Henry County will be receiving a 2020 County of Excellence award from the Association County Commissioners of Georgia in recognition of its new Rescue Task Force program. County manager Cheri Hobson-Matthews informed the Board of Commissioners of the decision at its March 3 regular meeting.

  The task force initiative began in late 2018 when county personnel attended FEMA training in Maryland in response to new National Fire Protection Association standards. The program “provides fire, EMS and law enforcement personnel with the skills and knowledge to respond in the case of an active shooter or hostile event in order to save lives and protect those responding,” according to a county staff report. 

  In other business at the meeting, the board voted to approve streetlight districts for the Heritage at Crystal Lake subdivision on Dutchtown Road as well as the Fears Mill subdivision on Deodar Lane. The vote was unanimous and without discussion, as it was part of the meeting’s consent agenda. Also approved under that vote was a resolution allowing Henry County Juvenile Court to apply for a grant from the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council to continue the coordination of the Juvenile Mental Health Court in the 2021 fiscal year, along with a resolution approving a memorandum of understanding with the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency for access to its grants portal.

  After a lengthy discussion period, the board chose to table some proposed amendments to its public safety ordinances. County staff was directed to bring the issue back as soon as possible, probably at the next board meeting.

  The bulk of the concerns were with the suggested changes to the county’s fire alarm ordinance and sprinkler ordinance. The need for revisions was motivated by the county’s growth in recent years as well as technological safety advances. Most of the fire safety provisions in the ordinance date back to 1992 or earlier, according to officials, with some sections even referencing volunteer firefighters, which the country utilized in the past.