Scores of local professionals and volunteers rushed to the Wax community when a deadly tornado ripped through the area in March.
On Tuesday the Floyd County Commission heard the full story of their rescue and recovery efforts and praised the unstinting response.
Scotty Hancock, director of the Floyd County Emergency Management Agency, detailed those contributions from local agencies, organizations and individuals.
“This is a self-sustaining community. They take care of their own,” he said.
Hancock said Home Depot sent $20,000 worth of chainsaws, tarps and other supplies “without even being asked,” and the Flint Hill Baptist
Church served 300 meals a day for 10 days.
The County Public Works Department removed 550 tons of debris, with Inland Paperboard accepting the bulk of it at no cost for disposal.
Proclamations went to the Floyd County Emergency Management Volunteer Rescue Squad, Rome-Floyd Citizens Emergency Response Team and the Rome-Floyd Critical Incident Stress Management Team.
A host of other organizations — from local public safety agencies to the Red Cross, Salvation Army and Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief — also were recognized.
Click here to see a complete agenda report including the detailed tornado response presentation.
Health Department budget woes
During the board’s caucus, Dr. Wade Sellers, public health district director, presented budget figures showing the Floyd County Health Department will have to dip into its reserves for about $130,000 to cover costs this year.
Sellers said the situation is not expected to improve because of continuing cutbacks at the state level.
An open town hall meeting at the Health Department on May 22 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. is scheduled to explain the shortfalls and what will happen without an influx of cash.
“We need to put the community on notice that what most folks expect from their health department is being compromised by the budget crisis,” Sellers said.
In other actions Monday, the board:
Approved a redesign of the proposed 104-space parking deck at the Historic Floyd County Courthouse.
Unstable soils discovered at the site caused the construction estimate to nearly double from the $1.54 million provided in the 2006 special purpose, local option sales tax package.
Instead, the county will build a 78-space surface lot where the two-tiered lot stands. The board eliminated another 14 spaces that would have been carved from the Law Enforcement Center lawn on Fifth Avenue after Rome officials objected.
“We were worried about that, too,” Commission Chairman Jerry Jennings said. “There was just too much potential for problems.”
Approved a list of county surplus items to be sold on the online auction site GovDeals.
Approved a traffic signal at Old Dalton Road and the Armuchee Connector bridge over the Oostanaula River being designed by Wilbur Smith Associates.
The addition boosts the design contract by as much as $15,650, but County Manager Kevin Poe said residents asked for the signal and engineers recommended it. The 2006 SPLOST contains $12 million for the project.
County Road Resurfacing List
The Georgia Department of Transportation made its annual award for local road resurfacing projects in Floyd County. Road segments set for paving under the contract, which requires county labor and likely a contribution toward asphalt costs, are:
Dempsey Road from Calhoun Road to the dead end;
Doyle Road from U.S. 27 to Reeceburg Road;
Mark Street from U.S. 27 to Old Dalton Road;
Morris Road from Harmony Road to Brumbelow Road;
Old Cedartown Road from Lakeview Drive to the pavement joint of U.S. 27;
Old River Road from Ga. 20 to Looney Road;
Old Rockmart Road from Ga. 101 to the Polk County line;
Pond Mill Court from Windmill Drive to the cul-de-sac;
Silvermont Drive from Old Rockmart Road to the cul-de-sac; and
Turner Road from Ga. 140 to Floyd Springs Road.
Source: Floyd County Clerk’s Office
|
|
No Related links found
|
