The possible consolidation and incorporation of Columbia County was one of the topics of discussion at the town hall held by Columbia County Commissioners Gary Richardson and Alison Couch on Thursday, Oct. 19 at the Eubanks Blanchard Community Center in Appling.
County Manager Scott Johnson said there is a deadline of Dec. 31 for the study about consolidation and incorporation to be finished and given back to the county. If the consolidation and incorporation happens, one of the benefits is that the newly formed city would be able to receive franchise fees.
“If you look at your power bill, everybody in here pays a franchise fee,” Richardson said. “Counties do not get one dollar of that; cities get that money. So, all the money we’re sending in, that’s going to cities, and we never see a part of it.”
There were some concerns that the consolidation and incorporation would be similar to what happened in Richmond County a few years ago, but Richardson said it would not be because Richmond County was taking two local governments and making them one.
“They didn’t want to do away with any of the duplication of services that they have,” Richardson said. “That’s been 20 years and they still have all the people, they still have all of this stuff they didn’t benefit from what consolidation was. We only have one government…Harlem will be Harlem, Grovetown will be Grovetown and then the incorporated, everything else would be whatever the name ends up.”
“We would not lose the City of Harlem, we would not lose the City of Grovetown,” Couch added.
One person said that by incorporating the county, the county would be killing Harlem and Grovetown because the cities would not be able to expand.
Ultimately, if the county decides to pursue the consolidation and incorporation, then it will go before the community members on a ballot for them to vote either yes or no.
There was a question from a community member asking for an update on extension of the Euchee Creek Trails and the greenway, the intersections at Baker Place Road and Wrightsboro Road and Louisville Road and Wrightsboro Road and an issue with trucks that exceed the weight limit driving down Harlem-Grovetown Road.
“The Wrightsboro Road and Baker Place Road intersection has been awarded a roundabout there, so that roundabout will begin,” Couch said. “It’s in the design phase right now. I have learned that that process does take time. There’s the design phase, which takes about a year, then you have to do property acquisition, move utilities, which takes about a year, then have to put it out for bid and then the work starts on it. Things do move, there is a process like for things this and they do move a lot slower than we probably all wish that they would.”
As for Wrightsboro Road and Louisville Road, she said the Georgia Department of Transportation has studied the intersection and it looks like it will be incorporated into the I-20 interchange that will have an exit off Louisville Road all the way to Fort Eisenhower.
“That is a very long-term project, so I asked that that be looked at again for a short-term solution,” Couch said. something to help that intersection while that long-term project is being designed and funded.”
Harlem-Grovetown Road is expected to be repaved in 2025, Couch said. As for the weight limit, Johnson said the county does not enforce the weight limit because they don’t have the ability and instead the state is the only one with the equipment to enforce it.
“It’s an issue that’s a problem. The last thing I want to do is repave it and then have trucks go in there and tear it up, so we’re going to have to work on that going forward,” Johnson said.
Couch mentioned that funds have been allocated to renovate the Pollard House in Appling and the Eubanks Blanchard Community Center before asking community members what they would like to see done with those projects.
Suggestions from community members included a wedding venue, a venue similar to Savannah Rapids Pavilion, or a multi-purpose facility similar to what is at Liberty Park in Grovetown or Eubank Blanchard Community Center.
A community member asked what the plans were for the old Euchee Creek Library. Johnson said the 2023-28 SPLOST calls for expansion of the senior center, which is currently houses in the same building at Community Connections. The plan is to move the seniors to the Euchee Creek Library, so the space will be split between the senior center and early voting when needed.
“They’ll continue to vote their forever; it’s been a really good place for people on this side of the county to be able to vote and utilize that space,” Johnson said. “So, the intent was to move Community Connections to that building, but when it became such a popular voting site, we didn’t feel like it would mix well because we have so many participants. We don’t have as many participants in the Senior Center program, we still have a few. We were able to move them when voting comes in. We’ll be able to house things in the same place. Then SPLOST also calls for renovation of the current senior center for Community Connections to use that entire space. They’re servicing about 300 kids right now; they want to expand that to about 500.”
Someone asked what happened with the hotel in downtown Evans, with Richardson answering that the funding didn’t work out and some were “looking at somebody to point the finger at because they couldn’t get the funds together….”
Stephanie Hill is the managing editor and covers Columbia County government for The Augusta Press. Reach her at stephanie@theaugustapress.com.
