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As the calendar year
changes, here is my annual update of issues on your Commissioners' table.
Public Buildings. Five new community
centers are ready to open for business, pending concrete paving and arrival
of furniture. The county jail construction is well underway and the animal
shelter has been redesigned to meet budget, with grading about to begin,
both with a projected opening date of August 2002.
Lawsuits. The Vulcan quarry/asphalt
plant lawsuit is awaiting a decision in Superior Court. The Blaylock Road
landfill suit may be settled soon out of court. The State Appeals Court
Hearing about our Impact Fee ordinance is scheduled for January 23. The
lawsuit related to the Highway 92 Overlay Ordinance has a hearing date
of January 11.
Growth Issues. A development overlay
for Technology Ridge along I-575 has not been developed, but our general
development regulations are nearing approval, and an outdoor lighting
ordinance has been adopted. Staff has not yet recommended changes to the
Future Land Use map. The Thoroughfare Plan (a long range road plan) has
been approved. This plan provides the necessary data to recalculate the
road Impact Fee.
Staff Projects. Staff will be added
early in 2002 to develop a highly informative and interactive website.
Our finance department analysis will be on the accrual basis, under a
chart of accounts uniform for all Georgia jurisdictions, as of January
1. The county manager and his staff have created a rolling five-year financial
forecast for the county, which should be approved along with the annual
operating budget in mid December 2001.
The status of my personal wish list:
Analyze county office space needs.
(County manager' project.)
Study our development and building inspection
programs. (Staff reorganization due in 2002.)
Develop growth boundary agreements
with every city in our county. (Dialogue has begun with all cities in
the county in monthly meetings.)
Realign commission post boundaries.
(County Registrar has completed maps for local legislative approval.)
Pursue acquisition of greenspace.
(Fiscal Year 2002 application of more than $700,000 is submitted.)
Create more staff to enforce the County's
sign ordinance. (To be added in 2002.)
As Chairman, I continue to represent county
interests on the Water and Sewerage Authority, the Board of Health, and
the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC). I am also very involved in the
State Transportation Department's studies of the proposed Northern Arc,
to which I remain strongly opposed. As the ARC debates the nature and
timetable of that road, there will be many opportunities for the citizens
of this county and region to voice their opinion.
If you've read any six newspapers or watched
any three commission meetings during 2001, you are aware of the internal
conflicts that have distracted the majority of the Commission from important
county business during 2001. Personal and professional attempts at reconciliation
or at least a professional public veneer have not yet met with success.
My wish for the New Year 2002 is that all
five of your commissioners resolve to work together for the good of the
county. Doing the right thing for our constituents should be the goal
of all five of us, not just the three of us who will stand for election
in 2002.
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Do you like sports?
I do. Nothing beats Florida State football on a crisp, autumn afternoon
or Braves baseball in the summer. Thrashers hockey, Hawks basketball,
even Syracuse lacrosse —- I love it all.
Well, all that is, that my satellite dish
can pick up. Oh, did I fail to mention I like sports from the comfort
of my couch?
OK, so I'm not the most athletically gifted
person around. Actually, the only exercise I get on a regular basis is
chasing my kids around, and until chauffeuring becomes an Olympic sport,
I'm not going to be in the running any time soon. That is why there is
much irony in the invitation I'm about to extend - will you come and watch
me play basketball on the January 24?
Not just me but the ENTIRE school board and
Dr. P. and the senior staff and a whole bunch of principals and assistant
principals and even a few campus policemen. Our opponents? None other
than our own Woodstock City Mayor Bill Dewrell, the City Council members,
a city manager, some fireman - why, I bet our favorite Woodstock policeman
Richie Rich will be there. Yes, that's right - it's the First Annual "Hoops
for Kids" charity basketball game between the school system and the City
of Woodstock.
Now I know a few questions are coming to
your mind - when? where? how much? and, the biggest one, WHY? Let me answer
the easy ones first. The game will be Thursday, January 24 at 7 p.m. at
Woodstock High School. Admission is $3 for children, $5 for adults or
$15.00 per family. There will be games, food and fun before the game and
absolute silliness during! Come and see your favorite principal, superintendent,
councilman, or school board member desperately try to play basketball
and not get caught cheating.
Why? Why is someone in my shape and athletic
ability risking certain humiliation? The answer is simple: The Lending
a Hand Foundation, a not-for-profit foundation set up for the sole purpose
of helping organizations that help our children in Cherokee County.
The Foundation members have committed to
raise money to keep any student or program from slipping through the cracks
due to lack of funds. Be it an after school program that needs funds to
stay open or the team that needs extra money to go to a competition, the
Lending a Hand Foundation has pledged to help build the bridge between
those in our community who want to help and those who need it. Students,
teachers and staff members will be able to apply for grants to further
the opportunities for our students.
No organization, however, is successful without
support. So bring the family out on January 24 for an evening of fun and
entertainment.
If you need more information or would like
to be a sponsor, just give me a call. One thing I can guarantee is laughs
for all! (And, Mayor Bill, the ambulance will be there with oxygen on
hand, right?)
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