Henry County Update - Newsletter

December 23, 2015

Board of

Commissioners Regular Meetings January 5 at 9:00 AM January 19 at 6:30 PM Meetings held at: Administration Building Community Room 140 Henry Parkway McDonough, GA 30253

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays from the Board of Commissioners

Regular Commission meetings air daily on Henry TV Channel 180 and AT&T U-Verse Channel 99, at 9 a.m. & 7 p.m.

The Henry County Board of Commissioners would like to wish you and yours a joyus holiday season and a Merry Christmas. As a reminder, Henry County administration offices will be closed on December 24, 25, 31 and January 1 for Christmas, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

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December 23, 2015 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 Samantha Watson Melissa Robinson Kevin Williams

henrycounty-ga.org

County Awards Bids on Capital Projects

Two, much-anticipated SPLOST capital projects are moving forward with the Henry County Board of Commissioners approving the award of bids at the December 15 Commission meeting.

Commissioners approved a budget amendment and the awarding of a bid for construction of the Hampton Senior/Recreation Center to Meja Construction of Peachtree City, GA in the amount of $3,293,000.

Prospective vendors were notified about the posting via the Team Georgia Marketplace and by email, with seven vendors submitting bids. Meja Construction was the most responsive, low bid.

District II Commissioner Brian Preston said he was finally glad to see this project come to fruition.

“This is decades in the making,” said Preston.

“I wanted to add some grandeur to the occasion. It’s an exciting month, and since it’s December and it’s Christmas, I think it’s a Christmas miracle and I’m just so excited.”

Commissioners also approved a budget amendment and the awarding a bid for construction of a new community park in Fairview to Sunbelt Builders Inc., of Covington, GA in the amount of $4,096,362.

Vendors were notified through the Team Georgia Marketplace and by email with four vendors submitting bids. Sunbelt Builders was the most responsive, low base bid.

District V Commissioner Bruce Holmes thanked staff for their work on the Fairview Community Park project.

“I think this is going to be a wonderful asset not just for the north end of the county but for the entire county,” said Holmes. “Thanks much for all of your work on this.”

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

McDonough Public Library Offers CoderDojo

The McDonough Public Library offers free CoderDojo sessions to children and teenagers between the ages of 7 and 17.

CoderDojo is a worldwide, non-profit group that teaches Henry County youth to code with help from mentors and other students. This program is funded through partners like SimplePhoto and VersionOne and through federal STEM grants administered to the Georgia Public Library system from the Institute of

Museum and Library Services.

Coding sessions at the McDonough Public Library feature lectures and activities relating to game programming, music programming, Lego mindstorms, Code Studio and Minecraft modding.

To learn more about CoderDojo, to sign up for a session or to volunteer as a mentor please visit www.coderdojohenry.com.

HCPD Joins Governor’s Office of Highway Safety National Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over Campaign

Because the holiday travel period is such a dangerous time on Henry County roads, the Henry County Police Department (HCPD) will be actively searching for and arresting impaired drivers December 16 through January 1 in conjunction with the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) and the national Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign.

The reason for the campaign is all too clear. For the 2014 holiday travel period in Henry County, there were 776 crashes, 248 injuries and 5 traffic deaths… just in the month of December. Officials don’t want to see a repeat of such tragedies in 2015.

According to GOHS Director Harris Blackwood, “This has been a rough year in Georgia for traffic fatalities and impaired driving, along with distracted driving and unbelted crashes…We want people to make it to their family and friends safely. That’s why we’re warning people who will be out celebrating that Georgia is a zero tolerance state. If caught driving impaired, you will not get a warning. You will be arrested and you will go to jail.”

The upcoming holidays are guaranteed to increase motoring hours shopping, entertaining and commuting on Henry County roads. GOHS and HCPD

want to remind motorists that a sober ride home is always within their reach by downloading “Drive Sober, Georgia,” the free smartphone app available for Apple and Android devices. The app lists both paid and free sober ride programs available statewide. Free sober rides home are also available through Checker Cab and AAA’s Tow To Go, from Christmas Eve through January 2.

It is imperative that Public Safety be as proactive as possible in targeting both the behaviors that cause serious injuries and fatal accidents, and the locations where they occur. HCPD will be conducting saturated patrols and temporary road checks during the holiday season. In addition, we want to remind all sober motorists to remain alert during the holidays. If you see a drunk driver on the road, report it right away by calling 9-1-1.

The Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign is a program of the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration and the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. For more information about this program, please contact Sgt. Scott Cumbie at 770288-8293 or Kimberly Monast at 770-288-8133.

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December 23, 2015 New Purchasing Ordinance Adopted

Henry County 4-H’er Wins Statewide Contest

Henry County 4-H’er, Ashlyn Donaldson is the state winner of the Georgia 4-H Foundation’s Holiday Card Contest for the third year in a row.

The contest is open statewide to 4-H members in grades 5-12. The winning submission is used for holiday cards which are printed and sent to Georgia 4-H donors from a multi-state area.

Ashlyn serves as the president of the Henry County Middle School 4-H Club. She has placed first at 4-H District Project Achievement in both the Beef category (6th grade) and the Food for Health and Sport category (7th grade). This fall, Ashlyn created an educational exhibit entitled “What’s Trees Got To Do With It?” which placed first in the Environmental Science category at the 2015 Georgia National Fair.

For more information about Henry County 4-H, which is open to students in grades 5-12, please visit www.ugaextension.com/henry. henrycounty-ga.org

Commissioners repealed section 2-2-33 of the Henry County Code and implemented a new purchasing ordinance to replace it at the December 15, 2015 Commission meeting.

Established in 1995, the section of the Henry County Code being replaced provided only a broad and general structure for the County’s centralized purchasing operations and did not provide the required level of detail, the inclusion of available opportunities for the development of efficiencies or the structured guidelines for ongoing compliance.

The new purchasing ordinance is a detailed amendment that spans twenty categories. Notable amendments include: Sealed bid proposals and approval by Commissioners is now required for all purchases of goods or services that equal or exceed $50,000; Compliant P-Card purchases can now be used for single source purhcases; Approval from Commissioners is now not required for annual contract purchases, with available budget, that equal or exceed $50,000; The Henry First Initiative has been implemented into the purchasing code.

The Henry First Initiative is a local purchasing initiative that offers special considerations to local vendors when bidding against out of County vendors.

The lowest local vendor within five percent of the overall lowest out of County bidder will be given the opportunity to match the overall lowest bid and receive the award.

The new purchasing ordinance does not change the bidding process, but instead outlines the requirements more clearly.

Two public hearings were held before a vote was made by Commissioners. The first was held on December 1, 2015 and the second was held on December 15, 2015.

To learn more about the Henry First Initiative, the Purchasing Department or to make a bid, visit www.henrycounty-ga.org/purchasing.