Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, December 15, 2021 - Pike County Journal Reporter - Page 3A
USPS needs Letters to Santa volunteers
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The United States
Postal Service’s Operation
Santa is live online at USP-
SOperationSanta.com and
is ready to help make the
2021 holiday season spe
cial for kids and families
in need. The program
has helped hundreds of
thousands of people for
more than a century. Over
the past three weeks, the
Postal Service has been
delivering letters from
all across the country to
Santa’s workshop at 123
Elf Road. And now they
are ready to be fulfilled.
ADOPT A LETTER
Registered adopt
ers should visit USP-
SOperationSanta.com,
read through the letters
and pick one or more
wishes that they’d like
to make come true. Once
the letters are chosen,
adopters must follow the
directions they received
in their welcome email in
order to make sure gifts
arrive on time. Letters
can be adopted through
Dec. 22. Packages can be
shipped until Jan. 14.
Letter adopters are
responsible for all costs
to ship the gift packages,
including appropriate
postage. Lor security
reasons, all prospective
adopters must be vetted
through a short registra
tion and ID verification
process before they can
participate. If someone
has adopted letters in
the past, they must still
be verified each year.
If for some reason
potential adopters are
unable to verify their
identity online, they will
be provided a code and
given instructions on
how to get verified in per
son at one of the 19,000
participating Post Office
locations which offer the
Label Broker service.
Qualifying Post Office lo
cations can also be found
online using the usps.
com/locator tool. Once
approved, the adopter
will receive a welcome
email with detailed infor
mation on how to partici
pate in the program.
Businesses and other
organizations can also
get into the spirit of the
season by forming teams
to adopt letters. Every
one participating on
a team must also go
through the verification
process. Letters will be
posted to the website
twice a day. New for this
year is a countdown
clock so participants will
know when new letters
will be posted and avail
able for selection.
There is only one USPS
Operation Santa pro
gram, sanctioned by the
Postal Service. Pulfilling
wishes through the of
ficial program is volun
tary and any organization
asking you to give them
money to adopt letters
is in violation of the laws
under which the Postal
Service operates and
is not condoned by, or
affiliated with, the United
States Postal Service.
USPS Operation Santa
was established by the
Postal Service 109 years
ago to help those in need
experience a happy holi
day season.
SEND A LETTER
Program participation
is simple. Just write a let
ter, not an email, put it in
an envelope affixed with
a Pirst-Class Mail stamp,
and make sure you in
clude your full return
address — apartment
number, directional infor
mation (i.e., E Main St.,
Apt 103) and ZIP Code —
and send it to Santa’s of
ficial workshop address:
Santa Claus, 123 Elf Road,
North Pole, 88888.
Letters must be post
marked by Dec. 10 and
will be uploaded to the
website through Dec. 15.
The last day to adopt
letters is Dec. 22 and
packages can be shipped
until Jan. 14. There is no
guarantee that letters
submitted to the pro
gram will be adopted.
When someone writes
a letter, it is opened by
“Santa’s Elves,” and for
safety reasons, all person
ally identifiable informa
tion of the letter writer is
removed and uploaded
to USPSOperationSanta.
com for adoption.
SUBMITTED POHTO
PFC Logan Totten recently graduated from Fort Jackson
Basic Combat Training. He earned the sharpshooter
marksman honor during basic training and was a 2020
graduate of PCHS.
Totten graduates from
combat, basic training
Commissioners approve two requests, deny two requests
Pike County commis
sioners heard from the
public at their Nov. 30
meeting and accepted
the notice of intention to
introduce local legisla
tion regarding redistrict
ing. Commissioners held
several public hearings
with citizens speaking
in favor and in opposi
tion and approved two
requests while denying
two other requests and
postponing another.
Ray Grizzard request
ed to rezone 1.5 acres
at 10605 Highway 19 in
Zebulon from C-2 (Gen
eral Commercial) to C-3
(Heavy Commercial) to
allow for the construc
tion of mini warehouses.
