Kevin Hall
May 07, 2008 11:10 pm
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MOULTRIE — Colquitt County’s association with the Archway Project has brought it more acclaim.
Tuesday night, the county’s Board of Commissioners received an award from Georgia Trend magazine in honor of its partnership with the University of Georgia program.
“It is an honor for us to accept this award on behalf of the citizens,” said commission Chairman John B. “Benny” Alderman. “They had a big hand in it.”
The award was presented by Emily Watson, director of the Colquitt County Archway Project, although she was acting for the Association County Commissioners of Georgia, the organization that submitted 42 recommendations to Georgia Trend. The Atlanta-based business magazine chose eight counties from those recommendations for its 2008 Georgia Excellence Awards.
Other recipients were Augusta-Richmond, DeKalb, Habersham, Lumpkin, Putnam and Wilkinson counties, and a joint award for Randolph, Clay, Quitman, Stewart and Calhoun counties.
Colquitt County was the pilot project for Archway, an effort by UGA to link its intellectual and talent pools to “counties facing significant issues related to economic development.” The partnership also includes the City of Moultrie, the Colquitt County Board of Education and Colquitt Regional Medical Center.
The partnership continues to show rewards for local residents as it addresses housing issues, the city’s need for a wastewater treatment plant, a land use plan, roads and its latest project, crime control.
“So widespread and penetrating has this unusual partnership been in Colquitt County that its Excellence Award application has seven of the 10 government services categories checked off for consideration, the most of any entry ever,” said Georgia Trend in its March edition.
Watson told the board that three other Georgia counties now have an Archway Project.
In other action Tuesday, the board of commissioners:
• Tabled a request for a tree on the Courthouse Square in honor of crime victims.
• Approved two applications for use of the square by downtown merchants for an Independence Day celebration July 3 and the biannual Community Yard Sale Nov. 1.
• Approved a contract with architects McCall and Associates of Valdosta for a new courtroom facility at the Courthouse Annex.
• Approved an invoice from Colquitt EMC for moving power lines on Morris and South Morris roads.
• Approved the low bid from The Scruggs Company for $343,510.97 for the resurfacing of Roundtree Bridge Road.
• Approved an agreement with the state Department of Transportation for work on Lower Meigs Road. The total cost of the project is expected to be $240,024.15; the DOT will pay $166,000 with the county to pay the remainder.
• Voted to increase reimbursement for travel expenses from 45 cents per mile to 50.5 cents per mile to stay in line with Internal Revenue Service figures.
• Set the terms for members of the board of tax assessors at three years. No resolution had ever been passed on the issue, County Attorney Lester Castellow said. The term had traditionally been six years, but he said some on the board had urged a change to three years. Castellow said state law required a resolution setting the terms, and it required those terms be staggered, but it did not otherwise specify what those terms had to be. The same resolution also made the reappointment of Johnny Spooner to the board until Dec. 31, 2010.
• Heard from resident Fred Maxwell, who objected to beaver trapping on his property. Chairman Alderman responded that while the county pays a bounty on beaver tails, trappers are independent businessmen. He said if someone’s trapping on land without permission, that’s trespassing.
• Heard from Liz Mercer, a resident of South Morris Road, who said the county owed her money for performing work on her property that she didn’t want. Alderman urged her to speak with county administrator J.D. Byrd, who would report to commission on the facts of the matter.
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