ACCG and Georgia Trend Recognize Georgia County Excellence Award Recipients

From earlier this month:

The Association County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) and Georgia Trend magazine announced the recipients of the fourth annual County Excellence Awards. The County Excellence Awards recognize local government programs and services that are highly innovative, improve efficiency in government operations, and demonstrate leadership in problem solving and planning. This recognition is co-sponsored by ACCG and Georgia Trend, and the winning counties are profiled in the March issue of Georgia Trend, the April issue of ACCG’s Georgia County Government magazine and recognized at ACCG’s annual meeting.

“Counties that were selected for the County Excellence Awards submitted outstanding projects that focused on maximizing cost savings and other efficiencies that are so important during the challenging times that we face today,” said Jerry Griffin, Executive Director of ACCG. “These projects highlight the best-of-the-best from the last year and provide examples that other counties can replicate in their own communities.”

The counties and projects that were selected to receive a Georgia County Excellence Award include:

· Bulloch County for the Splash in the Boro Family Waterpark & Aquatic Center, a publically funded water park in Statesboro which provides recreational opportunities for local residents and a tourist attraction for people in surrounding areas.

· Dawson County for “In Touch With Dawson County”, a customer-service initiative that aims to improve the relationship between county government and residents by improving communications and making information more accessible through a 311 center.

· Forsyth County for Preserving Sawnee Mountain, which protected 963-acres in this fast growing county and created a passive recreation park featuring hiking trails, a visitor center, an amphitheater and a variety of outdoor programming.

· Gwinnett County for Drought Relief with Recycled Water, which encourages the use of reclaimed water for landscaping and commercial uses and saved the county 209 million gallons of water which would have been drawn from the drinking water supply last year.

· Heard County for its County Animal Control Center, which provides services for the county and three cities and places thousands of pets each year through adoptions or rescue centers.

· Lamar County for the Regional Solid Waste Authority Landfill Project, which will result in additional landfill space for the county by digging up old waste, recycling old materials and re-compacting the trash at its 23-acre Cedar Grove Landfill.

· Liberty County for its Web Portal for Electronic Tax Payment and Tax Assessor Information, which has made it quicker and easier for county resident to conduct business with the county electronically.

· Unified Government of Webster County for County Government Consolidation, which resulted in the most recent government consolidation between Webster County and the cities of Preston and Weston and will promote efficiency and improve delivery of services.

“This year’s recipients have all implemented initiatives that will have a long-lasting impact for years to come,” said Ross King, Deputy Director of ACCG. “The projects selected this year focus on conserving our natural resources, creating cost efficiencies in operations and finance, and understanding dynamics involved in consolidating city and county government. We applaud these local governments for their efforts and for sharing great ideas with their peers.”

Georgia County Excellence Awards are chosen for recognition by a panel composed of public and private leaders charged with evaluating nominations and selecting finalists in a specific range of categories according to county population. For more information on the Georgia County Excellence Award recipients, go to www.georgiatrend.com.

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About ACCG: It is the mission of the Association County Commissioners of Georgia to enhance the role, stature and responsiveness of county government in Georgia. Since counties are the level of government closest to the people and serve all the people of the state, ACCG will promote the ability of Georgia counties to provide public services responsibly, efficiently, and cost effectively through cooperative legislative action, education of public officials, provision of quality member services and technical assistance, and increasing public awareness of critical local government issues. For more information on ACCG, go to www.accg.org.
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