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THURSDAY. April 6. 2023 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 9A
Continued From 1A
photo/Dan Pool
As the eviction goes on behind him, David Howard of Canton, one of four homeless
residents in wheelchairs, says he wants people to know they aren’t dopeheads, they just
don’t have anywhere to go.
Eviction
said he had never been home
less before and didn’t know
where he was going to go.
County Commissioner
Josh Tippens provided tarps
to cover the personal items,
including a number of mat
tresses, bicycles and furniture
left on the street. Sheriff
deputies helped to secure the
tarps. Eviction rules require
personal items be left on the
street for 24 hours before
they can be disposed of.
Sheriff Craig said in this
action, his deputies were car
rying out a court order, just
like they would with any
eviction. They had more offi
cers as there were more peo
ple at the shelter than a
typical home.
He said the situation with
the homeless was “sad.”
“I don’t like the spin some
people have put on it that it
was the ‘mean ol’ sheriff of
fice’ throwing these people
out,” he said. “The organizers
have known for months that
this was coming and they
kept bringing more folks in
here. The county has rules
and regulations and we have
sistant City Manager Kim
Goldener said officially it is
listed only as a large grocery
store. She thought the devel
oper would have signs an
nouncing specifics posted in
the near future.
Goldener said what the
city approved Thursday was
based on lengthy discussion
with the developer and some
price estimations of both the
city and developer to run a
larger (8-inch) water line to
the area. She noted that the
deal hasn’t been signed yet
but has been previously dis
cussed with the developer.
Introducing the measure,
City Manager Sonia Jammes
said it was no secret that
major development is com
ing along 515 and it was also
no secret that the city “needs
to play catch up [with utili
ties].”
She explained that the de
veloper was ready to go, but
the city’s water line there was
not sufficient for water needs
or fire protection.
Under the deal between
the city and the developer,
the city will provide enough
8-inch water line to run it
from an existing line on the
comer of AW Lawson Blvd.
out Camp Road to the comer
of the four-lane where the old
dealership sits on the north.
The pipe was valued at
roughly $33,000.
In later comments, Gold
ener explained,the city will
waive a $75,000 cost of con
struction aid for the devel
oper in exchange for them
installing the pipe. They are
not waiving any meter fees or
other costs. The construction
aid amount is based on the
acreage to be developed as a
commercial tract.
The city will also con
tribute up to another $40,000
for engineering and other
costs with running the water
line.
Jammes said this appears
the “most efficient way to get
the line in.” She said there
have been other inquiries
about projects in that same
area so the line will be
needed.
Proctor said that consider
ing the complexity of devel
oping on the four-lane, he felt
this was a good route for the
city to take.
Mayor Steve Lawrence
said he had a “sense of relief’
to be able to see this deal
move ahead to get that prop
erty set for development.
In other council news:
• Council member Anne
Sneve said she wasn’t neces
sarily saying what they need
to do but she has been con
tacted by concerned citizens
who want something done re
garding downtown parking.
After a good bit of discus
sion regarding parking in the
central business district, the
council voted to assign the
task of evaluating and mak
ing suggestions to a commit-
to follow them. If the shelter
leaders had addressed the is
sues at Martin Road [another
location they want to move
into] instead of doing what
they did, it could have been
avoided.”
The sheriff explained that
he had called shelter leader
Stephen Lovell a week prior
and gave the exact time they
would come and offered any
assistance. “It was not a sur
prise; they have known we
were coming a week earlier.
I asked if there was anything
we could do to help. I said,
‘We are going to have to
show up but we will help
however we can.’”
He said the shelter leader
told him the only thing they
could do was get the court
order lifted off the location
on Martin Road. And the
sheriff said that was some
thing not in his control.
[Shelter leader Lovell of
fered comments following
eviction, see related story on
1A.]
As reported in a previous
edition, the Refuge in Jesus
group leased a commercial
building that once served as a
church on Martin Road, but it
lacks suitable septic capacity
tee.
At issue, according to dis
cussion of council and Police
Chief Matt Dawkins, is the
official two-hour parking
limit in downtown which is
in place, but hasn’t been en
forced in years.
Dawkins said currently
the city has a two hour park
ing limit from 3 a.m. until 6
p.m. In after-meeting com
ments, he and several council
members said they didn’t
know why the 3 a.m. time
was ever chosen - possibly
involving overnight parkers,
or maybe something involv
ing garbage service was spec
ulated.
