Newspaper Page Text
WISTERIA FE
The city of Williamson had hundreds of visitors for
the annual Wisteria Festival and Talent Showcase.
See page 2A
PIKE COUNTY
JOURNAL REPORTER
ONE DOLLAR 1VAVAVA>11 ATOl'IilU'KM’fc■ EH«»li»■ WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 2020
Teen dies
in April 2
burglary
A teen died at a
Pike County busi
ness on Friday, April
2 while the business
was closed for Good
Friday. According to
the Pike County Sher
iff’s Office, emergency
medical personnel and
officers responded
to a call of a person
trapped under a
vehicle around 4:15
p.m. at Middle Georgia
Water Systems.
The 14-year-old male
was underneath a vehi
cle inside the business
with severe trauma
and authorities say two
other teenagers - aged
13 and 14 - were also
inside. The injured ju
venile was transported
by ambulance and later
pronounced dead at
the hospital.
According to the
PCSO report, the ju
veniles say they were
inside the business
working on vehicles.
See BURGLARY page 3A
County's
budget
proposed
The Pike County
board of commission
ers will be presented
the recommended
Fiscal Year 2021-22
budget during its regu
lar monthly meeting
Wednesday, April 14
at 9 a.m. in the main
courtroom upstairs in
the courthouse.
Public hearings will
be held to give citizens
an opportunity to ad
dress the board about
the proposed budget.
Public hearings will be
held at 1 p.m. Thurs
day, April 22 and at 1
p.m. Tuesday, May 4
which will be followed
by the first reading.
See BUDGET page 2A
ILLUSTRATION COURTESY OF THE CITY OF ZEBULON
The Old Zebulon School project has had some delays but the city of Zebulon recently dis
cussed new plans to complete the project. Grants could allow the city to pay for improvements
with the clerk’s office, city administrator’s office and the council chambers moved to the build
ing. Two classrooms and the auditorium would remain separate and be leased to tenants.
New vision for OZS
SPECIAL PHOTOS
Above, the Old Zebulon School building got a new roof and
was made structurally sound in 2018 with funds raised by
members of the community. The rest of the renovations are
being planned and the building would be used for various of
fices as well as allowing for classroom and auditorium rental.
Below, before renovations began, the school was falling apart.
Register now to join
Keep It Clean Spring
Fling on April 24
BY DWAIN W. PENN
news@pikecountygeorgia.com
Zebulon mayor Joe
Walter and council held
a called meeting March
25 and discussed the
Old Zebulon School
(OZS) project, noting the
history of the project
has generated local and
regional interest and a
second look may prove
successful for its future.
“Our previous discus
sion of the Old Zebulon
School was last July when
we received cost esti
mates for the project,”
said Walter. “It appeared
to be a cost that was out
of our league to have a
debt to repair the school.
Kirby Glaze, who worked
with the Downtown
Development Authority
(DDA) on the project had
a few suggestions on how
to make it affordable.”
“The DDA has the
school roofed and sta
bilized but doesn’t have
a development partner
to move forward. It has
a building that will take
money to improve to
make it usable. There
was a discussion about
the city needing space
in the future for govern
ment operations. Glaze
has proposed a solution
to achieve success. There
is $413,000 in historic tax
credit money that can be
applied to the project,
reducing the amount of
money to be spent.
“The project would
include the DDA, city of
Zebulon and Glaze’s firm,
the capital development
partners, and other pub
lic private partnerships to
develop the building site.
The DDA would transfer
ownership to the capital
development partners
for at least five years. An
agreement then would
be signed by the city to
lease 49% of the building,
under 50%, to qualify for
tax credits. The majority
of the project must be
privately leaseable prop
erty. The city would move
the clerk’s office, the city
administrator office and
the council chambers to
the OZS. Two classrooms
and the auditorium would
remain separate and be
leased to tenants. Leases
would provide revenue
to offset cost of renova
tions. After five years the
tax credit ends making
it free to be developed.
However, the city or the
DDA could buy Glaze’s
firm out. The benefit of
a private partner is they
will guarantee a price on
cost of renovations. Once
a design is completed,
it won’t be any more
than that; contractors
will make that happen.
This proposed plan is
two years in the future,
subject to change, and
provides one way to ac
complish the OZS renova
tions,” said Walter.
According to mayor
Walter, financing the
project would come from
the DDA issuing bonds
for 15 years to cover the
approximately $2 million
cost. To ease the burden
for the city, it would con
solidate its current loan
with a new loan as part of
its rental of government
offices at the school,
benefiting the renovation.
