Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, JULY 12, 2023
ONE DOLLAR
www.pikecountygeorgia.com
Five All Star teams
to play in Mississippi
See page 1B
COUNTY
PIKE'S PEEK
Seniors 70+
with L4 need
to apply by July
24 for school
tax break
Commissioners
extended the school
tax break applica
tion deadline for Pike
seniors 70 and older
who already have the
L4 exemption.
Seniors who meet
those requirements
have until July 24 (the
deadline for appeals)
to apply. Income veri
fication is not required
since they have previ
ously been approved
for L4 exemption and
most citizens will only
need
- their ID
to com
plete
the
paper
work.
Pike
County
tax
commissioner Donna
Chapman and chief
tax appraiser Greg
Hobbs addressed the
board, asking for the
extension, stating that
many seniors simply
were not aware of the
additional tax break
or that they needed to
apply for it.
“When most of
these seniors got their
L4 exemption, they
were told they would
never have to reapply
as long as there were
no deed changes,”
said Chapman. “These
people have worked
their tails off and now
taxes are going up and
everything costs more.
Not everybody gets
the newspaper or has
social media or family
to tell them they need
to apply for this.”
She encouraged
citizens to make sure
those who are 70 and
older know about the
school tax break and
get them to apply by
the July 24 deadline.
State grant, loan to resurface 17 roads
BY RACHEL McDANIEL
news@pikecountygeorgia.com
Commissioners heard
at the June 27 meeting
that the county manager
and public works direc
tor Todd Goolsby went
to the state Capitol as
legislators awarded Pike
with the county’s full
request for a Georgia
Transportation Infra
structure Bank (GT1P)
loan to complete all the
county’s Local Mainte
nance and Improvement
Grant (LM1G) projects.
“Pike was awarded the
full request which will
allow us to complete all
our LM1G projects all the
way out to 2030,” said
county manager Brandon
Rogers. “The grant was
for $993,532, just shy of
the grant funds but the
good thing is, with this
loan, we will be able
to put all of the work
upfront. Public works
hopes to be able to get
this work finished in the
next 12 to 18 months.
LMIG funding will cover
all the loan payments so
there will be no increase
for taxpayers. This is
almost $1 million in free
grants and we are going
to pay them back with
money we are already
getting from the state so
it was a win-win situa
tion.”
Pike’s resurfacing
projects include (in no
particular order) Con
cord Road, Williams Mill,
Carter Road, Etheridge
Mill Road, Caldwell Road,
section of Hardin Road
in front of the church,
Chapman Road, Sand-
efur Road, Daniel Road,
Pilkenton Road, Plan
tation Road, Caldwell
Bridge Road, Drew
Allen Road, Oliver Road,
Pedenville Road, Vickery
Road, Scott Road and
Cook Road.
The GT1B funding will
allow the county to com
plete the entire resurfac
ing project at one time,
which will minimize the
impact of inflation. The
GTIB loan awarded to
Pike was $4,967,660 and
the GTIB Grant awarded
to Pike was a total of
$993,532.
Loan applications
are evaluated for credit-
worthiness and overall
project merits. An ad
visory committee com
prised of representatives
from state agencies and
statewide associations
evaluate SRTA staff rec
ommendations and make
final recommendations
to the SRTA Board.
See STATE page 3A
SPECIAL PHOTO
This was Scott Road shortly after an EF3 tornado struck the
area on Jan. 12. Several tornadoes were part of a larger me-
socyclone that hit the area, devastating properties and roads.
Scott Road will be one of the roads that is resurfaced with the
help of a grant and loan from the state.
i
SUBMITTED PHOTO
The Pike County National All Star baseball team held a car wash fundraiser recently and donated all of the money to the 6U All Star softball team. Both teams
will be competing in All Star World Series events this week in Mississippi. See more on other All Star teams headed to World Series events on page 1B.
Pike's 6UAII Star baseball team donates car wash funds to 6U All Star softball team
Pike County’s 6U
National All Star base
ball team showed their
excellence as commu
nity members as they
helped out the 6U All-Star
softball team. Both teams
are preparing to travel
to Mississippi for the
2023 All Star World Series
from July 12-16. The boys
will play in Gulfport, MS
while the girls will play in
Brandon, MS.
The 6U National All-
Star baseball team had
many local businesses
sponsor their trip and
they almost cancelled
a fundraising car wash
planned for June 28.
But the baseball play
ers showed up anyway
and washed cars to raise
funds that they promptly
gave to the 6U All Star
softball team.
The 6U All-Star base
ball team includes Cainan
Adams, Abel Blount, Law-
son Brooks, Rhett Daniel,
Liam Davis, Graham
Jones, Brantley Kelly, Levi
Kelly, Shea Skinner, Kason
Snyder, Tucker Sweeten
and Nathan Wells. They
are coached by Nick Ad
ams, Josh Daniel, Jacob
Jones, Matt Kelly, Adam
Snyder, Jason Thomas
and John Wells.
“This right here, this
is what softball, base
ball, and community is
all about! These boys
washed cars yesterday
to earn money for their
trip to the World Series
and then turned around
and donated to these
girls,” said Erin Thomas.
“Thank you 6U National
All Stars and coaches
and parents for teach
ing these girls and boys
about working hard and
generosity.”
Members of the 6U
softball All Star team
include Audree Bridges,
Everly Deel, Sara Kate
McDaniel, Olivia Nielsen,
Hadlee Nixon, Harper
O’Neal, Abigail O’Neal,
Lakelyn Padgett, Cali
Parks, Savannah Phillips,
Addison Priest and Rory-
Leigh Thomas. Coaches
include Craig Smith, Kyle
Phillips, David Parks,
Sully Deel and Brian
Hammock.
Coach Sully Deel is the
treasurer for the team’s
World Series expenses
and donation checks can
be made out to Sully Deel
or donations sent via
CashApp to $SullyDeel or
via Venmo to @Sully-Deel.
Patriotic parade in Concord on Independence Day
Independence Day
saw hundreds of citi
zens of all ages wear
ing their most patri
otic gear for the annual
Concord Children’s
Bike Parade. The kids’
bikes - and even their
hair and skin - were
decorated with red,
white and blue. After
the bike ride around
town behind the local
fire truck, everyone
was treated to ice pops,
snacks and water at the
park’s pavilion.
PHOTOS BY RACHEL McDANIEL /
PIKE COUNTY JOURNAL REPORTER
At right, patriotism was on
full display at the annual
Children’s Bike Parade
through downtown Con
cord as kids started to line
up for the official start of
the parade.
