City of Magee leaders are hopeful that they can negotiate a deal with the Simpson County School Board to acquire the property that was home to Magee Elementary School.
The nine acre plot was re-advertised because the district received no bids on it, and the school board felt they were obligated to re-advertise before they chose to dispose of the property.
The goal is to use the campus as a Head Start facility for the community. Mayor Dale Berry said that Alderman Patrick Brown has been negotiating the deal for the city. He said he and the board attorney have met to discuss the deal, which has not yet been finalized with the county school board.
The Head Start program would be responsible for insurance, liability and maintenance on the property as well as asbestos abatement in the buildings. Alderman Patrick Brown has met with Head Start officials in Atlanta to negotiate the deal.
Board attorney Bruce Smith said the city would ultimately be liable but would require Head Start to maintain insurance. Currently, no contractual agreements have been signed. The city is waiting for the school board before they can enter into an agreement.
In other business, Phillip Magee with the Magee Volunteer Fire Department discussed property belonging to Bruce Lewis. Lewis, says he plans to open a flea market in it like the one outside of Florence near Plantation Shores.
The local fire department wants building plans as well as a materials list so they can submit those plans and materials to their review committee to determine whether the property meets fire safety standards.
Lewis said the fire department has requested that he install a sprinkler system in the building. He said he would understand if it were a school or a restaurant.
He also said that he has spoken with other business people and that what Magee is doing through the fire department “is trying to prevent growth and is a control issue.” He said the same thing happened with the new building that is being built downtown. He was referring to the Layce Colson Evans building on Main Avenue when the city stopped construction.
He added that other development opportunities have refused to open in Magee because of what he called “a power struggle.”
Lewis’s plans are to put a new roof on the facility and improve the outside, but he says that unless these issues are resolved he will not do anything, saying that he could not justify making all the improvements if the city was going to bog him down with codes. He also said the fire codes the city adopted are too stringent.
In other matters, the board heard from Jerry Skiffer with C Spire. Skiffer said C Spire wants to offer wireless services from their existing towers and locations that would allow for wireless internet as well as television service for a two mile radius. This is similar to the service that is offered through Point Broadband, which the city has already approved.
Mayor Berry is promoting a “Ride the Block” program which is bringing back traffic in Magee. The first event is set for Friday, March 1. The mayor said the Community Center would be open for live entertainment at no charge to participating bands.
In conjunction with “Ride the Block, the Magee Chamber of Commerce is promoting a Chic-Fil-A Day once a month. Ian Cowart, Chamber president, told the board that he is trying to get Chic-Fil-A to locate in Magee. He said they had great sales at Crazy Day and now he is inviting them back to sample the market in a “Chic-Fil-A Day once a month starting in March. They will have a mobile location in downtown Magee.
Berry said the city was not going to restrict mobile food vendors as approved in the zoning ordinance. He said this is all about economic development and that restricting people was not the way to develop.
The board then discussed issues regarding the airport. Mayor Berry was complimentary of Ashley Steele for improvements at the facility. Board attorney Bruce Smith discussed the rental of a hangar by Dr. Seeka. Smith told the board that Seeka was building two aircraft in the hangar, a change that was recently approved by the FAA for hangar use. Smith said he was meeting with Seeka to determine how long it would be before the aircraft would be serviceable to justify the use of the hangar for lease.
The board said it is their intention to raise the cost of curb and guttering because the current $9 per foot does not come close to the actual expense.
The mayor said he has been working with Ron DeBlassio, who lives on Twelfth Ave. in Eastside. According to Berry, DeBlassio has drainage issues having to do with building an addition to his house which went over a drainage pipe. The pipe was a thin wall culvert and is now collapsing and creating a sink hole as well as slab issues. Berry said he had the public works manager and the city engineer look at the project, and they say the only way to correct the issue is to get an easement from DeBlassio but that DeBlassio will not grant an easement.
The board attorney said nothing can be done if DeBlassio will not grant an easement to correct the problem. Berry reported that DeBlassio has threatened legal action against the city.
