Georgia County Government - September 2008 - (Page 26)

COBB COUNTY continued from page 25 county’s impetus to pursue what could be called “groundbreaking” initiatives like the Cobb Safety Village slated to be fully operational in mid-2009, a “pet project” of Hankerson, which will provide on-site, mandated public safety instruction to all Cobb County schoolchildren via a 27,000-square-foot classroom with hands-on activities and an authentic “Safety Village” incorporating streets, buildings, schools, a fire station and all the other elements you find in a normal, working community. “We’re building this village to further meet state-mandated public safety education requirements for students, and adults, within the context of a centralized location available to all citizens. We’re banking on the philosophy I gleaned from working with young people, i.e., ‘Tell me, I may forget, show me and I might remember, but involve me, and I will learn,’ ” Hankerson asserts. He thinks the Cobb Safety Village will not only generate new interest but will also drive home the importance of fire safety, personal safety and life safety in general for citizens of all generations who visit. The architecturally designed, fully authentic Safety Village will present a model fi re, allowing participants to climb out windows of buildings built to precise scale. “It will all be very realistic,” Hankerson avows. “The common experience for kids will enable them to remember the lessons.” Hankerson and his team first saw an example of such a “learning village” in Canada, but bringing it to Cobb County required more than just replicating an idea. “We always want to do it better here, and we make a point to ask those who have implemented something like this before us, ‘how would you do anything differently, or better, if you could?’ Then we start from there.” Cobb County is also aiming to implement a “311 system” non-emergency communications protocol to enable all county residents to contact the county for any concern they have, via one easyto-remember, universal number they can dial. To investigate the one operational now in the City of Chattanooga, Tenn., Hankerson and his team recently visited the city to gain insight on how to best implement such a system in Cobb. The group also visited a 311 center in Louisville, Ky. Implementing a 311 system, says Communications Director Quigley, would be most helpful to Cobb County, in that it allows elected officials to gauge citizens’ response to county services. According to Hankerson, it’s invaluable to inform the county of the issues on citizens’ minds. The centrally operated 311 system efficiently logs everything into one huge databank, via one number, for any number of questions, concerns or complaints. “Jurisdictions we visited which have an operational 311 system initially faced some elected officials being against it,” Hankerson says. “But it’s really innovative, and invaluable, in that it takes non-emergency calls off the back of the 911 system. For instance, in an ice storm, you have hundreds of citizens calling ‘911’ but they don’t need it. It’s wasteful.” Chicago, Miami, St. Louis and other major cities have the 311 protocol in place for non-emergency calls, and in this northwest Atlanta jurisdiction, METER READING, COLLECTIONS, DISCONNECT AND CONNECTION SERVICES. 770 Pickens Industrial Dr. • Marietta, GA 30062 www.bermexinc.com • 770.428.7447 Attention: Mr. Ken Saxon 391115_Bermex.indd 1 7/15/08 9:32:03 AM Providing Complete Municipal Services for Large & Small Communities Williams & Associates Athens, GA 30606 (706)310-0400 Engineering Consultants, Landscape Architects & Planners www.gaplanning.com 26 GEORGIA 384630_Williams.indd 1COUNTY GOVERNMENT 5/29/08 8:55:15 AM 351133_Moreland.indd 1 11/7/07 10:44:14 AM http://www.bermexinc.com http://www.maai.net http://www.gaplanning.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Georgia County Government - September 2008

Georgia County Government - September 2008 Contents President’s Message County Matters Cobb County: Quality of Life is Job No. 1 Innovative Transportation Financing in Georgia Drive Your Fleet into the Next Generation of Efficiency, Profits Spotlight: Georgia Technology Authority Media Productions GEMA News: Hurricane Season Could Cause Natural Gas Spike GDEcD News: Communities Receive Funds to Develop Tourism Assets Georgia’s Grand Old Courthouses: Upson County Extension News: Radon: Georgia’s Silent Danger Research Corner: Conserving Fuel Costs in Your County Staff News County Parade Index of Advertisers

Georgia County Government - September 2008

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