Henry County Update - Newsletter

August 6, 2018

Board of

Commissioners

County Holds Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for Renovated Locust Grove Senior Center

Cancelled Meetings August 7, 2018 9:00 a.m.

Regular Meetings August 21, 2018 6:30 p.m.

Sept. 5, 2018 9:00 a.m.

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

Henry County commissioners and staff, and officials from the city of Locust Grove, along with area seniors celebrated the grand re-opening of the Locust Grove Senior Center with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house on Thursday, August 2.

The newly remodeled senior center now has a full-service kitchen with all new commercial equipment and a catering kitchen that is available to use when renting the facility. The new kitchen was funded under the SPLOST IV initiative and cost $558,799.

Other upgrades completed to the senior center involved renovations to the activity rooms on the first floor of the building, including redesign or upgrades to the exercise room, craft room, lobby area and multi-purpose room and funding for those renovations was made possible through the Council on Aging.

District I Commissioner Johnny Wilson did the honors cutting the red ribbon and hopes the center will be well-used by residents.

“You all have the latest and greatest state-of-the-art kitchen,” said Wilson.

“Downstairs has been remodeled to meet all the other senior centers that we have in the county. So I hope that everyone enjoys and you all go out and encourage other seniors to come visit as well.”

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August 6, 2018

Published by Henry County Communications & Public Information Department Henry County Government

Editor Melissa Robinson

Graphic Designer Meredith Butler

Layout Designer Melissa Robinson Meredith Butler

Contributors Melissa Robinson Erika Richards

Ribbon Cutting continued from page 1

The Senior Center’s hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. with breakfast served from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. for $3.00, and lunch from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. for $4.00.

Meal service and activities are open to Henry County residents age 55 and over, and all of Henry County Senior Centers offer a wide variety of activities for seniors of all activity levels, including exercise classes, crafts, trips, opportunities for fellowship and much more.

The Locust Grove Senior Center is located at 280 Mose Brown Dr. on the left side of Warren Holder Park in the Locust Grove Event Center.

For more information about Henry County Senior Services or any of the four senior centers, please visit www.henrycounty-ga.org/seniorservices.

Public Millage Meeting AUGUST 13, 2018 9:00 a.m.

Lake Dow Road Update Meeting

Henry County will be holding a meeting to update citizens on the Lake Dow Road repairs on Tuesday, August 14 beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the Heritage Senior Center in McDonough.

The road was closed at the end of May after

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learning that metal pipes underneath a portion of the road had corroded. Detours have been in place to keep traffic in the area flowing.

The Heritage Senior Center is located at 1050 Florence McGarity Boulevard in McDonough.

Chair Wood Invites Public to CAC Meetings Keeping Henry County citizen’s informed at Conversations About Our County Meetings

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to stay well informed about Henry County objectives at one of the five Conversations About Our County meetings scheduled for the next several weeks.

Commission Chair June Wood and county officials encourage citizens to come out to a meeting to get an overall update on County related matters and also discuss topics like public safety, transportation and traffic.

Please see below for the meeting dates, times and locations:

District 3—Tuesday, August 28 at Heritage Senior Center from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

-Located at 1050 Florence McGarity Boulevard in McDonough

District 1— Thursday, August 30 at Locust Grove Event Center from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

-Located at 280 Mose Brown Drive in Locust Grove

District 5— Saturday, September 8 at Fairview Recreation Center from 9 to 11 a.m.

-Located at 35 Austin Road in Stockbridge

District 2— Tuesday, September 11 at Bear Creek Senior Center from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

-Located at 56 McDonough Street in Hampton

District 4— Saturday, September 22 at J.P. Moseley from 9 to 11 a.m.

-Located 1041 Millers Mill Road in Stockbridge

For more information on Conversations About Our County meetings, please call 770-288-6001 or visit henrycounty-ga.com.

SPLOST V Committee Holds Kickoff, Sets Next Meeting for August 9 in Locust Grove

The first meeting of the SPLOST V Committee was held on Monday, July 23, where committee members were introduced, a tentative schedule was approved and the committee selected a chair and vice chair.

The committee is made up of one appointee from each commission district, one by the commission chair, one by the county manager, and one member appointed by the Henry County Municipal Association (HMA).

Members appointed include Tom Israel by District 1; David Linton by District 2; Mike Elrod by District 3; Carlotta Harrell by District 5; Clayton Carte by the Commission Chair; and Claud Spinks by the County Manager. According to SPLOST Transportation Director, Roque Romero, the committee members for both District 4 and the HMA will be determined over the

next few meetings. Carte was selected as Chairman of the committee and Harrell was selected as Vice Chair.

Duties of the committee include formulating an accurate estimate of the revenue which could potentially be generated; receiving public input from members of the Henry County community as to projects for inclusion into a new SPLOST program; formulating accurate estimates for those potential projects; and presenting a report to the Henry County Board of Commissioners as to cost estimates and recommended projects for inclusion on a SPLOST V ballot initiative.

The next meeting is set for August 9, 2018 at 6:30 pm at the Locust Grove Senior Center located at 280 Mose Brown Dr. in Locust Grove. All meetings are open to the public.

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

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August 6, 2018 Felony Drug Court Sees Lives Changed for the Better

Amid some light moments of laughter and many tears of joy, five adults gave their testimony to how Henry County’s Adult Felony Drug Court helped them change their lives for the better.

The Henry County Felony Drug Court, under the direction of Judge Brian Amero, held its 11th graduation on July 26 where five former felons, all facing time in the state penitentiary, gave testimony to how they have worked to change their lives through the Adult Felony Drug Court program.

Surrounded by staff, friends, family and county officials, each of the five participants relayed their inspirations for finding sobriety and listened to words of encouragement from Amero and members of his staff.

Special guest speaker was Georgia Supreme Court Justice Michael P. Boggs who addressed the graduates and their families. He provided startling facts on the Georgia prison population, and spoke about the Criminal Justice Reform Act and the effectiveness of drug courts.

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He also lauded Amero and the staff of Henry County’s Drug Court program for their success.

“Judge Amero’s program is one of the best in the state because you’ve got a judge that really cares about what he’s doing and that truly makes a difference,” said Boggs.

The Adult Felony Drug Court program offers the option of rehabilitation instead of incarceration when participants follow a strict schedule of drug testing, counseling and probationary guidelines.

According to Craig Ogilvie, Director for Henry County Accountability Courts, the Drug Court has been operating since 2011 and has had 59 participants graduate to date, with just a 19 percent recidivism rate, compared to the national average for non-drug court treatment of over 75 percent recidivism.

Combined there are currently 71 participants in Drug and Mental Health Court programs with 101 graduates.

Georgia Commissioner of Labor Speaks at Connecting Henry Collaborative Meeting

Connecting Henry hosted a Community Collaborative Meeting on July 31 at Heritage Park in McDonough.

Georgia Commissioner of Labor and keynote speaker of the event, Mark Butler, gave his insight on today’s workforce. He also shared that Henry County has had the most people join its workforce and has the highest number of employment this year than in previous years.

Commissioner Butler highlighted GeorgiaBEST, a Georgia Department of Labor program that teaches

people soft skills like problem solving, communication and work ethic skills to get and keep a job.

After the presentation, community partners participated in a speed networking activity allowing each person to greet one another and exchange information.

The next Collaborative Meeting will be held on September 25, 2018 beginning at 9 a.m. at Heritage Park, which is located at 99 Lake Dow Road in McDonough.

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