The Pierce County Industrial Development and Building Authority (PCIDBA) recently discussed and/or voted on the following during the regular monthly meeting July 1.
IDBA office relocation: Executive Director Blake James will soon be relocating his office to 333 West Carter Avenue.
The subdivided building is owned by the Pierce County IDBA, but has remained empty since former tenant Wayne Memorial Hospital vacated the location.
James estimates he will be in place at the new location by July 19.
The IDBA board will continue to hold their monthly meetings in the Pierce Chamber of Commerce’s conference room in the historic train depot in downtown Blackshear.
(See related story.)
Industrial park timber: The Beach Timber Company has temporarily ceased operations on a project to harvest the remaining timber in the Pierce industrial park.
IDBA Executive Director Blake James said the majority of the timber has already been cut and sold, generating $8,200 for the IDBA’s coffers.
Unfortunately, Beach Timber found it necessary to suspend operations to focus on a larger project to which they were committed. James reports that Beach Timber will return to finish cutting the remaining IDBA timber as soon as feasible.
In May, the board unanimously approved to award the big to Beach Timber Company at a rate of $4 per ton for hardwood.
GRAD certification: The final steps of the ongoing Georgia Ready for Accelerated Development (GRAD) certification process for the local industrial park recently hit a small snag.
The final application for GRAD certification was returned to the IDBA with some items marked with a request for clarification was requested.
Items included in the request for clarification were details on the wetlands assessment on a portion of the industrial park and concerns about an access route for a parcel of privately owned property landlocked by IDBA owned property on all sides.
James reports the amended application for GRAD certification had already been updated, resubmitted and accepted by end of day July 1. The issue with the landlocked parcel being something the board was already aware of and addressed during the closed session at the end of their regular meeting.
Partnership report (Chamber of Commerce): Pierce County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Christi Pitts delivered a brief update of recent chamber initiatives.
Pitts reported the recent inaugural Business Bingo event sold 66 tickets, the proceeds of which will help supplement other chamber programs, especially their youth oriented initiatives.
Pitts also reported the recent community baby shower and literacy even held June 27 in the NFC Gym was attended by approximately 204 people.
Closed session: The IDBA board went into a 30 minute closed session for the purposes of discussing real estate.
Following their return to regular session, the board unanimously approved selling a 3/4 acre parcel to Brittney N. Brunner.
Brunner’s property is currently landlocked by IDA property on all sides due to the IDA’s March 2024 acquisition of a larger parcel of land from Juanita Boatright.
The sale of the small parcel will restore legal access to Brunner’s own property from Floyd Drive.
Minutes/Finances: The PCIDBA’s minutes and financials were both unanimously approved and entered into the record with no comments or questions.
Next meeting: The PCIDBA’s next meeting was a special called meeting 8 a.m. Tuesday, July 14 in the Chamber of Commerce boardroom, located in Blackshear’s Historic Train Depot.
The PCIDBA’s next regular meeting will be held 8 a.m. Wednesday, August 5.
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