About Tribune & Georgian (Athens, Ga) 2002-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 4, 2018)
8A Tribune & Georgian Thursday, January 4,2018 Projects from page 1A Expected completion: Due diligence is ongoing for the pending land purchase and that process is expected to run through at least summer 2018. Located on 50 acres on the former Gilman Paper Com pany property, this North River site is envisioned to be a marine manufacturing and repair complex that includes a marina, as well as retail, restau rant and possibly residential space. The JDA has signed a development agreement with Bruce Benton of Birmingham, Ala., who will help market the site to prospective tenants. Benton is also involved in the Epic Adventures Resort proj ect in Kingsland. The exact mix of elements in the marine center is still being determined. Authority members recently commis sioned a marketing study to help guide those decisions and demonstrate demand for the project during the permitting process. The anchor tenant of the marine center would be lo cated on the North River, just up river from the Meeting Street Boat Ramp. Current plans are to cut into the site and create a basin. The JDA also hopes to permit the cen ter to service crafts up to 150 feet, if possible, to take advan tage of the large yacht market. Director James Coughlin said due diligence is ongoing, but the JDA could close on the land in August if that process continues to run smoothly. Epic Adventures Resort Exit 3, Kingsland Size: 480 acres Funding: Privately owned, but development has re ceived preliminary approval for Georgia Tourism De velopment Act funds; site boundaries also encompass a tax allocation district, com munity improvement district and business improvement district. Status: Development agreement is signed; ground is expected to be broken in early 2018 on the recreational vehicle park (phase 1). Expected completion: 2019 Kingsland property owner Bill Gross contracted ear lier this year with The Sport Force to develop, market and operate the report, a multi phase recreational center near Exit 3 in Kingsland. It is en visioned as a sports tourism destination with facilities for competitions by travel sports teams, entertainment, lodging and other activities. Ground is expected to be broken in early 2018 on the first phase, which is a 219-site, Class A recreational vehicle resort with 12 fish camp-style cabins and amenity complex. An additional 79 RV sites will be completed in later phases, which will be built out through 2019. The Camden County Joint Development Authority signed a master development agreement with EPIC Desti nations LLC, in June. Several agencies will be involved in providing bond financing for elements of the project that are privately owned. Coughlin said this funding mechanism does not hold the authority or taxpayers responsible for repayment of the bond. “This project has been under development for quite some time but it has been done right. A project of this magni tude requires the cooperation of city, county, state and pri vate entities working together to each do their part,” said Coughlin said. “This project will transform Kingsland from a stop for transient travelers to a true destination.” Gross projects that the re sort will create more than 1,200 jobs and attract 1.5 mil lion visits in the first year and 2.3 million annually later on. Spaceport Camden Harrietts Bluff Size: 4,011 acres (for site with purchase option agree ment) Funding: County is pay ing for environmental impact study; seeking private partners to jointly fund site. Status: Waiting on results of environmental impact statement, agreements with private space companies. Expected completion: Unknown Camden County’s quest to establish a commercial spaceport for small- to medi um-sized rockets at the east end of Harrietts Bluff Road has been several years in the making. The project has grabbed national attention in the media, resulted in the passage of space-related legislation by the Georgia General As sembly and prompted Vector Space Systems to stage a test launch at the proposed site. In December 2015, the Federal Aviation Adminis tration began the process of compiling an environmen tal impact statement. A draft EIS was expected last fall, but was delayed and has still not been released. Based on those findings, the county can determine if they have an en vironmentally suitable site or whether mitigation will be re quired. The county has an option to purchase a 4,011 -acre site that is currently owned by Union Carbide. County officials have ex pressed a desire to establish public-private partnerships with space operators to pay for the construction of the launch complex. A website about the project can be found at www.space- portcamden.us. CCHS Fine Arts Center Expansion, Kingsland Size: 65,000 square feet, in cluding new construction and renovations to existing build ings Funding: Paid for by the Camden County Board of Education using sales tax rev enues collected through the 