Lead Polk among the visitors at Cedartown Commission.
A weeklong delay in the September meeting for the Cedartown City Commission provided the board an opportunity to add more items to the agenda, and with wet weather brought by Hurricane Irma blown off they got back to business last week.
The commission was free to approve a lease renewal with Primary Health Care at One Door Polk, along with their OK for Cresencio Gonzalez Pelico’s conditional use request for a new church at the old Purk’s building, and two prominent Lead Polk members provided updates about class happenings.
Here’s a rundown of the latest meeting for the Polk County Commission:
New business
The commission quickly agreed to renew the lease agreement with Primary Health Care at One Door Polk, and the health care clinic is now free to continue providing profit-free pediatric care from the One Door Polk building on Cedartown’s Main Street.
The care providers recently expanded to a total of 8,000 square feet in the One Door Polk building, bringing their lease to $3,981 monthly.
Each lease lasts approximately one year.
“This one is about as easy as it gets,” said City Manager Bill Fann. “Primary Health care was out very first tenant at One Door Polk, and their lease expired in August.”
Since the organization is nonprofit, Primary Health Care accepts any and all health insurance.
Providing aid to children without healthcare based on financial or documentation problems is a primary goal for the care providers.
The commissioners consider Primary Health Care such a valuable tenant that Fann “forgot their lease was up, they had to remind me it ended in August.”
The commission unanimously approved Cresencio Gonzalez Pelico’s conditional use request for the former Purks Building located at 330 West Ave.
Pelico has plans for the building’s gym to be used as a church, and the first floor to be used as an activity and event area, ac- cording to Fann. Pelico’s church is Iglesia De Dios Pentecostes. As a Pentecostal church, special emphasis is placed on a direct and personal experience of Godprimarily through baptism with the Holy Spirit. Pentecostalism comprises several hundred denominations, and as such, there is no central governing authority in the faith.
The building was constructed in 1942 and served as the Purk’s Middle School before later being purchased by E.B. Slaughter Reality in 2005.
E.B. Slaughter Reality used the building’s large gym, 2,400 seat auditorium, and 300 seat banquet room for special events designed to help the local and surrounding communities.
The building later fell out of ownership and has been largely overlooked for several years.
The planning commission recommended the request for approval, but three ground rules were set for Pelico and Iglesia De Dios Pentecostes.
The property must not be used for residential use, all health department requirements for food preparation must be met, and all state fire marshal requirements must be met.
“A lot of us have pleasant memories of being in that building,” said Commissioner Andrew Carter. “It’s good to see it being used again.”
Commissioner Dale Tuck agreed saying a church is “a wonderful use for the building. It’s going to be nice to see activity going on at that property again.”
An update from Lead Polk 2017
During the Sept. 18 meeting, Sandra Sherfield and Mike Broome — two members of the 2017 Lead Polk class — gave a presentation about the current happenings and future endeavors of the class.
Lead Polk is designed to inform and immerse the volunteers and managers of the county in all aspects of Polk. The 18 accepted class members have been indulging in leadership training, tours of the county, classes on local government, and interviews with top-level business, civic, and government leaders.
The core idea of the class is to inform, educate, and train those who show willingness and potential to lead and aid the county.
Beautification of the Silver Comet Trail Head is a primary objective for the class that is “putting up community boards, paintings, and things of that nature,” said Broome.
“We’ll also be selling shirts as part of our money making project,” said Sherfield.
“Another goal of selling the shirts is so we can potentially hold funds and leave them for future classes to eliminate any cost that would make it difficult for individuals to participate in the program,” Broome said. “We’re looking to the future and trying to help the program grow.”
Chairman Jordan Hubbard asked if the class had anyone interested in “serving the community, whether that be city commission or county commission,” to which Broome mentioned that “there seems to be an openness.
“As we’ve learned more about our city government, about our community, education, and business, it seems like its grabbing people’s attention.
“I think there’s absolutely some leadership that’s going to follow.”
‘As we’ve learned more about our city government, about our community, education, and business, it seems like its grabbing people’s attention. I think there’s absolutely some leadership that’s going to follow.’ Mike Broome 2017 Lead Polk class member