Clearing the air in Columbus

In western Georgia, Columbus officials say they believe their city won’t be included in an upcoming nationwide air-pollution report.

State and federal Environmental Protection agencies collected data over the past three summers on particulate emissions in Muscogee, Harris, and Chattahoochee counties in Georgia, and Lee and Russell counties in Alabama.

So-called "non-attainment" of federal air-quality standards would limit federal funding for projects, according to Rick Jones, city planning director.

Columbus is trying to cut air pollution, in part, by limiting idling time for diesel-powered city vehicles, which can be a leading source of particulates.

The report is due out in December.

Returning troops expected to boost economy

Sign of the times in Columbus: a dry cleaning service near Fort Benning welcomes the 3rd ID home. (Dave Bender)

The return of several thousand troops from Iraq in coming weeks, is expected to give a boost to businesses around Columbus in western Georgia. The hoped-for economic shot-in-the-arm will come from some 3,800 combat soldiers of the US Army's Third Brigade, who served in the Baghdad area.

Several units recently redeployed to nearby Fort Benning, in order to prepare families and the post for the main force. But the brigade's year-long absence was felt far beyond the gates of the base.

Mike Gaymon of the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce:

“When the Third Brigade left, the growth of Chattahoochee County became the worst in the 159 counties in Georgia, and then when the third comes back, they will lead the state in growth.”

Gaymon says apartments complexes, car dealerships, and furniture and appliance stores are among those eagerly awaiting the “boots on the ground.”

Billboard near Ft. Benning pitches studies at Columbus State University for returning troops. (Dave Bender)

Click here for more GPB News coverage of Fort Benning and other Georgia military affairs.

Jobs funding for Chattahoochee Valley

Columbus, The Chattahoochee River, and Phenix City, Ala. (Dave Bender)

The Georgia Office of Workforce Development presented a $3 million grant to the Valley Partnership on Wednesday.

The group spearheads economic development in Georgia and Alabama along the Chattahoochee valley, and includes representatives from Chattahoochee, Harris, Marion, Muscogee, Talbot and Taylor counties in Georgia, and Phenix City, Alabama.

The funds are part of a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor and will be used to create jobs in automotive maintenance and aerospace manufacturing; communications and IT, and industrial construction, and are earmarked, in part for nearby Fort Benning according to the Columbus Chamber of Commerce.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of Georgia economic development, and here to read more about events at Fort Benning.

Benning BRAC Planning Group Meets

(Courtesy Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce)

A coalition of ten Chattahoochee Valley counties met today to hammer out details of a massive program to bring tens of thousands of soldiers and their families to Fort Benning and Columbus.

The army's Base Realignment and Closure program – BRAC for short – will transfer some 40,000 troops from Ft. Knox, Kentucky by 2011.

A consortium known as The Valley Partnership is planning the infrastructure for the influx that will affect ten counties in Georgia, and three across the Chattahoochee River in Alabama.

Officials began working on a Regional Growth Management Plan just after the New Year. They're examining a 35-mile radius around the army training base to coordinate and assess the projected effects of the move on the area over the next 20-years. They include new highways, housing, schools, utilities, and a score of other issues.

Columbus Chamber of Commerce President Mike Gaymon, speaking to the Chattahoochee Valley group, Jan., 23, 2008. (Dave Bender)

Mike Gaymon, president of the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce:

“Highways, for example; buildings, for example. Where are these houses going to go, where do these subdivision need to go? Is the water and sewer there? And we know that there are a lot of areas, where there's no water and sewer... so, it's big. It touches every fabric and part of these counties we'll be working with.”

Local officials say the Department of Defense move – the biggest such peacetime personnel and materiel transfer in army history – will bring an estimated two billion dollars in capital investment to the area. In addition, the DoD is assisting the funding of the effort.

Ron Roth, vice president of Science Applications International Corporation, is in charge of the project's planning and integration:

“The Department of Defense – The Office of Economic Adjustment provides funding for communities that are affected by BRAC decisions. Columbus and the surrounding area has revieved the largest grant ever: 3.3 million dollars - so that's a pretty big deal.”

