Henry County Update - Newsletter

May 05, 2016

Board of

Commissioners

Henry County 4H Awards Ceremony Honors Students and Volunteers

Regular Meetings May 17 at 6:30 PM June 7 at 9:00 AM Meetings held at: Administration Building Community Room 140 Henry Parkway McDonough, GA 30253 Regular Commission meetings air daily on Henry TV Channel 180 and AT&T U-Verse Channel 99, at 9 a.m. & 7 p.m.

Henry County Commission Chairman, Tommy Smith presents 4-H’er Ashlyn Donaldson with a certificate of achievement for her work during the progam.

The Henry County Extension Office held its 59th Annual Henry County 4-H Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, May 2, 2016 at Heritage Park in McDonough.

This year’s awards night theme was 4H: The Premier to Your Future, and featured a red carpet movie theme experience which included a delicious Italian dinner and dessert. Several awards were presented to honor outstanding 4H participants and the many volunteers who help the program continue to be a success year after year.

This year’s awards recognized outstanding students in several categories including Leadership, Junior Congress, Cloverleaf Junior and Senior Project Achievements, and special event awards such as photography, dog and horse clubs, archery, shooting, Cotton Boll, Forestry, Poultry Judging and several others. Several teachers and supporters of the 4H were also recognized with special certificates and pins.

For more information on the Henry County 4H program, please visit http://ugaextension.org/county-offices/henry/4-h-youth-development.html.

More pictures on page 5

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May 05, 2016

Published by Henry County Communications Department The Henry County Board of Commissioners

Henry County Police Department Honored at the 2016 Golden Shield Honor Awards

Editor Melissa Robinson

Graphic Designer Meredith Butler Samantha Watson

Layout Designer Samantha Watson

Contributors Melissa Robinson Samantha Watson Kevin Williams

henrycounty-ga.org

Four of the Golden Shield Honor Award pin winners pose with fellow officers and supervisors holding the certificates they were presented with at the ceremony. Pictured left to right: Major Burch, Officer Matt Palmer, Officer Jason Jones, Sargent S. Cumbie, Officer Kelly Horne, Officer Tyler Stone and Deputy Chief Mark Amerman.

The Henry County Police Department was recognized at the 2016 Golden Shield Honor Awards, hosted by Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (M.A.D.D.), on Thursday, April 28 at the Cobb Galleria Center.

The Henry County Police Department was named Agency of the Year and recognized along with several other agencies in the state for their DUI enforcement efforts. Eight Henry County officers were honored with pin awards and certificates for their individual efforts for DUI enforcement. In addition, the Henry County H.E.A.T. Unit was named the DUI Taskforce of the Year in the state of Georgia.

Officer Jason Jones was honored with a Gold Pin Award; Officer Matt Palmer received a Silver Pin Award; Officer Kelly Horne received a Silver Pin Award; Officer Matthew Davis was honored with a Bronze Pin Award; Officer Tyler Stone received a Bronze Pin Award; Former Officer Robert Ledford received a Bronze Pin Award; Officer Zachary Campbell received a Bronze Pin Award and Officer Kenneth Palmer received a Bronze Pin Award.

Early Voting Schedule for the May 24 Primary/General Election

Early voting for the May 24, 2016 Primary/General Election will be conducted at various locations including the Elections and Voter Registration Main Office from May 2 until May 20. Polls will be open on election day from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. during which voters are encouraged to cast their ballots at their regular polling places. For further information or to request an absentee ballot, call 770-288-6448. The Elections Office is located at 40 Atlanta Street, McDonough. Other voting location addresses can be found online at www.henrycounty-ga.org.

Merle Manders Fairview Conference Library Center

Fortson (Hampton) Library

Locust Grove Library

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Elections Office

May 2-6

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May 9-13

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May 14

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May 16-20 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. 7 a.m. - 7 p.m.

Soil and Water Conservation Commission Presents Awards to Elementary Students

The Henry County Soil and Water Conservation Commission presented the awards for an elementary school poster contest at the May 3 Board of Commissioners meeting.

The contest theme, “We all need trees,” inspired the six young winners to design and create posters depicting why trees are important.

All the winners are students at Red Oak Elementary and received a certificate, medal and trophy for their work. The second grade winners include Mina Nguyen, Lance Nguyen and Uchechi Njoku. The third grade winners include Leyna Vo, Dez’aray Lester and Jayden Bailey.

For more information on the Conservation Commission, visit www.henrycounty-ga.org.

The Soil and Water Conservation Commission contest winners pictured with their teachers and the Board of Commissioners. Front row (l. to r.) Jayden Bailey, Leyna Vo, Dez’aray Lester, Mina Nguyen, Lance Nguyen, Uchechi Njoku, Soil and Water Commission Board Member Vicki Consiglio and teacher Kimberly Fudge. Second row (l. to r.) Teacher Toye Powell, Soil and Water Commision Chair Amy Rollins, Chairman Tommy Smith, Commissioner Prince, Commissioner Preston, Commissioner Holmes. Back row (l. to r.)

Commissioner Moss and Commissioner Barham.

