Cherokee Fire Wins Awards at Georgia Fire Service Conference Members of Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Services (CCFES) recently attended the Georgia Fire Service Conference, which is hosted jointly by the Georgia Association of Fire Chiefs and the Georgia State Firefighters Association. The event includes training sessions, firefighter competitions, and an annual awards ceremony. During the event, members of CCFES were awarded two trophies from the competition and one award during the annual ceremony. The Georgia Firefighter Competition consists of teams from fire departments across the state of Georgia testing numerous skills and abilities against each other. The two participating CCFES teams won 2nd and 3rd Place overall. At the awards ceremony, The Georgia Association of Fire Chiefs named Deputy Chief Shane West the Chief Fire Officer of the Year for the State of Georgia. Chief West has served the community and worked for CCFES since 1995. During his tenure with the department, he has been promoted through the ranks and worked at a variety of stations, gaining valuable experience. He obtained his paramedic license, served as an instructor for both fire and medical education, successfully completed the Georgia Smoke Diver program, received the Georgia Chief Fire Officer certification, and chaired several committees and projects to improve the department’s success.
History Cherokee Announces 2023 Historic Preservation Award Winners History Cherokee’s Historic Preservation Awards honor owners of historic properties in Cherokee County and their outstanding work in historic preservation. The award recipients are determined by a committee of volunteers who spend time over several months visiting and learning about the nominated sites and talking with the property owners. This Year’s Award Recipients • Rusk Family Cemetery, Woodstock – The Rusk family • Roberts Lake Dam and Power Generation Facility, Ball Ground – City of Ball Ground • Dot's Fine Wine & Craft, Ball Ground – Todd Martin and Cindy Shera • Downtown Kitchen Building, Canton – Bill, Tina, and Zach Kell • Wilson-Clark Home, Canton – Cory Wilson and John Clark • Cox-Luman Homeplace, Waleska – The Cox-Luman family History Cherokee also honored longtime volunteer Chuck Douglas with the Judson Roberts Lifetime Service Award.
Joint Senate Committee Meeting Announced To Discuss Artificial Intelligence Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Safety, Senator John Albers (R – Roswell and parts of Woodstock), and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Science and Technology, Senator Chuck Payne (R – Dalton) recently announced plans to host a joint committee meeting concerning the topic of Artificial Intelligence (AI). This meeting will take place on November 1, 2023, at the State Capitol. “Artificial Intelligence is evolving rapidly, and it is important for us to analyze current and future AI practices. We must look at the pros, cons, and potential unintended consequences of AI, and I look forward to the work of this Senate joint committee,” said Lt. Governor Burt Jones. "AI may be one of the greatest disruptors in history, providing significant advancements and monumental risks,” said Sen. Albers. “We must address this head-on to protect our citizens, businesses, and state." “I look forward to the opportunity to collaborate with Chairman Albers and the Public Safety Committee to best address real concerns related to advances in artificial intelligence and to mitigate any risks facing the citizens of our state,” said Sen. Payne. This joint committee will bring industry experts to the table with the goal of analyzing current and projected future AI practices. The committee aims to pave a path forward, as the sector continues to grow across a multitude of platforms both in Georgia and the nation.
General/Special Municipal Election 2023 Your Vote Matters Your local government is directly responsible for serving your community and has the most impact on your daily life, so be sure to make your voice heard in this year’s general/special municipal elections. Key Dates To Remember • October 10Deadline for voter registration/change of address • October 16-21, 8:30am-5:00pmAdvanced (absentee in-person) voting begins • October 23-28, 8:30am-5:00pmAdvanced (absentee in-person) voting continues • October 27Last day to request an absentee ballot • October 30-November 3, 8:30am-7:00pmAdvanced (absentee in-person) voting continues • November 7 — ELECTION DAY (general/special municipal election) Locations for Advanced Voting • Cherokee County Elections & Voter Registration Office (193 Lamar Haley Parkway, Canton) • South Cherokee Annex Recreation Center (7545 North Main Street, Building 200, Woodstock) What’s on the Ballot? • Canton — Mayor and Council Seats 1, 2, and 3 • Waleska — Mayor and 4 At-Large Council Seats • Woodstock — Council Seats 2, 4, and 6 as well as General Obligation Bonds for Trails & Parks Referendum To register to vote, confirm your registration, and/or find your polling location, visit MVP.SOS.Ga.gov.
