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The meeting was called to order at 11:00 a.m. by Chairman E.H.
Culpepper who provided a brief welcome and call for self-introductions.
The list of meeting attendees (RAC members, staff and guests)
is located at the end of these minutes.
Following introductions, Chairman Culpepper called for ratification
of the minutes from the July 26, 2001 meeting held at Fort Yargo
State Park in Winder. RAC member Chris Ramsay moved, seconded
by Paul Chambers, that the minutes be approved. Without further
discussion or corrections, the motion carried and minutes were
approved.
Howard "Sonny" Turner then welcomed all present to Walton County
and to the Unisia Drive Speculative Building. Nancy Kinsey, Walton
County Development Authority Director, echoed this welcome. Kinsey
noted that the success of the Authority and its industrial park
efforts, including the Unisia Drive Speculative Building, is attributable
in large part to the cooperative leadership of the local governments
within Walton County. All members of the Authority Board who were
present at the meeting were introduced. Following this introduction,
welcomes were extended by current Authority Chairman Morris Jordan
and previous Authority Chairman George Baker.
Following the discussion and description of the Unisia Drive
Speculative Building, Steve Jordan, President of the 4-County
Joint Development Authority (Jasper, Morgan, Newton, and Walton
Counties), spoke of his Authority's efforts in effectively developing
the 4-County Industrial Park. Jordan advised that the industrial
park property is comprised of 1,528 contiguous acres located along
Interstate 20 in Morgan, Newton, and Walton Counties. The counties
share ownership, and accordingly, shares all expenses and revenues
based upon set percentages (Jasper - 10%; Morgan 15%; Newton 37˝
%; Walton - 37˝ %). Currently, the JDA has a $9 million bond issue
on the property.
Jordan also explained that the JDA entered into an agreement
with Technology Park/Atlanta, Inc. to assist in the purchase/development/marketing
of the industrial park. Conditions of the agreement follow: (1)
JDA must own said property; (2) Water and sewer service must be
constructed to property site; (3) Zoning requirements within the
park must be modified such that they will be alike across county
boundaries; and, (4) Entrance road to property must be constructed.
Following this explanation, Jordan introduced George Eichler,
Senior Vice President of Technology Park/Atlanta, Inc. Eichler
advised that Technology Park/Atlanta, Inc. has been in operation
for 30 years, and that the firm was created in response to the
need to attract technology oriented jobs within the State of Georgia.
Eichler further explained that the 4-County Industrial Park is
planned to be developed similarly to the John's Creek Development
located in Fulton and Forsyth Counties. As such, the industrial
park offers multi-uses, including light-use, research and development,
and office development industries, as well as multi-range residential
units. Additionally, the industrial park would contain "town centers"
which would provide to employees and residents various service
related opportunities, including eating establishments and day
care services. Because such projects involve long-term development
activities, Eichler projected that the industrial park would be
fully developed within a 30-year time frame.
Frank Sherrill, former mayor of Social Circle and current JDA
board member, explained implementation steps related to the development.
Sherrill advised that water and wastewater services are currently
being facilitated with recent grant and loan awards ($500,000
Regional Assistance Program (RAP) grant award from the Department
of Community Affairs and $432,000 loan award from the Georgia
Environmental Facilities Authority). Water services have been
coordinated with the Newton County Water and Sewer Authority (principal
provider) and Social Circle (secondary, back-up provider) to provide
100 percent redundancy to the industrial park. Social Circle will
provide wastewater services for the immediate future. Planning
for the provision of long-term wastewater services is being facilitated
by a regional wastewater study, which was funded as a component
of the aforementioned loan and grant awards. Sherrill suggested
that in addition to planning for the industrial park, regional
land-use planning beyond the park's boundaries would be necessitated
to ensure area-wide quality growth management.
Following this discussion, Joe Whorton, Georgia Rural Development
Council (GRDC) Director and Region 5 RAC member, was asked to
discuss recent GRDC activities. Whorton advised that he was not
yet ready to present the "State of Rural Georgians" report, as
originally planned, and requested that the discussion be postponed
until the following RAC meeting. Recently approved by the GRDC
Board, the report will offer a county-by-county assessment and
comparison related to social vitality issues. Whorton suggested
that when coupled with the "State of Rural Georgia" report, which
provided an assessment of the economic vitality of the State's
counties, legislative policy priorities would become readily apparent.
