About Pickens County progress. (Jasper, Ga.) 1899-current | View Entire Issue (June 6, 2024)
Pickens County Thursday, June 6,2024 | Volume 137 Number 8 | Jasper, Georgia | 20 pages 2 sections | Published Weekly | $1.50 New fire station slated for 515 •$1.6 million grant received for new sidewalk •Mayor’s Reading Club kicks off Saturday By Angela Reinhardt Staff Writer areinhardt@pickensprogress.com Jasper Council announced a sec ond fire station will be built at a property that also houses one of the city’s water towers and a log cabin dining their Monday, June 3 meet ing. The site of the future station is 0.84 acres at 490 Liberty Lane off Highway 515 in south Pickens County, near Harmony Elementary School. City leaders say the station is needed for improved service de livery and a better ISO rating for the area. “The south end of the city is seeing significant growth,” said Jasper’s Assistant Manager Kim Goldener. “This location will allow a significantly improved response time to the south end of the city but will also be far enough north to pro vide coverage to the core commer cial area along Highway 515.” The station will be staffed with two full-time firefighters who will man one engine. “The city of Jasper Fire Depart ment has been staffed with paid professional firefighters since 1968 and will continue to do so with the second station,” Goldener said. The highlighted parcel above will be the site of a new fire station to add coverage to the southern end of Jasper along the four lane. The log cabin on the property may be used for firefighter housing, “which should mitigate the expense of a new build.” The council approved a budget amendment that will fund design of the station. City officials plan to use 2020 SPLOST (sales tax refer endum) revenue to fund the project. “No formal cost estimate is avail able as of yet, however the city has been working with one of our on-de mand engineering firms on the due diligence phase,” Goldener said. Council voted to annex and re zone the future fire station property from the county’s highway business classification to the city’s M-l gen eral industry zoning. This move was in line with the city’s planning com mission recommendation from their May 28 meeting. The log cabin on the property has been used in the past for city See Council on Page 11A Crypto mining stirs concerns across rural Georgia Pickens County hasn’t been approached but still beefing up regulations By Dave Williams Bureau Chief Capitol Beat News Service with Progress staff reports ATLANTA - Opposition is growing across Georgia to cryptocurrency mining, the process of creating Bitcoins and other forms of virtual currencies at giant server farm sites. Residents of Gilmer County in the North Georgia mountains recently beat back a proposed rezoning to allow a cryptocurrency server farm in that rural community. Just north of Gilmer, the Fannin County Commission has en acted a ban on crypto min ing. Here in Pickens, the com missioners have a moratori um in place and may discuss new regulations on crypto mining as early as their July meeting. When the morato rium was announced earlier this spring, it was noted the land use codes here didn’t include anything governing crypto mining as it is a recent phenomenon. Commission Chair Kris Stancil said last week this county hasn’t been ap proached by anyone seeking to open a crypto-operation but they are aware of the controversy in the counties to the north. He said the county seeks to create zonings and reg ulations to make sure they are restricted to industrial areas and have “pretty strict” guidelines on them. Several hundred miles to the south, the Southern Georgia Regional Com mission, which represents 18 primarily rural counties, has published a model or dinance counties can use to put restrictions on the devel opment of cryptocurrency farms. Opponents complain that server farms generating See Crypto on Page 11A Let’s Ride -- Jasper unveils ark photo/Robin Dunn Kids and mountain bikers got an official first look at the Doris Wigington Park designed with mountain bike amenities north of Jasper at a grand opening Saturday. See more photos from the grand opening on Page 3A. By Angela Reinhardt Staff Writer areinhardt@pickensprogress.com After a few years of behind-the- scenes planning, Doris Wigington Park has a fresh look, new mountain bike trails, and skills development tracks for the public to enjoy. The city held a grand opening celebra tion for the park Saturday, June 1. “[It] went really well,” said Jas per Assistant City Manager Kim Goldener. “We were all very pleased with the turn-out. There were lots of smiling faces riding through the park and on the skills equipment/pump track, and that was the main goal.” New features include beginner and low-intermediate bike trails, and a new skills development area including a pump track, snake track, rollers, a curved wall, and a dirt berm. The skills area is for riders of all levels. The trails are all named after birds, taking the lead from the At lantic Coast Conservancy’s con struction of Chimney Swift Towers in the southern portion of the park, Goldener said. There approximately 1.5 miles of new multi-use mountain bike, hiking, and walking trails, and another three miles of original gravel trails for walk ing. Continued on Page 3A Birding sisters enjoy lifelong hobby together By Lynn Kaiser Conrad Contributing Writer Paige Reynolds and Pam Kondos are sisters and avid birders. They started learn ing about birds at an early age because their mother was a bird enthusiast and a naturalist. Their mom was a member of the Audubon Society, was recognized in Virginia for her bird knowl edge, and planned family nature vacations before eco -travel was even a thing. There are three years be tween Paige and Pam and each share vivid memories of their youth and their love for bird watching today. They are passing this loving legacy onto more genera tions within their families. “I remember when I was five years old, and Mom was talking to me about Moum- Lifelong birders - Pam Kondos, left, with her sister, Paige Reynolds. Both select birds that elicit happy memories with family as their favorites. ing Doves. Because of their name, I thought they only sang in the morning,” Paige laughs. She admits these birds make sloppy nests and they are quite common, still, the Mourning Dove is her favorite bird because it was the first bird she could identify by sight and sound. It was also the beginning of a lifelong love. At eight, Paige was de termined to write a bird book and she used a pencil to illustrate birds, and their nests and to label them. Pam explains that each serious birder keeps a “life list” of the birds they have observed during their life time. Both Pam and Paige have multiple field guides which cover birds in dif ferent regions of the world. There are about 1,100 bird species in the continental United States, and both Pam and Paige have seen hun dreds of them. Birding was such a part of their lives growing up that their mom named her car Chickadee and their fa ther had to go to the chiro practor for neck adjustments because he injured himself staring at the high branches of trees searching for birds. When the sisters were See Good Vibes on Page 11A Health & Wellness JumpStart your summer health with Good Sam Page 3A Night Life (jAspzr DOWNTOWN LIVE Downtown Live lights up Main Street this Saturday Page 3A Off-roading Weekend Bronco Stampede for Fords not horses Page 8A Obituaries 10A • Chris Bozeman • Guy Chapman • Johnny Chastain • Jimmy Tilley Jr. • Debbie Mullinax • Jerry Wofford $1.50 per copy Local Matters
