The Coffee County Commission announced an upcoming and tentative application for a housing grant and a community clean-up in the Oak Park community. A regional commission meeting, which county commissioner Johnny Wayne Jowers attended on Thursday, was arranged to discuss solutions to the issues regarding the condition Oak Park. One proposed solution was to apply for a housing grant that, if awarded, would repair certain buildings that are in disrepair. A crackdown on code enforcement and a community clean-up day tentatively scheduled for the second Saturday of October were also brought up at the meeting.
The County Commission and members of the regional commission board that is conducting the meetings for the issue is urging the citizens of the Oak Park community to attend the meetings and bring up any items they wish to address and to keep informed of the upcoming developments.
Commissioners approved a purchase of new software and hardware for ballot machines in preparation for upcoming elections. The software is currently used in many other counties in Georgia and cuts down the amount of ballots to be printed out for elections, helps speed up correction processes in unforeseen election issues, and streamlines balloting. With the upcoming Douglas elections expected to deliver a higher than normal voter turnout, the software would be beneficial to the voting process.
The peanut shelling plant that is being built on Barrington Road and is expected to draw significant commerce has incited repairs to the road itself in preparation of the plant’s operations. A state grant that would secure $500,000 to go towards the $750,000 project was approved by the County Commission. The Commission’s SPLOST fund and the DOT will make up the remaining $250,000 for the project.