SBCPRD presented it’s annual awards in December, including:

• Broni Gainous, Marketing Coordinator, was awarded the SBCPRD Distinguished Professional of the Year. This award recognizes an individual each year who has made outstanding and lasting contributions to the recreation profession.
• Kimberly Sharpe, Special Events Supervisor, recently accepted the SBCPRD S.T.A.R. (Service That Achieves Results) Award, which recognizes an employee who has enhanced or provided new services within the department.
• Al Cartee, Correctional Officer and Landscape Specialist, was awarded the SBCPRD Emmitt Scott Award. This award is presented to a full time Parks Division employee who has gone “above and beyond” his or her job description in an effort to keep our parks and grounds beautiful, friendly and safe.
• Gus Allen, Assistant Parks Division Manager, was awarded a 25-Year Service Award in 2012 for 25 years of service to SBCPRD and to the recreation profession. Others to receive service awards included: 20-Year, Ronnie Melton; 5-Year, Dexter Hendrix; and 5-year, Justin Franklin.

The Bulloch County Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing during their regular meeting on Tuesday, November 20, 2012 at 8:30 a.m. at the Judicial Annex, 20 Siebald Street, Statesboro, Georgia to receive input, comments and discussion on a proposed resolution adopting an Redevelopment Plan for Tax Allocation District Number One, consisting of 1,781.2 acres +/- proposed for the Interstate Gateway District located proximate to the I-16/U.S. Highway 301 Interchange.  The Redevelopment Plan was created in accordance with the Official Code of Georgia Annotated Title 36, Chapter 44; and, Title 36, Chapter 61, articulating the County’s redevelopment area, goals, and objectives; describes strategies for accomplishing them, and identifies essential tools to implement the plan.

All interested persons are invited to attend said hearing and, either personally or through their representatives, present oral or written comments and discussion concerning the proposed Redevelopment Plan for the purposes described in the preceding paragraph and the nature and location of the projects described therein. Written comments may be submitted to the Christy A. Strickland, Clerk of the Board, Bulloch County Board of Commissioners, Georgia, 115 North Main Street, Statesboro, Georgia; or, by USPS at PO Box 347, Statesboro, Georgia 30459.  All written comments must be received, in person or by postmark, by Monday November 12, 2012 at 5:00 p.m.

Click for a copy of the Tax Allocation Plan – District #1

Christy A. Strickland

Clerk of the Board

Service awards are given at 10 years of service and each 5 year interval thereafter. SBCPRD has two individuals that have reached their 10 year mark…Tony Morgan,  Parks Division Manager, and Kimberly Sharpe, Special Events Coordinator .
Darryl Hopkins, Superintendent of Athletics , received his 20-year Service Award. With 20 years under his belt, Ronnie Melton, Athletic Supervisor, accepted his Service Award. Congratulations to these dedicated staff for reaching these milestones in their lives.

Each year, the Leadership Award is presented to a First District Agency staff member who has been most instrumental in creating, starting, and/or supervising programs that benefited their respective community and brought praise to the department. In 2012, the Leadership Award was presented to Alison Brown, Program Supervisor.

Hired as a Program Supervisor in 2006, Alison worked diligently to provide optimum programming to 50+ Adults and Therapeutic participants.  By 2008, in an effort to diversify our program offerings, Alison was given the added responsibility of providing county-wide Instructional Programs to youth and adults.  Through her efforts there were 235 new participants and over $25,000 in new revenues in our community recreation budget last year.  In addition she conducts part time staff trainings and orientations, and develops and maintains operational budgets for specific program areas.

Alison has the desire to lead and is passionate about attaining success.  She is motivated and takes initiative when developing new programs and activities.  She looks for opportunities to lead and often accomplishes more than is expected. She is honest and compassionate concerning working for the common good of her programs and is supportive of other divisions within the department.
While resolving conflicts she remains calm and compassionate but is unwavering in her professional ethics. When training p-t staff she sets an exemplary example and is successful in choosing the best staff to accomplish her programming goals.  She has the skills to speak well, listen carefully and write clearly.

With Alison at the helm of the Adults 50+ Programming at SBCPRD, the department was also awarded the coveted Connie Kight Senior Adult Programming Award.  Connie Kight, a program coordinator for the Swainsboro-Emanuel Recreation Department enjoyed working with her local senior adults and involved them in many state programs. Connie, well known for her commitment to senior adults throughout the state of Georgia, pass away in 1995 while serving as Chairman of the GRPA’s State Therapeutic/Senior Citizen Committee–a committee she had served for over 5 years. In memory of her dedication and hard work with the senior adult programs, this award is presented for an exemplary senior adult program in the First District.
From bingo to lunches to trips around the state, SBCPRD provides numerous activities for adults who have the time to enjoy the good things in life. The department’s goal is to keep Seniors bodies in shape with line dances and yoga while card games throughout the week offer these adults a chance to exercise their mind.

Each year, the GRPA First District presents a department with an Innovative/New Program Award. For 2012, SBCPRD accepted the award for it’s Holiday Helping Hands program.  Do you know that there are several households in Bulloch County that celebrate Christmas without a Christmas tree because they simply cannot afford it? A Christmas Tree is a symbol of Christmas. Imagine your Christmas without a tree…can you? It may seem trivial to some, but it may be that we just take it for granted that we have one.

The Statesboro-Bulloch County Parks and Recreation Department has a program called Holiday Helping Hands—a program that, through sponsorships only, will provide a Christmas tree to those deemed needy through a special partnership with the school system.

In addition to the tree, volunteers go into the recipient’s home to set up the tree, decorate the tree and spend a little time with the recipient—spreading a little holiday cheer.

