Safety, beautification, and growth at the Peach County Intergovernmental Meeting

FORT VALLEY, Ga. – The Quarterly Intergovernmental luncheon was held on Friday, April 21 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the old Hunt Elementary School Building on Tulip Dr. The event was led by Fort Valley Economic Development Director, Gary Lee.

Those in attendance included the mayor and city councils from the cities of Fort Valley and Byron, the Peach County Board of Commissioners, the Peach County Department of Education, the City of Fort Valley Utility Commission, Peach County Development Authority, Peach County Sheriff’s Office, Fort Valley State University, and Bluebird.

Fort Valley Mayor Jeffrey Lundy started the luncheon with thanks to the members of Team Fort Valley and thanks to those in attendance for working together. Mayor Lundy stated that the City of Fort Valley is focused on safety and beautification, citing that the Fort Valley Police Department has seen a decrease in crime.

Byron Mayor Michael Chidester spoke on the recent commercial developments, including the relatively new Popeyes and new Taco Bell. There are plans for a new Starbucks to be built in that area. He spoke of a Press Conference with Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff who provided congressionally directed spending of $650,000 towards remapping the water system on Walker Rd., Summit Chase, and Hawk’s Ridge. There are plans for a new recycling center in Business Park. He spoke of there is an increasing interest in the development and that Byron has plans to completely rewrite the master land use plan. Mayor Chidester ended his speech with information on the Battle of Byron, which will take place on May 6.

Peach County Board of Commissioners Chairman Martin Moseley was the next to speak. He started with the introduction of City Administrator April Howard. Chairman Moseley discussed the renovation plans of building B of the old Peach County High School. The current plans are to renovate over 30,000 sq. ft. of the building into the Peach County Government Center. The board of elections will be there as well as functioning as a voting precinct. Chairman Moseley stated that there will be tax assessors, public works, planting and zoning, an extension office, and recreation in the building as well. The basketball and tennis courts at North and South Peach Park have resurfaced. The Peach County Fire Department received a grant from Flint Energies and there is a new fire engine on the way. Juvenile Court has received a grant and they will be working with the PEACH Pit Equine Center. Chairman Moseley mentioned the Boy Scouts of America would be honoring Tom and Barbara Palmer with the Golden Eagle Award at Fort Valley State University on Thursday, April 27.

Bluebird Outreach Administrator Jay Jones was next to speak. Jones spoke on the overall economic progress of Bluebird, with employees being engaged and creating an average of 38 buses a day. He spoke of the upcoming electric buses program and an upcoming ribbon-cutting event.

Peach County Schools Superintendent Dr. Lionel Brown thanked Bluebird for the donation of an electric bus. He then spoke of the upcoming plans for school renovations, with plans for four out of six of the schools to be renovated. In May, the Golden Eagle Awards– which is sponsored by Macon Telegraph– will have 14 nominees from the Peach County School System.

Peach County Development Authority Executive Director B.J. Walker spoke of multiple projects that are happening in industrial sections of Peach County. He spoke about trying to align the building ordinances of Fort Valley and Byron to help with further development. The Peach County Development Authority is preparing for growth and they want to make sure that the commercial development does not overshadow the housing development.

Lee stepped in to make a quick comment. He stated that he was a member of the Foundation Board and that affordable housing and student housing have been major topics of discussion that need to be addressed.

Fort Valley State University Vice President of Economic Development and Land Grant Affairs Dr. Govind Kannan was next in line to speak. He listed a few of FVSU’s recent successes including a digital fabrication lab in FVSU’s Warner Robins Center, a mobile STEM lab that can be taken to rural counties to educate people, and a plan to renovate the Kell building into a center for agriculture. Another CDS project in the works is a community garden which will provide members an opportunity to garden and grow vegetables and fruit. Last year, three projects were funded, a veterinary clinic, a community nursing project, and a poultry major at FVSU. The school received a national telecommunications and information grant to expand broadband expansion within a 15-mile radius of the campus.

City of Fort Valley Utility Commission General Manager Clay Walker was the final speaker. His first item was that the Fort Valley Utility Commission now has an app, one for Android and another for iPhones. There is now a fully automated payment system. The Electric got an award from the American Public Power Association for the top 25% of responding to power outages. The average Utility commission customers’ outage length was around 61 minutes. Other cities around the size of Fort Valley averaged around 168 minutes. The Friendship Circle water plant now pumps the majority of water and is the most efficient plant in Fort Valley.