RSS Feed
|
|
|
|
|||||
|
‘Clarks Hill Partnership of Georgia’ sets goals of development and coordination Wilkes County officially joined forces with Columbia, Lincoln, McDuffie, and Warren counties Monday when they all signed the official agreement to create the Clarks Hill Partnership of Georgia. “The purpose of this partnership is to encourage and improve economic development and job creation as well as coordinating tourism, recreation, industrial, transportation, airport, infrastructure, and other services,” said Wilkes Payroll Development Authority director David Jenkins. At the signing Monday, held at Savannah Rapids Pavilion in Columbia County, State Senator Jim Whitehead spoke on the history of the new partnership. After seeing the development taking place around Lake Oconee in Greene County, Whitehead worked with county leaders to create the partnership in which counties would work together to both promote events at the lake and to attract state grant money to promote the lake region as a single large entity. In addition to Whitehead, Georgia minority whip Rep. Barry Fleming attended the signing ceremony, along with the five county commission chairmen and county development leaders. A steering committee of 10 members – two from each county – will meet quarterly. County commission chairman Sam Moore and Jenkins are Wilkes County’s members. During the board meeting that followed the signing ceremony, participants elected officers, set a calendar of meetings, and discussed individual county projects that they wanted the Partnership to consider sponsoring. Mayor Bob Knox of Thomson was elected chair; Walker Norman of Lincoln County was elected vice chair. Wilkes County’s Moore was elected secretary, and Dianne Ford of Columbia County was chosen as treasurer. “The plan is to rotate upward through the positions,” Jenkins said. “So that every county has a year at being the chair.” Members of the partnership voted for each county to fund the partnership with $3,000 for the rest of calendar year 2005. They also agreed to work on a joint 2006 community events calendar to create a master calendar/Partnership pamphlet, so that neighboring communities can avoid event scheduling conflicts, Jenkins said. They also agreed to coordinate website information. “That’s one of the most important steps out of the whole meeting,” he said. “If we can have events in the region every couple of weeks, and not overlap, then you can get people comfortable with coming here.”
Participants also toured a halfmillion dollar mobile command post that can serve as a temporary 911 and GEMA command center in an area damaged in a tornado or ice storm. Wilkes County has not yet joined the partnership to use and fund that service, Jenkins said.
|
for larger version       |
||||
