County Commissioners honored by Parrish Construction Group

On Tuesday, May 4, the Houston County Board of Commissioners joined together before for their regularly scheduled meeting. All Houston County Commissioner meetings are open to the public. This meeting was held within the Perry Courthouse at 201 Perry Parkway, and began at 9:00 a.m. After Chairman Tommy Stalnaker called the meeting to order promptly at 9:00 a.m., the meeting began with a prayer led by Commissioner Robinson, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by guest speaker, Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Meerstein of the United States Air Force.

The first presentation to be brought to the commissioners was from Parrish Construction Company. CEO Dave Cyr and Facility Planning Manager Bill Loudermilk of Parrish Construction both came forward to speak. Cyr took the podium first. “To keep it simple, we’re here today to help you celebrate the 200th anniversary of Houston County. At Parrish Construction, we planted our flag here 26 years ago. We couldn’t have written the story better than it’s turned out for us. We’ve got over 125 team mates now, we work all across the state, but we’re most proud of working in Houston County. We feel like a large part of our success is because we’re in Houston County and how well we’ve been received as a business for 25 years.” Cyr added, “One of the neatest parts of my job as CEO is that with these 125 talented people that work for me, it’s not unusual when one of them darkens my door and says, ‘Boss I’ve got a great idea.’”

According to Cyr, Loudermilk was one of those with a great idea. Loudermilk worked to create several custom plaques made from the stump of an old cherry tree in Elko, Georgia. The plaque features a wood burnt display of Houston County and its several cities.

“This is just a thank you,” explained Loudermilk, “from Parrish for what you do as commissioners and for helping to create the kind of environment for a business to grow and thrive.”

A plaque was presented to each of the commissioners as well as Sheriff Talton.

Following this presentation, the commissioners moved on to discuss new business. They approved several special exception applications and approved multiple bids and bills.

Largely consequential on the agenda was the approval of an Intergovernmental Agreement between the City of Centerville and the Houston County Board of Elections. This agreement, presented by Robinson, allows the county to control Centerville’s upcoming election. Stalnaker made a comment. “This is now the third city that the board of elections is handling the elections for. I think it’s a step in the right direction for the elections to be under one agency. The board of elections does this every day. They keep up with the dos and the don’ts in the election process; they’ve got all the equipment. I think it will be a smooth operation in the special lection they’re having. We’ll have to see if they want to continue this in the future.”

This agreement was approved unanimously.

Meerstein also presented to the commissioners and audience his experiences in the military. Meerstein hails from Michigan, and got his degree in Business Administration from Michigan Technological University. While there, he began his career with the United States Air Force. He began his service in active duty in December of 2000. After his time in Michigan, Meerstein spent three years at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio before moving to the United States Marine Corps. Quantico Base, where he spent one year. After his time there, he was sent to Italy, and was deployed twice, once to Qatar and once to Afghanistan. Following his deployment there, Meerstein returned to the United States and spent three years in Virginia and worked in counter-terrorism research. Next, Meerstein and his family were sent to Hurlburt Field, Florida, for two and a half years, and then he was deployed to Qatar. After his return, Meerstein took an assignment in Turkey. Once complete, he was sent to the Pentagon, and then to Rhode Island. Finally in the summer of last year, Meerstein and his family were assigned to Robins Air Force Base. Meerstein stated that he and his family have had the opportunity here to get back to some of the things they’ve enjoyed in other places, such as boy scout groups, recreational sports. Meerstein also made note of his high regard for the Houston County School System. He was presented with tokens of gratitude by the commissioners, and then left the meeting.

After brief comments made by the commissioners, the meeting adjourned.

HHJ News