The Heron Bay Community Association, Advanced Aquatics and residents of Heron Bay have organized a summer swim team. This is the first year the Henry county community has had a swim team and the 40 member team is already practicing in anticipation of their first swim meet. Children from 5 years old to 18 years old are invited to participate in the team sport. The residents of the Atlanta golf community are thrilled to be benefiting greatly by having yet another activity so close to home. This is a great way for the children to remain active during the summer, make new friends and parents to meet new neighbors. The cohesiveness of Heron Bay makes it truly a great place to settle down. (more…)

The Homebuyer Tax Credit is about to expire! All home purchases must close by April 30th in order to qualify for this discount, so hurry over to Heron Bay! You don’t miss out on the opportunity to save up to $8,000 for first time homebuyer and $6,500 for move-up homebuyers.

You also don’t want to miss out on our incredible collection of new Henry county homes at Heron Bay. Home prices start in the low $180s and many have incentives from the builders. One amazing deal comes from D.R. Horton. This builder is currently offering amazing deals in Meadow’s Glen. If you buy before June 2010, not only will you receive the home buyers tax credit, you’ll also be able to take advantage of $15,000 any way you want it as well as earning $5,000 in closing costs. This is a deal too good to be missed, so don’t waste any time. Head over to Heron Bay today and see why so many have chosen to call this Locust Grove community home. (more…)

When purchasing a new home, the number of  bedrooms and bathrooms is a good figure to have. Equally important is knowing that the design and flow of the house will fit in with the needs of your family.

But there are several important questions you should ask yourself before you even set foot in the door. The smartest question to ask when buying a home is about the track record of the developer. Their past performance is a good indication of what may happen the future.

Take master planned community, Heron Bay for example. The developer, Minerva Properties is a privately-owned, Atlanta-based company with a portfolio of successful projects (more…)

When purchasing a new home we are often inundated with a myriad of acronyms: FDIC, HOA, ARM, TILA. All the different abbreviations and terms can get jumbled up and while most of them have to do with the buying and lending process, there is one that is important to you as both a home buyer and a homeowner: HOA.

What is an HOA?

Also known as a Homeowner’s Association, HOAs are often created by the developer to maintain the quality of the neighborhood. Once a certain number of homes have been sold, the developer often turns the HOA over to the community to run. Depending on the community, HOAs function in different capacities. In the Atlanta golf community of Heron Bay Golf & Country Club, the Homeowner’s Association is run by the developer, Minerva Properties. (more…)

Following years of hardwork and dedication we are pleased to announce that the traffic signal at the intersection of Highway 155 and Heron Bay Boulevard has received final approval. Construction of the traffic signal began in March and is expected to be completed by July 2009. Over the past few years, Minerva Properties has worked to make the traffic signal a reality. In 2005, following the original zoning of Heron Bay, Minerva conducted a traffic warrant study which determined the traffic level at the intersection met the Georgia Department of Transportation (GA DOT) requirements for the signal to be installed. The GA DOT approved the warrant study and Minerva arranged meetings with Henry County Public Works Department and the GA DOT to initiate the signal design and obtain a GA DOT permit for the construction of the signal.

In 2008, Minerva coordinated a private-public funding agreement between an adjacent property owner and the Henry County Board of Commissioners. (more…)

Hello friends and neighbors! Henry here, with new and exciting news! Remember the Heron Bay traffic light that I was telling you all about a few months ago? Well, our growing community just received approval from Henry County for the traffic signal at the entrance of Heron Bay! The signal will be placed at Highway 155 and Heron Bay Boulevard and it should be fully installed by July.

We should all be very proud or the hard work and dedication shown by Minerva Properties and Henry County Commissioner Warren E. Holder. Together, they have been working since December 2001 to secure the approval for this light. Remember to give them a big ‘thank you’ the next time you see them.

Helen and I are looking forward to the added safety and convenience this light will bring. Our wee ones, Spalding and Haley, are really excited about the new traffic signal, too. They are showing their enthusiasm through spirited games of “red-light-green-light.” If this game is any indication of the drivers our young nestlings will become, Helen and I will be proud. Our fledglings can stop on a dime and haven’t wrecked into one another in over a week! One can only hope their skill will continue to improve as they grow older.

