Georgia County Government - January 2009 - (Page 26)

BULLOCH COUNTY continued from page 25 economic development projects, and the purchase of solid waste landfill air rights at a MSW landfill in southeast Georgia. Eighty percent of up-front funding, officials say, will also be provided to more quickly enable municipal projects in the smaller towns of Brooklet, Portal and Register. The county has also provided a lowinterest loan to the town of Portal totaling $550,000 from county road funds, to construct their first sewer system. For the remainder of SPLOST IV, more than $17 million will be applied to road improvements, $10 million will be applied to water and sewer projects for the city of Statesboro, $8 million for public safety facilities and equipment, and an additional $5 million for solid waste facilities and equipment and $3 million in recreation improvements. Bulloch County also, in the next few years, anticipates moving toward “green” buildings and technology allocating more than $1 million for improvements for energy efficiency and sustainability for its existing buildings. An additional $1 million will also be dedicated to regional stormwater management facilities and land conservation projects, Couch asserts. All officials are proud that negotiations for SPLOST IV were extremely amicable with the county’s municipalities. “All parties planned what they needed in advance based on the projected revenues, which again reflects the long-term planning philosophy engaged by the county and its municipalities,” Chairman Nevil notes. While the SPLOST III program included many quality-of-life projects, such as the cultural benefit of Statesboro’s Averitt Center for the Arts, the Center for Agriculture, and Splash in the ’Boro, 91 percent of SPLOST IV projects will consist predominantly of public safety and basic infrastructure projects, Couch advises. The Future As growth continues to encroach here at a somewhat less frantic pace than more eastern portions of the increasingly popular Georgia coastal region, officials in Bulloch County say they will keep looking to form “synergistic” economic development alliances that benefit the entire region as well as the county’s citizenry. All agree they will continue to emphasize planning, in step with regional and state planning initiatives to keep the quality of life high, support the county’s traditional agribusiness base and, at the same time, find new avenues for progress in terms of cost-effective service delivery and government. Whatever changes the eventual, inevitable, surge in the coastal population will bring to Bulloch County in the distant future, elements put in place through planning today are sure to bolster the county’s readiness to cope with steeper demands on infrastructure and services. Clearly, Bulloch County with its vibrant Statesboro “epicenter” is successfully adapting to the changes of recent years, and preparing well for a prosperous future. Meanwhile, as Bulloch County keeps evolving as a solid commercial center, for regional education and tourism, officials plan to live up to the community’s new “moniker” as the “Gateway to the Coastal Empire.” Local government leaders are sure to be doing their part, determined to continue creating valued government services. ■ 26 GEORGIA 399759_Mauldin.indd 1 COUNTY GOVERNMENT 11/18/08 11:18:03 PM http://www.mjcpa.com

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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