Transportation key to Lee County growth

LEESBURG — A couple of decades ago, Lee County was making statewide news with its remarkable growth rate as it developed into Albany’s bedroom community.

That growth rate has slowed to a trickle, and now much of the community’s emphasis is on how to take care of its residents, many of whom work in Albany, but sleep, play and shop in Lee County.

Development of Lee’s transportation system, improving infrastructure and improving basic services are at the top of the list when you talk to Lee officials.

Winston Oxford, executive director of the Lee County Chamber of Commerce and Lee County Development Authority, benefits from all those improvements, but his focus this year, as always, is commercial growth.

“We’ve got a little over $12 million in new commercial businesses coming out of the ground,” Oxford said. “We’ve attracted at least $3 million this year so far.”

That growth includes a new automobile dealership on Ledo Road. Albany’s Kia dealership, now located on East Oglethorpe Boulevard in Albany, is a sister company to the Toyota dealership already on Ledo Road and plans are to relocate the Kia dealership onto property adjacent to Toyota. Other projects include a new retailer at Robert B. Lee Drive in Leesburg and a new convenience store/fast-food operation at U.S. Highway 82 and Oakland.

“Around the third quarter, a developer and I will be visiting a major retailer,” Oxford said. “We visited about a year ago, and we’ll see if we can get his interest in being an anchor tenant. We have a nice commercial site in Lee County with a road project scheduled to be under way by then. We hope that will be the catalyst for a major investor to pull the trigger.”

If the major retailer decides to invest in Lee County, that should spawn three to five additional junior tenants, Oxford said.

Oxford said there are 10-15 major retailers who do not have a presence in the Albany retail market, which includes Lee County. “We’ve been courting them for a number of years,” he said.

Oxford said Lee County had about $8 million in groundbreakings in 2013 and another $12 million in groundbreakings in 2014.

“I’ll be disappointed if we don’t get a least $8 to $10 million in 2015,” he said. “We’ve got several medical companies looking at us. There’s one under way on 82 and the others may go close to them.

“We’ve got Albany Tractor opening in July and another client looking at the industrial park. It’s actually a retailer that would fit in with operations in an industrial park.”

Transportation projects are big this year, both for the Leesburg City Council and Lee County Commission. Transportation’s also important to Oxford.

“That’s what commercial investors look at when considering a specific site,” Oxford said. “They look at what is within five minutes, eight minutes, 10 minutes or, in some cases, up to a 50-minute drive. That is what is important to them.

“They consider drive times, the total number of households and their incomes within a specific drive time of that specific site.”

Lee County Manager Ron Rabun said the county hopes to complete several road paving and improvement projects in 2015. That may include starting on the Forrester Parkway project that would provide better east-west connections for county residents.

It’s been designated as the No. 1 priority in the past. Because of the anticipated cost, however, some county officials have discussed putting it on hold to complete a sizable number of other road projects.

Regardless of which path commissioners take, road improvements will be an emphasis this year.

In addition to the economic benefits, improving the road system in Lee County is important to its public safety operations, Rabun said.

“We hope to have some clarity on the Forrester Parkway issue,” Rabun said. “It’s been designated in the past as the top goal. … It would provide east-west access for emergency services, which is something we’ve been needing. We’ve got a lot of roads running north and south, but not many going east and west.”

Rabun said Lee County will continue to find ways to improve its firefighting capabilities.

This year’s budget process, he said, likely will include discussions on whether to build a fire tower training facility at the Century Fire Station. Lee’s firefighters now have to go out of the county to receive necessary training, placing a burden on the staff from a manpower standpoint and on the county budget from overtime pay.

“If we can justify the costs, it would help us get a lot of the training out of the way and keep our dual firefighting and EMS folks certified,” Rabun said.

Rabun noted that the county is awaiting delivery of its first new fire truck in several years and has hired James Weaver as its first full-time training officer.

At the county seat, Leesburg City Manager Bob Alexander says he believes the north bypass will be completed by the end of 2015.

“That should have a major impact on reducing traffic congestion downtown and improving school safety, Alexander said.

The project will route several school buses to the north side of town and allow them to use a bridge instead of having to cross railroad tracks. Also, truck traffic on U.S. Highway 19 will be routed to the bypass instead of coming through downtown.

Alexander says city officials hope to complete the city’s new public works building during the year. The project has gone through numerous delays because of soil problems at the planned site.

Other improvements this year, Alexander said, will include the replacement of substandard water lines and the construction of a new water tower at the site of the public works building. Those moves are expected to significantly improve water pressure for many city residents.

Alexander said the city will continue to seek funding for renovation of the former train depot downtown and hopes to work with other local governmental agencies to improve recreational facilities in the city.