Leasing space to private
tenants would help al
leviate any strain on the
city’s budget.
See OZS page 2A
This spring the UGA
Pike County Extension
office is collaborating
with Pick Up Pike to
host the Keep It Clean
Spring Fling cleanup
event on Saturday, April
24, aiming to jump start
community cleanup
efforts and keep local
roads clean.
“Trash and litter on
the roadsides not only
reflects negatively on
the community and
businesses throughout
Pike County but also
pollutes our communi
ty’s waterways. Keeping
these roadways clean is
a constant battle, and
it’s time to take action,”
said Pike County Exten
sion Agent Brooklyn
Wassel.
The Pick Up Pike
organization hopes to
hold one large annual
cleanup event each
year as well as monthly
Several COV1D-19
guidelines under
the governor’s three
March 31 executive
orders have been lifted
through April 30, in
cluding the ban on gath
erings, the shelter-in-
place requirements, the
distance requirements
at restaurants, bars,
and movie theaters and
fitness classes and the
ability of law enforce
ment to close organi
zations for failure to
comply with the orders.
The new orders also
remove the critical infra
structure distinction and
collapse all organization
suggested measures
into one main list, with a
small number of addi
tional industry-specific
requirements remain
ing. The orders extends
the current COV1D-19
guidance in Georgia until
clean up efforts. They
also encourage citizens
to clean up roads that
run along their proper
ties and other areas of
the county. There have
been several clean up
days recently but the
April 24 event will be by
far the largest.
“During this event we
hope to bring together
community members of
all ages with a common
goal and get boots on
the ground to combat
this problem,” said Was-
sel. “All volunteers must
be registered through
the Extension office by
April 12, 2021. Volun
teers will be assigned
groups and designated
road to help limit group
sizes and keep the
cleanup as safe as pos
sible for everyone. Each
registered volunteer will
also receive an event
t-shirt.”
April 7 with an added
provision allowing state
agency employees to get
a COVID vaccine without
using sick leave or an
nual leave.
COV1D-19 cases
remain low in Pike
County, compared to
previous months since
the pandemic began
more than a year ago.
According to the
Georgia Department
of Public Health, there
were 21 confirmed
cases in Pike over the
past two week period
as of April 5. There
have been 24 deaths, 12
probable deaths and 68
hospitalizations since
the start of the pan
demic.
Vaccines are now
available to all citizens
16 years old and up
as well as others with
medical conditions.
PHOTO COURTESY OF PICK UP PIKE
Jason Brisendine (left) and other Pick Up Pike volunteers
hope many will register by April 12 and join them for the
Saturday, April 24 Keep It Clean Spring Fling cleanup event.
Several COVID-19
restrictions lifted in GA
Georgia DOT to replace bridge
The Georgia Depart
ment of Transportation
recently awarded 25
construction contracts
for statewide transpor
tation projects totaling
more than $60 million,
including construction of
a bridge and approaches
on Highway 109, one mile
east of Meansville.
“We expect the con
tractor to get the ‘notice
to proceed’ this spring,
so the project will begin
soon,” said Penny Brooks
of the GDOT. “The com
pletion date is expected
this fall (2021). This is a
$1.4 million investment
on a new and wider
bridge. It should increase
the hydraulic flow of
Gola Creek while provid
ing a less congested feel
when crossing the creek.
Additionally, the project
replaces a bridge that
was getting close to the
end of its life cycle.”
The bridge project on
Highway 109 east will
be completed by Mc
Coy Grading Inc. out of
Greenville which was the
low bidder on the project
at $1,412,304. The total
length of the project is
approximately 1365 feet,
beginning 815 feet west
of the existing bridge and
ending 520 feet east of
the existing bridge. The
proposed bridge would
be built in the same
location as the existing
bridge.
The proposed bridge
would be a one-span
bridge, approximately
90 feet long by 39.08 feet
wide over Gola Creek and
would be constructed
on existing alignment.
Traffic currently using
Georgia 109 as a through
route would use an
off-site detour during
construction.
The bridge improve
ments include two
12-foot travel lanes with
six-foot shoulders on
both sides of the bridge.
The roadway typical sec
tion on both approaches
to the bridge consist of
two 12-foot travel lanes
with six-foot overall
shoulders that include
two feet paved and four
feet unpaved.
on Highway 109 east
PHOTO BY RACHEL MCDANIEL / PIKE COUNTY JOURNAL REPORTER
The bridge on Highway 109 east over Gola Creek was closed
for about a month in 2016 as extensive repairs were made.
The Georgia DOT has accepted a bid for the project and work
will begin this fall to replace the bridge.
