Author: Bradley Bennett

At the regular May 8, 2017 meeting of the City of Douglas Mayor and Commission the commission authorized the submission of an Employment Incentive Program (EIP) application to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA). EIP is a funding program utilized along with traditional private funding to carry out development projects resulting in employment for people of low and moderate income.The application will be seeking funds in the amount of $750,000. The mayor and commission also authorized an application to OneGeorgia for funds in the amount of $250,000. OneGeorgia is another division of DCA which supplies funds to rural counties…

At the regular May 1, 2017 meeting of the Coffee County Commissioners the board approved a motion to move certain certificates of deposit and money market accounts. The commissioners reviewed the bids from banks and decided to move $4 million. County Administrator Wesley Vickers reported to the board. He decried the lack of bids that the county received. Mr. Vickers blamed the fact that municipal holdings of this kind were not very profitable for the banks which handle them. At the pre-meeting work session Mr. Vickers recommended that the board approve a motion to move money market and certificate of…

On April 27 members of the Douglas Rotary Club attended a luncheon hosted by Premium Waters at their 675 Thompson Drive bottling plant. General Manager Mike Lord gave a short informative presentation while members of the Rotary Club ate sandwiches. A tour of the plant followed the presentation. Premium Waters, Inc., opened its Douglas plant in October of 2008. About 110 people are now employed at the location. The workforce is divided into thirds. One third of the employees make bottles, one third perform maintenance, and one third bottle the water itself. They produce approximately one million bottles per day…

The Douglas Wastewater Collections System reported that a major wastewater spill occurred at 9 pm on April 6, 2017. The spillage continued until 10:30 pm on April 7. A sign posted on Wendell Sears Road announced that a sanitary sewer overflow occurred from a manhole located inside the Southeast Water Pollution Control Plant at 622 Iron Road. The sign, a piece of 8 ½ by 11 inch computer-printer paper, read “Approximately 7,000 gallons were reported.” The spill took place in an unnamed tributary of the Seventeen Mile River. The sign also recommended that no one have contact with the water…

The Georgia House of Representatives honored Garland Thompson of Douglas recently by adopting a resolution recognizing and commending Thompson for his tireless efforts as an advocate for economic development in Douglas and Coffee County. The resolution was read and adopted on February 27, 2017. When Mr. Garland Thompson was born on June 5, 1928 in Soperton, Georgia his father was a one-horse sharecropper and young Garland grew up farming. He’s lived in Savannah, Warner Robbins, and places all up and down Highway 441: Athens, Milledgeville, Irwinton, Dublin, and Douglas. He’s been in Douglas now for nearly 47 years. It was…

On April 26 former Senator and Commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) Mike Beatty made a stop at the Wiregrass Regional College and Career Academy. Mr. Beatty is a native of Jefferson, Georgia and a former high school football coach. He is now President and CEO of Great Promise Partnership (GPP). GPP is a non-profit organization which addresses poverty and workforce development throughout the state. GPP is essentially work-based learning for at-risk students. Mr. Beatty is touring the state – he just left Sandersville and is going on to Valdosta and Fitzgerald – building support for the GPP…

At the regular April 20 meeting of the Douglas-Coffee County Planning Commission, the City of Douglas petitioned for an amendment to the Unified Development Code. This amendment would permit a halfway house in commercial and industrial as well as residential/professional zoning districts. The petition was approved as the city requested. There will be a second reading of the amendment and a public hearing on May 8, 2017 at the regular city commission meeting. Ms. Julia Shewchuk, a planner with the Southern Georgia Regional Commission, presented the city’s petition. She stated that Douglas intended to mirror Valdosta’s handling of similar circumstances.…

On April 24, 2017 Coffee County school system unveiled the new Billy Walker Agricultural Center to the public at the Coffee Middle School. Agricultural educator Billy Walker, a retired Coffee High School educator, was in attendance along with his wife, Joanne. The center will house nearly 50 animals when fully operational. Coffee Middle School Principal Sherri Berry spoke to those assembled and was introduced by Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education Director Brad Riner. Principal Berry spoke about how the community was “blessed.” She opened her remarks with discussion of a car crash involving ag teacher Jamey Stodghill. Two weekends…

Coach Jeremy Coram and the Citizens Christian Academy Patriots baseball team have clinched the Region 2AA championship. The Patriots are 7-0 in region play. All the other teams in their region have three or more losses. CCA will finish with region play on April 24 when they play the Twiggs Academy Trojans here in Douglas at the CCA campus. The other teams in Region 2AA are Twiggs Academy, First Presbyterian Christian Academy, Robert Toombs Christian Academy, and Memorial Day School in Savannah. This is the Patriots’ first region title since 2010, and they were ranked next to last in the…

At the regular April 17, 2017 meeting of the Coffee County Board of Commissioners, the board approved a proposal to submit an application to the Georgia Department of Transportation for funds to widen Old Pearson Road. The funds are to take the form of a Local Maintenance Improvement Grant (LMIG) in the amount of $130,581.35. The funds will be used to widen Old Pearson Road for approximately one and a half miles. The proposed construction site is just off Willacoochee Highway and south of Guthrie’s Food Mart. It is not known when the construction will begin or even whether…