-David Crowder, WRGA News-
Jamie McCord
Floyd County Manager Jamie McCord took time during Tuesday’s Floyd County Commission meeting to give an update on the agricultural center project.
During the meeting, members of the public expressed concerns regarding construction delays, the cost, and changes to the plan.
The ag. center was a citizen-submitted project that was included in the 2017 special-purpose, local option sales tax vote, which was approved with 60.8 percent voting in favor.
According to McCord, collection of the 2017 SPLOST did not begin for nearly two years after collections of the 2013 SPLOST ended.
“Money starts coming in April of 2019, and it was a year five project to give us more time to try to come up with a model that would work for our community,” he said. “We had Covid; obviously the world changed. We didn’t really he didn’t think about this project until well after Covid, probably in 2022, other than looking for potential sites. What I’m trying to say is, it’s not as far behind as it appears.”
The project was paused for about nine months, following the discovery of wetlands at the site, located behind Mt. Berry Square.
That created a lot of issues as far as trying to develop the ag. center around the proposed design that they had.
“Equestrian was in it from day one, but the decision, after making visits around the state, was that you can build whatever kind of ag. center you want, but it’s not going to cash flow unless you have horse events,” McCord said. “Horse events kind of pay the bills for everything else, and that’s when equestrian kind of became the front and center, and the ability to potentially have these horse shows and these different types of shows in this arena. That’s what has made the cost go above and beyond what we’re capable of funding. This commission has never approved any budget, any design parameters, or any proposals. You still have an $8 million budget.
There were also some future financial considerations.
“I just want to clear some things up, McCord told those in attendance. “It’s not a nine-year-old on an eight-year-old project. It’s not that far behind, and yes, I wish it was built, but if you build a facility that does not generate revenue, there will be a general fund transfer to that annually. I’m estimating that without equestrian shows, we’ll be in the neighborhood of $400,000 to $500,000.”
The cash flow that was approved by the commission had the ag. center fully funded in May of 2024.
“We chose at that time, and in hindsight, it might now have been the best idea, to cash flow and not issue bonds and start the project,” McCord said. “If I knew then what I know now, know now I would’ve said let’s issue bonds and build it.”
Nearly $3 million has been spent so far, mostly for the land purchase and infrastructure.
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