Montgomery County Commission Recognizes Rec Dept Progress

The Montgomery County Commission recognized the outstanding work and season of the 8U Coach Pitch team who recently went on to play in the state tournament. These allstars and their coaches, Eric Burns, Fernando Rodriguez, and William Tidwell, were the only representatives for the Montgomery County Recreation Department in the state tournament.

The recreation department reported a large amount of progress being made in preparation for upcoming seasons. New recreation soccer goals were purchased, and plans began to be made to work to move soccer off the baseball field and onto a separate field by next year. Recreation Department Director Kendall Bennamon is working closely with Montgomery County Buildings and Grounds Director Milton Fountain to begin bringing dirt to the new field site to begin preparing the area. Bennamon hopes that this new soccer field will be ready for recreation in the 2022 soccer season. Recreation football will be played at Brogdon Field as Bennamon has partnered with Montgomery County High School Head Football Coach Tim Suttles, whom Bennamon explains has been supportive from the beginning of discussions. The recreation department is still seeking individuals to coach cheer, soccer, and football for the upcoming season; Interested individuals can contact Bennamon at 229- 860- 3002.

This preparation continues as Bennamon has completed the repainting of several recreation department signs and continued to work on improving the grounds. Bennamon shared his thanks to commissioners for the approval of the purchase of a refurbished John Deere A1200 infield grooming machine to maintain the infields of each baseball field and the reinstallation of a new fence for Field 2.

In a conversation following the meeting, Bennamon explained, “I cannot begin to tell you how thankful I am for the support of the Montgomery County Commissioners and County Manager Brandon Braddy. They have made a commitment to improving this Recreation Department and the product we present to this community.” Bennamon said his passion was for both sports and youth, and he was doing everything possible to serve the community to the best of his ability.

During the meeting, Commissioners also approved the reappointment of Jim Paul Poole to the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Region 5 Advisory Council. Poole was the only applicant for this position and will begin his new term on September 1. This new term lasts until July 31, 2024.

The Commission also renewed the work detail agreement between the Georgia Department of Corrections and Montgomery County, which allows Montgomery County to be serviced by a work detail of ten inmates from the Montgomery State Prison. This agreement began July 1 and is valid until June 30, 2022.

Buildings and Grounds/Road Department Director Milton Fountain and County Manager Brandon Braddy educated the Commission on the creation of a new work service request format that allows the Commission and public to see the status of their requested road service. This format handles the requests in the form of a spreadsheet which outlines which services have been completed and which still remain. The development of this spreadsheet format is still ongoing, and the public will continue to be notified of progress.