Henry County Update Newsletter - September 5th, 2013

SEPTEMBER 5, 2013

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

Henry County Cut Ribbon on Airport Runway Expansion Project

Regular Meetings September 17th at 6:30 p.m.

Meetings held at: Administration Building Community Room 140 Henry Parkway McDonough, GA 30253

Regular Commission meetings will air Fridays, Saturdays, Mondays and Wednesdays on Henry TV Channel 14 and AT&T U-Verse Channel 99, at 9 a.m. & 7 p.m.

Henry County Commission Chairman Tommy Smith cut the ceremonial red ribbon on the Henry County Airport Runway Expansion Project on August 29, surrounded by fellow Commissioners, and representatives with the Federal Aviation Administration, Georgia Department of Transportation, State Representative Andy Welch (District 110), GDOT Representative for District 13 Dana Lemon and Ron Burckhalter, Henry County Capital Projects Director and Airport Manager, as well as Croy Engineering and E.R. Snell. About 150 people attended the celebration.

About 150 people came out to the Henry County Airport on August 29 to join County Officials in celebrating the completion of Phase I of the runway expansion, which improved both the safety and accessibility of the airport, and most importantly, is expected to stimulate economic growth in the community.

“This is only the beginning,” explained District 2 Commissioner Brian

Preston. “I am hopeful in the next few years that we are going to have more and more opportunity to show the success Henry County offers to the business community as well as to the world, because we’re a true player in this new global marketplace.”

The project involved adding 1,000 feet in length to the existing runway, and widening it by 25 feet. The new runway is now 5,503 feet long by 100 feet wide, Continued on Page 3 the henry county update

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September 5th, 2013 Commissioner Bruce Holmes to Host Business Bootcamp Workshop

Have a great idea for a business but not quite sure how to get started? Already have a business and looking to grow it? Henry County District V Commissioner Bruce Holmes is sponsoring a business workshop titled Start and Grow Your Business Bootcamp on Saturday, September 7 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at TooLooPeas Restaurant in Stockbridge.

Workshop topics include business assessment, business marketing, business plan development and more. Successful industry insiders will offer tools and strategies to help with business development. Presenters include CAPBuilder Network, The Consulting Firm, WeAreHR and Certification Management.

TooLooPeas Restaurant is located at 282 E. Atlanta Road in Stockbridge.

New Building Department Director Announced

Derek J. Sorensen was named Director for the

Henry County Building Department on August 26, 2013. He

comes to us from Portland, Texas, where he was with the Department of Defense as a civilian for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Naval Facilities Engineering Command. He has 18 years of building industry experience in building code

administration and enforcement, construction management, interdisciplinary

coordination

and

quality

assurance.

Sorensen is a Registered Architect in Idaho, Colorado and Texas, and maintains 41 certifications from the International

Code Council, including Master Code Professional and

Certified Building Official. He also holds certifications from the Green Building Certification Institute as a LEED

Accredited Professional with a specialty in Building Design

and Construction, and from the Construction Specifications Institute as a Construction Documents Technologist and Construction Contract Administrator.

henrycounty-ga.org

In other news, Cheri Hobson-Matthews was named

Interim Division Director for Planning and Zoning Services.

She will also continue in her capacity as both the Transportation

Director and the Planning and Zoning Director, where she works closely with the cities of Hampton, McDonough, Locust Grove and Stockbridge. Under her leadership, the

County was awarded the Outstanding Planning Document by the Georgia Planning Association (GPA) for an award

winning Joint Comprehensive Transportation Plan (CTP).

She has also served on the Georgia Planning Association

Board of Directors and is an active member of the Atlanta

Regional Commission-Transportation Coordinating and Land Use Coordinating Committee.

For more information on the Building Department,

www.henrycounty-ga.org/building. For more information on Planning and Zoning, visit www.hcpz.org. visit

AIRPORT Continued from 1 which exceeds the minimum threshold required by many insurance companies, thus encouraging greater use of the facility, as well as more fuel sales, as the runway is now long enough for most planes to take off with a full tank of gas.