Dawkins said he has
counted a total of 293 park
ing spots along Main Street,
back roads and nearby areas
leading into downtown.
Some of these still have signs
saying two hour parking but
most do not.
Dawkins explained that
the police department doesn’t
have the personnel to enforce
parking right now as it would
be a full-time duty for some
one. He said most law en
forcement agencies have
gone to a software to track
vehicles by license plates, as
chalking tires is no longer al
lowed at state/federal levels.
He said they couldn’t just
start enforcement until they
get everything updated.
• The city approved a deal
to increase the amount of
water they can buy from
Cherokee County before
rates go up in April. The pric
ing is fairly complicated with
different amounts and some
listed in gallons per minute
and some in gallons per day.
As approved at the work ses
sion, the city will pay a one
time fee of $150,000 to allow
them to buy an additional
60,000 gallons per day at the
wholesale rate, which will in
crease to $2.55 cents per
thousand gallons in April.
The city already had an
agreement with Cherokee
County to buy up to 205,463
gallons per day for a whole
sale rate. The odd specific
total was based on historical
baseline usage.
The county approved a
similar measure recently with
Cherokee County as well. If
the city hadn’t increased their
capacity to purchase under
wholesale rates, the rate for
water used over the 205,463
gallons would have doubled.
Goldener said they con
tinue to pursue other sources
of water but “all are taking
time to develop while Chero
kee County is a fast solution
to know we have enough ca
pacity to serve our cus
tomers.”
See Jasper Forges Ahead
with Wastewater Expansion
Page 7A.
for the 16 full time residents
they indicate they will house.
The property also did not
meet fire codes. The county
presented information that at
this point, they haven’t de
nied the shelter anything as
they had not submitted any
official engineered plans.
On Monday, Craig said
they were told by the home
less residents and their lead
ers that they all had
somewhere to go, at least
temporarily. There was one
child among the group and
Craig said the young mother
assured the officers she had
somewhere to go.
Deputies offered rides to
anyone who had somewhere
to go but had few takers. Two
of the residents had someone
from Tennessee come and
pick them up, according to a
county official.
A county official said
none of the residents were
from Pickens County.
Also removed from the
shelter were several cats and
at least two dogs that lived
inside the building.
Two officials who entered
the shelter during the eviction
described it as dirty and one
noted there was an obvious
smell inside. One person con
nected to the building owner
said it would be a big job to
get ready for any other use.
Shelter leader arrested at
Martin Road site
John Naves, 61, of Chero
kee County, who is con-
Response
Jesus, said he and other lead
ers had gone to Washington,
D.C. to meet with different
groups, including the Na
tional Coalition for the
Homeless. He said they were
greatly encouraged by every
one they met except for Sen
ator Jon Ossoff who wouldn’t
speak with them.
He said they were put in
touch with legal counsel who
believe they have a strong
case against the permitting
issue and county action, plus
civil right issues.
They will challenge how a
fire marshal can come onto
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
Community leaders gath
ered at the courthouse lawn
last week to kick off Child
Abuse Awareness Month in
an effort to “bring attention
to the problem of child
abuse.”
“It is an annual reminder
that not every child lives in a
safe home full of love and
unconditional acceptance,”
North Georgia Family Part
ners’ Executive Director June
Ash said leading up to the
event. “We must dedicate
ourselves to the noble cause
of protecting and caring for
our children. You can help
make a difference by sup
porting our fight to ensure
that every Pickens County
911
Operators
services. The proclamation
states that “911 telecommu
nicators are the link between
people calling for help in an
emergency situation and the
emergency response agencies
who arrive on the scene.”
nected to the shelter, was ar
rested for criminal trespass at
the Martin Road building the
Refuge in Jesus group wants
to make into a shelter Sun
day.
According to the incident
report filed by deputies on
April 2, Naves called them to
meet there so he could pres
ent “literature pertaining to
his presence at the incident
location.”
Sheriff Craig said Naves
first went to the building,
which has been officially
closed by a court order in
volving a stop work order, on
Friday and tore off the writ-
private property and issue a
stop work order and tell them
they can neither work on cor
recting anything or be on the
property, which they are pay
ing $3,000 a month to lease.
[The county has maintained
that they first need a set of
plans before they can do any
thing and there have been no
plans submitted.]