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May 05, 2016 Honey Bees Lunch and Learn on May 10

The Henry County Extension Office is offering an upcoming honey bee beekeeping Lunch and Learn on May 10 at noon in room B of the Extension Office in Heritage Park.

Jim Quick, from the entomology department at the University of Georgia’s Griffin campus, is an experienced bee keeper and will be discussing basic beekeeping at this month’s lecture. Intermediate to advanced beekeepers are also encouraged to attend if they have any questions for the presenter.

This lecture has been a well-attended class in the past and a full house is expected, so please show up with enough time to find a good seat.

For more information on the honey bee Lunch and Learn contact Jim Quick at jquick@ug.edu or 770228-7297. To see a list of upcoming Lunch and Learn lectures, please visit www.caes.uga.edu/extension/henry.

henrycounty-ga.org

Firefighters Raising Funds in 27th Annual Boot Drive

The firefighters from Henry County Fire Department need your support during the 27th annual “Give Burns the Boot” drive taking place May 6, 13, and 20. Proceeds help the Georgia Firefighters Burn Foundation (G.F.B.F.) fulfill its mission to educate the public in burn awareness and prevention, support medical facilities in the care of burns in Georgia and assist burn survivors in their recovery.

The Foundation fulfills the mission through several different programs including the Chesney Fallen Firefighters Memorial Grant Program, named in memory of the Gwinnett County firefighter who died in the line of duty. The program provides funding to fire departments’ fire safety/burn prevention programs. The Foundation also works closely with both the Burn Center at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta and the Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta. Each center receives grant funding each year from the G.F.B.F. The funding helps these facilities acquire equipment and send personnel to conferences on burn care treatment and rehabilitation.

Money raised by the Henry County Fire Department also goes to Camp Oo-U-La, Georgia’s only camp held exclusively for burn-injured children.

Last year, the camp celebrated its 23rd anniversary and welcomed campers of all ages. The campers experienced an entire week where they get to feel like kids again, regardless of their physical features. The cost for both the campers and volunteers is covered entirely by the G.F.B.F.

To help keep the fire fatality and burn injury rate down, the Georgia Firefighters Burn Foundation and the Henry County Fire Department need your help.

4-H Award pictures from page 1

Above: Henry County 4-H’er Rebecca Harth address the crowd after recieving the Outstanding Senior award during the ceremony (below).

Above: A group of 4-H award winners gather for a photo after the ceremony. Below: Hickory Flat Elementary School recieves a certificate of achievement for having the highest percentage of winners in the 4-H district projects.

Bid Awarded for Construction of Fire Station #15

Replacement Trucks Approved for the Building and Plan Review Department

The bid for construction of Fire Station #15 in Hampton was awarded to Headley Construction Corp. of Newnan at the May 3 Commission meeting.

A budget amendment was approved during the same Commission meeting to allow the transfer of $440,000 from the 911 Radio Replacement SPLOST IV account to the Fire Station #15 SPLOST IV account.

Out of five vendor submissions, Headley Construction Corp. presented the lowest bid in the amount of $2,140,000. All funds are available in SPLOST IV accounts.

For more information on this and all SPLOST projects, visit www.henrycounty-ga.org.

The purchase of ten new vehicles for the Building and Plan Review Department was approved at the May 3 Commission meeting.

The increase in County land development, commercial and residential, requires a need to replace ten trucks in the department’s fleet so that they can better serve the community.

The department will purchase ten 2016 Ford F150 trucks at $21,165 each for a total cost of $211,650.

Funds are available from the Building and Plan Review departmental budget.

For more information on the Building and Plan Review Department, visit www.henrycounty-ga.org/building.

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County Cuts Ribbon on Fairview Road

District V Commissioner Bruce Holmes cuts the ribbon on the completion of the Fairview Road SPLOST project.

District V Commissioner Bruce Holmes, along with County officials, and Stockbridge city councilwoman Neat Robinson, cut the ribbon on the completion of Fairview Road. The ribbon cutting ceremony took place on May 4, 2016 at the intersection of Fairview Road and West Village Parkway in Ellenwood.

Commissioner Holmes addressed supporters and said that he was grateful for the community’s support, and added that this improved roadway was just one element of his vision for North Henry.

“When I initially was elected six years ago, it was my vision to bring more job opportunities to the community and widen our road infrastructure, as well as build a community that would be considered a health and wellness community,” said Holmes. “And today I can honestly say thank you to the great folks in the community, at the SPLOST Department, and to the developer that completed this project. It’s a beautiful henrycounty-ga.org

development, and people in this community are very excited about traveling this road every single day.”

Improvements to the nearly 2-mile stretch of roadway included widening from two lanes to four with a landscaped median to add a beautification element.

Dedicated turn lanes were also added for easy access to the planned urgent care center and medical campus.

The project includes decorative stamped concrete crosswalks, mast arm signal poles and lighted street names.

The Fairview Road Widening Project was designed by Kimley-Horn & Associates, Inc. and was constructed by Construction Management Engineering Services (CMES), and was made possible under the SPLOST III initiative.

For more information on this or any SPLOST project, please visit henrycounty-ga.org/splost.