Dougherty County officials get update on river corridor

ALBANY — The chairman of Dougherty County’s Citizens Greenspace Advisory Board told county commissioners Monday that county, city, state and federal government agencies had acquired rights to the overwhelming majority of county property located along both sides of the Flint River, leaving an impressive greenspace corridor that will protect the river for generations to come.

Bill Swan used a pair of maps to show the corridor that, except for three tracts on the west side of the river and a few others on the east side, have been purchased by local, state and federal agencies to provide the greenspace buffer.

“There are three tracts on the west side of the river that are in various stages of negotiation, and there are tracts owned by businesses and maybe six residences on the east side that are owner-occupied that we’ve had various levels of discussion about,” Swan told the board. “With what our community’s been through with the (January) storms, it’s not the time to have discussions like these right now, but we plan to move forward after this hiatus with the tornadoes.

“The trail system that you have wisely connected to the greenspace along the river gives the county an unbounded future.”

County Attorney Spencer Lee, who has worked with the county and with private groups to help put together the city/county trail system that stretches the length of the county and from downtown Albany to Sasser, praised the commission for its efforts in making the system a reality.

“You are to be commended for the work you’ve done,” Lee said. “Without this body’s acquisitions, the city and county couldn’t have put the trail system in place.”

Commission Chairman Chris Cohilas said he’d visited the 22-mile-long Beltline Trail System in Atlanta while working in the state capital recently, and he noted that the recreation facility had spurred economic development along the length of the trail.

“I don’t think we’re looking for retail development along our trail, but it’s easy to see that the Beltline Trail system has had a significant economic impact around Atlanta,” Cohilas said.

Also at Monday’s commission work session, the commission got a report on businessman Darrel Finnicum’s request to rezone 6.441 acres of property at 3312 Gillionville Road from various zoning districts to general mixed-use business district (C-2) so that Finnicum Motors can expand its operations with a used car lot that includes space for service and repairs.

Senior Planner Rozanne Braswell said the rezoning request involved “four contiguous parcels” whose various zoning statuses include AG (agricultural), C-1 (neighborhood mixed-use) and R-1 (single-family residential.

A formal public hearing, followed by a final vote on the matter, will be held at the commission’s March 20 meeting. The Albany-Dougherty Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve the request.

County Administrator Richard Crowdis led the discussion on a $60,000 fee due Ameresco for a detailed energy audit report started by that company in 2012. Crowdis recommended that the commission pay Ameresco for the audit but carry out recommended audit action items in-house to save money. Assistant County Administrator Mike McCoy, county Facilities Management Director Heidi Minnick and Brian Jaynes with Electric Cities of Georgia explained the $3 million in “savings” outlined in the audit.

McCoy said that the recommended changes in the audit would cost the county an estimated $3 million, but at the end of 17 years — after the changes have been implemented — the city would start to realize significant savings.

“That $3 million cost would be if Ameresco made the changes,” Jaynes said. “If you do them yourselves, the cost should be lower, and the expected time of implementation should be much shorter.”

Also at Monday’s meeting, the commission:

— Got a report from Public Works Engineer Jeremy Brown on approved speed bump installation requests at Barnaby Drive (at a cost of $3,380) and War Eagle Drive ($8,735);

— Heard a request to purchase equipment used in survey operations from Leica Geosystems Inc. of Norcross for $36,760;

— Heard Dougherty County Police Chief Jackie Battle’s recommendation that the county enter into a memorandum of understanding with Albany State University to provide support for a grant-supported initiative that targets sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking among campus residents;

— Were given a list of applicants for a number of board appointments by Clerk Jawahn Ware.

Brown said the two speed bump requests are the first that meet the county’s standards required for approval.

Assistant Albany Fire Department Chief Eugene Anderson gave commissioners a report on the planned Albany Strong Fun Fest scheduled March 25 at the Exchange Club Fairgrounds. Anderson told the board that the free festival provides an opportunity for a “debriefing” after Jan. 2 and Jan. 22 storms that devastated the community

“Hopefully, this will be a day of healing,” Anderson, who has coordinated relief efforts in the community in the storms’ aftermath, said. “This is a free event … we’ll have fun events, free food. We’re not asking for anyone who’s still hurting to give anything. We want to give to them.

“We also see this as one last opportunity for those eligible people who have not been through the FEMA process to give them that opportunity.”

Cohilas, responding to remarks by Commissioner John Hayes, said, “There may be — and I stress that this is by no means certain — potential funding for residents in the Radium Springs area to help with the elevation of their homes in low-lying areas.”

Hayes’ concern stems from citizens in that area who were told that they would have to rebuild their homes at elevations up to 3 feet higher, leaving some to consider abandoning the neighborhood.