Johnna Pinholster
VALDOSTA — The City of Valdosta is one step closer to owning a parcel of the property currently known as Five Points.
At Tuesday’s work session, city council members were updated on some of the specifics of the agreement for the purchase of 22.15 acres of the Five Points LLC property.
Council will vote to approve the agreement on Thursday.
The property will cost $5.62 million and will be purchased using SPLOST VI funds.
In early December, council began condemnation proceedings on the property which were halted when the property owners agreed to sell in late December.
The City of Valdosta has stated it plans to build a municipal auditorium and amphitheater on the property with the regional library possibly using a parcel of the land to build a new facility.
City Manager Larry Hanson highlighted some of the terms of the agreement during the work session.
The property owners have requested that they be allowed to piggyback on parking renovations done to the property, with them paying a portion of the cost relating to the property they have retained.
The owners have also requested that any water or sewer work not leave the current businesses without amenities for a significant length of time.
Hanson said if service was restricted to the businesses it would only be temporarily.
The property owners also requested that the city not use the property for facilities such as a prison, waste center, homeless shelter, social service office or drug treatment facility. Sonny Vickers, District 3, asked if the same requirements could be made by the city for the property Five Points LLC has retained.
The only requirements the city can make on the rest of the property are that it remain within city code, Hanson said.
“The signs seem to indicate that they are going to make an investment in their property,” he said.
Hanson went on to say that if the condemnation proceedings had continued, the city would have only been allowed to use the property for what the city originally stated it would be used for. Now, it can be used in any manner the council decides.
Robert Yost, District 6, then questioned where The Valdosta Daily Times received its information regarding the size and type of facilities that could be built on the property.
The council has yet to vote on any use or development of the property at this point, he said.
“The information they are getting must be different from the information the ones who are voting on this are getting. Hopefully they will get their facts straight," Yost said, apparently referring to articles and editorials that appeared in the Times following a meeting and interviews with the mayor and city manager.
Mayor John Fretti said he has already received calls from people in the community about the development of the property and requests to be involved in a committee to oversee the development of the auditorium.
Tim Carroll, District 5, submitted to council his abstention from voting on any issue pertaining to the Five Points LLC property as there may be perceived conflicts of interest.
At Thursday’s meeting, council will also vote on a proposal to conduct an environmental study on the 22.15 acres the city is considering purchasing at Five Points.
Mara Register, assistant to the city manager, said conducting an environmental study does not mean the site is contaminated but is part of due diligence done on the property by the city.
The site contains underground tanks from a former gas station located there. The cost of the environmental study will fall under the city’s Brownsfield grant and must be conducted within 90 days from the date of formal execution of the agreement between the City of Valdosta and Five Points LLC.
In other news:
At Thursday’s meeting Superior Court Judge Richard Cowart will swear in council members from districts two, four and six.
Alvin Payton, District 4, and Yost will be sworn in to begin their new terms as council members while Deidra White will take the place of former Mayor Pro Tem Willie T. Head, as the representative for District 2. White sat in on her first council work session Tuesday night.
Following the swearing in council will elect a new Mayor Pro Tem who also will be sworn in by Cowart, Fretti said.
The regular meeting of the Valdosta City Council will be held Thursday, Jan. 7, at 5:30 p.m. in council chambers at City Hall.
