State of the Community event touts projects, financials and business expansion
Tractor Supply Company planning location in Cedartown
Editor's note: This is the first half of a two-part series on the State of the Community that will finish out next week in the Nov. 9, 2016 edition of the Standard Journal. Look online Friday for Part 2 of this article.
There are a lot of moving parts that make up Polk County, from how the City of Aragon is trying to improve the community to the Polk School District bringing their new College and Career Academy online in the coming year.
Many of the improvements to these moving parts that make up this place we all call home were on display in the latest installment of the Polk County Chamber of Commerce's State of the Community event.
This year, local officials gathered at "In the Woods" in Rockmart to hear how the various entities are working toward their goals of finishing building projects, providing new services, or in the case of two officials: saying goodbye, and hello to Polk County.
It also gave three cities the chance to make
some big announcements that will impact the community in years to come.
Here's a breakdown of the presentations made during the 2016 State of the Community event from both local governments and organizations:
City of Aragon
Coming elections might be the big topic of the moment within the City of Aragon, but it hasn't stopped officials from moving forward in other ways to bring about needed upgrades to the city and community outreach for a variety of purposes.
Among those priorities for community outreach has been on providing opportunities for local residents to get rid of trash during city-sponsored clean-up days, and in bringing needed improvements to local parks according to the presentation given by Council member Tammy Mulkey during the Oct. 26 event.
She said among those improvements is a plan to install new picnic tables and grills around the Aragon Mill Pond, which also during its recent meeting got official rules for use and conduct as a city ordinance.
"We have a lot to offer in our community for recreation purposes," said Mulkey.
Mulkey said the city is also "working with the owners" of the old mill building to "trying to get it going to possibly get some business in that area."
Aragon's new Dollar General, RW's Snack Shack annexation and the announcement by Mulkey in trying to work with the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission for a grant to redo Pittman Park were among the items the city sees as success.
However the biggest thing, Mulkey said, is the city getting its financial house in order.
"We're getting into the black, and doing well financially," she said.
Mulkey also added the creation of a Neighborhood Watch program among the latest initiatives the city is working to achieve.
City of Cedartown
Another city people many years ago couldn't have imagined would be in the black was Cedartown, who as Commission Chair Larry Odom pointed out, used Tax Anticipation Notes year after year to cover the bills.
Now the city has a fund balance of more than $3.2 million, and a clean audit for the 2015 fiscal year that ended last December.
"We've done all this without an increase in taxes, and without a decrease in services," Odom said.
He gave a large amount of credit for the financial turnaround in the City of Cedartown to city manager Bill Fann.
"We've had five city managers since I've been on the board, as a matter of fact at one time we started to print a bumper sticker that said 'honk if you've been a Cedartown city manager,'" Odom joked. "But Bill Fann has been here for five years, and finally we've gotten the right guy."
Cedartown's presentation also included mention of Kimoto Tech's planned expansion, the 240 acres Cedartown purchased for future development north of the Northside Industrial Park, and one big addition to the community coming in 2017.
"We're also expecting a large retailer, Tractor Supply Company, to be locating in Cedartown," he said.
A formal announce- ment is expected in November for the new store, according to city officials.
Odom also touted new businesses opening in downtown Cedartown such as Cloud Shack on Main Street, the opening of the Cedartown Museum of Coca-Cola Memorabilia, and the popularity of the Silver Comet Trail continues to provide needed economic boosts to the community as well.
City of Rockmart
Council member Sherman Ross talked up Rockmart's participation in the Georgia Initiative for Community Housing program and more during his presentation at the Oct. 26 event.
He said that their involvement in the program is just getting going, with committees forming to discuss what areas to focus on, to the housing team already stepping up their involvement with code enforcement and community engagement.
"Our focus on our urban redevelopment program is to focus on the inside of the city," he said. "There's some fine housing there, it just needs some tender love and care. And some of those need to come down and be replaced with quality homes for our residents.
Among business developments, Ross touted Inman Solar's $1.1 million investment in Rockmart, the opening of Zaxby's on the Highway 278 bypass, and the expansion of Miura America in Rockmart to be it's headquarters in the United States and a $900,000 facility project to add on a showroom and offices.
Ross said that Rockmart officials are working with three other restaurant chains to expand, two new retail chains and three potential existing expansions of local industry. The new sports complex made up of four ball fields also allowed Rockmart's recreation facilities to expand and bring in more tournaments, "acting as an overflow for tournaments going on in Emerson."
"We have a lot of positive things going on in our community," Ross said.
Among those Ross touted at the end were artists, musicians and performers of all kinds.
"We probably have per capita the most talented city in the United States," Ross said. "It's just wonderful, and we want to utilize that."
Polk County
Money was the topic of the night for County Commissioner Jason Ward when he made his presentation on the
state of the county government over the past year, but barely any mention of the budget was brought up during the event.
Ward said at the beginning of the county presentation the budget looks good and the fund balance is solid, but also said that Special Purpose, Local Option Sales Tax and Local Option Sales Tax revenues were down, with one reason being the move from annual motor vehicle tax payments to a one-time payment system when a car is purchased.
He spent more time touting the progress of the cities and county governments working together to make Polk County a better place.
"City county relations are very good, and something we're proud of," he said. "We're trying to do our part, and we're working on issues together and providing support to one another."
He added that the entities are working hard to bring jobs to the county.
"They're giving it everything they've got, and it's going to pay off soon," Ward said.
Ward also announced that the county plans to extend it's paving mileage in 2017, going from 10 miles of laying asphalt per year in road repairs.
"Next year we're looking at significantly adding to the amount of mileage we'll be paving next year," he said. "So next year, we'll be looking at paving 30 miles of roadway with an increase from the 10 miles this year."
County projects for the 911 Operations Center and the new Public Works facility will both be "state of the art" once they are completed, Ward said.
"I'm hopeful that we get it done early next year," said Ward.
The county will also be handing over $575,000 in recreation funds this year, and another $575,000 in 2017 for more than $1 million given to the cities in total.
Ward also discussed the the county's plan to look at bringing on paid firefighters for the department, reminding the audience that no plan has been set in stone and will be mainly contingent on the county receiving grant money to help pay salaries for the first two years of the plan, if it is approved once the grant money comes through.
"We've agreed to the plan that Randy Lacey put forth to the board," he said. "If we get the grant, we have to make the decision on whether or not to go forward."
State government
State Rep. Trey Kelley and State Sen. Bill Heath were also given time to talk about issues involved in state government, and how they will impact Polk County now and in the future.
Kelley, who spoke first, touted the state government's added investment of $400 million in education and the announcement of an infrastructure investment plan that will "allow us to send money back to local governments to pay for paving and much needed infrastructure improvements."
However, Kelley pointed out that for "our community to be strong, our state to be strong and our nation to be strong, we have to have a strong business community. And you've got to have a strong Chamber of Commerce to support that."
Heath used his time to tout the state passing a balanced budget as constitutionally required again for 2016, and for doing so without any great tax increases.
"We have tried to spend your money very wisely, and it's not an easy task which is why the legislature spends so much time on that," he said.
Heath did say that benefits have come back in various forms to Polk County, such as a $110,000 for the Polk County Extension Agency, and $1.5 million for Polk School District for equipment grants, and increases for the mental health and drug courts in the Tallapoosa Circuit.
"Economic development is great in Polk County too," he said. "The numbers are encouraging."