The total cost of the expansion project was $3,044,664.78, with Henry County paying just a little more than five percent of that cost, or $163,105.78. The balance of $2,881,559 was funded entirely by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT). The runway expansion project was designed by Croy Engineering of Marietta, and constructed by E.R. Snell of Snellville.

The completion of Phase I will go a long way toward positioning the Henry County Airport as an impetus for economic development in the community through the creation of high-paying jobs in airframe, mechanical system and avionics repair.

According to the Georgia Department of Economic Development, the average aerospace worker in Georgia earns over $61,300 annually, 43% higher than the average for the state, making aviation and aerospace projects an important target industry segment for the state, which is currently ranked 8th in U.S. aerospace industry employment.

The improved airport will also better equip Henry County to attract the growing number of corporations which require nearby airfields for their operations or executive travel. The county is also expected to benefit directly from increased ad valorem taxes for aircraft housed at the airport, as well as fuel sales and other aviation investments that will add to the local tax base.

During his keynote address at the ribbon cutting ceremony, Steve Justice, Director of the Center of Innovation for Aerospace for the Georgia Department of Economic Development, said “the sky is the limit” for the opportunities for Henry County and our state in aviation, as

he reminded the audience of a once small business that is now the largest private employer in the State of Georgia.

“Delta Airlines had very humble beginnings as a crop spraying service over 70 years ago. What future industry powerhouses are we nurturing with our local and state economic development programs today? Local airports and industrial sites are a catalyst for that growth, supported by programs at the state level,” said Justice.

Justice went on to explain that Henry County is well positioned between two major aviation clusters at Atlanta Airport and middle Georgia that contract billions of dollars of aviation products and services each year.

“It is interesting to note that while the Atlanta airport accounts for over $30 billion in economic impact, the other 103 airports have almost an equal impact - about $30 billion a year to the state’s economy. So, airports like this one are very important to both to the local and the state economy.”

Henry County greatly appreciates the Airport Runway Expansion Project Ribbon Cutting Sponsors, whose generous contributions helped make the event a great success. They are the Henry County Council for Quality Growth, the Henry County Development Authority, and the Henry County Chamber of Commerce, whose steadfast support of the acquisition and expansion of the airport is also appreciated.

Henry County purchased the former Tara Field from Clayton County in 2011, paying just $2.7 million of the $17.7 million price tag, with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) funding the balance. For more information about the airport, please visit www.henrycounty-ga.org/airport.

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September 5th, 2013 Henry County Sheriff Warns Residents of Financial Fraud

There is an epidemic of telephone fraud sweeping the metro-Atlanta area and Henry County is not immune. Residents are receiving telephone calls from dishonest persons identifying themselves as Law Enforcement Officers or members of the Court Systems in an attempt to intimidate their victims into paying them hundreds of dollars.

This scam can be run by using a variety of phony scenarios to make the potential victim believe they owe money to the agency or court where the scammer pretends to work.

One example of their mode of operation is that they call and falsely identify themselves as a Sheriff’s Office Deputy. They use a method to camouflage their telephone number to look like a local law enforcement number. This is called “spoofing”. They then tell the persons who answer that they were sent a notice and failed to show up for Jury Duty or pay a traffic ticket. As a result they say there is a warrant out for their arrest for failure to appear. If the victim believes the story they will then be told that the warrant can be dropped if they will pay the fine of $300 vvto $600.

If the victim agrees, the caller then tells them to go to a retailer that sells Green Dot prepaid cards. It could be another prepaid card but this method is preferred because of the ease to transfer funds form one card number to another and the difficulty for the government to track the transfers of the ill-gotten gains.

OAKLEY • HUSKY MIX

Once the victim puts the money onto a Green Dot card, they call the telephone number given to them by the scammer and tell them the card number of the card containing the money.

