Newspaper Page Text
Published Weekly | $1.00
Thursday, September 7, 2023 | Volume 136 Number 21 | Jasper, Georgia | 22 pages, 2 sections
Parks, pool, pickleball at town hall
Photo/Angela Reinhardt
Bob Coleman, Georgia North District Pickleball ambassador, was one
of many attendees who spoke in favor of outdoor pickleball courts.
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
Of the many opinions expressed
at the county’s town hall on parks
and recreation, primary concerns of
the public were: how to keep resi
dents from travelling out of Pickens
for better facilities, how to attract
tournaments and players here, and
how to keep potential revenue from
sports in town.
The meeting began with Pickens
Commission Chair Kris Stancil giv
ing an overview of the county’s cur
rent park and recreation status, with
a focus on the dollars and cents —
budget and cost estimates for a few
projects.
The goal of the town hall, held
Tuesday, Aug. 29 at Pickens Jr. High
auditorium, was to listen to what the
public wants so leaders can consider
that input for future planning.
The dollars and cents
For 2023 the county budgeted
$859,707 for parks & recreation,
with the department expected to gen
erate $200,000 in revenue from fees
like those paid for kids who partici
pate in rec. sports and rentals for the
community room.
“[Parks and rec] is not what we
consider to be an enterprise fund that
pays for itself,” Stancil said. “It’s a
service that’s provided for citizens so
there is a big chunk of that paid for
out of the general fund.”
Parks & rec makes up 2.5 percent
of the total county budget of $34.1
million. It also receives 10 percent of
a one-cent SPLOST that began in
2020 and that will end in 2026. Rev
enue from the 2020 SPLOST is
around $600,000 a year, which is
earmarked for parks projects. The
SPLOST parks & rec. balance is
about $1.4 million currently.
“We do have money sitting in the
bank to start whatever the first thing
we start next is,” Stancil said. “We
were ready trying to discuss pulling
the trigger [on projects]. The board
has met...and we all decided let’s
pause just a minute and listen to
what the public has to say first.”
Commissioners want to assess the
“bucket of money we have right
now,” the list of potential projects,
and where they should spend the
money they have available.
Short-term funding for parks can
come from that SPLOST revenue, as
well as the county’s American Res
cue Act funds, which has around
See Parks on 8A
County
to roll
back tax
rate
Increasing
growth and rising
property values
allows lower
rate and
higher
collections
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
Pickens County Government
expects to collect an additional
12.76 percent in property taxes
later this year despite plans to roll
back the tax rate. Growth in new
homes and property values are fu
eling the increased revenue.
At a meeting Thursday, com
missioners voted to roll back the
millage rate from 7.430 mills to
7.390 mills for the next tax collec
tion. This marked a consistent
streak of rolling back the tax rate
to take advantage of growth and
rising property values.
Even with the lower rate, an in
creasing tax digest (roughly de
fined as all taxable property in the
county minus exemptions), now at
$2,066 billion, produces more
overall property taxes. This year
the increase of revenue from new
homes, rising values and growth is
$1,728,843, a 12.76 percent in
crease over last year. Last year the
total net digest was at $1.8 billion.
For 2023 the county has a total
budget of $34.1 million with prop
erty taxes generally funding about
half the county’s operation.
Commissioner Josh Tippens
said he was excited to be rolling
back the millage for a second time
in his two years in office.
Commission Chair Kris Stancil
said with the schools announcing
their roll back millage rate last
week, their CFO Amy Smith had
done an excellent job explaining
the process in the Progress article
and he didn’t have a lot to add.
He noted that new County CFO
Miranda McDowell had “triple and
quadruple checked all figures.”
Chief Tax Appraiser Roy
Dobbs, who attended the meeting,
said if you study the five year his
tory (published on page 5A) this
week it answers a lot of questions
about what is happening with prop
erty values and growth. The county
website has five-year histories
going back for a decade which fur
ther charts the growth in Pickens
County and all north Georgia.
The county is expected to final
ize their tax rate at a meeting on
September 14 at 7 p.m.
JeepFest rolls smoothly
photo/Max Caylor
The yearly off-road festival in Marble Hill saw perfect weather bringing in massive crowds of both
Jeep owners and those just spectating the vehicular madness — such as the mud pit shown above. See
more pictures on Pages 6-7B.
