Ola J. Pickett Park in Caledonia got a $50,000 bump Monday thanks to the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors.
Corky Smith, the attorney for the Caledonia Recreation Board, asked the board for $50,000 for a number of improvements at the park.
Lowndes County gets $300,000 yearly from the 2-percent tourism tax, collected from prepared food and beverage sales, and that money must be spent for recreation. The supervisors set aside $50,000 of that for recreation-related capital improvement projects in Artesia, Crawford or Caledonia.
Smith said the money would go for an equipment shed; HVAC for the concession booths; electrical work to support the HVAC installation; fencing; a flag pole; and a playground, all of which totaled about $49,667.
The money will be paid to the park on a reimbursement basis, Smith said.
District 5 Supervisor Leroy Brooks questioned whether the county should continue with that allotment at all.
“Moving forward, if this county is committing multi-million dollars to build a sportsplex, are we going to continue to sustain Caledonia and these other entities?” Brooks asked.
District 1 Supervisor Harry Sanders, who represents Caledonia, said he thought some of the restaurant tax revenue should go back to the municipalities.
“The tax is collected in the towns of Caledonia, Crawford and Artesia,” he said. “And the restaurant tax has to go back to recreation, so it would be logical that the money collected would go to recreation in those particular municipalities.”
Brooks argued Caledonia was handled differently.
“Whatever Crawford and Artesia get, it’s funded through (County Recreation Director Roger Short’s) budget,” Brooks said. “Caledonia is asking for a direct allocation. My question is if we are building a sports complex that’s a centerpiece for recreation, are we going to expect Caledonia to participate or are we going to continue to fund them separately like this?”
According to Smith, the town gives the park some financial support, but it is mostly self-supporting. It does not receive any money from the county’s general fund.
Sanders argued that the town of Caledonia was supporting the sportsplex already through paying taxes, which are used to pay down the bonds that funded its construction.
“I’m not knocking Caledonia,” Brooks said. “If we’re talking about a centerpiece that everybody is supposedly going to feed in because it’s the master plan, then we’re not going to be able to feed all the little children.”
District 4 Supervisor Jeff Smith moved to give Caledonia the $50,000 it requested, and Brooks seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
“Moving forward, I don’t think Caledonia can assume this money is going to be there until we work through all this,” Brooks told Corky Smith.
“It’s never been assumed in the past,” Corky Smith said. “With the new sportsplex, I think it’s very important for us to complement one another.”
Premium pay for the sheriff’s department
The board unanimously voted to give certified officers at the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office a $1,000, one-time payment via a state premium pay legislation.
“House Bill 1427 was passed and went into effect July 1,” said Sheriff Eddie Hawkins. “It gave all certified law enforcement $1,000 in COVID-19 pay.”
The board needed to authorize the Department of Public Safety to make the payment, Hawkins said.
“The state will disburse the money to us, and we will pay the officers,” Hawkins said.
Hawkins said there were about 85 certified officers in the sheriff’s office.
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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