With the final approval of the light from the county, construction is underway. Fortunately, this will not disrupt daily routines of residents because the developers of our community planned the roads to the community with foresight. Really, the only construction that should be required is the actual installation of the signal. Hopefully, we will be enjoying the added safety of our new traffic signal in no time!

Yesterday, Helen and I attended the Georgia Charter Schools Conference. We learned that charter schools are public schools that operate with freedom from many of the regulations that apply to traditional public schools. The type of charter established depends on the particular school’s mission, program, goals, students served, methods of assessment, and ways to measure success. While charter schools operate separate from public schools, they are part of the local public education system, so are tuition free and offer specialized curricula in a more efficient manner than other public schools and set an exemplary standard of student achievement. Helen and I are interested in only the best for Spalding and Haley, so we wanted to see what we could learn from this presentation. We are excited to send our little fledglings to the proposed charter school at Heron Bay, Heron Bay Academy, when it opens.

The session we attended, “Green Schools: Dollars and Cents” made a lot of sense to us! The presentation was given by Stacy Patton who is with Minerva Properties, the developer of Heron Bay Golf and Country Club, and who is overseeing the planning of the proposed charter school that will soon serve Heron Bay. She talked about the benefits of a charter school from the perspective of the developer (which was quite interesting) as well as the importance of a charter school to a community like Heron Bay.

In her presentation, she discussed why going green makes sense financially for both the school and community. Ms. Patton seemed to be very interested and passionate about environmental issues. I know someone who would love to talk to this smart woman – my budding environmentalist, Haley, who is very passionate about going green.

She gave her presentation with Tom Sayre with Sizemore Group, who added a lot of interesting material about architecture and urban design elements.

Helen and I left the conference feeling more confident and knowledgeable about sending our kids to Heron Bay Academy and are very excited about the diverse curriculum and academic excellence that a charter school can offer. For more information about the proposed charter school at Heron Bay, I encourage you to learn all about it at www.heronbayacademy.org.

Anyone planning on attending the Georgia Charter School Conference next week must make sure to put the “Green Schools Dollars and Sense” breakout session on their schedule. Stacy Patton is one of the speakers at this exceptional seminar and is going to represent Minerva Properties extremely well – in case you don’t know, Minerva is the developer of Heron Bay Golf and Country Club. Her breakout session is scheduled for Thursday, February 26th from 12:15 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. It’s definitely a dynamic session that will include discussions on the significance of Charter Schools from the perspective of a developer. In addition,  “Green Schools Dollars and Sense” will engage the audience (more…)

Join your Locust Grove neighbors as they take a stroll down memory lane at a benefit concert being held in an auditorium that has not been open to the public for twenty-five years. The auditorium, located upstairs in the city hall building, has 180 seats, a small stage and a piano.

The Locust Grove Heritage Foundation will hold a benefit concert, called: “Music and Memories” in the auditorium on Mar. 1. The Heritage Foundation preserves and educates citizens about the Locust Grove history and lifestyle.

The city hall building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, served as a preparatory school, “the Locust Grove Institute” from 1893 to 1930 when it closed during the Great Depression. The building later reopened to house the Locust Grove Elementary School until 1983 when e it came under use by the city for administrative offices.

Reserved tickets for the event are available by calling Mac McLendon at 770-957-2378. Open seating is also available. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased (more…)

White Oak, Buckeye, Fern, Azalea and Hemlock are common plants in this part of the country and guaranteed to make a prompt appearance during any native plant identification hike, but Minerva Properties’ Heron Bay Golf & Country Club celebrates these familiar plants in the naming of its numerous trails, winding throughout the community. The second phase of the extensive trail system was recently completed, adding three new trails and providing easy access to the various community parks and neighborhoods at Heron Bay in Locust Grove.

One of the most outstanding characteristics of Henry County’s Heron Bay is the natural beauty surrounding the entire community, it totally envelopes you when you enter Heron Bay, so the trails are named for the indigenous foliage found along the trails in celebration of the community’s natural beauty.

Not only do the trails provide a means to enjoy the beauty of the outdoors, but they also promote a healthy lifestyle and interaction between friends and neighbors, which is important to the residents at Heron Bay. At almost any time of the day, residents young and old can be seen using the trail as a way to stay fit, spend time with family and friends and appreciate and explore all that nature has to offer. (more…)