County Commissioner's Office

County Talk
By
Lamar Paris - Commissioner

Q. Why is an individual being allowed to operate a trash transfer station in the Choestoe valley?
A.  It is not a trash, but a recycle transfer station.  It is also temporary and will be removed within 120 days. Several residents came together in an effort to assist a struggling recycling business, in hopes that the long term goal would be to have better recycling options for the county.  Time will tell if their efforts are successful, but I do know that their desire is positive.

Q. Why does Union County not accept glass to recycle?
A. There is currently no adequate retail market for glass. This issue is discussed in detail on the internet site for our four county recycle cooperative at www.ngrma.org. Basically, glass is so heavy and the value is so small, that unless you live very close to a glass recycling center, you can not afford the transportation charges to haul the glass unless we want it to be subsidized by the taxpayers. Recent fuel cost increases have only served to make the cost to process glass even more negative.  The closest glass recycling center is South of the Atlanta Airport.

Q. Does glass pose an environmental problem for the landfills?
A. No.  Glass is the least harmful product for a landfill. It is inert and compresses into a very small area.  The largest problem for glass is its weight and weight does not impact a landfill, but volume is the enemy.  Paper, plastics, aluminum and cardboard do take up a lot of space in a landfill and are more important to recycle. 

Q. You have stated in your ads that we have the best county in North Georgia.  How can you justify that statement?
A. I think it is fairly simple.  You just have to look at our property tax rate and compare that with our “peer” (similar in size and demographics) counties.  Then you need to compare what services and facilities we provide compared to that provided by other counties.  The intangible issue, and where I think we score the best, is to look at how our citizens support Union County and our many charitable organizations.    In addition, I subscribe to and read the weekly newspapers of many of the surrounding counties and closely follow their governmental operation.  While I admit to being prejudice regarding our county, we still have a lot to be thankful for.

Q. What role has SPLOST (Sales Tax) played in our progress?
A. It has been tremendous.  Union County citizens have overwhelmingly supported the sales tax referendum for the county and school operation for over fifteen years.  This has allowed our county to have better roads, facilities, and services than many of the surrounding counties. Thanks to you, our voters and citizens, we are continuing this progress with the recent passage of our county SPLOST and school E SPLOST.

Q.   How can you compare services between counties similar in size and region?
A. It can be complicated in some instances, but simple in others.
You can start with the Recreation Dept and its staff who maintain excellent facilities and programs. We have Meeks Park, Butternut Creek Golf Course, Poteete Creek Camp Ground, and the Saddle Club Horse Arena.  So we start out ahead of the others just in recreation.   Only a couple of N.Ga. counties even have a 24/7 paid fire department plus we still have 77 very capable and trained volunteers at 5 stations.  Few, if any counties have a Geographic Information System (GIS mapping) to compare to ours with full topographic information available to the public. I am not aware of any other county that has the fiber optic infrastructure that we have with all main county buildings connected with their own fiber loop.

On the more subjective side, few counties have a Road Dept. that is as efficient and service oriented to serve the public. Few counties have more qualified employees to serve your needs in the courthouse and other county offices.  We have excellent public safety agencies (Sheriff Dept, Fire Dept, E 911) who are well equipped to provide for your protection.  We have very high quality medical facilities and staff.  Our school system and faculty can compare with any county.

Lastly, we can certainly argue that we have one of the most beautiful counties and the most caring people, where the vast majority of our citizens work together for what is best for our county.  So while all other counties might not agree, I think we can certainly claim our share of bragging rights when we refer to Union County as the “Best” county in North Georgia.

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