Staff Reports
Organizers for the Sheriff’s JeepFest, held in Mar
ble Hill, said Tuesday that they were still counting the
final numbers but it appeared that the total registered
Jeeps was slightly below previous years, but without
a doubt the spectator and foot-traffic was the biggest
they had ever seen.
Preliminary figures indicated that somewhere be
tween 1,900 and 2,000 Jeep owners registered for the
event which ran Thursday through Sunday, which is
below a 2,200 previously recorded.
From reports both at HomeBase in Marble Hill and
at the trails, plus the Show-n-Shine in downtown
Jasper, it appeared to have been one of the most seam
less events put on.
The Thursday nigh ride met with some problems
involving an off-road portion that became surprisingly
slick as the evening wore on, leaving several hundred
of the first Jeep owners thinking it was a great event
with complaints piling up among those at the end after
the route was switched.
But from that start the event ran without any hitches
with few backups on any trails and improved wireless
connectivity for the ven- See JeepFest on 8A
Man sentenced to 100 years for attempted
kidnapping of two girls from Jasper park
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
A man who attempted to kidnap
two girls from the Jasper City Park
in 2022 was sentenced in Pickens
courts last week. District Attorney
Alison Sosebee said his long sen
tence will “ensure that our commu
nity is protected.”
Dallas Kenneth Bailey, 63, of
Jasper, was found guilty on 35
charges by a Pickens County jury in
July, including two counts of Crim
inal Attempt to Commit a Felony for
Attempted Kidnapping; two counts
of False Imprisonment; two counts
of Cruelty to Children in the First
Degree; Failure to Register as a Sex
Offender; and a slew of others re
lated to a chase with law enforce
ment through Jasper.
Bailey was sentenced to a total of
100 years to serve in prison, with
the remainder to be served on pro
bation.
“Mr. Bailey has persistently
committed felonies throughout the
majority of his adult life, including
previously being a registered sex of
fender, and his continued criminal
activity has posed a risk to public
safety,” said DA Sosebee. “When
Book-In Photo/Pickens Sheriff’s
Dallas Kenneth Bailey
the defendant decided to come to
Pickens County and engage in crim
inal activity, it was immediately ad
dressed and investigated by our
local enforcement agencies. I would
like to thank not only these law en
forcement agencies, but also the
Court and the trial jury for their time
and deliberations in this matter. Ad
ditionally, I would like to extend ap
preciation to the District Attorney's
Office team for their countless hours
in the preparation and trial of this
case.”
Sosebee said the sentence will
keep the community safe.
“The court's sentence is just and
fair and will ensure that our commu
nity is protected from Mr. Bailey,”
she said. “My hope is that the vic
tims and their families we will able
to take some comfort from Mr. Bai
ley's significant sentence to the state
prison system.”
Bailey had been convicted of at
tempted sexual battery in Florida in
1993 and served approximately
three years in prison.
The attempted kidnapping inci
dent occurred August 14, 2022 in
the early evening. Bailey tried to
lure two girls under the age of 14
into his vehicle at the park, known
locally as “The Duck Pond.” Ac
cording to warrants and indictments,
Bailey offered the friends $100 and
drugs and intended to molest them.
Bailey, a registered sex offender,
had KY Jelly, a teddy bear and
Matchbox car in his Nissan
Pathfinder. The girls locked them
selves in the park restroom and he
attempted to get in repeatedly.
At some point the victims con
tacted 911 and a Be On the Lookout
(BOLO) was put out for Bailey’s
car. Law enforcement located the
vehicle and a dangerous and de
structive chase ensued around 10
p.m. as See Kidnapper on 8A
Lora
Erdman
enters race
for Jasper
Mayor
Page 3A
Dorian Gibson
announces for
Jasper council
Page 3A
Shirley Mitchell
announces for
Jasper council
Page 5A
Obituaries 7 A
• Brett Bozeman
• Ed Buchanan
• James Garrett
• Mike Haswell
• Vicky McBee
• George McCrory
• Kai Rich
• Fanny Whitaker
• Earl Whiteley
• Roger Wooten
$1.00 per copy
