Henry County Update - June 20th, 2013

June 20, 2013

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

Groundbreaking Signals Progress at a Busy McDonough Intersection

Regular Meetings July 16th at 6:30 p.m.

Canceled Meetings July 2nd at 9:00 a.m.

Meetings held at: Administration Building Community Room 140 Henry Parkway McDonough, GA 30253 Commission meetings will air Fridays, Saturdays, Mondays and Wednesdays on Henry TV Channel 14, at 9 a.m. & 7 p.m.

Henry County Commissioners, together with the McDonough Mayor and City Councilman, County staff and others participated in a groundbreaking for the intersection improvements at Phillips Drive and Highway 20/81.

We are now on AT&T U-Verse Channel 99 & Charter Channel 14

A very busy, and often dangerous intersection in McDonough will soon be much safer.

Henry County Commissioners, together with the McDonough City Council and the Henry County Department of Transportation, broke ground Monday, June 10 on an intersection improvement project

at Phillips Drive and Highway 20/81. More than 20,000 vehicles enter the intersection each day, and it has been the site of several accidents over the past three years.

To alleviate these conditions, the intersection has been redesigned, allowing for the realignment of Phillips Drive to intersect SR20/81 further east, across from Continued on Page 5 the henry county update

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Henry County Commissioners to Allocate Nearly $1M in CDBG Funds Hearings Scheduled to Garner Public Input On May 31, the Henry County Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program announced the release of the draft federal fiscal year 2013 Annual Action Plan as part of the fiscal year 2012-2016 Consolidated Plan.

Since the release of the draft plan, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has published its Community Planning and Development Program Formula Allocations for FY 2013. As a result of this publication, the county has amended its CDBG funding proposals to reflect HUD’s formula allocation for Henry County.

The 2013 allocation is $971,360, about $121,000 more than in 2012. The draft Annual Action Plan establishes the proposed use of these funds for the FY 2013 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program. The proposed activities include the funding of Public Services, Housing Rehabilitation, Public Facilities and Infrastructure Improvements and Program Administration.

The County anticipates expending its CDBG FY 2013 allocation as follows: • Public Facilities/Infrastructure Improvements: $471,384 • City of Hampton – Storm Water Improvements $113,000 • City of Stockbridge - Community Pool $150,000 • Henry County/Municipalities $208,384 • Housing Assistance: $160,000 • Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity $160,000 • Public Services: $145,704 • Connecting Henry, Inc. – Operating Assistance $49,704 • Hands of Hope Clinic, Inc. – Operating Assistance $30,000 • A Friend’s House, Inc. – Operating Assistance $30,000 • Flint Circuit Council on Family Violence, Inc. dba Haven House – Operating Assistance $36,000 • Planning and Administration: $194,272 Citizens and other interested parties are encouraged to review the draft FY 2013 Annual Action Plan and submit their written comments during the public comment period, which has been extended thru Friday, July 12, 2013. A receipt of all comments received will be submitted in the FY 2013 Annual Action Plan to HUD on or about Monday, w w w. h e n r y c o u n t y - g a . o r g

July 22, 2013. Any comments on the draft Annual Action Plan must be received in writing by 5 p.m. on Monday, July 12, 2013, at the address listed below: Henry County Board of Commissioners Community Development Block Grant Program 140 Henry Parkway, McDonough, GA 30253 E-mail: sbuckner@co.henry.ga.us Copies of the draft FY 2013 Annual Action Plan as part of the FY 2012-2016 Consolidated Plan are available for review at the following locations: • www.henrycounty-ga.org/CDBG • Henry County Administration Building • Heritage Senior Center • Hidden Valley Senior Center • Fairview Recreation Center • J.P. Moseley Recreation Center • Locust Grove Recreation Center • McDonough Public Library • Fairview Public Library • Fortson (Hampton) Public Library • Cochran (Stockbridge) Public Library • McDonough City Hall • Locust Grove City Hall • Hampton City Hall The Board of Commissioners will hold two Public Hearings on the FY 2013 Annual Action Plan: • Tuesday, June 18, 2013 at 6:30 p.m.

• Tuesday, July 16, 2013 at 6:30 p.m.

Citizens are encouraged to attend and participate.

The Board will consider adoption of the FY 2013 Annual Action Plan during the second Public Hearing, which will take place during its regularly scheduled meeting in the Community Meeting Room of the Henry County Administration Building.

The Administration Building is located at 140 Henry Parkway in McDonough. The building is handicap accessible.

Persons requiring special accommodations can make arrangements by contacting the Henry County Government Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program at 770-288-7525. The Henry County TDD number is 770- 288-6819.

Benefit Run/Walk to be Held July 4 Remember to when summer nights meant kickball games with friends until the streetlights came on? Well, summer fun on the kickball field isn’t just for children anymore, as Commissioner Bruce Holmes Athletic Association and Henry County Parks & Recreation welcome the 2013 Sweet Lady Kickers Summer Kickball League to Henry County, for adult women between the ages of 21 and 50.

Registration for the Sweet Lady Kickers will be held at Hidden Valley Park on Mondays, June 3, 10, 17 and 24 from 6-8 p.m. and on Saturdays, June 1, 8, 15 and 22 from 1-3 p.m. The ten-week season begins Saturday, August 3 and runs through September 28, with games played on Saturdays between 4 and 6 p.m., and playoffs in October.

All games will be held at Hidden Valley Park located at 100 Spraggins Memorial Parkway in Stockbridge. The fee to register is $115, but space is limited. To enjoy a season of fun and fitness, call 678.732.5688 for more information.

