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PAGE 8A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. April 13. 2023
Continued From 1A
Library
bonds and must be approved
by the state legislature.
In May of 2021, library
operations moved to the tem
porary Grab-n-Go location
on West Church Street. That
location closed last month so
materials could be moved
into the renovated space at
100 Library Lane, Jasper, Ga.
An open house will be
held on Wednesday, April 26
from 10:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. A
grand opening and ribbon
cutting will be held Thursday,
May 11 at 4 p.m.
Pickens County Library
full service hours: Monday -
Thursday: 9 a.m - 8 p.m. ;
Friday - Saturday: 9 a.m. - 5
p.m.; Sunday: 2 p.m. - 6 p.m.
To view the library sys
tem’s full programming
schedule and register for
events, visit
CalendarWiz.com/Sequoy-
ahRegLib. Visit Sequoy-
ahRegionalLibrary.org/PCL-
Project for updates and an
nouncements about the proj
ect, as well as up-to-date
service hours for the Pickens
County Library.
Continued From 1A
Fishing
Goldener, they could not ap
prove the event due to the re
maining work they need to
perform at the raw water in
take upstream of the bridge.
“This work includes addi
tional dredging of the intake
area, as well as spillway re
pair,” she said. “Part of the
permitting hold-up for this
remaining work has to do
with the approvals required
by the US Army Corp of En
gineers prior to submitting to
EPD. Soil sampling is re
quired to determine the suit
ability of sediment for
unconfined aquatic disposal,
and this has taken longer than
anticipated.”
The Pickens County
Sportsman Club has hosted
the Fishing Rodeo since 1987
when it was held on private
property off Grandview
Road.
“At some point it got too
big and was moved to Long
Swamp Creek and has been
there since,” Weldon said.
“We’ve got people who work
with us now in the club who
came as kids, and kids who
come back every year. Some
years we get 700 - 800 peo
ple out.”
The Georgia Department
of Natural Resources stocks
the creek with trout, and
eventgoers enjoy a day of
fishing and free hot dogs.
The Fishing Rodeo hasn’t
always been just for children,
though. Prior to the COVID
pandemic it spanned three
days - one day was for senior
citizens; another for develop-
mentally disabled adults;
then the third and most
widely-attended for kids.
“Everything ran like
clockwork until COVID,”
Weldon said. “After the sen
iors no longer wanted to be
involved, we moved down to
one day for the kids, and peo
ple with disabilities and mo
bility issues can come on that
day if they’d like.”
Goldener said at this point
leaders have not decided if
the city will be able to host
the event at that location in
the future.
“The city has not deter
mined whether this area may
be able to be used in the fu
ture for fishing events,” she
said. “While we do purchase
finished water from other
municipalities, Long Swamp
Creek remains the city’s
main source of water to serve
our community and ideally
there should be some sort of
buffer between the raw water
intake equipment and any
kind of recreational use of the
creek.”
photo/Angela Reinhardt
The new teen room is spacious with seating for study,
reading, and groups.
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
of surface work with a path width of
path of eight (8) feet.
The timetable for the proposal process is
as follows:
mi
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
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Continued From 1A
Planning Commission at April Meeting - (l-r) Kevin Ward, Harold Hensley, Pat
Holmes, Clayton Preble, Jim Fowler and Karen Benson, study on the information con
cerning the Pea Ridge development, which is shown on the screen behind them.
Pea
Ridge
a septic permit [for one acre
lots in rural residential].”
Comments at the meeting
indicated that this project
would mostly be accessed off
Pea Ridge Road but one lot
may have an access directly
on Highway 53. It was noted
that the county had recently
worked on Pea Ridge and it
is a very nice, wide road now.
A member of the public
questioned the large amount
of traffic already on Highway
53 and whether a traffic light
would be possible at the in
tersection. One member of
the commission and Frye
both replied with the state
route, the DOT might be
more inclined to look at a
roundabout but neither was
very likely.
Other questions from the
public asked whether the
homes there would be for
sale or would be a rental sub
division and, especially, if
there would be any weekend
rentals?
Wilkie said his intention is
to sell all lots to homebuyers
but with this economy he is
very cautious. He described
the economy relating to real
estate right now as like “mu
sical chairs.” So he would
need to keep all options open.
But he and Frye both said
this doesn’t appear a likely
spot for Airbnb weekend
rentals.
The motion got a recom
mendation of approval with
members Kevin Ward, Pat
Holmes, Jim Fowler and
Karen Benson in favor and
Harold Hensley opposed.
• In other business, the
commission gave the nod of
approval for an exactly oppo
site project: a family wants to
rezone 11 acres on Carbine
Road in Ball Ground to agri
culture from residential. The
owners, Mathew Rehklau,
Deinz Ayers Rehklau and
Christopher Umut Ayers on
Carbine Road, indicated they
want to have a vineyard, plus
chickens and vegetable beds.
One member of the public
asked why they needed to re
zone? Frye explained that
there are significant tax ad
vantages possible for proper
ties under agricultural
zonings that meet certain cri
teria.
Another question was a
nearby resident said there had
been rumors this property
would become a gun range.
To which the owners said ab
solutely not, though they do
like to shoot. Commission
Chair Clayton Preble, said
“rumor mill” at this. This
motion passed unanimously.
All recommendations of
the commission are sent to
the board of commissioners
for final approval.
Affordable housing: Lots of talk,
little action under the Gold Dome
By Rebecca Grapevine
Staff Reporter
Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA - Despite
agreement among lawmakers
and advocates that Georgia
needs more quality afford
able housing, the General As
sembly this year took few
steps to address the shortfall.
