At the Coffee County Commission’s most recent meeting, commissioners approved a rezoning request from Don Wildes Jr. to rezone 5.3 acres at 1875 Sand Hill Church Road from Commercial to Light Industrial. There is a catch, though – the property cannot be used for any type of event, concert, party, or related facility.
According to Wildes, the property will be used for manufacturing utility and cargo trailers. However, some neighbors had expressed concern that the property could eventually house some type of event center. At the meeting Don Wildes Sr. said that under no circumstances would the property be used for such. “I wouldn’t do that to the neighbors,” he said.
The planning commission had approved the rezoning request. County code enforcement had recommended that the commission reject the request. Commissioners decided to approve Wildes’s request with a deed restriction prohibiting a party/entertainment center in the motion. The request was unanimously approved.
The commission also approved the Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant (LMIG) road resurfacing project list for the county as well as Ambrose, Broxton, and Nicholls. The county roads to be resurfaced are Brooks Road, Clear Lake Drive, Ten Point Drive, Fawn Lane, Mahogany Road, Clinton Carter Road, Old Bell Telephone Road, Old Columbus Road, Roberts Cemetery Road, and a portion of Fox Hills Road. Ambrose’s Pine Street as well as Byrd and Hill streets in Broxton are on the list. Nicholls’s resurfacing list includes Main Street, Jones Street, Middleton Street, and Tanner Street.
The county approved Statewide Surveying as the engineering contractors for the projects. However, the total project cost of $1,998,724.58 was outside of Statewide’s budget. The contractor, East Coast Asphalt, recommended changes to the striping, field testing, and traffic control, reduced the cost by $52,584.20. Commissioners approved the bid and the change order that dropped the price tag of the projects.
The county also handled several other important matters of business, approving a contract with Manatron for new tax commissioner software, a service delivery strategy approved by the Department of Community Affairs, a resolution for updates to the record retention schedule, and a lease agreement with Unison Behavioral Health for the building at 1005 Shirley Avenue.