Dougherty County leaders want more information on city of Albany’s recreation plan

ALBANY — Dougherty County commissioners expressed support Monday for ongoing efforts to use SPLOST funding to build a tennis center as part of a city-run sports complex, but they indicated they’d like more information on the city’s plan for use of the center before committing funds to the project.

Commission Recreation Committee Chairman Clinton Johnson reported to the board following a site visit to both the proposed tennis complex near Paul Eames Park and the Darton State College tennis facility, which engineers say they plan to use as a model for the county-funded facility.

“We feel that a tennis center is a wonderful opportunity to increase the number of people who visit our community to play in tournaments and other events,” Johnson said. “The bulk of our decision is to move forward with the facility, but we also want to see what the city’s plans are for the entire complex before we spend taxpayers’ money.”

Other members of the board supported Johnson’s contention.

“If we’re going to drop eight tennis courts out there, we want to make sure those courts are properly utilized, not like some of the buildings that have been built in the county and then abandoned,” District 6 Commissioner Anthony Jones said. “If we’re going to commit taxpayer money, we need to make sure it’s utilized to its fullest.”

District 1 Commissioner Lamar Hudgins asked for a point of clarification on the funding, an apparent response to Albany city commissioners’ recent comments about use of county SPLOST funding to help build the sports complex.

“I want to make sure I’m right on this,” Hudgins said. “We can only use our funding for a tennis center and tennis-related facilities, not just throw it into a general pot to use on the complex.”

Commission Chairman Chris Cohilas instructed County Administrator Richard Crowdis to look into the city’s plans “at the staff level to make sure county taxpayers’ investment is put to best use.”

Also at Monday’s business meeting, the board:

— Approved a $56,130 proposal to install a telemetry monitoring system at the county’s five stormwater pump stations;

— Renewed agreements with the state Board of Regents for programs and memoranda of understanding with the Fort Valley State University and University of Georgia Cooperative Extension services;

— Authorized a resolution for participation in the Department of Administrative Service’s surplus program;

— Gave Albany-Dougherty Planning Services the go-ahead to move forward with devising a plan that will govern the placement of solar power facilities in the county.

Planning Director Paul Forgey told the commission the initial plan is to allow solar power equipment in all zoning districts, but to allow so-called solar farms, which sell power back to the grid, in specific districts only.

Also at the meeting, Association County Commissioners of Georgia Government Relations Manager Dave Wills presented House District 151 State Rep. Gerald Greene, R-Cuthbert, the ACCG’s Legislative Service Award for his efforts in stopping a plan by the Georgia Department of Revenue to impose an administrative cap on assistance grants to counties, municipalities, and county and independent school districts made in relation to the Forest Land Protection Act of 2008.

In comments during the award presentation, Wills noted, “Rep. Greene was instrumental in resolving an issue in which the Department of Revenue was trying to use authority it didn’t have to take action that would have cost taxpayers a significant amount of money. Gerald helped show that, among other things, the Department of Revenue had overstepped its authority in taking this action.”

Wills said the attempted change by Revenue would have shifted approximately $10 million in tax costs to local property owners. ACCG’s legal staff, with the support of Greene and 11 of his colleagues in the state House and Senate, drafted a letter to state Attorney General Sam Olens objecting to the Department of Revenue’s proposed actions. Before that letter was mailed, the Revenue Department backed down from its plan.

“When we realized the impact this plan had on our counties’ tax digests, we contacted ACCG and told them this was going to be a major problem,” Greene said. “It was going to hit individual taxpayers, and it was going to devastate the budgets of a lot of our smaller counties. When counties’ budgets take a $500,000 to $750,000 hit, which some would have under this proposal, that’s a budget-breaker.

“I can’t tell you the people we’ve heard from throughout the state thanking us for our efforts to stop this action. I believe, though, that the job of the Legislature is to take care of our taxpayers.”