Most of the bills aimed at
housing problems failed to
pass, foundering on the
shoals of inter-chamber dis
agreements and controversy
about the extent to which the
state government can limit
local housing regulations.
House Bill 514, the
“Housing Regulation Trans
parency Act,” sponsored by
state Rep. Dale Washburn, R-
Macon, would have prohib
ited local governments from
extending moratoriums on
building new housing beyond
180 days, with some limited
exceptions.
The Senate version of the
bill - which passed on the
last day of the legislative ses
sion - would have prohibited
extended local moratoriums
on both single- and multi
family housing.
But the House disagreed
with the Senate version,
pushing the bill to a last-
minute conference commit
tee. With just hours left on
the legislative clock, there
simply wasn’t enough time to
hammer out the differences.
Washburn said he is opti
mistic the bill will pass next
year, the second year of the
current two-year legislative
term.
“I'm trying to make it easy
to develop and to build hous
ing for Georgians, whether
it's multifamily or single fam
ily,” said Washburn, a veteran
real-estate agent.
Local government advo
cates - mainly represented by
the Association County Com
missioners of Georgia
(ACCG) and the Georgia
Municipal Association
(GMA) - did not oppose HB
514.
But they balked at another
bill Washburn proposed that
would have prohibited local
governments from regulating
a long list of housing design
elements, from roof design to
building materials to mini
mum lot sizes.
Washburn said local regu
lations drive up housing costs
that are then passed on to
consumers. But House Bill
517 stalled in a House com
mittee.
So, too, did a proposal
from Rep. Spencer Frye, D-
Athens. His House Bill 490
took aim at large institutional
investors who are snapping
up single-family homes.
It would have eliminated a
tax benefit allowing rental-
property owners to reduce
their tax liability by about
3.6% of the cost of the rental
property annually. The bill
never got a committee vote.
One measure aimed at
predatory real-estate prac
tices did cross the legislative
finish line and is now await
ing Gov. Brian Kemp’s sig
nature.
Senate Bill 90 would bar a
deceptive real-estate practice
pioneered by MV Realty, a
Florida company operating in
many states.
The company pays home-
owners - often seniors on
fixed incomes — a small sum
of money (usually $500 to
$1000) to sign on to a 40-
year commitment to use MV
Realty if they ever decide to
sell their house - or face a
stiff financial penalty.
Lawyers for Atlanta Legal
Aid have been battling the
practice in court, addressing
each case individually. The
new Georgia law would
make the agreements void
from the start.
“We're really glad that the
legislature decided to address
what we see as a really seri
ous problem for our clients,”
said Dina Franch, a staff at
torney with Atlanta Legal
Aid.
Another small bright spot
is a budget line proposed by
Kemp and approved by the
legislature that sets aside
$35.7 million to create a
Rural Workforce Housing
Fund within the state Depart
ment of Community Affairs.
The agency is still hammer
ing out the details of how
those funds will be spent,
said spokesperson Ryan
Evans.
A tenants’ rights bill
aimed at protections for
renters, the “Safe at Home
Act” sponsored by Rep.
Kasey Carpenter, R-Dalton,
failed to get a Senate vote de
spite unanimous approval in
the House.
Under Carpenter’s bill,
Georgia rental agreements
would have to include a pro
vision “that the premises is fit
for human habitation,” as is
already standard in most
other states.
It also would have re
quired landlords to ensure air
conditioning remains on dur
ing eviction proceedings and
prohibited landlords from
charging more than two
months’ rent as a security de
posit. Finally, the bill would
have provided tenants with
three days to pay past-due
rent or fees before landlords
could start eviction proceed
ings.
“Families are going to
have to live in unsafe housing
that is not fit for human be
ings to live in for at least an
other year,” said Elizabeth
Appley, an attorney and
housing advocate who sup
ported the measure.
A separate set of bills took
aim at Georgia’s homeless
ness problem.
House Bill 520 was a fol
low-up to last year’s land
mark mental health reform
package. One focus was
helping so-called “familiar
faces” — people who cycle
between criminal justice,
homeless and behavioral
health systems.
The bill would have cre
ated a task force dedicated to
finding better ways to coordi
nate services for homeless
people facing mental health
challenges. It also would
have required the Depart
ment of Community Affairs
to increase supportive hous
ing for the familiar faces pop
ulation.
Despite passing unani
mously on the House floor,
the mental-health measure
failed to get Senate commit
tee approval.
A bill sponsored by Sen.
Carden Summers, R-Cordele,
took a more narrow approach
to homelessness in Georgia
and gained approval from the
Republican-controlled House
and Senate.
Senate Bill 62 would stop
local governments from
adopting regulations pro
hibiting the enforcement of
rides against unauthorized
public camping and sleeping.
It also prohibits hospitals and
local governments from
dropping off homeless people
outside of their jurisdictions
and requires the state auditor
to conduct an audit of spend
ing on homelessness in Geor
gia.
Senate Democrats and ad
vocates for local govern
ments opposed the measure.
“[The bill] turns the
screws on local governments
to try to solve a problem that
is so layered multifaceted and
complex,” said Sen. Josh
McLaurin, D-Sandy Springs.
“We would have preferred
the state to provide more
tools and resources to Geor
gia cities to help them ad
dress the needs of homeless
and unsheltered residents in
their communities,” said Jim
Thornton of the GMA.
This story is available through a
news partnership with Capitol
Beat News Service, a project of
the Georgia Press Educational
Foundation.