Reminder — RedSpeed School Zone Cameras Are Active The City of Canton Police Department utilizes speed detection devices to enforce the speed limit at Cherokee HS, Teasley MS, and Hasty ES. The enforcement is conducted using RedSpeed automated cameras that were installed in those respective school zones, so please be extra cautious of your speed now that school is back in session.The program was instituted after a nationwide spike in pedestrian fatalities over the past decade in which Georgia became one of the five deadliest states for pedestrians — with the seventh-highest fatality rate. Also, The Canton Police Department conducted speed studies within all its school zones, which produced over 3,000 speeding violations in a single day. Automated Enforcement is endorsed as a safety tool by the Governor’s Highway Safety Association, AAA, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, and the National Safety Council.
Stay In-the-Know on All Things City of Canton Though the city continues to achieve great things, it is often challenging to communicate every development or opportunity taking place daily. So, here are a few options for engagement and places to follow the facts, figures, and ongoing updates in Canton:• Canton City Council meetings are held on the first and third Thursdays of every month at 6:00pm in the City Hall Auditorium. Meetings are open to the public and are also live-streamed. Agendas for each meeting are published in advance and can be found at Canton.Legistar.com/Calendar.aspx. The link to live stream meetings can also be found at this link. Each meeting includes a 10-minute public input segment for city residents to share any feedback.• Visit CantonGa.gov to sign up to receive the City’s monthly and weekly e-newsletters, plus all updates, straight to your email inbox. Or if you would like to receive text notifications with City updates, be sure to register for the SMS system. • Get social by following the City of Canton and Explore Canton on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. • Attend all the great events and activities going on in Canton. Visit the online calendar and listing of all of the City-sponsored activities at CantonGa.gov/events Ensure that you’re getting the most accurate and up-to-date information about Canton from these City-related resources and not random social media postings, rumors, or hearsay. City staff and Canton’s elected officials are always happy to answer your questions or provide the information you need.
Rotary Club of Canton Begins New Community Service Campaign The Rotary Club of Canton is spreading hope in the community through its new “Heart for Service” campaign. Through this campaign, the club will be completing a hands-on service project once a month as part of one of its weekly lunch meetings. These projects will be in addition to the community service completed outside of weekly meetings by the club.For its first project, the Rotary Club of Canton traveled to the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office headquarters. There, they heard a brief presentation by Sheriff Frank Reynolds while eating lunch. The second half of the hour-long meeting was spent creating care baskets for all the sheriff’s office precincts. Each basket was filled with packaged snacks for deputies to enjoy and was accompanied by handwritten thank you notes from club members. The club also made a small donation of $250 to the Sheriff’s Office Foundation during the meeting.President Francisco Lozano envisioned the campaign as a way to both help the community and engage club members in more service activities.“Community service fills our hearts with joy and spreads hope in the community,” he said. “Our club for many years has spent one meeting each summer packing lunches for the MUST Ministries summer meals program for children. It is one of our most popular meetings and the service project that engages the most club members. Through Heart for Service, we will have the opportunity to similarly help another dozen organizations that serve our community.”The Canton Rotary Club meets at noon on Tuesdays for a luncheon program, and residents interested in joining the club are invited to visit. Meetings are held at the Cherokee Conference Center at The Bluffs or at offsite locations for community service projects. For more information, including a meeting schedule, visit TheRotaryClubOfCantonGa.org.
