County Opposes Thornton Road Truck Stop

The voted on Tuesday in opposition of a proposed annexation from the city of Douglasville that would lead to RaceTrac’s first-ever truck fueling center being built at Blair’s Bridge Road and Thornton Road near the northern edge of the county.

“First of all, we have too many trucks on Thornton Road,” Commission Chairman Tom Worthan said at Monday’s work session. “Is this something the county would approve? No it’s not.”

Among other reasons, commissioners said they were against the truck stop because of the surrounding area, which is in the county’s Community Improvement District and includes , other retail stores, , motels and homes.

The Douglasville City Council could still vote in favor of the annexation. If it was to do so, state law says the county and city would have to go into mediation, said Douglas County spokesman Wes Tallon.

“We’re asking them to … basically withdraw the petition to annexation,” he said.

Douglasville City Clerk Joyce Stone said the city is waiting to receive the county’s objection letter listing the reasons for opposition, and there is no set date for a City Council vote.

The four commissioners and Worthan made comments against the truck stop at Tuesday’s meeting.

Commissioner Mike Mulcare said: “Douglas County and Douglasville have to have a united approach to our land use—not one approach that penalizes one side or the other. This is an area where we’re trying to build up more attractive commercial-type development. It is entirely inconceivable to me to see a truck stop at this location.”

Worthan said he didn’t want the area to look like Fulton Industrial Boulevard when drivers come into the county.

Also this week:

• Douglas County Parks and Recreation Director Gary Dukes told commissioners on Monday that, with Lithia Springs Park , the county received a $92,500 match grant through the state to covert Woodrow Wilson Park into a passive park. Woodrow Wilson was destroyed in the September 2009 floods.
• Tallon on the progress of Dog River Library on Monday.
• Douglas County’s swim and track and field teams in the Special Olympics were recognized for their achievements.
• Three former Planning and Zoning members were recognized for their years of service: Tom Clower for 10 years, Scottie Dye for 6, and Elmer Prather for 25.
• July 9 was declared 2011 Ride 4 Lupus Motorcycle Ride day in the county.
• Thursday was declared the Overcoming Church of America day in the county.
• Newcomb & Boyd special technologies group was selected for a contract not to exceed $75,000 to help the county bid out contracts for internal communications at the new county jail and Law Enforcement Center. The money comes from the SPLOST owner’s contingency fund. “What they will basically do is draw up the necessary bid packages for all the communications … within the new jail and Law Enforcement Center under this contract,” Chief Deputy Stan Copeland explained at Monday’s work session. “That would include all of the telephone systems, paging systems, the necessary cat-6 wiring within—things like that.” Robinson asked why that wasn’t included in the overall initial contract. Copeland said the county tried to do the bids on its own, but “we have soon figured out that it’s a much larger issue than we can handle.”
• Administrative Solutions was approved for its annual contract to handle inmates’ medical care when they must travel outside the jail. Copeland said the contract is staying pretty much the same other than an additional $100 in one portion of the contract.
• Some clarifications and changes were made to benefits provided to Douglas County employees as they are written. One change the commission denied: allowing county supervisors to have the discretion to let employees have up to four hours paid leave for funeral for people other than immediate family members. They still have up to three working days paid leave for funerals for immediate family.
• An agreement with was renewed to allow EMT and paramedic students to do ride-alongs with county emergency personnel. Fire-EMS Chief Scott Spencer said Monday: “We have been able to hire some folks out of that program that are working for us now. … We’ve actually turned some folks down based on this too.”
• Commissioners authorized bids to be put out for a new fire squad truck.
• Martin-Robbins Fence Company was awarded a $82,500 contract for guardrail installation in the county.
• Commissioners discussed giving county employees optional fitness plans with , with the payments made with direct payroll drafts and not with taxpayer money. Gold’s Gym emerged as a first choice because it is across from the courthouse and would allow for easy access for employees, for example, when they’re on their lunch breaks. But commissioners decided on Monday not to vote Tuesday on the issue because they didn’t want to show favoritism toward one gym over another. They did say, though, that the issue would be looked into further.