The scammer then assures them there will be no legal action taken against them because they have paid the fine and ends the call. The criminal then electronically transfers the funds using the card number provided by the victim to a card number they established.

At that point the funds are no longer able to be located and those cards where monies are accumulated are cashed in and the account wiped out. There appears to be no way to track the violator’s transaction.

Sheriff Keith McBrayer wants residents to understand that the Henry County Sheriff’s Office does NOT solicit payment of fines via telephone and does NOT take payment of fines via Green Dot prepaid cards. The Sheriff is unaware of any other law enforcement agency, court or federal agency that does this form of transaction. He also advises anyone receiving this type of call to hang up and report it to your local law enforcement agency.

For more information on how to pay fines or fees for Sheriff’s Office services visit their website at www.henrycountysheriff.net.

www.petfinder.com/petdetail/26759387 Oakley, a husky mix, is a wonderful girl, silly happy and gets along with everyone. She is an animated family dog! To meet Oakley, please call (770) 288-PETS. My I.D. #G36 7/8-1488 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. henrycounty-ga.org

TOWN HALL MEETING Hosted by District 1 Commissioner Bo Moss

Bert Brantley, Deputy Executive Director with the Georgia Road and Tollway Authority (GRTA) will discuss the I-75 Express Lanes and Trea Pipkin, Henry County Solicitor General, will provide an overview of Henry County’s criminal justice system.

Saturday, September 14, 2013 at 9 am Locust Grove Recreation Center 10 Cleveland St. in Locust Grove

Commissioner Bruce Holmes Youth Foundation to Expand Mentoring Programs

In an effort to serve and provide opportunities for the young people in Henry County, the Commissioner Bruce Holmes Youth Foundation (CBHYF) will once again offer a youth mentoring program, called Project Exposure, for young men in the community, with a kickoff meeting set for September 7, 2013. In addition, the CBHYF is launching a youth mentoring program for young women called Project Blossom that will host a kickoff meeting on September 14, 2013. Both meetings will be held at the Fairview Recreation Center from 10 a.m. until noon.

Both Project Blossom and Project Exposure are youth mentoring programs established to enhance and promote leadership development, achievement and success in young people in grades 6 through 12. The program works to promote positive self-esteem, academic and artistic achievement, the pursuit of higher education and positive interaction between the community’s young people and caring, encouraging adults.

The goal for both programs is to challenge these young people to excel by consistently exposing them to successful role models and empowered ways of living. The programs raise the standard of excellence and expectation among participants and promote a climate of cultural enhancement through workshops, such as business etiquette and public speaking. Participants are also exposed to potential future career paths, leadership development and other life skills.

Additionally, the programs mobilize the adult community with an opportunity to give back by serving as mentors and coaches.

The Fairview Recreation Center is located at 35 Austin Rd., Stockbridge, GA 30281.

For more information, visit www.cbhyf.org or contact info@cbhyf.org.

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September 5th, 2013 Henry County Emergency Management Agency Urges Residents to Participate in National Preparedness Month

The Henry County Emergency Management Agency and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency/Homeland Security’s Ready Georgia campaign are encouraging residents to be prepared for the next emergency or disaster during the month of September, which is National Preparedness Month.

Throughout the month, the Henry County Emergency Management Agency and Ready Georgia will join a nationwide coalition of thousands of private, public and nonprofit organizations, each hosting local events and initiatives designed to motivate people to take the necessary steps to ensure that their homes, workplaces and communities are prepared for disasters and emergencies of any kind.

Georgians can join the effort by creating a Ready Kit with the necessary supplies you and your family would need to survive at least three days without any aid, making a family communications plan that includes how you get in touch with family members, evacuation plans and meeting places in case of a disaster, and staying informed by making sure you have a way to receive weather alerts at home, work and on the go. Items for a Ready Kit may be based in part by your family’s specific needs, but fresh water is needed by everyone and below are guidelines for making sure your family has enough safe, clean water in the event of an emergency: Prepare an Emergency Water Supply

• Store at least 1 gallon of water per day for each

person and each pet. You should consider

storing more water than this for hot climates, for

pregnant women, and for persons who are sick.

