Friday, September 22,2017
Lake Oconee News
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GREENE COUNTY
Kludt has a clue about Greene C&CA
Larry Kludt
Dave Brown
dave@lakeoconeenews.us
It all began when Larry
Kludt was hitting balls back
and forth with Mike Lynch
on the tennis courts.
Kludt, who retired from
the corporate world in Phil
adelphia and moved back
to Georgia, felt he still had
something left to offer to
society. What he had left, as
the French say, was a case
of/e ne sais quoi: something
that couldn’t be adequately
described or expressed.
“I looked around and felt
like I wasn’t done working. I
felt I could still contribute to
the community,” said Kludt.
“It was simply a matter of
finding out what I could do.”
Kludt lived in the Phil
adelphia area for nearly
25 years and worked as
vice president of human
resources for Ikon. He pre
viously lived in Georgia
and worked as in a similar
position at the General
Electric regional office.
“Mike and I were talking
about the school system and
ways we could help improve
it,” said Kludt during an
interview this week at the
Lake Oconee News office.
“One approach was
the College and Career
Academy.”
Kludt, along with several
other volunteers, joined
together to form the Greene
C&CA steering committee.
From that humble begin
ning, the process toward a
C&CA marched forward.
Greene BOE recently
approved eight charter
members plus an open
position for the post-sec
ondary school as charter
members of the Board of
Governors for its College
and Career Academy.
Four of the nine-member
Board of Governors will
serve three-year terms and
the other five members will
serve two-year terms to
set up a staggered system.
Members of the Board of
Governors will be limited to
three terms.
The unanimously
approved list of the Board of
Governors was put forth by
the steering committee.
In addition to the open
position, the original eight
members of the Board of
Governors include Charity
Burnette of Novelis,
Jennifer Benson of Athens
Tech, Dwain Evans of UPS,
Rabun Neal of Reynolds
Lake Oconee, Beth Patrick
of St. Mary’s Hospital, Gary
Pierotti of Builder’s Associ
ation, and BOE selections
Mike O’Neal and Kludt.
Athens Tech, at this point,
is the sole source provider
for the College and Career
Academy, where students
can graduate from high
school with enhanced, mar
ketable trade skills.
“We have a true partner
ship with Athens Tech, em
ployers in Greene County
and the school system,” said
Kludt.
“There are 40 (college
and career academies) in
Georgia, and that’s the type
of relationship that’s been
successful. That’s the model
we based ours on.
“It’s an all-in community
deal and a win-win situation
for everyone.”
The Greene C&CA is a
good idea, but still awaits
approval from the State of
Georgia.
Last year, Greene County
Schools were among ap
plicants that were turned
down. However, even
though there will be more
applicants than grants given
again this year, Kludt likes
Greene County’s chances.
At stake is $3,165 million
in a matching grant from
the state.
The C&CA would not be a
new building in the Greene
school system. It would be
housed at the Greene County
High School campus with
the monies going toward ex
pansion and equipment.
The proposed Greene
C&CA will operate under
the mantra of “Pathways
to the Future.” There will
still be a focus on training
students for post-second-
ary education and going to
college, but also increased
focus on a curriculum that
prepares students to find a
career after high school.
There could be five cur
ricula clusters: hospitality,
health care, construction,
manufacturing operations
and welding.
“Athens Tech has a state-
of-the-art welding facility,
and, as we’ve found out from
one of our local business
partners (B&P Piping),
welders are extremely hard
to find,” said Kludt.
“It’s just one example
of what we can do at the
C&CA.”
B&P is just one of the
35 local companies joined
together with the C&CA.
Kludt said he wants the
number of local companies
to grow to more than 50.
“I will have no qualms
about asking our partners
for assistance and equip
ment for the C&CA,” said
Kludt.
It bears mentioning
Kludt’s tennis buddy is now
chairman of the Board of
Education. Kludt said any
perceived dysfunction of the
former BOE is a thing of the
past and he prefers to look
forward.
“I don’t have any political
history,” said Kludt.
“It’s a new day in Greene
County. From now on, we’re
going to present our county
in a positive light as a place
to come and do business in
order to promote economic
development.
“The plan going forward
with the C&CA is provide
the ability for students to
move on from high school
and either go to college or be
trained to find jobs in tech
nical areas.”
The Greene C&CA
approval from the state
is expected to be around
Thanksgiving.
GREENE COUNTY
Greene BOC chairman applauds county workers
When you’re selling a property...
You need to be seen online.
Dave Brown
dave@lakeoconeenews.us
At the end of Tuesday eve
ning’s meeting of the Greene
County Board of Commis
sioners, the collective heart
and soul of county govern
ment workers was applaud
ed by board chairman Gary
Usry for their hard work and
diligence cleaning up from
last week’s tropical storm
remnants of Hurricane
Irma.
“I want to give a big thank
you,” said Usry in reference
to the clean-up and downed-
tree removal by county
workers, as well as by volun
teers from the community.
“We had people putting
in 16-18 hours days cutting
trees. This week we finally
got back to normal because
of their hard work,” he said.
“It just goes to show the
community coming together
and getting stronger by over
coming adversity.”
Usry’s atta-boy served as
a good conclusion to a brisk
moving meeting by an obvi
ously well-prepared Board
of Commissioners.
The first item on the
business agenda was the
consideration of a TEFRA
Resolution to allow Lake
Oconee Academy to apply
for a USDA loan to finance
a capital improvement
project.
TEFRA is a acronym for
“Tax Equity and Fiscal Re
sponsibility Act” of 1982.
It is a federal requirement
in place to make sure tax
exempt bonds are in fact
genuinely authorized to
be exempt from federal
taxation.
The TEFRA process
requires a hearing to be held
to address specific facts, and
according to the Greene
BOC, the hearing was held
Sept. 11.
The TEFRA resolution
passed unanimously.
Also passing unanimously
was the appointment of Rod
Wilson to the Board of Tax
Assessors.
The Greene BOC also
unanimously approved
the SPLOST-funded CAD
upgrade to the server at the
911 Dispatch.
“This is a vital element
of an enhanced system,”
said county manager Byron
Lombard before a motion
for a vote was made.
“We’ll be set for the next 10
years with our radio system.”
The BOC also unanimous
ly approved the $350,000
bid by Milford Construction
for the EMS Station One
Project, which was budgeted
for $357,000.
In its final unanimously
approved business item, the
BOC approved the fire de
partment contracts.
A rezoning request was
approved for Dollar General
to move to Willow Run.
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