County commissioners approve Cook’s site as new senior center

After only 20 minutes of discussion at tonight’s Spalding County Commissioner’s meeting, the board approved the Cook’s Shopping Center as the site of the new Spalding County Senior Center with a 4/1 vote, with Chairman Eddie Freeman opposing.

Directly after Freeman opened the floor to the old business of site selection for the senior center, Commissioner Gwen Flowers-Taylor made a motion to approve the Cook’s Shopping Center as the new location.

Flowers-Taylor’s motion was quickly seconded by Chipper Gardner.

Commissioner Bob Gilreath opened the discussion with the request to modify the motion to include an addition of an Olympic-sized swimming pool to the Cook’s location.  Gilreath’s reasoning was that a swimming pool could bring money into the county by being a regional hub for swim meets.

Commissioner Raymond Ray responded to Gilreath’s suggestion by saying that though an Olympic-sized pool would be beneficial to the city, county and school system, this was not the avenue to do that because “seniors have waited long enough” for the senior center.

Next, Freeman expressed his opposition to the Cook’s site, stating that the Cook’s building was a commercial property and not a property suitable for the senior center.  He also mentioned there are two potential renters interested in the Cook’s building that could generate up to $10,000 per month in rent.

Flowers-Taylor wrapped up the discussion by addressing the multiple concerns raised, saying that an Olympic-sized pool probably wouldn’t help the economy as much as Gilreath expected, seeing as how Gordon has one and “no one is beating down their door.” She also expressed disbelief that the Elk’s Lodge pool would be much of an added value, if that site was selected, as the pool is an outdoor facility and wouldn’t be of much use during the extreme cold of the winter, or the extreme heat of the summer.

Traffic was an issue of expressed concern during the public comments, to which Flowers-Taylor responded that Meriwether Street traffic and speed was comparable to that on Hwy 16, and that acceleration and deceleration lanes in front of the Cook’s Shopping Center were planned.

When addressing another public comment regarding lack of a walking trail, Flowers-Taylor said, “We’ve got a lot of space out there at Cook’s, what’s to say that some of that concrete can’t come up and a beautiful green space be created?  I’m trying to look ahead and I would like for somebody else to have some vision that there’s a lot that can be done there with the staff and the talent we have here.”

After approval of the Cook’s site, County Manger William Wilson asked the commissioners to approve staff to move forward with a traffic assessment and designs, which are planned to be submitted for approval at the May county commissioners’ meeting.