The Liberty County Development Authority held its first meeting of the year Monday morning and discussed several items, including shoring up fences and improving lighting.
Sunbury fence repairs
Last summer, a tree fell in the Sunbury Cemetery and “completely demolished the cast-iron fence,” along a section of the cemetery, according to Barbara Martin, the president of the St. John’s Parish Chapter of the Georgia State Society of the Daughters of the American Colonists.
“Believe it or not, this is, I think, the fourth large tree that we’ve had fall on the fences around the cemetery,” Martin said.
She added that none of the trees that fell hit any of the graves. The LCDA is responsible for care of the trees near the cemetery under an agreement between the U.S. Economic Development Administration and the state Historic Preservation Division when the LCDA received grant funds for the Target project at the Tradeport East Business Center.
Martin was at the LCDA asking the board to repair the fence. According to Martin, no one does cast-iron fencing like the kind found at the cemetery.
“And the DAC has been monitoring the Sunbury Cemetery since back in the 1950s. … I think we have a couple of bids. Please, listen carefully to what they’re proposing, because this is something that needs some serious attention,” she said. “And I realize it’s not going to be cheap, but it’s something that has to be done.”
The board received two proposals to fix the damage.
It awarded the final bid to South Coast Enterprises of Ludowici for $15,500.
The other was from Custom Metal Fabricators Inc. of Savannah for $28,377.
Martin proposed “to take the back fence, move it to the forward and replace the back” with straight green picket fences, according to Carmen Cole, director of administration and finance at LCDA.
Cole said the work should only take two weeks from start to finish.
Security fences
The board revisited the issue of securing the authority’s Tradeport industrial properties near Midway. Cole said the board told the staff to re-evaluate each location where a fence was needed and determine the costs of installing fences for each location.
The total cost of putting in dirt barriers or fencing at 15 locations would be $17,780. The board was concerned that once the fencing was installed, it was highly likely it would eventually be torn down by the very trespassers the LCDA is trying to keep out.
LCDA board member and Secretary Brian Smith said that authority is responsible for securing the areas, but he did not want to waste the money if the fences were only going to be torn down.
The board decided to post more signs, build dirt barriers at some of the locations, consider cable fencing and work with the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office and Georgia Department of Natural Resources to start prosecuting trespassers.
Other business
The board approved extending lights from the Interstate 95 interchange to the Tradeport East entrance to help truck drivers find their destination. Coastal Electric Cooperative would put the six $20.50 LED fixtures on its concrete poles, and it would cost the LCDA $123 a month to light the road.
The budget was adjusted to reconcile the new Hugo Boss lease with a net gain for the authority of $350,000 for the year, which Cole recommended go to the project reserve fund.
The board also discussed repairing and maintaining the lighting by the Midway interchange.