Al Lee Gator

Paulding County Commission Chairman David Austin and several other county and state officials gave a press conference last weekend to announce the final signing of long sought 404 Permit, a milestone in the process to build the Richland Creek Reservoir and insure the county’s water supply for decades to come. The event took place at Veterans Park in Dallas. “It’s been 16 years and five minutes; 16 years to seek the permit and five minutes to sign it,” Austin told attendees on Saturday. “Is this it, you don’t need any blood? There are no bands playing? Austin quipped during his portion of

Hiram City Manager Robbie Rokovitz announced last week he will step down as city manager before the end of this month, while the city will add a special election to fill Council Post 3 being vacated by Teresa Philyaw, who has decided to run for mayor. Philyaw's candidacy required her to resign her council seat. A special election for her Post 3 council seat is set for Nov. 3, and qualifying for the seat is scheduled for Sept. 14 to 16. The Special Election will be held in conjunction with the November General Election for the purpose of filling the unexpired term of Philyaw, as require

Paulding’s Board of Commissioner’s green-lighted an opportunity to establish a felony drug court program during their June session at the Watson Government complex in Dallas. A state grant will pave the way for the start-up of the program by January of next year, if not before, said Paulding Court Administrator Frank Baker at the Board’s morning session. Since addressing the Paulding commissioners last month regarding the submission of an application for state funds, Baker reported on June 23 that the state approved the county’s application for a grant in the amount of $121,350 to help st

After months of talks, the largest metro Atlanta health systems, WellStar and Emory University, opted not to merge WellStar announced last week. WellStar has five hospitals in northwest metro Atlanta, including WellStar Paulding and Kennestone Regional Medical Center in Marietta. Emory operates six hospitals and both employ hundreds of doctors at various locations around the metro area. Earlier this year the two had announced plans to combine assets, which would have resulted in a nonprofit health system that would have been the largest of its kind in Georgia and one of the lar

WellStar Paulding President Mark Haney announced at the June Chamber of Commerce luncheon in Dallas that the expansion of Paulding’s hospital complex will move forward with two additional floors. And, later that same day, the WellStar Board approved the plan. The addition to the new hospital, which opened its doors just over a year ago, comes sooner than had been originally anticipated. Haney said that the existing 265,000 square-foot campus had originally been thought to be adequate for at least another year before expansion plans would be considered. But that has proven to not be the ca

Paulding County Airport Authority (PCAA) met last week and considered a proposal from Post 2 Commissioner Todd Pownall that would remake an intergovernmental agreement and stop requiring county payments for operation of Paulding’s airport. Pownall, whose commission district includes Silver Comet Field, initially introduced his proposal during the Board of Commissioner’s first regularly scheduled meeting last month. Commissioners voted 3-2 during the Board’s April 28 meeting in support of a proposed second Intergovernmental contract between the county and the Airport Authority, but in

Paulding County officials recently made their third in a series of off-site visits to research a proposed alternate program to incarceration of some drug offenders. Court Administrator Frank Baker and Paulding Superior Court Judge Dean Bucci addressed the Paulding Board of Commissioners during their May 12 morning session concerning the continuing off-site trips. The program stems from a growing trend in the criminal justice system, and would allow for intensive treatment and responsibility for the offenders to take on, Baker initially told the Board back in March. Baker and Bucci

Paulding County BOC Approve FY2014 Budget Paulding County Board of Commissioners convened on Tuesday, August 13, for the first of two regular monthly meetings and passed several FY2014 budget resolutions and voted to adopt the budget for FY2014. The BOC passed a balanced budget adopting Resolution 13-21 through 13-26, setting millage rates for the County, which reflected a decrease in the Maintenance and Operations (M&O) rate of .05, 13-22 set millage rates for the Fire District, which remained the same from last year, 13-23 set millage rates for the County Bond, 13-24 set the milla

Hiram council held second public hearing, approve FY2014 budget, final July work session tonight Hiram City Council will meet Thursday evening for a final July work session in preparation for the regular August meeting, and plan to discuss several topics including the joint redevelopment plan/opportunity zones, a sign variance application submitted by Bojangles, the municipal court fines/fee schedule, the live scan fees, appointment of ethics board members, the requirement for a soil, erosion, and pollution control ordinance, and review of editing to an amendment to the city's sign ordin

Paulding County Board of Commissioners holds budget hearing, approves several agenda items Paulding County Board of Commissioners convened on Tuesday, July 23rd for the last of two regular meetings for July, passed several resolutions, and during their morning session, held a public hearing regarding the upcoming FY2014 budget approval. The budget hearing lasted about 30 minutes with some public comment and some comment from the Board itself. Tommie Graham cautioned that some expenditures coming back into the county's budget after the impact of a sagging economy should be questioned as

Paulding Northwest Atlanta Airport Authority and the Industrial Building Authority convened at the airport Wednesday morning for their July meeting. Primarily, the Board discussed updates to the airport apron expansion project. While the current runway meets FAA requirements, the expansion, from 5,500 to 6,000 feet is considered more ideal. According to Airport Director Blake Swafford, bids will be taken this week and the work isexpected to begin next month. The project is eligible for an FAA reimbursementof up to 90 percent, Swafford said. Also a study done by LPA Group for the air