Planning and develop
ment director Jeremy
Gilbert said the project
would consist of four
storage units and an
office, noting that the
planning commission rec
ommended approval with
conditions. He said a
separate special request
application would be
required if the rezoning is
approved. Grizzard spoke
in favor during the public
hearing and David Allen,
Amanda Moreman and
Tiffany Moen all spoke
in opposition. Commis
sioners voted to deny the
rezoning request by a 3-2
vote with chairman Briar
Johnson and commis
sioner Tim Guy opposing.
Property owner Carrie
Johnson and applicant
Ronnie Johnson request
ing the rezoning of 30
acres of property at 1776
Highway 41 in Milner
from A-R (Agricultural
Residential) to M-2B
(Heavy Manufacturing)
for future industrial de
velopment. Gilbert said
the applicant wishes to
rezone to match sur
rounding properties in
the area, noting that the
site is in the Highway 41
Overlay District and has
additional design and
landscape regulations
beyond that of the base
zoning district. Those
who spoke in favor of
the rezoning during the
public hearing included
Ronnie Johnson and
David Allen and those
who spoke in opposition
included John Brack, Elsa
Sell and William Farr. The
rezoning request was
approved with two condi
tions, that the developer
shall submit an applica
tion for each phase of the
development and ap
proval by commissioners
will be needed prior to
any permits being issued
and a 50 foot buffer shall
be planted or maintained
on all property lines
that abut a residentially
zoned property.
Property owners Mt.
Nebo Baptist church
trustees and applicant
Southern Cousins Prop
erties LLC requested
to rezone 7.44 acres of
property at 14576 High
way 19 in Zebulon from
C-2 to C-3 to allow for
the construction of mini
warehouses. Gilbert said
the property is in the
Highway 19 Overlay Dis
trict and will be required
to go through the overlay
review process before
the development could
be constructed. Allen
Harris, Charles Davis and
Lora Johnson spoke in
favor during the public
hearing and David Allen
and Amanda Moreman
spoke in opposition.
Commissioner Tim Guy
made a motion to ap
prove the rezoning with
four conditions but the
motion failed for lack of
a second and the request
was denied by a 3-2 vote
with chairman Johnson
and commissioner Guy in
opposition.
Property owner
Frances Chapman and
applicant Keith Ballard
requested to rezone 12.8
acres at 15177 Highway
19 in Zebulon from A-R
to C-3 to allow for the
construction of a mixed
commercial development
including mini ware
houses. Gilbert noted the
property is currently a
vacant wooded lot and it
is located in the Highway
19 Overlay District and
would be required to
go through the overlay
review process before
any development can be
constructed. Those who
spoke in favor during the
public hearing included
Lora Johnson, Ray Griz
zard, David Allen, Al
len Harris and Amanda
Moreman. Commission
Jenkins made a motion
to rezone to C-2 and not
C-3 as requested and the
motion was seconded
by commissioner Jason
Proctor but was denied
by a 2-3 vote. Commis
sioners voted 3-2 to ap
prove the rezoning with
three conditions, includ
ing the entire site must
be developed in compli
ance with the county’s
overlay ordinance, there
will not be any rollup
doors on any storage
building visible from the
public right of way and
a 50 foot buffer shall be
planted or maintained
on all property lines
that abut a residentially
zoned property.
Property owner David
Nix and applicant Keith
Ballard requested to
rezone 3.89 acres at 54
Wilder Road in Zebulon
from A-R to C-3 to allow
for the construction of
a mixed commercial
development including
mini warehouses. Gilbert
noted the property is
currently a single-family
residential structure and
it is located in the High
way 19 Overlay District
and will be required to go
through the overlay re
view process. He said the
board of appeals recom
mended approval of the
special exception with a
condition that access to
the site be off Highway
19 and not Wilder Road.
During the public hear
ing, Lora Johnson spoke
in favor and David Allen
and Amanda Moreman
spoke in opposition.
County attorney Rob
Morton noted that based
on information conveyed
during the public hear
ing, it was confirmed that
notice provisions for the
rezoning were not met
and the application could
not be considered. The
rezoning application has
to be re-advertised be
fore commissioners can
make a decision.
THE COUNTY ALSO:
• Held a public hear
ing and approved text
amendments to the Pike
Code of Ordinances Title
XV: Land Usage, Chap
ter 155 Subdivisions
and Chapter 156 Zoning
Code to allow the zoning
administrator to approve
minor changes to previ
ously approved final
plats for major subdivi
sions.