Henry County Employees to Receive First Pay Raise in Five Years In May, the Henry County Board of Commissioners adopted a FY2014 General Fund Budget of $122,078,834, which included $1.2 million for extra compensation for employees. At that time, it had not yet been determined whether the added compensation would come in the form of a bonus OR a pay raise of up to 2 percent. At the June 18 meeting, Commissioners approved a 1.8 percent across-theboard pay raise for all fulltime and “permanent” part-time employees.

“Our employees work very hard and do a terrific job for the County. They deserve a raise,” said Chairman Tommy Smith. “After a number of years of going without so much as a cost of living adjustment, and even furlough days, we wanted to do what we could to let our employees know that they are valued and appreciated. We wish we could have done more.”

Certain employees will be excluded from receiving the pay raise, however. Elected officials and constitutional officers will not receive the raise, nor will temporary and per diem employees, those employees who receive supplements or those whose salaries are funded by grants or DATE funds.

The raise will take effect in July, the first month of the new fiscal year. If this step had not been taken, this would have been the sixth year the employees would have gone without any type of pay increase.

For more information about the FY2014 budget, please visit www.henrycounty-ga.org/finance.

HENRY COUNTY D.O.T ROAD RESURFACING SCHEDULE For the week of June 17, 2013 Fox Run Lane, Fox Run Court, and Upchurch Road will be resurfaced.* *Weather permitting.

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ULDC Amended in Light of Building Resurgence With the County seeing a resurgence in construction and overall building permits up by 36 percent, County officials want to make sure that planning and zoning standards and conditions continue to be met, by clarifying Henry County’s Unified Land Development Code (ULDC).

The Henry County Board of Commissioners approved an amendment the ULDC which will allow the Building Department’s Director or his designee to withhold permits in situations where zoning conditions have not been met. The action came at last night’s regular Commission meeting.

Michael Harris, Division Director for Henry County’s Planning and Zoning Services Department, said that the amendment clears up any ambiguity that may have existed previously in the ordinance and said that clarification was necessary because of the uptick in building and construction projects throughout the County.

He said have been several cases where a developer began the construction, and because of the economic downturn, stopped building or lost the property to bank foreclosure. He said that when a new developer takes over

the property, they are held to same planning, zoning and code standards of the original builder.

District IV Commissioner Reid Bowman addressed the issue during the meeting and said that builders are responsible for doing their due diligence when purchasing such properties and that the onus of meeting zoning conditions remains with the property.

“There are conditions on the property that were imposed at the time the zoning requests were done and those conditions stay with the property,” said Bowman. “That’s the fair way to do it. Conditions stay with the property.”

District II Commissioner Brian Preston also weighed in and said that the County is interested in protecting everyone’s rights, including the builders and the homeowners.

“It’s good for the public to recognize that we’re trying to also protect the citizens. We have a lot of citizens who live in these subdivisions and we’re trying to make sure everyone is treated fairly and equitably and make sure that everybody is represented,” said Preston.

WIGGLES MARIE • Terrier Mix www.petfinder.com/petdetail/25965884 I am a sweet and loving soul that needs a lifetime companion to give me the home that I deserve. I was picked up as a stray, so my friends here at the shelter do not know anything about my past. If you would like to meet me, then please call my friends at (770) 288-PETS. My I.D. #3/26-0688 please refer to this number when inquiring about me. Lost and stray animals are held at the Henry County Animal Care and Control Shelter for four (4) calendar days (excluding Sundays and county holidays) in order to give their owners a chance to reclaim them. After that time period, adoptable animals are held as long as space allows.

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INTERSECTION From Page 1 Autumn Lake Drive, as well as the installation of a traffic signal and turn lanes for all directions at the intersection. As a result, this project is expected to dramatically improve the safety for all those traveling through this area of McDonough and make it easier to enter Highway 20/81 from Phillips Drive.

“It is so important to the citizens of McDonough and all county residents. This has been a bad intersection. They have had numerous accidents at this intersection, so this is a project that the City and the County is working together on and it’s so important to everybody,” explained Commissioner Gary Barham.

Touting the project as “One Henry at work,” McDonough City Councilmen and Commissioners both shared their gratitude for the partnership, which has enabled the project to move forward after being “on the books” for a number of years. The two entities have an intergovernmental agreement to split the cost of the $1.5 million intersection improvement project as follows: • Henry County: $642,580.41 • City of McDonough SPLOST: $300,000 • City of McDonough (via LMIG): $600,000* “We have been working as a partner on this since 2006, and more particularly, the last six months, to develop a master plan for this intersection, which is probably one of the most serious in Henry County, and certainly for the City of McDonough,” said McDonough Mayor Billy Copeland. “I

am so excited about this event today. I applaud Terry McMickle, the Chairman of the County Commission, and all the Commissioners for their support for City Officials, who came together for a partnership, and once you have a partnership you have a win-win situation, and that is what we have here today.”

The project was designed by McGee Partners and will be constructed by Southeastern Site Development. It is expected to be complete by early Spring 2014.

Civic League Atlanta needs your help!

The transportation portion of the 18-county region’s blueprint for growth is due for an update, and our area’s planning agency, the Atlanta Regional Commission, has asked the Civic League to help engage a diverse crosssection of metro residents in revisiting the region's transportation needs and wants. Please take a few minutes to complete this brief community engagement survey. Your responses will help determine how we involve community members in the planning process going forward. www.surveymonkey.com/s/S52HS5Y

Focus on Transportation Projects Special guests include Bert Brantley, Deputy Executive Director for the State Road & Tollway Authority, McDonough Councilwoman Sandra Vincent, Roque Romero, Henry County SPLOST Transportation Director and Terry McMickle, Henry County Public Works Division Director.

June 22, 2013 • 9am Cross Road Christian Church 5365 North Henry Blvd. in Stockbridge

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