Georgia County Government - January 2009 - (Page 25)

organizations in the state. Bulloch County takes pride in providing various recreational activities to its citizenry. The department maintains and operates eight recreation areas encompassing more than 240 acres. The department also oversees 30 buildings on these parks. Along with these facilities, the department has a good relationship with both the Bulloch County Board of Education and Georgia Southern University, thus allowing the department to joint-use of facilities at non peak times. Included in these parks are 38 athletic fields, 10 tennis courts, 2 swimming pools, 11 outdoor basketball courts, walking trails, picnic areas, playgrounds and picnic pavilions. Mill Creek Regional Park, opened in 1993, was SPLOST-funded and has hosted more than 200 softball and baseball tournaments, including four national tournaments. The facility has also recently hosted the Georgia State Special Olympics. It also hosts the annual GSU International Festival and Fourth of July Firecracker Festival. It is not uncommon for attendance to run as high as 20,000 daily for these events. Mill Creek also features what has become its seminal attraction, the Splash in the ‘Boro Family Aquatic Center. Now in its fift h year, Splash was a $5.4 million investment when it was built in 2004, with Commissioners hoping it would at least break even. An 800 foot long “lazy river,” 7,000 square foot play pool; a leisure pool; three water slides, concessions facilities and shade structures now comprise the park, which also has lap pools and a therapy pool. A $4 million expansion for the facility is anticipated to be finished in time for the 2009 season, funded by debt service to be paid from generated revenues. District Attorney’s office. Since 2004, two neighboring structures formerly used for the Sheriff ’s department and Jail were renovated for use by the Magistrate Court and Adult Probation services. All the complexes were built or renovated using SPLOST funds. The county is now undertaking a facilities plan to determine future judicial and administrative space needs, Couch adds. Judicial Enhancements In recent years, growth has spurred the need for a bigger jail and in 1998, the Bulloch County Courthouse was renovated to better accommodate workloads for the State and Probate Courts. At the same time a 50,000-square-foot judicial annex was built for the Clerk of Courts Office and to add courtroom space; and, a two-story historic office building purchased and renovated for use by the SPLOST Improvements Following closing a successful $50 million SPLOST III from 2002, Bulloch County in 2007 passed a six-year $71 million SPOST IV referendum. Through November 2009, $20 million will immediately pay for the jail expansion, new BULLOCH COUNTY continued on page 26 Your dealer for the toughest and most dependable work trucks that will help you to run smart.™ All Day, Everyday! Everyday! We can supply any type of truck body. Call one of our Certiﬁed 408451_IPG.indd 1 Specialists to assist you with speciﬁcations to get the job done right. 11/16/08 11:48:39 AM SAVANNAH FREIGHTLINER STERLING 301 O’Leary Road, I-95 Exit 109 Savannah, GA 31407 (912) 964-8574 AUGUSTA FREIGHTLINER STERLING 2930 Riverwest Drive Augusta, GA 30907 (706) 722-1272 Proudly serving Bullock County and other Counties throughout Georgia www.freightlinerofsavannah.com 408645_Savannah.indd 1 11/25/08 10:53:30 AM 407827_Cherokee.indd 1 JANUARY 2009 www.accg.org 11/12/08 25 8:19:44 AM http://www.ipgarchitects.com http://www.freightlinerofsavannah.com http://www.cherokeetruck.com http://www.accg.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Georgia County Government - January 2009

Georgia County Government - January 2009 Contents President’s Message County Matters Forward-Thinking Bulloch County Leaders Put Progress on the Front Burner Robert Farris: Champion for Georgia’s Forests ACCG, BCBS of Georgia Work Together to Improve County Employee Health Georgia’s Grand Old Courthouses: McIntosh County Extension News: Cooperative Extension Generates ROI Research Corner: How Does Your County Rate? County Parade Index of Advertisers

Georgia County Government - January 2009

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