The Georgia Recreation and Park Association was formed in 1945 as a private, non-profit Institution to support and promote the recreation and park industries within the state of Georgia. It is the only state organization that serves as an advocate for quality recreation and park areas, facilities, programs and services at the local level.

Darryl Hopkins, GRPA 1st District Commissioners presents the Innovative/New Program Award to SBCPRD representative, Dadrian Cosby, Athletic Program Supervisor.

Darryl Hopkins, GRPA 1st District Commissioner presents the Leadership Award and the Connie Kight Award to Alison Brown, SBCPRD Program Supervisor.

This has made the Board of Commissioners meeting room and much of the office space for the Tax Assessors office unusable until proper repairs have been completed. Therefore, the County is currently re-scheduling a series of regular meetings that are held by the Board of Commissioners and other county boards and committees.

We intend to have the September 4, 2012 meeting scheduled for 5:30 PM to be held at the Town Hall at 104 Church Street in Brooklet, to which we are grateful to the Town of Brooklet hosting us. The venue for the September 18 meeting at 8:30 AM is yet to be determined, but a meeting at a venue in the Town of Portal is under consideration.  Though it is uncertain as to when the Commissioners meeting room will be completed, we will also consider other venues throughout the county, where practicable, as a means to reach out to citizens who cannot frequently come to Statesboro for Commissioners meetings.

Meanwhile, as repairs and renovations continue, we will attempt to keep the public informed with regard to meetings of the Board of Commissioners and their subsidiary boards and committees who normally use the North Main Annex meeting room.  Meanwhile the County is taking the opportunity to not only repair, but, renovate this room with technological improvements that make the interface between the citizens, board and committees who use it for meeting space better.

We appreciate the public’s patience during this period.

Moody’s Investors Service has assigned an initial Aa2 rating to Bulloch County’s (GA) $12 million General Obligation Sales Tax Bonds, Series 2012. This high quality investment grade rating has been assigned owing to the county’s solid financial performance with stable reserves, conservative fiscal policies and below average debt burden during adverse economic cycle. Moody’s further believes that these factors will lead to Bulloch County’s financial position remaining strong in the future. Improvement in the county’s economy, diversification of the tax base, and increases in fund reserves could make this rating go up.

“This is the first time Bulloch County has ever had a rating assigned by a major credit rating agency and we are very proud of the results,” states Commission Chairman Garrett Nevil. “As a former banker, I can appreciate the importance of this, realizing that either maintaining or improving this rating can save county taxpayers significant money when the county must utilize debt.”

According to County Manager, Tom Couch, “due to the financial leadership demonstrated by the Board of Commissioners, this rating puts Bulloch County in a privileged position among county governments in Georgia. Continuing, Couch says, “it is a worthy goal to improve this rating over time to AAA which would put us in a class with Cobb, Gwinnett and Columbia counties, as well as the State of Georgia. Meanwhile, we differ from these communities by only a small degree, and by continuing current practices, a future AAA rating is achievable.”

The General Obligation Sales Tax Bonds which are due to be issued in mid-July are expected to have a very low interest rate obligation to the county. Bond proceeds will fund water and sewer infrastructure and road projects for the I-16/US 301 development area. Nevil and Couch express their deep gratitude to County Attorney Jeff Akins, Chief Financial Officer Harry Starling and Assistant to the County Manager Andy Welch, along with bond underwriters and counsel in securing this achievement for the county. Chairman Nevil also thanks the voters of Bulloch County who approved the use of bonds during the SPLOST 2013 renewal referendum in November 2011.

Click to see Moodys Report

Co-sponsored by ACCG and The University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government, CCAP continues the training efforts of county officials who have already completed the Commissioners Training Program. The goal of both programs is to enhance local governments’ ability to provide public services responsibility, efficiently and cost-effectively. To receive CCAP certification, officials must complete 48 hours of instruction, participate in the two-day Advanced Leadership Institute, and complete an individual project summary report. This is in addition to 48 hours of instruction required for certification in the Commissioners Training Program.

At the same reception, Commissioner Walter Gibson received a certification for completing the Silver Standard of Excellence Program, which is comprised of 100 completed hours of continuing education including Leadership Alumni classes, Mobile Classroom sessions, ACCG district meetings, and ACCG policy committee meetings, and County Attorney Jeff Akins was installed as President of the County Attorney section of ACCG and will serve in that capacity for one year.

Since the last official census was taken in April 2010, Statesboro and Bulloch County has established itself as one of the nation’s fastest growing communities. In recent figures announced earlier this month, on July 1, 2011, Bulloch County’s resident population increased from 70,213 to 72,881, or by a rate of 3.8%. This rate of growth makes Bulloch County, among the 50 fastest growing counties in the country (ranked 27th) out of 3,143 counties or their equivalents nationwide. Bulloch County is now the 5th fastest growing County in the State of Georgia. The county ranks 13th in the state in terms of numeric growth since the official 2010 census was taken.

Bulloch County is now the 31st most populous county out of 159 in the State of Georgia, compared to its rank of 37th after the 2000 Census. It remains the third most populous county in the Coastal Georgia region behind Chatham County and Glynn County. Bulloch County’s numeric growth of 2,664 during the April 2010-July 2011 period is the

To receive the certification, Clerks must complete 101 hours of instruction in general management, successfully complete written assessments, serve two years in a local government administrative position, and be a current member of the Georgia County Clerks Association.

Ms. Fitzgerald has worked for Bulloch County as Clerk of the Board and Executive Assistant to the County Manager for three and a half years, earned a Masters of Public Administration degree from Georgia Southern University, and is currently working to obtain a certification for the Masters Education Management Development Program for Clerks.