After a rare fourth Tuesday called meeting of the Macon-Bibb County Commission, Mayor Lester Miller said he will hold more special meetings, if necessary, to speed the progress of the Paving the Way program to resurface county streets.
Why the rush to bring prospective paving companies to commissioners for a vote? (00:24 into video)
“Well, one thing, you go out there and tell people you’re gonna pave 20 years of roads in one year, you have to get to work, right?” Miller explained during the August taping of Ask Mayor Miller. “We’re going to bring back to the commission as early as possible a chance and an opportunity to vote for that particular company, so they can begin to pave the roads a lot quicker, and perhaps we can get a lot more done before the cold sets in this year.”
The county’s procurement process requires bids to be posted for 30 days, so Miller wants the winning bidder to be able to get to work as quickly as possible.
After a survey of the county’s 1,100 miles of paved roads, 459 roads totalling almost 130 miles are slated for resurfacing.
While the repaving project is a priority under the 2025 SPLOST, there currently is no roadmap specifying how the county will spend the $450 million that will be collected over the next 10 years.
Instead of a list of SPLOST projects, Miller opted for general categories where money could be spent with commissioners’ guidance. (7:46)
“Some of the mistakes I believe they did in the previous SPLOSTS is being too specific, too early, because things change. Covid comes, right? Prices go up, tariffs increase. There’s a whole lot of things that can happen. So, you need to take the board and the commission what you have now and kind of table those projects around what we believe that the constituents want. So, we have large buckets there. There will be more defined projects in the very near future,” Miller said.
In addition to a new arena, convention center hotel, jail expansion and other economic development projects, Miller said a solid waste transfer station also is an option. (8:59)
In 2024, Macon-Bibb issued a moratorium on new solid waste facilities to allow for drafting a solid waste plan for the county.
While the county contracts with Ryland for household garbage pickup, Macon-Bibb has no place for construction and demolition waste after closing the landfill and now relies on paying tipping fees to a private company.
“It’s no secret that Macon-Bibb County is looking at our own transfer station,” Miller said. “I think you’ll see something with Macon-Bibb County doing a little joint venture, or some arrangement with local folks to make sure we have a better alternative and to save money for our citizens.”
Cutting property taxes
The mayor not only recently led the fifth consecutive rollback on the millage rate, he has a proposal to reduce or eliminate property taxes for senior citizens beginning at age 65 – a move he first mentioned during February’s Ask Mayor program.
This month, he explained his philosophy on cutting taxes without compromising services. (4:24)
“I think giving back to the people the money for the rollback is the right thing to do, particularly in this environment in the state of Georgia and nationally with prices going up,” Miller said. “We also do more with less, and we’ve been able to show that we take less from the taxpayers, are able to provide more in services and to expand certain priorities for our community.”
The majority of sales tax collected comes from people living outside the county, he stressed.
After comments during the Aug. 19 suggested a local sales tax reduction on groceries, Miller said he does not believe it would have that great of an impact that others suggested.
Shifting the burden to property owners could cause people to flee, he said.
“Honestly, most of the people who have a need for a tax decrease for their groceries already receive EBT and other types of fundings,” Miller said.
As some counties look to prospective data centers to increase tax revenue, Miller believes the state will get more involved in finding appropriate places for facilities in Georgia. (13:57)
“Kind of say where they can go, where they can’t go, and maybe offer some incentives and some mitigation, as well,” he said.
He does not believe a proposed site in Twiggs County will be approved due to the lack of an adequate water source and concerns about electricity.
Future jobs, economic development
He predicted “a lot more jobs” probably will be coming to Middle Georgia in the near future. (14:55)
“Having the Brown & Williamson site, having some other sites that we secure, we’re in a prime situation whether it’s automobile related or something else, to benefit from those jobs and certainly we’re going to go after those good, high-paying jobs,” Miller said.
As Macon-Bibb County Planning & Zoning moves forward with drafting its new comprehensive plan for future growth, the mayor believes community input is important. (15:47)
“I think everybody looks at growth differently. I do think there are a lot of things that have to be taken in consideration,” he said. “But you know, that’s why we have a separate planning and zoning. It should be free from politics, should allow the professionals to do their job.”
He anticipates announcing soon a new Macon Mall tenant using about 20,000 square feet. (20:33)
People complain about only seeing Gerber Collision and the new Gordon’s food store, but he noted those two businesses alone represent another $7 million on the tax digest.
Plus, the planned lofts near Central Georgia Technical College and the Bibb School System’s new CTAE facility at the old Butler Collision Center will bring more people to the Eisenhower Corridor, he said.
“We’re very excited about the future at the Macon Mall. Retail is not back yet, but you gotta have the foot traffic. If you don’t have the foot traffic, they don’t come, and you can’t put the cart before the horse there,” Miller said.
He also predicts new development at the Shoppes at River Crossing during his term. (19:43) In late 2023, P&Z cleared the way for a wholesale club store, similar to Costco.
Miller wouldn’t confirm whether Costco is coming, but only would say there’s a process before dirt will be moved.
“It’s a prime location for us,” he said. “I’m excited about all the development across our community, no matter which part it’s in. But things happen on their own time frames. You’ve got to get roundabouts done, you’ve got to get roads widened and you’ve got to get signage done, you have to do traffic lights. So, all of those things are precursors that take place about the same time.”
The new roundabout at Bass Road at Riverside Drive is the site of the old Holton community, prompting nearby resident Julie Bragg to suggest a historic marker in remembrance. (18:51)
“Sounds like a great idea,” Miller said, but cautioned that is a state highway and would require GDOT approval. “I appreciate Julie bringing that to our attention.”
Miller addressed north Macon resident Jim Beall’s concern about the lack of pedestrian safety protection from traffic on the new railroad bridge on Bass Road and his inquiry about whether the new Tucker Road bridge over Interstate 475 will be safer. (17:16)
The mayor indicated he would ask the Pedestrian Safety Review Board and Complete Streets Compliance Committee to look into it, since those are new construction projects and not road maintenance.
Just hours before the taping of Ask Mayor Miller, the county accepted a nearly $3 million Local Road Assistance grant from GDOT and approved a nearly $2 million contract for Professional Paving Services to begin more road paving projects. More contractors will be hired in the coming months
Here are highlights from that Aug. 26 called commission meeting captured in social media posts.
— Civic Journalism Senior Fellow Liz Fabian covers Macon-Bibb County government entities for The Macon Newsroom and can be reached at [email protected] or 478-318-8945.
