County commissioners recognize Elections board in recent meeting 

WARNER ROBINS—The Houston County Commissioners recognized the Houston County Board of Elections’ recent EAGLE Award at their meeting on April 23.  

Houston County Board of Elections supervisor Debra Presswood was grateful for recognition and stated the Board of Elections is also helped by the county, including the sheriff’s department, public works and even the tax department. 

“I would like to thank you all for the recognition and thank all of the citizens of Houston County for your support,” she said. “I do recognize that we could not do this without everybody’s help.” 

After recognition, the Board moved on to new business. Notably, a land purchase on Old Perry Road will pave the way for a new water tower. According to the agenda, the negotiated price was $250,000. 

“This will be the first water tower that we have built since 1998 for the county water system,” said Chairman Dan Perdue. “In 2013, we were averaging 10.2 million gallons a day, and last year in 2023, we were averaging 16 and a half million gallons a day in pumping and selling to consumers.”

Perdue mentioned ARPA funds will pay for the tower. 

“We’re really spending more than about $20 million in expanding our water infrastructure to ensure that we are prepared for the future,” he said. 

Purdue also said in July, the county used an average of about 20.7 million gallons of water daily. January was the lowest month, averaging about 12.8 million gallons daily.

“Water towers are especially important for the seasonal need of watering grass, which everyone likes to do and have their nice green lawns, but also they’re probably most important for the very acute need of fighting fire,” he said. 

Speaking of grass, commissioners extended an agreement for landscaping services on Lake Joy Road with Dixie Lawn and Landscaping, Inc., 

The extension adds services to Lake Joy Road, from Houston Lake Road to Langston Road. The agenda said Dixie Lawn and Landscaping. agreed to provide services with a 2 % annual increase associated with the extension. 

“I just express appreciation to Dixie for the service they provide,” said Commissioner Mark Byrd. “It’s a noted improvement in right-of-way maintenance. That is 43 miles of right of way, which is a lot of grass.” 

The board also approved several personnel requests: poll workers for May’s upcoming general election, a heavy equipment operator at the landfill and an assistant district attorney.

After new business, Jim Taylor, representing the Museum of Aviation, mentioned the museum’s annual auction and Taste of Local will be held on July 13. 

The next meeting will be held on May 7, 9 a.m. at the Perry Courthouse, located at 201 Perry Parkway. To view the full meeting agenda, visit houstoncountyga.org/commissioner/meeting-minutes.cms. 

A live stream of the meeting can be found at vimeo.com/932513240