• Store at least a 3-day supply of water for each person and each pet (try to store a 2-week supply if possible).

• Observe the expiration date for store-bought water; replace other stored water every six months.

• Store a bottle of unscented liquid household chlorine bleach to disinfect your water and to use for general cleaning and sanitizing. Do not consume water that contains bleach.

Note: Caffeinated drinks and alcohol dehydrate the body, which increases the need for drinking water.

Water Containers (Cleaning and Storage) • Unopened commercially bottled water is the safest and most reliable emergency

water supply.

• Use of food-grade water storage containers, such as those found at surplus or camping supply stores, is recommended if you prepare stored water yourself.

Before filling with safe water, use these steps to clean and sanitize storage containers:

• Wash the storage container with dishwashing

soap and water and rinse completely with

clean water.

• Sanitize the container by adding a solution

made by mixing 1 teaspoon of unscented liquid

household chlorine bleach in one quart of water.

• Cover the container and shake it well so that

the sanitizing bleach solution touches all inside

surfaces of the container.

• Wait at least 30 seconds and then pour the Continued on Next Page

henrycounty-ga.org

PREPAREDNESS Continued from 6

sanitizing solution out of the container.

• Let the empty sanitized container air-dry before use OR rinse the empty container with clean, safe water that already is available.

Avoid using the following containers to store safe water:

• Containers that cannot be sealed tightly

• Containers that can break, such as glass bottles

• Containers that have ever been used for any

toxic solid or liquid chemicals (includes old

bleach containers)

• Plastic or cardboard bottles, jugs, and containers

used for milk or fruit juices For proper water storage:

• Label container as “drinking water” and include

storage date.

• Replace stored water that is not commercially

bottled every six months.

• Keep stored water in a place with a fairly

constant cool temperature.

• Do not store water containers in

direct sunlight.

• Do not store water containers in areas

where toxic substances such as gasoline or

pesticides are present.

“National Preparedness Month serves as a good reminder that we all have a responsibility in protecting ourselves, our families and our communities,” said Don Ash, Director of the Henry County Emergency Management Agency. “By acting on Ready Georgia’s simple message of ‘prepare, plan and stay informed,’ Georgians have

the power to become their own first responders during emergency situations.”

For more information on how to prepare, plan and stay informed of natural and manmade disasters or pandemic outbreaks, individuals and families can visit www.co.henry.ga.us/911/FamilyEmergency.shtml or ready.ga.gov. By creating a Ready profile, Georgians can also receive a tailored plan for the entire family that includes the specific amount of supplies to put in their household Ready Kits. In addition, Ready Georgia has created a mobile app for preparedness information on the go.

Preparedness is just a click away, and with September being National Preparedness Month, now is the best time to get Ready, Georgia.

Ready Georgia is a statewide campaign designed to educate and empower Georgians to prepare for and respond to natural disasters, pandemic outbreaks, potential terrorist attacks and other large-scale emergencies. The campaign is a project of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) and provides a local dimension to Ready America, a broader national campaign. Ready Georgia aims to prepare citizens for maintaining self-sufficiency for at least 72 hours following an emergency, and uses an interactive Web site, online community toolkit, broadcast and print advertising and public awareness media messaging to reach its audiences.

For more information visit ready.ga.gov, find Ready Georgia on Facebook at facebook.com/ReadyGA or on YouTube at youtube.com/ReadyGAfromGEMA.

