SPLOST funds sought for Sibley-Smith project

Nov. 12—Officials in Milledgeville and Baldwin County are interested in growing in terms of economic development, and they are eyeing the Sibley-Smith Industrial Park for future industry.

In order for that to become a reality, a lot of things have to unfold.

The biggest aspect is funding to lure interest from prospective industries. The park is located near U.S. Highway 441 and the Fall Line Freeway.

Jonathan Jackson, executive director of the Development Authority of the City of Milledgeville & Baldwin County, recently shared details on the type of funding and the amount needed to get the project off the ground.

Jackson recently discussed details with members of the Baldwin County Board of Commissioners at a government retreat held at the Middle Georgia Regional Commission office in Macon.

"What we asked for at that meeting was solely for that park," Jackson said.

He explained that the current Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) was earmarked at around $6.25 million for the Sibley-Smith Industrial Park in addition to $2 million for other projects related to the DAMBC, as well as for the Fall Line Regional Development Authority — a joint partnership with neighboring Wilkinson County — and Central State Hospital Local Redevelopment Authority.

The proposal comes in the form of funding through the SPLOST.

Local government officials are now in discussions about new projects needing such specialized funding in the city and county.

Jackson said it's important that development of the county's newest and largest industrial park get started as soon as possible with Phase Green.

That phase would include a new entrance road into the park, new temporary signage, water and sewer engineering studies, timbering, stumping, planting and potential grading for an industrial site.

"The hope is that the first project at the park will act as a catalyst," Jackson said. "Conventional thought is that development spurs development. The cumulative costs of development calculated in 2016 have likely increased."

Since the development of the park will be done in phases, the costs will be spread out over time, he explained.

Jackson said it would prevent an insurmountable lump sum for full buildout to occur.

"Since DAMBC is following the same plan as before with only slight modifications, the authority is hoping that the same allocation, as with the current SPLOST will get development started," Jackson said. "How far into development the authority decides to go with each phase is to be dictated by the funding."

Jackson said he believes the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.

The 2018 SPLOST specifically mentioned the county's newest industial park.

"It listed the repayment of bonds that were used to purchase the park," Jackson said.

The purchase price was $4.5 million.

Such a price equated to about $2,600 per acre.

County officials ended up paying $5.17 million in bond and interest payments, according to Dawn Hudson, who serves as Baldwin County's assistant manager.

Jackson explained that when the property was orginally purchased, it was referred to as a mega industrial site of which Georgia has only a few such giant industrial parks.

"But from a topography standpoint, what we found out was that it needed to be divided up into smaller parcels," Jackson said. "We can still handle projects of enormous size there, but it's not going to involve just one big project."

He said such was not practical and that idea simply would not work because the topography doesn't yield itself to that kind of plan, he said.

Jackson said after he was hired as the DAMBC's executive director he rebranded the park.

He recalled that he visited with a host of state project managers last year.

"I actually went to lunch with a dozen state project managers, which is unheard of to find that many of them in one place at one time," Jackson said. "I took them all out to lunch in Atlanta."

State project managers are responsible for bringing county economic development officials potential industrial prospects.

"We had gone two years without any face-to-face interaction because of the COVID-19 pandemic except for site visits," he said.

Jackson said he had two objectives on his plate that day.

"One was to reintroduce them to the Sibley-Smith Industrial Park — not the Sibley-Smith Mega Industrial Park," he recalled. "The other was to reintroduce them to the Daniels site."

Jackson said he does his best to go to Atlanta at least once a month to continue building relations with state project managers at the Georgia Department of Economic Development.

"I'm on very good terms with many of those people," he said.

Jackson said that factor is "very beneficial" in several ways.

"It keeps Baldwin County front and center in their minds," Jackson said.

The Daniels site is often referred to as the flat lands off Ga. Route 22.

It's the last portion of the Highway 22 Industrial Park, located right at the edge of the city limits of Milledgeville.

"It's because it's pad-ready," Jackson said. "It already has all of the utlitilies in place."

That part of the Highway 22 Industrial Park consists of 44 acres and is connected to the larger park baring its same name.

"We're about to expand it by a few acres," he said.