Pickens Community Thrift hosts Christmas in July Festival
Community, Non Profit July 17, 2022
PICKENS COUNTY, Ga. — On July 16, Pickens Community Thrift Store celebrated Christmas to fundraise for the county’s non-profit pet organizations. Jasper City Manager Sonia Jammes, Pickens County Sheriff Donnie Craig, and Public Safety Director Sloan Elrond all participated in a pie throwing event to raise money for Pickens pets.
Pickens Community Thrift Store, located at 110 Samaritan Drive in Jasper, hosted the festival. A flier for the event declared the goal of raising $2,500 for “all Pickens nonprofit pet organizations.” Donations were accepted at the store, as well as city and county offices, fire stations, banks, and the pet organizations themselves.
Attendees at the festival could walk around “CTS Jerusalem Marketplace.” The festival had snow cones, t-shirts, and various Christmas decorations for sale, with proceeds going to Pickens pets.
The Christmas in July Festival also had live music performers.
A picture posted on Facebook by the City of Jasper shows Jasper Mayor Steve Lawrence and City Manager Sonia Jammes at the event.
Pickens County Sheriff’s Office, Pickens County Government, and the City Government of Jasper each had representatives in attendance to “have whipped cream pies smushed in their faces!”
Jasper City Manager Sonia Jammes, Pickens County Sheriff Donnie Craig, and Public Safety Director Sloan Elrond all participated in the pie throwing event to raise money for Pickens pets. A post by The City of Jasper notes that Jammes out raised Craig and Elrond combined.
City needs additional $11 million to complete Water Pollution Control Plant expansion
City Council June 7, 2022
PICKENS COUNTY, Ga. — After receiving bids for the Water Pollution Control Plant expansion and sewerage system improvements project, the Jasper City Council approved the redistribution of ARPA funding and a reapplication for additional USDA funding. The unexpectedly high bids left the city over $11,000,000 short of the total funding necessary to complete the projects, according to Assistant City Manager Kim Goldener.
Assistant City Manager Kim Goldener discussed bids received for the WPCP expansion and a sewerage system improvements project. “Unfortunately, the bids came back significantly higher than, I think, anyone was anticipating,” Goldener told the council, “but these are needed. It’s a needed project. We must do this work.” She read the low bids for the plant expansion and sewer system improvements project that totaled $14,051,781.52 and $3,197,632, respectively.
While the city will enter renegotiations on the sewer system improvements project, Goldener said “we do need to go to USDA, though, and ask for additional funding.” She explained that the current funding the city has received, whether in grants or loans, is over $11,000,000 short of the necessary funding to complete the project. Goldener did say, however, that number will decrease after the city’s redistribution of ARPA funding.
In an earlier discussion, City Manager Sonia Jammes explained to the council that the city was set to receive $1,484,036 from The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) that was passed in 2021. She further explained that the city would receive the funding in two portions, with the first, totaling $742,018, being received in October 1, 2021. Jammes said the initial funding was originally approved for an automated metering project, but the council had decided to designate metering as a service. Because the ARPA money is no longer set to be used for the project, the council voted to redistribute it towards the upcoming Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP) expansion.
The city will also reapply for additional funding from the Department of Agriculture, Goldener said, before interest rates are set to increase on July 1, 2022. She explained that additional funding received by the USDA is typically provided as a loan, but added the USDA has said “they will look at what additional amount, if any, could possibly be given as grants, because they know that this additional amount will be a burden.” The city council approved both the tentative award of contracts for the WPCP expansion and sewerage system improvement project, as well as the resolution allowing the reapplication.
Other Business
During the June 6 meeting, Assistant Police Chief Mike Davis was sworn in by Police Chief Matt Dawkins. Chief Dawkins then introduced the new Assistant Chief to the council, calling him a great addition to the City of Jasper. Dawkins also noted that Davis has 21 years of experience in law enforcement and has worked with both East Ellijay and Fannin County. The council also oversaw the recognition of Greg Buchanan who recently received his GED, and approved a $15,400 payment to A&S Environmental Services to explore the possibility of additional groundwater wells in the city.