The Henry County Police Department is now using YouTube! The purpose to work in partnership with our citizens in solving and reducing crime. www.youtube.com/user/HenryCountyPoliceDpt 7

September 5th, 2013 Ballot Language for SPLOST IV Program Approved

The Henry County Board of Commissioners has approved the ballot language for the referendum to be placed on the upcoming November 2013 election ballot regarding whether a one percent Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax should be reimposed to fund capital and transportation projects in the community. The action took place during the August 29 called meeting for such purpose. The ballot language shall read as follows:

( ) Yes ( ) No

Shall a special one percent (1%) sales and use tax be reimposed in the special district of Henry County for a period of time not to exceed twenty four (24) calendar quarters and for the raising of an estimated amount of $190,000,000 for the purpose of financing the following capital outlay projects to be owned or operated or both by Henry County, Georgia, the City of Hampton, the City of Locust Grove, the City of McDonough, City of Stockbridge or any combination thereof: (1) roads, bridges, sidewalks and transportation facilities, (2) public safety facilities and equipment; (3) public works facilities and equipment, (4) public building development, construction and renovation, (5) parks, recreation and community facilities, (6) land acquired for public use, and (7) repayment of any debt or other obligations associated with any of said projects.

If reimposition of the tax is approved by the voters, such vote shall also constitute approval of the issuance of general obligation debt of Henry County, Georgia, in the principal amount not to exceed $100,000,000 for the above purpose.

If approved by voters in November, Henry County will be able to collect the sales tax for a period of six years beginning in April 2014, with 25 percent to be allocated amongst the four cities as follows: Hampton will receive 11.64 percent, Locust Grove will receive 8.99 percent, McDonough will receive 36.74 percent, and Stockbridge will receive 42.64 percent.

Based on a revenue projection of $190 million,

henrycounty-ga.org

Henry County’s portion of 75 percent will yield $142.5 million for county projects. This includes approximately $42.5 million in county-wide, tier 1 projects, including the following:

• 911 Radio Communications System for the

County $7 million

• Ambulances $380,000

• 2nd Building of Southern Crescent Technical

College* $5 million

• DOT Construction Equipment

Replacement $450,000

• Jail Renovation/New Pod Design $1.5 million

• Airport FBO $1 million

• Animal Control Facility Improvements and

Equipment $100,000

• 30 Police Patrol Vehicles $1,406,806

• Fire Stations (3 new) $6 million

• Fire Department Capital Equipment $2.1 million

• Probate Court Building Improvements $220,000

• Police Station (North end of the County Fairview area) $4 million

• New Interchange on I-75 South of SR 155**

$5.5 million

• SPLOST Program Management $3.9 million

• Sewer to Airport $2 million

• Sewer to Fairview $2 million

The balance of approximately $100 million will be divided equally among the five commission districts, providing each one about $20 million to allocate for capital and transportation projects, according to their district’s needs and priorities. To view a complete list of all the SPLOST IV projects, please visit http://www.co.henry. ga.us/SPLOST/SPLOSTIV.shtml. * Funding of Technical School Building subject to a valid property interest being conveyed to the County and one or more municipalities by the State of Georgia or instrumentality thereof. **Funding of Interchange @ I-75 subject to final determination that this project is a “transportation facility” under SPLOST law.

Commissioner Bruce Holmes To Host Town Hall Meeting Focus will be on Public Safety

District V Commissioner Bruce Holmes will hold his monthly Town Hall Meeting on Saturday, September 14, 2013 at 9 a.m. at Crossroad Christian Church. This month’s meeting will feature a discussion on public safety issues.

Special guest speaker will be Henry County Police Chief Keith Nichols, who will provide an update on crime in the area, explain HCPD’s policies prohibiting bias-based profiling and share what the police are doing to build stronger relationships with citizens and keep the community safer.

The Town Hall Meeting is open to the public and all are encouraged to attend. Crossroad Christian Church is located at 5365 North Henry Blvd. in Stockbridge.

REVERSE 911 SIGN UP FOR THE HENRY COUNTY EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION SYSTEM! http://tinyurl.com/lnqzh5q

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