1-percent Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax for Education. Status: Ground was broken in December 2017 during a reception at Camden County High School. Expected completion: Unknown Local sales tax in paid for the expansion of the high school fine arts academy, which is expected to cost $ 10-$ 12 million. Camden County School Superinten dent Will Hardin noted that the project will incur no debt for local taxpayers, who have approved the one-percent sales tax for education in past ballot referendums. The expansion will enable the modernization and expansion of programs. Today, fine arts not only in cludes classes like visual arts, music and drama, but also cu linary arts and journalism. Under the direction of Dean Slusser, the fine arts program has earned state ac colades and created opportu nities for countless Camden County High School grad uates. The Camden County Board of Education hopes this will only enhance the system’s ability to help each student to his or her poten tial. “I am always happy to see the support our community shows for our fine arts pro grams and even more pleased in the number of students who seek and find scholar ship opportunities to pursue careers in the arts,” Hardin said. JDA member Rachel Bald win, a noted expert on local workforce and education, said a strong high school arts program supports a trend among some of the state’s technical colleges to expand into arts programs, which can often be vocational in nature. For example, training skilled videographers and video production personnel makes good sense given the state of Georgia’s focus on attracting the film industry. Georgia was reported to be the top filming location location in the world in 2017. Gov. Nathan Deal said it generated $9.5 billion in eco nomic impact for the 2017 fiscal year with $2.7 billion in direct spending. Additionally, companies that may have to relocate their employees recognize arts programs for youths will be important to many of those family members. Arrests from page 1A on the passenger side floor board. “I asked all four occupants if there was any marijuana inside the vehicle and Mr. Grant stated there was no marijuana inside the vehi cle. Mr. Grant then openly stated that they had smoked marijuana inside the vehicle a few hours prior to being pulled over,” according to the report. Because Grant was acting nervous, Sullivan asked ev eryone to get out of the car and patted down the three men. He didn’t find any weapons or contraband. “I again asked them if there was anything illegal inside the vehicle and they stated there was not,” Sulli van wrote. “... I advised all subjects that due to smell ing the odor of marijuana and observing the small amount of green marijuana in the floorboard, it have me probable cause to search the vehicle. I again gave the in dividuals an opportunity to tell me if there was anything illegal inside the vehicle.” Sullivan and a second dep uty searched the car, finding bits of marijuana through out the car and several debit cards. “Not thinking much about the cards, we continued searching the vehicle,” Sul livan wrote. In the truck, the deputies found 30 debit cards in a bag, a machine that looked like it could make debit or credit cards, a device to swipe cards and a laptop computer. Sul livan asked the four about a name on one of the cards but no one would answer his question. Returning to the passenger area, Sullivan rounded up 11 more cards for a total of 41 debit cards in several different names. A CCSO investigator was called to the scene, ques tioned the four people and took possession of the evi dence, advising that all four should be arrested. Sullivan took Jones and Eliscart in his patrol car and Eliscart asked to speak to him privately when they arrived at the jail. Sullivan said they could talk inside the jail but Eliscart insisted that he had to talk to Sullivan before they went inside. Eliscart told Sullivan that he had a wallet in his pants’ pocket that belonged to the person who owned the card machine. He had stuffed the wallet’s contents, including several more debit cards, into the backseat of the pa trol car. “Mr. Eliscart showed me where the cards were left and advised me that he did not want to get into any more trouble and that’s the reason he wanted to tell me about the items,” Sullivan wrote in his report. “I ad vised Mr. Eliscart that I had to note in my report that he attempted to hide the debit cards in my backseat and I could not advise him if he would be charged with the offense at this time.” Sullivan found six more cards in his backseat and a Florida identification card that matched the name on one of the cards found in the trunk. All four are being held without bond. For more information or to request an appointment, call 904.383.1000. UEHealth NORTH 15255 Max Leggett Parkway, Jacksonville, FL 32218 North.UFHealthJax.org UF Health accepts most major commercial insurance plans, including TRICARE. 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