Commissioner speaks at Kiwanis meeting

Lamar Paris, Union County Commissioner spoke to the Kiwanis Club at their Monday meeting on October 15 about the state of the county. He began by telling us how good a year it had been for the county as far as accomplishments. He gave credit for the good work of the county's dedicated employees and elected officials.

Some of the accomplishments he spoke of were: able to lower the property tax rate despite continued cost increases for the county

* Union County continues to have the 3rd lowest tax rate (county and school combined) out of 159 counties.

* J u s t received an excellent audit report for the county finances

* Were able to pay off our jail in the past year

* We are one of the few counties that does not have any long term bond debts

* We will have our new $7 million courthouse completely paid for next year by SPLOST funds

* We have one of the best rural road systems in the state

* We are paving around 5 miles of new roads each year

* We will open our new Health Department within 30 days and it will be paid in full by a state grant ($500,000) and county funds set aside in the budget the past two years for this purpose.

* Started a new farmers market this year at the courthouse that was a huge success

* Just received a second place award for our innovative, volunteer based recycling program. ($ 30,000 grant) We won this award over several large communities and beat out Athens/Clark Co for second.

* Revamped the golf course parking lot with a new entrance off Hwy 515 at the Holiday Inn Express road.

* Almost completed with upgrade of the E 911 center including cell phone identification. This was a several hundred thousand dollar upgrade and is being paid by SPLOST and will have no debt. Our center will be as technologically advanced as any in the state.

* Just received a $500,000 grant from the Georgia Department of Transportation for construction of the new airport terminal road. Work will begin almost immediately. Purchased five new fire engines to lower the county ISO rating (SPLOST will pay for the new engines). For the first time ever, the county fire department is now able to hook up their main engine at a fire scene with all four fire hoses connected and with the water shuttle capability of the new trucks, pump water for hours on end as if hooked to a fire hydrant. This is made possible because of the many fine volunteer firefighters who assist the paid staff on large structure fires and many other emergencies

* Recently received recognition as one of the best rural environmental enforcement counties by EPD and the Georgia Soil and Water Conservation District.

We began an innovative process by combining the building inspectors with environmental enforcement and utilizing the same employees to do both. Since the building inspectors are all over the county every day, it only made sense to cross train them to perform both functions saving money and increasing their presence in the county.

Commissioner Paris also spoke about challenges for the future. Home sales are down this year compared to last year 38% and lot sales are down 53%. This is having a tremendous impact on many of our citizens. This is further evidence that this county needs to diversify and make an extra and extended effort to seek new industry with jobs that will help keep our economy from being completely dependent on the tourist industry.

The county must take a leadership role in looking for jobs and at the same time manage our growth so that we continue to protect our environment and maintain our quality of life.

Commissioner Paris reminded us that the School SPLOST election will be coming up in November and while everyone may not agree with all the projects, it is still an important election and the need in this community for the fine arts auditorium and other projects that may save property tax dollars are certainly worth consideration.