• Held a public hearing
and approved rezoning
a property on the south
west side of Highway 19
owned by Tricia Gwyn in
Meansville from A-R to
R-18 Single-Family Resi
dential to allow for two
building lots with a mini
mum lot size of two acres
and a minimum house
size of 1,800 square feet
on the 5.5 acres.
• Denied a $200 refund
request for a variance
application due to the
county cost of the county
being nearly $200 to ad
vertise the meetings.
• Held a public hearing
and approved the first
reading of the county’s
updated zoning map.
PFC Logan Tot
ten from Pike County
graduated Dec. 2, 2021
from Fort Jackson Basic
Combat Training after
successfully completing
10 weeks of intensive
basic training.
While in the U.S.
Army basic training,
PFC Totten achieved the
sharpshooter marks
man honor.
Logan is a 2020
graduate of Pike County
High School. He is the
son Jimmy and Beth
Totten and Darlene and
Andrew Jones, all from
Pike County.
jT
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NEAL BAPTIST CHURCH
INVITES YOU TO SEE
5croog e
A Dramatic Interpretation
By
Dwain Penn
Sunday, December 19
11:00 am
5517 HWY 18 WEST CONCORD, GA
LOCATED BETWEEN CONCORD AND MOLENA
PIKE COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION
SCHEDULE OF APPROVED LOCAL OPTION SALES TAX PROJECTS
Year Ended June 30,2021
AMOUNT AMOUNT
PROJECT
ORIGINAL
ESTIMATED
CURRENT
ESTIMATED
EXPENDED
IN CURRENT
EXPENDED
IN PRIOR
TOTAL
COMPLETION
EXCESS ESTIMATED
PROCEEDS NOT C0MPLETI0
COST (1)
COSTS (2)
YEAR (3) (4) YEARS (3) (4)
COST
EXPENDED
DATE
2013 ESPLOST
(i) acquiring, constructing, and equipping new
school facilities;
125,000
684,710
684,710
June 2022
(ii) adding to, renovating, repairing, improving,
and equipping existing school buildings and
school system facilities;
2,848,229
2,423,106
2,228,004
June 2022
(iii) acquiring miscellaneous new equipment,
fixtures and furnishings for the school system,
including instructional and administrative com
puter technology equipment, computer software
and safety and security equipment;
1,000,000
2,069,397
2,041.090
June 2022
(iv) expanding and improving existing athletic
facilities;
126,800
69,342
69,342
June 2022
(v) acquiring textbooks, e-books and e-book
readers for the school system;
30,000
27,000
June 2022
(vi) paying expenses incident to accomplishing
the foregoing
101,269.46
101,269
101,269
101,269
Completed
2018 ESPLOST
(i) adding to, renovating, repairing, improving,
4,201,298
5,377,825
5,151,416
101,269
3,735,000
5,602,430
448,210
4,403,346
June 2022
and equipping existing school buildings and
school system facilities and athletic facilities;
(ii) paving campus roads and parking lots;
200,000
200,000
June 2022
(iii) acquiring miscellaneous new equipment,
fixtures and furnishings for the school system,
including HVAC equipment, computer technology
equipment, computer software and safety and
security equipment;
(iv) paying and general obligation debt of the
School issued in conjunction with the imposition
765,000
2,874,615
2,574,615
June 2022
of such sales and use tax
100,000
110,711
110,711
110,711
Completed
4,800,000
8,787,756
448,210
7,088,671
110,711
9,001,298
14,165,581
448,210
12,240,087
211,980
(1) The School District’s original cost estimate as specified in the resolution calling for the imposition of the Local Option Sales Tax.
(2) The School District’s current estimate of total cost for the projects. Includes all cost from project inception to completion.
(3) The voters of Pike County approved the imposition of a 1% sales tax to fund the above projects and retire associated debt. Amounts
expended for these projects may include sales tax proceeds, state, local property taxes and/or other funds over the life of the projects.
(4) In addition to the expenditures shown above, the School District has incurred interest to provide advance funding for the above proj
ects as follows. Prior Years 720,731.11
Current Year 126,700.00
Total 847,431.11