J. Mac Holladay, CEO of Market Street Services consultants, is crunching the research numbers:

“We are going to be specifically looking at the housing needs that this is going to bring to the region; we're going to be helping out on the educational needs, in terms of K-to-12, and higher education and what that's going to mean. The whole team is really working on about 16 different tasks.”

The project will affect Chattahoochee, Harris, Muscogee, Marion, Stewart, Talbot and Taylor counties in Georgia, and Barbour, Lee and Russel in Alabama.

“It has the largest regional impact I've ever seen. So I think it's that need for really looking at it in total, that's an important part of the project,” according to Holladay.

Projected BRAC growth timeline. Click on graph for full-size image. (Courtesy Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce)

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the BRAC project.

Timetable Signals Truce in the Water Wars

Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, left, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, left center, U. S. Department of Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, right center, and Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, right, sit for a photo opportunity before their southeast water meeting, Monday, Dec. 17, 2007, in Tallahassee. (Associated Press)

The three leaders and the Secretary of the Interior met at the Florida governor's mansion to discuss access to water that flows from the Atlanta area south into the Gulf of Mexico.

They agreed to a come up with a water sharing plan by Feb. 15.

Governor Sonny Perdue told reporters, that the weekend weather helped start the meeting off on an optimistic note: "The thing that changed it was, the rainfall that we got over the weekend."

Alabama Governor Bob Riley said after the six-hour parley,"I don't think that I've been at a more productive meeting."

Florida Governor Charlie Crist agreed, saying, "We identified a lot of issues that are important to each and every one of our states."

The four agreed upon a revised schedule to address the short- and long-term needs of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) and Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa (ACT) river basins.

“Water conservation is precious to our three states and I thank my friends for traveling to Florida to discuss this tremendously important issue,” Governor Crist said. “The people of our state have suffered due to the recent reduction of water flow. Due to recent rainfall, we see increased amounts of water entering Florida that will assist our oystermen. I’m also pleased that we agreed to remove the June 1 deadline imposed by the Army Corps and have agreed to a new date of March 15th to allow state and federal partners to develop improved drought strategies.”

Regarding the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers, the Governors agreed to send a high level staff delegation to Washington, DC in early January to discuss steps needed to move toward a new drought protocol for all three states. It was also agreed that the Governors would meet in February to conclude the tri-state water protocol that would take effect on March 15, 2008.

Representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service also participated in today’s meeting to provide factual information on current conditions of both the ACF River Basin and the ACT River Basin (Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa).

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the water crisis.

(With The Associated Press)

Tallahassee Talks in Water Wars (Video)

The governors of Georgia, Alabama and Florida are meeting in Tallahassee to figure out how to break the decade-long water-usage impasse between the three states, during a record-breaking drought.

Click to watch the report.


Click here for more GPB News coverage of the water crisis.

Chattahoochee Trace vying as nat'l site

Click on the map for more
information on each county.

The Historic Chattahoochee Commission is trying to convince Congress to declare the Chattahoochee Trace a national heritage site.

"There's no doubt in my mind that we will qualify," said Doug Purcell, executive director of the group, which formed in 1970:

"Our region fits (the program) to a tee."

Georgia and Alabama lawmakers are reportedly supportive of the commission's goals, according to an Associated Press report. The bill passed a Senate committee last month. Sen. Jeff Sessions said after the committee passed the measure:

"The region is rich in history and culture and deserves
recognition..."

The Bush administration also has expressed support for the effort.

Georgia counties along the Chattahoochee Trace are: Chattahoochee, Clay, Decatur, Early, Harris, Muscogee, Quitman, Randolph, Seminole, Stewart and Troup.

The National Park Service is putting a $200,000 to $300,000 tab on the cost of the study to determine whether the Chattahoochee Trace meets the program's criteria.

More information on the Chattahoochee Trace is here.