.”
Campbell said the impact
of avian influenza and in
creased demand for eggs
around Easter is expected to
increase wholesale and retail
egg prices through the first
quarter of the year, as it takes
several months for new layer
hens to reach full maturity
and begin producing eggs.
On a per-ounce basis,
other protein sources, such as
beef and pork, are more eco
nomical than eggs, so Camp
bell predicts people will be
making substitutions more
often in favor of these less
expensive options.
But what of those other
staples? As consumers spend
about 12% of their income on
food, consumers will have to
be flexible to optimize their
grocery bills this year.
The USDA Food Price
Outlook for 2023 predicts
prices to decrease for beef,
pork and fresh fruits but in
crease for other meats, dairy
products, fats and oils,
processed fruits and vegeta
bles, sugar and sweets, cere
als and bakery products,
nonalcoholic beverages, and
other foods.
Gopinath Munisamy, agri
cultural and applied econom
ics department head, said the
war in Ukraine continues to
be one of the main drivers for
increased agricultural prod
uct prices.
“A lot of our fertilizer and
other commodities come
from Russia and Ukraine, so
until those two countries
fully come back on the mar
ket, farmers will continue to
pay higher prices for produc
tion,” said Munisamy.
Farmers are often locked
into a contract with grocery
chains and retailers trying to
keep their costs at a lower,
more competitive rate, he ex
plained. However, higher
input prices, coupled with
less availability and higher
labor costs, have farmers ab
sorbing a lot of these inflated
costs.
"It’s difficult to say with
complete confidence, but
plan for a slowdown in eco
nomic growth this year,” said
Munisamy. “There is a lot of
unpredictability as we are
still seeing issues on the sup
ply chain, lower income
growth and wage increases,
and higher interest rates.”
CAES economist Chen
Zhen added that “the best
consumers can do in antici
pation of a possible recession
is to build a buffer against an
economic slowdown through
higher savings. This is more
difficult to do in a high-infla-
tion environment. But there
are cost-saving strategies
grocery shoppers can deploy,
such as buying generic
brands, in bulk, products on
sale and cheaper substitutes.”
For additional money-sav
ing information, UGA Exten
sion offers several programs,
services and resources that
can help residents to meet
their needs and money-sav
ing goals.
Emily Cabrera is a writer
and public relations coordi
nator for the College of Agri
cultural and Environmental
Sciences at the University of
Georgia.
Look what
America
is reading!
Public Notice
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Real estate offered cheap!
Abandonments, foreclosures.
Great deals for sharp shoppers!
Follow the sales through your local newspaper.
Read your Public Notices.
WORK SESSION AGENDA
PICKENS COUNTY BOARD
OF COMMISSIONERS
THURSDAY - February 16, 2023 - 4:30 PM
1266 East Church Street-Jasper, GA 30143
Commission Conference Room - Suite 168
Items for Discussion:
1. Department Head Updates
2. General Discussion
3. Adjourn
AGENDA
PICKENS COUNTY BOARD
OF COMMISSIONERS
THURSDAY - February 16,2023 - 5:30 PM
1266 East Church Street - Jasper, GA 30143
Commission Conference Room - Suite 168
1. Call to Order
2. Prayer
3. Pledge of Allegiance
4. Amendments to Agenda
5. Recognitions
A. Toys For Tots
6. Consent Agenda
7. Old Business
8. New Business
A. Authorize Chairman to Sign Documents to
Transfer Tax Sale Property to the Land
Bank
9. Action Items
A. Approve Minutes
* Regular Meeting - February 2, 2023
* Work Session - February 2, 2023
10. Guests/Comments
11. Adjourn
Award-winning Civil Rights
activist to speak at Reinhardt
Lynda Blackmon Lowery,
author of Turning 15 on the
Road to Freedom, will cele
brate Black History Month
by sharing her inspirational
story at Reinhardt University.
When: Friday, February 17,
7 p.m. Public presentation
Where: 7300 Reinhardt Cir
cle, Waleska. The 7 p.m.
event is in the Bannister
Glasshouse in the lower level
of the Hasty Student Life
Center on the Reinhardt Uni
versity campus. Parking is
available outside Gordy Res
idence Hall.
About Lynda
Blackmon Lowery:
At the age of 15, along
side Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr., Mrs. Lowery was the
youngest person to walk
every step of the 1965 voting
rights march from Selma to
Montgomery, Alabama.
She marched on “Turn
Around Tuesday” and was
severely beaten by state
troopers during “Bloody
Sunday.” She was arrested
nine times for demonstrating.
Mrs. Lowery is the author
of a multi-award-winning
memoir and co-producer of
the live gospel musical, both
titled Turning 15 on The
Road to Freedom.
She is a recipient of the
2018 Freedom Flame Award
in honor of icons of the Civil
Rights Movement.
Mrs. Lowery’s early in
volvement in the struggle
against prejudice has been
the foundation for her civil
and human rights work
throughout her life. She still
resides in Selma, Alabama.
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PUBLIC NOTICE
The Pickens County, City of
Jasper, City of Nelson, and Town
of Talking Rock’s Joint
Comprehensive Plan Stakeholder
Committee will meet on February
20th at 6:00 P.M. in the Pickens
County Administrative Building
located at 1266 E. Church Street
in Jasper. The meeting is to
discuss updates to the 2018-2028
Joint Comprehensive Plan. The
meeting is open to the public.