The Pierce County Industrial Development and Building Authority (PCIDBA) recently discussed and/or voted on the following during the regular monthly meeting held on October 16.
Neely joins IDBA board: Dave Neely of Memorial Satilla Health attended his first official meeting of the IDBA. Neely was appointed by Pierce County Commissioners to serve out the remainder of former member Bobby Tippins’s unexpired term.
South Georgia Regional Development Authority (SGRDA) update: Executive Director Matt Carter reported that things had been very busy in terms of interest in the joint authority’s various members. Even with the recent hurricane the SGRDA had received 2 requests for information (RFI) from potential investors.
The initial call went to Appling County. While Appling did not have the correct assets for either, there was a a 60,000 square foot building and 14 acres in Alma that could work. A reporting error almost left the site off the list of finalists. The error indicated the site was not within 2.5 hours of a port, which is not the case.
Both RFI’s are Department of Defense contracts. One of the two was from Casper which specializes in defense oriented manufacturing. Carter stated that Baxley was likely out of the running due to their site adjoining that of a detention center.
Executive Director report: Carter informed the board he had received the results of the latest wetlands determination report. Three areas in the industrial park are considered what is called “jurisdictional wetlands”, meaning they fall under the federal government and are regulated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The three areas total out at approximately 53 acres of the parks total 250 acreage. Carter said, “This doesn’t mean they can’t be mitigated, but it will increase the expense to develop them.”
With the wetland delineation survey completed, consultants Lamar Brantley and David Ferrell are now well into Phase One of a cultural and archaeological review of the entire park.
Carter also reported the IDBA will apply for Georgia’s Rural Site Development Program, which can provide up to $250,000 to prepare sites for “grant suitability”, making them more attractive to outside industry. “Bottom line, they (Atlanta) want to verify sufficient sites across 159 counties have infrastructure in place—power, broadband, natural gas, water, wastewater—to meet particular industry needs. That way sites are ready when business comes calling,” said Carter.
Partnership update: County Manager Raphel Maddox said Pierce would begin bidding out storm debris pick up Oct 17. He advised for all concerned to be patient, pile up debris along the right-of-way, make sure debris was cut to less than 6 feet in length and was away from power lines to ensure safe operation of equipment used to lift and load it.
As of Maddox’s report 99% of Pierce County had power. Maddox said they learned a lot from having Red Cross assistance in Pierce for the first time.
In other matters, the county is moving forward with the new in/out access road behind Farr’s Furniture and is in the process of buying the land needed to complete it.
Chamber of Commerce: New Chamber director Christi Pitts introduced herself to those gathered and outlined plans for improving Chamber communications and membership. Pitts’s goal is to double Chamber membership, reporting a 5-8% increase so far, averaging at least one new member a week in her first month as director. A Chamber newsletter will be released every 2-3 months with the goal of eventually being monthly. The Pecan Festival is scheduled for Nov. 9 and the search for judges from outside the county was currently underway.
Minutes/financials: The minutes of the IDBA’s previous meeting and the last month’s financials were both unanimously approved.
Closed session: The PCIDBA board went into a closed session for approximately 30 minutes at the end of their regular meeting. Real estate was the topic under discussion, specifically leasing land to a solar farm. The board voted to move forward with a memorandum of understanding to lease 100 acres of the park, including some of the wetlands, to a solar farm at the rate of $1,000 per acre. The site would be similar to the one near Blackshear City Cemetery.
“That property is valuable,” said Carter. “We are just trying to verify the right fit.”
Next meeting: The PCIDBA will hold its next meeting at 8 a.m. Wednesday, November 6 in the chamber of commerce boardroom of Blackshear’s Historic Train Depot.
