Chatham County Commission Chairman Chester Ellis unveiled a new initiative on Friday aimed to tackle several prominent issues across the county. The One Chatham initiative will address everything from stormwater drainage and road projects to homelessness.
Ellis said One Chatham is a collaborative and cooperative effort between the county government and all of the municipalities in the county, as well as the Savannah-Chatham Public School System and other community stakeholders.
“We are rolling out One Chatham to make sure that we are good stewards of the resources that the citizens of Chatham County have given us to work with,” Ellis said during a press conference on Friday afternoon.
Since January the county has been meeting with all the mayors in the county, as well as city and county managers, business leaders and the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce, for input.
During those meetings mayors and managers were asked to identify troubled areas or spots that need attention. Along with stormwater drainage, road projects and homelessness, One Chatham will also assess recreation projects, such as bike trails, as well as affordable housing.
“We're going to cover the whole gamut in One Chatham,” Ellis said.
Once the project list is set, a budget can be created and Ellis hopes the initiative can also be a way for the county and other municipalities to save money.
“By December, we will have a better plan of what we're going to do and how we're going to do it,” Ellis said.
The next phase of One Chatham will be for County Commissioners and all of their cohorts in each municipality to host meetings for their districts. The meetings will take place between now and October.
Potential projects will stem from these meetings, as well as needs of each municipality. The initiative will also be presented to state and federal delegations, Ellis said.
"It's time for us to get together to make life much better here in Chatham County. So just remember One Chatham, together we stand,” he said.
Katie Nussbaum is the city and county government reporter for the Savannah Morning News. Contact her at knussbaum@savannahnow.com. Twitter: KmartSMN
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: New initiative to address flooding, recreation projects, housing across Chatham County