Welcome to Bulloch County – the Gateway to the Coastal Empire! I am pleased to be able to convey why our motto, “First in Safety and Service” is our organizational mantra.
First, our community story. Bulloch County, now the home to over 76,000 residents, is located on the fringe of the Savannah metro area. While much of the county is within easy commuting distance to Savannah, we offer a quality of life that cannot be duplicated anywhere. We have a rich history, abundant cultural amenities, and ample economic and educational opportunities. Our county seat city of Statesboro and our smaller towns of Brooklet, Portal, and Register offer a Southern antebellum lifestyle, but with modern and progressive flair.
The geographic size of our county at 689 square miles affords us the room to grow our population and economy without sacrificing our dominant role in agriculture and forestry, or the ability to manage our valued environmental assets. Bulloch County has become a trade center for industry, commerce, health care, education and financial services which explains why our population has doubled since 1980.
Education is one of our main economic engines. We are especially proud to be the home of Georgia Southern University, the flagship post-secondary institution for South Georgia with an enrollment of 27,000 students, and Ogeechee Technical College, one of the fastest growing community colleges in the state with an enrollment of 3,000 students. East Georgia College, whose main campus is in Swainsboro, has begun construction of a satellite campus in Statesboro that has long-term plans for enrollment for up to 5,000 students.
Now, our organizational story. Bulloch County citizens can boast of their professionally run county government. In addition to our strong tradition of providing excellent county-based systems for surface transportation, law enforcement and corrections, criminal justice, the judiciary, and public health and welfare, we offer a higher level governmental services customized for our citizens and visitors. As our county has grown, so have our responsibilities as we have expanded our menu of services to include community development and engineering, advanced emergency services, environmental management, parks, recreation and cultural programs, after-school services, public transit and aviation.
County Manager
Contacts
Cindy Steinmann
Interim County Manager
Our motto, “First in Safety and Service” is our approach to governance. This is our method for delivering services each and every day. It starts with employee commitment to safe work practices and teamwork. After all how can we begin to serve the public and look out for their safety, if we’re not doing so ourselves? Our ultimate goal is continuous improvement, while at the same time offering one of the lowest millage rates for county government in Georgia. When you come to Bulloch County, you’ll see it first-hand!
•A state-of-the-art web-based Geographic Information System that provides county departments and the public key data on land attributes and property information.
•Structured planning for land use, transportation, parks, greenspace protection, and capital improvements integrated with a dynamic forward-thinking “smart-growth” management system. All of the county’s master plan documents have been updated in 2010.
•Numerous investments and upgrades in our rural fire suppression and delivery system that has resulted in improved response capabilities and lower hazard insurance costs for property owners.
•Located at our award winning Mill Creek Regional Park we opened our a $5.6 million Aquatic Center and Splash Park in June 2004 which has greeted over 650,000 paid guests through the end of the 2009 season. We recently completed a $4.4 million expansion adding capacity and new features that have truly made the facility a regional and statewide draw. The expansion also earned Bulloch County a Georgia Trend Magazine “County of Exellence” award in 2009.
•The county operates a regional E-911 and Emergency Operations Center that serves over 90,000 residents Bulloch, Evans, and Candler County featuring a state of the art computer-aided dispatch system integrated with a 800 MHz interoperable communications system. We have also recently implemented “Reverse 911” service that allows us to notify residents and businesses in real-time of pending or active emergencies that could affect the community at-large.
•Development of 294 additional acres for the 972 acre Gateway Regional Industrial Park super site that is “building pad-ready” with full utilities and has easy access to I-16 and the Port of Savannah.
•Continuing expansion of the Statesboro-Bulloch County Airport including modern navigation systems, continuing hangar expansion including a new corporate hanger along with on-going terminal and runway improvements.
•An aggressive transportation improvement program which over five years will result in a variety of key road, bridge and intersection improvements, including an eight-mile multi-use greenway connecting the GSU campus, and the cities of Statesboro and Brooklet.
•Bulloch County is taking the lead in Southeast Georgia in moving toward becoming a “green” community. With the help of a state grant, Bulloch County will become a regional hub for collecting and processing recyclable products for surrounding communities, thus saving future costs for landfill space. Meanwhile, $1.25 million will be invested in county buildings and facilities for planned energy efficiency retrofits. Finally, in 2010, the county will initiate community outreach efforts to promote energy efficiency through public education, training county staff on new energy codes and LEED building programs, and development of a model “green” building code.