Whorton also discussed the recent Youth Leadership Summit sponsored
by the GRDC. The 800 young people who attended the summit offered
insight as to teenage problems, including dropout rates, teen
pregnancy, and drugs. Whorton advised that while the adult population
also realizes these problems, the information provided by the
youth group was instructive as to their causes. Furthermore, Whorton
explained that the GRDC is currently preparing a meeting report,
and the findings may result in the delivery of suggestions as
to how the RACs may assist communities in becoming more responsive
to their youth population.
Finally, Whorton discussed the potential role of the GRDC in
implementing local initiatives. As an example, Whorton described
a Region 2 RAC initiative involving the wine industry where current
State laws prohibited the full development of the industry. After
the regional office staff made a presentation explaining the problem,
the GRDC elected to incorporate within its work program proposed
legislation which would change the laws in question to be more
supportive of the industry. As a result of GRDC's assistance,
necessary changes to the laws were successfully made. In closing,
Whorton explained that the GRDC is hopeful that each of the Service
Delivery Regions within the State will offer local and regional
initiatives for consideration of support by the GRDC during the
next session of the General Assembly. Whorton also advised that
the GRDC plans to adopt its work program in December 2001. Susie
Haggard, DITT Regional Marketing Manager, offered that such information
could be provided at the upcoming Region 5 "regional assets" presentation
to the GRDC. Additionally, Haggard requested that to ensure the
currentness of the presentation, updated information should be
directed to her office on a timely, as-needed basis.
Following this discussion, Chairman Culpepper called upon DCA
Regional Representative Winfred Owens to discuss the status of
the Region 5/7 One Georgia Equity application. Owens advised that
the CSRA Regional Development Center (RDC), who was previously
engaged to coordinate and prepare the application, has delayed
the submission of the application until all supporting project
documentation is received. It is anticipated that the application
will be completed prior to the next cycle of reviews.
Owens also discussed the regional Growth Management Initiative
and advised that 50 percent of all Region 5 counties have submitted
match funds ($400) to support the recent Regional Assistance Program
(RAP) grant award. Those counties which submitted the funding
include: Elbert, Jasper, Madison, Morgan, Newton, and Walton.
[At the time of the preparation of these minutes, two additional
counties have responded: Greene and Jackson.]
The next matter of discussion was the "How Government Works in
Georgia" video. Owens advised that the video, designed to provide
leadership and other groups with a tool to explain the role of
local governments in economic development, will soon be completed,
with RAC membership input, by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government.
Susie Haggard provided an update of the Workforce Development
Partnership, advising that on October 2, 2001 a report will be
provided by Metis Associates as to the results of its study of
emerging growth occupations. In addition, Haggard advised that
a position would be created to allow for the coordination and
maintenance of the database created to track these occupations,
as well as to develop a strategy to meet workforce demands.
Ken Easom, Athens Technical College (ATC) President and RAC member,
then announced that ATC recently hosted 27 businesses in the bio-med
industry to allow for a viewing of the College's activities in
preparing technicians to work in that field.
Following this announcement, Iola Stone advised that she was
recently present at a meeting between local government officials
within the States of Georgia and South Carolina to discuss water
management issues involving the Savannah River Basin. Stone expressed
optimism that the meeting was a step forward in cooperative planning
for the future of the Basin.
Other announcements were made by Mac Brown, DITT Regional Project
Manager, and Winfred Owens related to personnel changes. Brown
advised that he accepted a position with The University of Georgia
as Director of the Office of Economic Development Assistance,
and would be attending future RAC meetings in that capacity. Owens
advised that he accepted the position as Director of the Office
of Regional Services with DCA, and would be assuming both roles
until the return of Jennifer Normanly, DCA Resource Coordinator,
who is currently on maternity leave.
With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 12:30
p.m. Lunch was provided and served by various Walton County organizations.
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