Fire Marshal Ian Norton has been promoted to the rank of Assistant Chief
Announcements, Community, Police & Government, Press Release January 18, 2023
Fire Chief John Sherrer is pleased to announce that Fire Marshal Ian Norton has been promoted to the rank of Assistant Chief of the Jasper Fire Department effective January 11,2023. Assistant Chief Norton started his career with the City of Jasper as a Volunteer Firefighter over twenty years ago and has worked his way up through the ranks to his most recent position of Captain and Fire Marshal. Assistant Chief Norton is a State Certified Fire Inspector, Firefighter, and is currently working towards his Fire Investigator certification. Sonia Jammes, City Manager, says that “Retired Assistant Chief Von Headrick left a rich legacy when he retired in December. I am confident that Ian has the experience, skills, and respect of the Department to step into the Assistant Chief position and excel. The city was fortunate to have such a high caliber internal candidate in Assistant Chief Norton.”
Jasper once again extends residential rezoning moratorium
City Council July 13, 2022
PICKENS COUNTY, Ga. — The Jasper City Council once again extended a moratorium on residential rezonings during their July 11 meeting. The moratorium, first adopted in August of 2021, has now been extended three times.
Resolution No. 2022-10, unanimously passed by the council, extends the moratorium on “all rezonings, rezoning applications received after the passage of this moratorium, and the issuance of all building permits that would require or necessitate a residential rezoning within the City of Jasper” until October 15, 2022.
City Manager Sonia Jammes said the additional extension came “as a result of the complexity of drafting a modified zoning ordinance and the current efforts at master planning the utilities system.”
The resolution itself gives a more in-depth reason for the moratorium, reading in part: “to develop and implement a comprehensive approach to controlled residential growth by way of zoning ordinance for the City of Jasper, Georgia, including enacting new zoning regulations pursuant to said approach, to create a balance of development within the City between residential, commercial, and industrial development in order that the City may continue to have a high standard of living, and have appropriate zoning regulations to balance a private property owner’s right to a reasonable use of their property which is balanced against the need to have these uses be within appropriate districts and areas of the City and prevent negative impact to the property surrounding said uses and also make determinations as to the availability of water and sewer service.
The resolution again says that during the moratorium period, the city intends to do a “complete and comprehensive updating of the zoning ordinance as to residential uses and determine capacity and availability of its water and sewer service.”
The council also passed Resolution No. 2022-11 during the same meeting. This resolution, entitled Temporary Residential Annexation Moratorium, places a moratorium on “all residential annexations, and residential annexation applications received after your passage of this moratorium, and applying to all annexations that would require or necessitate a residential zoning within the City of Jasper.”
Similar to Resolution No. 2022-10, this resolution expresses the necessity of the moratorium to combat unchecked growth and provide time for the city to prepare coming expansion. “The City Council of the City of Jasper, Georgia, intends during the time period of the temporary moratorium to start the expansion of the water plant and the waste water plant,” Section Three reads.” The City of Jasper has been working to begin an expansion of its Water Pollution Control Plant and recently received an almost $11 million loan package to do so.
Other Business
City Manager Sonia Jammes discussed a proposal for outsourcing the city’s residential sanitation services. She explained that the city is currently in discussion with Waste Pro USA to bring a “built-in efficiency” to sanitation services with “more defined customer delivery benefits.”
Jammes said outsourcing residential services is the first step of the city’s new service delivery strategy, which also aims to benefit the city’s workforce: “Our number of workforce that we currently have are stretched thin to not only take care of our sanitation services, our streets and parks, and making sure that we have all of our right-of-ways mowed. We are pulling from the same pool of staff for all of these items.”
The council also approved purchases of body cameras, computers, and other equipment for the Police Department as well as the reclassification of some firefighter job positions at the request of Chief John Sherrer.
Jasper Police Chief and Fire Chief Sworn In
City Council, Police & Government April 5, 2022
PICKENS, Ga. — The Jasper City Council oversaw the swearing in of Mathew Dawkins as Police Chief and John Sherrer III as Fire Chief during their April 4 meeting. The retirement of Fire Chief Steve Roper was also recognized by the council.
Chiefs Sworn In
Mathew Dawkins, previously Interim Police Chief, was sworn in as Police Chief by Mayor Steve Lawrence. Dawkins was selected for the position during a nationwide search conducted by the city council. Noted in a press release from Mayor Lawrence, Dawkins has worked with the Jasper Police Department for 14 years, and will start as chief as soon as April 15, 2022.
Police Chief Matt Dawkins was sworn in by Mayor Lawrence.
John Sherrer III was sworn in by Mayor Lawrence.
Fire Chief John Sherrer III was also sworn in by Mayor Lawrence during the meeting. Sherrer was similarly chosen by the council after a nationwide search and will begin working with the city as soon as April 18, 2022. In a press release, Mayor Lawrence noted Sherrer’s current employment as a firefighter and Captain for the Vienna (Volunteer) Fire Department. The press release also states that Sherrer’s “extensive work experience in the areas of management and planning will assist existing staff, Council (present and future) and this community in charting the course for what Jasper has to offer.” Speaking at the end of the meeting, Sherrer said he plans to have a five-year plan ready within 90 days to “grow the department to match the city.”
Sherrer will succeed Steve Roper as Jasper’s Fire Chief. Roper’s retirement was recognized by the council, and Mayor Lawrence presented Roper with an award on behalf of the City of Jasper saying, “This is for Fire Chief Steve Roper in appreciation of 38 years with the City of Jasper and 23 years serving as Fire Chief.” Roper was also presented with a plaque that, in part, read “Steve trained and learned how to be a firefighter … moved through the ranks and was appointed Fire Chief on October 4, 1999. Steve was an advocate for the Jasper Fire Department. While Steve was Fire Chief, the Jasper Fire Department provided excellent services to the City of Jasper. This fire station is dedicated in the honor and recognition of Steve Roper’s exemplary service to the citizens of the City of Jasper, Georgia.” The plaque will be placed at the new fire station. Roper was given his helmet and the opportunity to make his last call during the meeting, signifying his official retirement. “It has been an honor to serve .. you for the better part of my life. Thank you,” Roper said before leaving the meeting for a final ride in the fire truck.
Other Business
The council also took action on the Downtown Development Authority’s planned Second Saturday events. Previously discussed during a March 2022 meeting, the DDA plans to hold an event on the second Saturdays of May, June, July, and August. The council approved a $20,000 total expenditure to be used for all four events. The expenditure would be used to cover the costs of a stage and performing bands, among other expenses.
The council approved revisions to Jasper’s alcohol ordinances in a continuation of a discussion that took place during a previous work session. During that work session, City Manager Sonia Jammes explained the purpose of the revisions is “to evaluate some of the economic needs and long-term liability and sustainability in our downtown.” The discussion at the work session was focused on two sections of the ordinance: pouring licenses for independent living facilities and food sale requirements for high-end beer service. At the recommendation of City Attorney David Syfan, the council agreed that independent living facilities should be allowed to obtain pouring licenses, but businesses planning to sell only high-end beer should have a food sale requirement.
Frank Leist updated the council on continued plans for the Veterans’ Memorial Park during the meeting. Phase two, as Leist called it, will include an expansion of the existing memorial and the relocation of a monument that is currently located at the Pickens County Courthouse. “We are going to honor the 55 Pickens County Veterans who passed away during war conflict,” Leist said of project. He also noted that fundraising is already underway, but he plans to wait for the project to be fully funded before development begins.