Council hears prison pitch
By Arthur McLean Editor

Mayor Sheldon Day reported to the council that he expected the state to be putting out a request for proposal on a women's prison facility soon. Day is currently working with county commission chairman Paul Bradford to lay the groundwork for a possible pitch from Thomasville.

"I know some people look at corrections as having a stigma attached, but it's one of the cleanest industries available," Day said. In an apparent effort to calm concerns about a prison possibly being built near Thomasville, Day said the most likely site to be pitched, only had one house within a mile.

"I think it's a huge opportunity for us," he said. "This new women's facility - the Governor wants it to be a state of the art facility where inmates could earn their way to having their children stay with them in a special area of the facility."

Day said the city would likely have to hire a consultant to prepare the proposal to the state. No vote was made on the matter Monday night.

Alcohol stalled No action was taken on set- ting a voting date for legalizing alcohol sales in Thomasville. The city is still waiting word from the attorney general's office regarding which prior election should be used to determine the number of needed signatures in the certified petition requesting a vote.

At some point the council will have to vote on the matter. The state law regarding the issue states the city "shall" set a vote once the petition is certified. Shall in legal terms is generally considered to be a mandatory instruction.

Twin Rivers

The Twin Rivers Economic Development Partnership officially introduced itself at the Thomasville City Council meeting Monday night.

Chip Harrigan, the group's chairman, outlined Twin Rivers' goals and makeup. The goal of the Twin Rivers partnership is to stimulate economic growth through a regional approach, partnering Clarke County and Choctaw County.

Board members and advisors to the partnership were introduced at the meeting. Six board members serve, representing both counties.

"This group is still in its infancy," Harrigan said. "We've interviewed about 75 people in the area on their views, and the feedback was very positive about a regional effort."

Currently, the group is still in its organizational and fund-raising stage, Harrigan said. Twin Rivers has hired Funding Solutions, a Texas-based company to assist in the effort to find investors who will help fund the organization.

The partnership has also asked for funding from city and county governments, hoping to get half of its funding needs met through private investors and the other half through governmental support.

Board member Buddy Bedwell said the group was an opportunity he'd been waiting for. "This has been a lifelong dream of mine," he told the council. "It is an opportunity I never thought I'd see."

"To show you how the directors are deeply interested in this, we've signed a $150,000 letter of credit to get this started."

It's believed such a regional development group could reach further and be more attractive to potential business interests, and once, garnering their interest in this area, bringing in the more local economic development entities to help close the deal.

"We've received tremendous support (from other regional economic development groups) and they really opened our eyes to what's possible."

Thomasville has already provided $10,000 in seed money, and the group is requesting a commitment from the city of $25,000 per year for the next five years. The city's current gift would leave $15,000 to be donated this year.

Mayor Sheldon Day said he wanted to give the council time to digest the news and give them opportunities to get answers to any questions they may have. Day said he believed the partnership could "streamline our economic development efforts."

Sign ordinance

Day said he is beginning to work with the planning commission and the city will soon begin inspecting signs around Thomasville as part of its sign ordinance enforcement.

Owners will be informed of the status of their signs after the inspection, and an inventory of the signs will be developed by city officials.

Day also said that the "Vote No" signs were technically in violation of the sign ordinance. The ordinance bans political signs from being erected more than 60 days from the date of an election. With the council planning to set a date 60 days from the time it votes, the signs could be considered to be in violation of the ordinance. But Day said the city would not force people to remove the signs at this time since the vote has been "highly anticipated."

Other business

Day reported that he is in discussions with Bradley-Arant over proposals to make Thomasville a model technology community.

In a drainage update, the mayor said engineering firm Goodwyn Mills and Cawood is performing the engineering on several storm water drainage projects, and that a citywide drainage study may have to be made to help alleviate storm water drainage problems in parts of the city. That study could cost up to $60,000.

The council approved paying a $7,000 bill to Goodwyn Mills and Cawood for updating the city's garbage collection service documents.

It also approved an agreement with the DOT for phase III of the downtown revitalization project.

A parade permit was approved for the Lion's Club to march downtown on March 1 in a Diabetes awareness walk.

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