B.O.C. Chairman's Report

Here is the Board of Commissioners Chairman's Report for Week of 7-13-09

Work should begin soon on replacing the roof on the civic center. There are electrical and mold issues inside the building (not the pool area) that need to be addressed too, but obviously the leaky roof must be fixed first. Plans for the civic center include the removal of the old park and recreation offices from inside the gym and restoring this area as a gym. Although smaller than high school regulation size, the gym can be used for practices and also for games in the younger age groups. There are also tentative plans for the Boys and Girls Club to use the old EMS headquarters in the south wing of the building.

We are proceeding with taking a much closer and more detailed look at reconfiguring the fields at the county park. Initially it looks to be possible to get more fields and more parking simply by reconfiguring the lay-out. The existing fields were apparently constructed as the needs became evident and not in a “master planned” approach. The need for additional fields is well known, as well as the desire to keep them all in a central location.

I was very relieved last week to conclude that the county government will be able to function without a millage rate increase this year. The millage rate for county operations will remain at five (5.00) mills. We are able to do this even though the Legislature effectively discontinued the homestead exemption tax relief grant program and in spite of revenues that are slightly lower than anticipated. Spending controls and effective budget planning and management which we implemented this year will be continued. Interestingly, the average millage rate in Georgia for county governments is 10.64. I want to thank the other elected county officials and department heads for their cooperation in holding spending within budget and being reasonable in budget requests for 2010.

We have been approached by the U. S. Army Corp of Engineers about making two tracts of land at Carters Lake available to the County for recreational purposes. The two tracts, the Oak Hill Tract and the Ridgeway Tract, are located near the head of the lake and are on opposite sides of the lake. We are currently exploring the possible uses of these tracts as enhancements to the recreational opportunities in Gilmer County. If you have any suggestions for the potential use of these tracts, please let me know.

As always, feel free to contact me by email (mchastain@gilmercounty-ga.gov) or by calling the BOC office at 706-635-4361. Comments can be left on 706-515-2320.