Henry County Update - Newsletter

November 11, 2016

Board of

Commissioners

Henry County Honors Veterans at the Veterans Day Celebration

Regular Meetings November 15 at 6:30 PM December 6 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 Government, through the Henry County Parks and Recreation Department, honored veterans with its annual Veterans Day Service held at the Wall of Honor at Heritage Park in McDonough on November 11, 2016.

The program included patriotic music and songs, posting of the colors by Henry County High School NROTC, and a memorial wreath placed at the Veterans Wall of Honor. Keynote address was given by Dr. Mittie A. Smith, Command Sergeant Major, US Army (Ret), and an inspirational poem was read by Helen Busbin, Regent with the Andrew McBride Chapter of the DAR. Fred Wilcox from American Legion Post 513 offered the welcome, and opening and closing remarks.

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November 11, 2016

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

Editor Melissa Robinson

Graphic Designer Meredith Butler Samantha Watson

Layout Designer Samantha Watson

Contributors Melissa Robinson Samantha Watson

HCPD Welcomes Four New Officers

We wish to recognize four (4) new officers to our agency. On November 8, 2016 Chief Nichols issued the Police Officer’s Oath and Appointment to Officers (pictured l. to r.) Yusuf Saadiq, Hannah James, David Bennetti and Perrish Brown who bring knowledge and experience to Henry County. These experienced officers will begin the Field Training Officer program and will be serving our community very soon. henrycounty-ga.org

Phase II Construction at The Henry County Airport Breaks Ground

The Henry County Board of Commissioners, along with other County officials and Hampton City officials broke ground at the Henry County Airport in Hampton on November 1, for the Phase II Runway Extension and Mt. Pleasant Road Relocation.

Mt. Pleasant Road will be relocated to gain full utility of Runway 24 and provide for removal of the displaced threshold, which is currently displaced by 490 feet, and provide for runway safety area improvements.

“This is truly a celebration for Henry County.

This is not the beginning, it’s just a continuation of a long history of improvements out at the airport,” stated County Manager Lyndon Bonner. “At the end of this project, you’ll see the sprout of another project and you’ll see some other developments that are long overdue and well deserved.”

Design engineer, Croy Engineering, LLC and contractor, E.R. Snell, Inc. estimate ten months until completion of the project.

The $1.57 million project is 90 percent funded by the federal government, with five percent funded by the State of GA and five percent matched by Henry County.

For more information, please visit www.henrycounty-ga.org/airport.

Pictured (l. to r.) Hampton City Manager Daryl Dotschay, Hampton City Councilman Henry Byrd, Henry County Airport Manager Michael Toney, District IV Commissioner Blake Prince, District I Commissioner Bo Moss, Chairman Tommy Smith, District III Commissioner Gary Barham, Assistant County Manager Cheri Hobson-Matthews and County Manager Lyndon Bonner.

Donations Needed for the “Fill the Bus” Campaign, an Effort for the Community Cares Christmas Toy Shop

In an effort to encourage donations to the Community Cares Christmas Toy Shop, Henry County has partnered with the Connecting Henry Department to sponsor a “Fill the Bus” campaign taking place now until December 5.

The campaign features a Henry County Transit bus that will visit County buildings and department locations, prompting employees as well as local citizens to drop off and fill the bus full of new, unwrapped toys for a child between the ages of infant to 12 years old.

The Community Cares Christmas Toy Shop provides new, unwrapped toys and books to children in our community who might not otherwise have something under the Christmas tree, but what the larger program provides is help and resources to families in need, through Connecting Henry.

Donations for young children can include crayons and coloring books, Play-Doh, baby and Barbie dolls, stuffed animals, character toys, learning toys, Hot Wheels, larger toy cars, puzzles and board games, play tools and dress up items (crowns and superhero gear).

Donations for pre-teens can include nail polish

and make-up kits, PG and PG-13 DVD’s, sports jerseys, sports items like skateboards, basketballs and footballs, jewelry and watches, scarves, jewelry making kits, arts and crafts kits and bath and body sets.

Donations of gift cards and money are also being accepted, but those should be dropped off at the Connecting Henry office at 66 Veterans Drive in McDonough.

A Henry County Transit bus, adorned with a “Fill the Bus” banner will be at various County locations throughout the month of November. Gifts may be dropped off at the County Administration Building located at 140 Henry Parkway or the Locust Grove Recreation Center, J.P. Mosely Recreation Center, Fairview Recreation Center as well as Heritage Park anytime during normal business hours until December 5. Buses will also be at Hampton City Hall on November 21 and McDonough City Hall on November 22.

For more information on the Fill the Bus campaign and the Community Cares Christmas Toy Shop, visit www.henrycounty-ga.org/connectinghenry.

HCFD Announces Priority Dispatching Due to Volume of Smoke Complaints

The Henry County Fire Department has announced that they are now priority dispatching as a result of the high volume of calls from citizens complaining of smoke in the area.

Priority dispatching means that the department will only respond to smoke complaints from citizens if fire is actually visible.

The department is experiencing an increase

in smoke related calls due to the wildfires burning in North Georgia. The Georgia Forestry Commission has related the increase in smoke volume in the air to a shift in wind direction.

According to the department, the increase in call volume has the potential to deplete emergency services for the citizens of Henry County.

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November 11, 2016

Intersection Improvement at Lake Dow Road Breaks Ground

Bridge Replacement on Jackson Lake Road Breaks Ground

The groundbreaking for the intersection improvement at Lake Dow Road, Rodgers Road and Rosser Road took place on November 11.

District I Commissioner Bo Moss, District III Commissioner Gary Barham, County Manager Lyndon Bonner, SPLOST Transportation Director Roque Romero and other county employees were in attendance for the groundbreaking.

“I’d just like to thank the citizens for voting for SPLOST, because without it we wouldn’t be able to complete much needed projects like this one,” stated Commissioner Barham.

Southeastern Sit Development will complete the project for $642,253.60 in approximately 300 calendar days, or ten months. Heath & Lineback Engineers, Inc. were the project designers.

To keep up with this or any SPLOST IV project, visit www.henrycounty-ga.org/SPLOST.

The bridge replacement on Jackson Lake Road over Mackey Creek broke ground on November 10.

District I Commissioner Bo Moss, District III Commissioner Gary Barham, County Manager Lyndon Bonner, SPLOST Transportation Director Roque Romero and other county employees were in attendance for the groundbreaking.

“Thank you for allowing us to come out here and join this great celebration to get another SPLOST project done. We currently have fourteen bridge projects in place and without SPLOST we wouldn’t be able to complete any of them,” said Commissioner Barham.

Contractor Georgia Bridge & Concrete, LLC. will finish the project in ten months with a $980,412.52 budget. The project was designed by Moffatt & Nichol, Inc.

To keep up with this or any SPLOST IV project, please visit www.henrycounty-ga.org/SPLOST.

Pictured (l. to r.) Bert Bivins (SPLOST), Chae Yi (SPLOST), SPLOST Transportation Director Roque Romero, District III Commissioner Gary Barham, District I Commissioner Bo Moss, County Manager Lyndon Bonner and members of the project construction team.

Pictured (l. to r.) SPLOST Transportation Director Roque Romero, County Manager Lyndon Bonner, District I Commissioner Bo Moss, District III Commissioner Gary Barham, Bert Bivins (SPLOST) and Chae Yi (SPLOST).

henrycounty-ga.org