The county considers the
property an R-4 (for multiple
occupants) versus an R-1 for
a single family. Lovell said
that it should be treated like a
residence, asking how the
fire marshal can come into a
private home and start look
ing for violations?
Lovell said in addition to
child lives in a loving, secure
home where they can experi
ence a bright and hopeful fu
ture. “
Pickens Commission
Chair Kris Stancil and Jasper
Mayor Steve Lawrence
signed a proclamation declar
ing April Child Abuse Aware
ness Month to “call upon all
citizens, community agen
cies, religious organizations,
medical facilities, and busi
nesses to increase their par
ticipation in our effort to
prevent child abuse, thereby
strengthening the communi
ties in which we live.”
A portion of the court
house lawn was decorated
with blue and silver pin-
wheels. Prevent Child Abuse
America introduced the pin-
wheel in 2008 as the national
symbol for child abuse pre
vention.
The President of the
United States has historically
acknowledged the second
week of April as National
Public Safety Telecommuni
cators Week. Commissioner
Stancil, Mayor Lawrence to
gether along with the county
commissioners proclaimed
the week of April 9-15 to be
National Public Safety
Telecommunicators Week.
ten documents on the win
dows which said no one
could enter. He posted a
video of his action on a social
media video. Someone called
to report that the building had
been entered, but when
deputies arrived, he was
gone.
Naves returned on Sunday
and called to let deputies
know he was there and had a
right to be there, according to
a summary of the event from
the sheriff.
He was arrested and
charged with criminal tres
pass.
The county with county
challenging the stop work
order and the court order bar
ring them from the property,
they will attack the county
position in regards to civil
rights violations against the
homeless occupants and the
board.
“My religion tells me I
need to help these homeless
people and they are blocking
that,” he said.
The group believes that
their court filings could come
as soon as next week.
Lovell said he also has an
issue with the way the county
has treated them the entire
time. Right at the start, there
were no local codes for a
homeless shelter so the plan-
“It represents the great
childhood that every child
deserves, and the role we
each play in providing a lov
ing and supportive environ
ment for the children in our
fire marshal were granted a
court order that no one could
enter the building until the
group had worked out some
thing with the county involv
ing their construction
permits.
Commission Chair Kris
Stancil explained at the time
that they sought the court
order based on statements
made by shelter leaders; the
county was concerned the
group would try to move in
regardless of the septic or
permit situation.
As of Monday no plans
had been submitted to the
county for the construction.
ning director asked him to
submit their plans their as a
boarding house, which
Lovell said would have been
“a lie.”
“What boarding house
takes people to a clinic, or
helps them find jobs or takes
them to their job and doesn’t
charge and provides three
meals a day?” he asked.
“If we had bent our knee
and kissed the gold ring of
those in power, we could
have been in that building,”
Lovell said.
Also see letter to the edi
tor from Stephen Lovell on
Page, 8B.
lives,” according to Prevent
Child Abuse America.
Learn more about North
Georgia Family Partners at
northgeorgiafamilypartners.o
rg-
Continued From 1A
Counseling
Individual, Couples and Family Therapy
with Adults, Teens and Children
Robin W. Dunn M.S.
Licensed Professional Counselor
Over 30 years experience helping people live better
770-548-1966 • 505 Cove Rd. • Suite 3 • Jasper
www.robinwdunnlpc.com
Notice is hereby provided that the Pickens
County Government is seeking proposals
and sealed bids to provide services to
repair, resurface and augment the track at
Roper Park, which will constitute
approximately 3,970 linear feet or 0.75
miles of surface work with a path width of
path of eight (8) feet.
The timetable for the proposal process is
as follows:
Action
Date
RFP Issuance Date April 5, 2023
Proposal Due Date (by 4:30 p.m.) May 4, 2023
Presumptive Approval Date May 18, 2023
Presumptive Contract Execution Date May 18, 2022
Targeted Start Date May 29, 2023
Targeted Completion Date
June 30, 2023
Request for Proposals can be obtained in-
person by representatives of prospective
bidders at:
Pickens County Recreation Department
The Robert P. Jones Community Center
1329 Camp Road
Jasper, Georgia 30143
Contact: Brian Z. Jones, Director of Parks
and Recreation
Continued From 1A
Council
Continued From 1A
Leaders gather to raise awareness about child abuse
April is Child Abuse Awareness Month