Cherokee County Earns Four NACIO Awards The National Association of County Information Officers (NACIO), part of the National Association of Counties (NACo), announced the 2023 Awards of Excellence during the NACo annual conference.Cherokee was one of three Georgia counties represented in the awards recognitions. Forsyth and Rockdale counties’ communications teams were also acknowledged for their work. This was the first year Cherokee entered the competition.“It’s an honor to be recognized on a national level for our work here in Cherokee. As a small two-person department, we serve as both an internal and external communications team,” said Communications Director Erika Neldner. “We work to assist county departments, staff, and elected officials with a variety of projects from news releases, coordination with media, graphic design and branding to training, social media, and newsletters. All of this is done with the ultimate goal of keeping residents informed and telling Cherokee County’s story.” A news release issued in November 2022 highlighting a training visit from probation officers from Turks and Caicos earned Best in Category for the Featured Article/Editorial category, which was written by Assistant Communications Director Andrea Barker.The Quick Facts document, a one-sheet informational piece created by Neldner, earned the Superior Designation in the Short One-Page/Trifold category. The document is available for elected officials and staff to use at community speaking engagements to keep residents informed. It features updated statistics like population, median income, public safety and law enforcement accomplishments, a list of the elected Board of Commissioners, and more.A short video geared at promoting public engagement for the Comprehensive Plan earned Cherokee County a Meritorious Designation from NACIO in the short video (under 60 seconds) category. The video featured drone footage from across Cherokee County and incorporated project-specific branding. The 2022 Annual Report earned the Meritorious Designation in the Printed Publications – Annual Report category. The Annual Report is created in only two months and during the holidays to incorporate complete data from the previous year and be ready for distribution at the State of the County Address held in late January each year. The Communications Division works with directors across all county departments, the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office, the clerk of courts, the solicitor-general, district attorney, and judicial administration to gather and compose the 40-page book. The Annual Report is designed by local graphic designer Jodi Drinkard.
CCFES Recognizes 11 Firefighters Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Services (CCFES) recently recognized 11 firefighters at the Cherokee County Fire Training Complex in Holly Springs. Fire Chief Eddie Robinson swore in EMS Instructor Sandra Johnson as a firefighter with the agency. Instructor Johnson has served in the Training Division as an educator for several years, training members to the level of advanced emergency medical technicians. To better understand and relate to the job that firefighters do, she took it upon herself to complete the rigorous training needed to become a certified firefighter. Ten fire officers were promoted. Lieutenant Tony Simmons was promoted to the rank of captain and Captain Matthew Richter was promoted to battalion chief. Battalion Chiefs Chad Arp, Cheri Collett, Marc Liscio, Jamie McCord, Darrell Mitchell, and Nate Sullivan were promoted to the rank of division chief. Chief Arp serves as the county’s fire marshal, Chief Collett as the Business Intelligence chief, Chief Liscio as the Logistics chief, Chief McCord as the B-shift commander, Chief Mitchell as the Special Operations chief, and Chief Sullivan as the EMS chief. Division Chief Dean Floyd, who serves as the Community Risk Reduction chief and Mark Orr who serves as the chief of Personnel Services were promoted to the rank of deputy chief. The newly promoted members have already begun serving in their new roles.
BOC Lowers Millage Rate The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners (BOC) unanimously lowered the overall BOC-controlled millage rate from the 2022 rates.At its August 1 meeting, the Board approved (5-0) setting the Maintenance and Operations (M&O) rate at 4.954 mills, the Fire District rate at 2.764 mills, and the Parks Bond at 0.319 mills for a total BOC-controlled rate of 8.037 mills. District 1 Commissioner Steve West made the motion, which was seconded by District 3 Commissioner Benny Carter.The approval also included ratifying the rates set by the Board of Education, which were 16.45 mills for the School Board M&O rate and 1.5 mills for the School Board Bond rate.More than 60% of residential property owners in Cherokee County will see lower tax bills this fall due to lower BOC-controlled rates and a one-time state rebate. In addition to the $5,000 standard homestead exemptions, homestead property values are frozen for the county (M&O) tax when homestead applications are filed. The State of Georgia is using excess funds in state coffers to provide property tax relief to homestead qualifying property owners, equaling a reduction of $18,000 on the property’s assessed value.
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