Dougherty Commission advances Radium Springs, Putney development projects with approval of master plan

ALBANY – The Dougherty County Commission on Monday approved an updated plan for Radium Springs and the Putney community but has so far not agreed on a timeline for the individual projects or budgeted for the improvements.

A week ago, a consulting firm presented the plans during a commission work session.

The plan includes a beach and volleyball area that would be in use for probably a limited number of weekends each year, as well as a trailhead with restrooms, for which the county has received $200,000 in grant funding. Other items include a public library and community center/emergency shelter and recreation area in Putney.

“All they did was adopt the plan for the three projects” that comprise the redevelopment plan, County Attorney Spencer Lee told The Herald following Monday’s meeting.

Commissioners have discussed having their Recreation Committee start the process of deciding the order for the various projects.

“You go get your plan, and they start development (of) the component pieces,” Lee said.

The plan presented to commissioners has three stages with a total estimated cost of $1.46 million. It includes a pavilion restroom facility at an estimated cost of $262,000 – the most expensive item in the master plan. Other items, of which there are 25 in all, include gravel base and asphalt parking at a total estimated cost of $327,000, limestone block walls at $96,000, a pavilion renovation, repairing a concrete deck and construction of a wooden deck.

In other business Monday, commissioners:

♦ Denied a zoning request from MRA Concrete/Precast, which sought to operate a precast concrete facility at 3108 Leary Road. The company had requested rezoning 1.73 acres from C-1 (neighborhood mixed use business district) to a C-3 commercial designation. The company also had requested that the county grant a special use request that would have allowed operating the facility in that location.

♦ Approved spending in the amount of $44,500 for security cameras at the Dougherty County Jail, $22,035 for air conditioning equipment for the Tallulah Massey Library and an equipment shed for the Public Works Department at a cost of $43,310. All funds for the projects will come from sales tax dollars generated by a special-purpose local-option sales tax approved by voters for those purposes.

Staff Photo:Alan Mauldin
AlanMauldin[email protected]