VALDOSTA — Withdrawing an intergovernmental agreement between the Valdosta-Lowndes County Airport Authority, the City of Valdosta and Lowndes County to use SPLOST funds for hangars was considered at Tuesday’s Valdosta City Council work session.

In its place is a request to provide approved SPLOST funding to the Valdosta-Lowndes County Airport and to approve a loan to construct airplane hangars.

Mark Barber, deputy city manager for administration, said the original intergovernmental agreement would have been a $2.2 million loan, with a pay-back over 15 years.

In SPLOST VI, the city allocated $900,000 to the airport authority. With the new agreement, the city would provide $450,000 upfront and $450,000 at the end of construction.

The county has also budgeted $900,000 to help pay for the project.

This would mean that there would be $460,000 remaining for construction, Barber said.

The loan from the city would provide up to $500,000 to finish construction with an eight-year pay-back period at a 5 percent interest rate.

Mayor John Fretti said this simplified the process.

Once the hangars are built, revenue from hangar rental will help facilitate the payback on the loan, Barber said.

“The airport belongs to the citizens so we are loaning ourselves the money,” Councilman Sonny Vickers, District 3, said.



In other news:

• An ordinance to rezone 11.53 acres from single-family residential to multi-family residential on Hickory Road and Harmon Drive was postponed until December as requested by property owner Jimmy Bennett.

The applicant is still attempting to resolve some water issues on Phase I of the apartment complex and does not want to invest in a traffic study for Phase II of the project at this time, said Anne-Marie Wolff, planning and zoning administrator.

Fretti said that as a general rule, council only provides for two postponements. A postponement was granted in October to provide the applicant time to conduct a traffic study.

Wolff said if more time is needed, the applicant stated he would withdraw his request.

• Andrew Corraro from DBA American Tire and Auto requested a conditional-use permit to place a minor auto maintenance and repair business in an urban commercial corridor overlay district. The property being considered in the ordinance is located at 2620 Bemiss Road.

• A conditional-use permit to allow duplexes in a single-family residential district was requested by Richard Miller for property located at 1401 and 1403 River St.

One of the duplexes will face River Street, while the other will face Springhill Street, Wolff said.

The property was once an island which was annexed into the city. Wolff said the applicant has water and sewer access for the northern property and will work with the utility department to service the southern property.

• An ordinance for a conditional-use permit to allow a child daycare center in a residential-professional district was requested by Netarsha Y. Gibson for property located at 2900 N. Oak St.

The property was previously used as a medical office, Wolff said.

The Planning Commission approved the request at their October meeting with three conditions: no more than 18 children, installation of an opaque fence around the outdoor play area, and hours of operation limited to 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Fretti asked about the dissenting votes from the Planning Commission as the vote passed five to four.

State regulations could approve up to 57 children, per the square footage of the house, Wolff said, which was a concern.

The question now becomes whether or not 18 children is economically feasible and if the request fits the land use of the area, Wolff said.

A request was sent to the applicant to see what the maximum number of children would be to make the venture economically feasible, but was not returned, she said.

The applicant had also stated that she was going to run the daycare in three phases, creating a 24-hour service, she said.

Councilman Tim Carroll, District 5, questioned the amount of noise a daycare would generate in a residential area. He referred to the complaints in the residential area behind Brookfield Academy in regards to noise.

He suggested that the applicant may need to find a commercial property for a daycare.

James Wright, District 1, questioned whether these issues should be considered when discussing land use.

“Land use, in my mind means co-existence,” Fretti said. “You don’t put a factory next to a home or a home next to a factory.”

• An ordinance to rezone .33 acres from single-family residential to residential-professional for a real-estate office at the intersection of North Toombs Street and Wayne Avenue was requested by Austin Plyler and Satrina Plyler.

• The Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority requested a rezone of 155.83 acres from highway-commercial to manufacturing to accommodate proposed wholesale, industrial and/or distribution issues on property located at the northwest corner of South St. Augustine Road and Lloyd Jackson Road.

City Council will meet 5:30 p.m. Thursday, in council chambers at City Hall.