Macon-Bibb commissioners OK blight projects in 'historic moment'

The Macon-Bibb County Commission gave the green light Tuesday to spend $4.4 million and concentrate the money on 15 blight projects.

Commissioners agreed to target 254 individual properties that include overgrown lots and dilapidated structures. Tuesday's approval means the county can begin to acquire properties that will be turned into parks, new housing and other redevelopment.

Commissioner Elaine Lucas credited the work of Commissioner Bert Bivins, who serves as chairman of an ad hoc blight committee, and others for making sure money was geared toward neighborhoods where people have complained about blight for years.

"This is a historic moment," Lucas said after the meeting. "This is the first part and with the approval of (more funding), we will be able to do so much more to make sure we better those neighborhoods that need it."

Bivins said he is glad to get to a point of commissioners approving actual projects.

"We're going to do what we can to improve those areas, especially poor neighborhoods in our city," he said.

Each of nine commissioners has $1 million in bond money that they can spend on fighting blight across Macon-Bibb County. The largest amount of money designated Tuesday is about $813,000 to renovate the Bibb Mill auditorium and turn it into the centerpiece of a planned arts village in east Macon.

Another major project involves clusters of 38 properties stretching from near the Tindall Heights neighborhood and Mercer University to an area near Second Street and Pio Nono Avenue. Commissioner Virgil Watkins is using $710,000 of his bond money for the project, which will involve demolishing 35 structures, rehabbing two houses and clearing a lot.

Watkins also plans to spend money on a revolving loan fund.

"I have $150,000 earmarked for (my district). In case there is an individual interested in doing development, we have the revolving loan fund set up," Watkins said Monday.

For a complete list of the projects approved Tuesday, go to macon.com.

To contact writer Stanley Dunlap, call 744-4623 or find him on Twitter

Here are the 15 blight projects approved Tuesday by the Macon-Bibb County Commission. Some projects would require additional money to complete.

$710,018 for clusters of properties stretching from near the Tindall Heights neighborhood and Mercer University to an area near Second Street and Pio Nono Avenue. It will involve demolishing 35 structures, rehabbing two houses and clearing a lot.

$813,000 to renovate the Bibb Mill auditorium and turn it into the centerpiece of a planned arts village in east Macon.

$171,232 for the Hunt School senior housing support project. The money would clear 12 blighted structures and two lots around the Shurling Drive senior housing project.

$314,128 for Jeffersonville Road blight removal. Funds would demolish 18 structures for future development.

$184,312 to stabilize Third Avenue. This project includes demolishing structures to provide buildable lots in support of the reworking of the connector at interstates 75 and 16.

$121,994 for Culver Street Commons. This would replace 22 blighted buildings and vacant lots near Vineville Avenue with recreation fields.

$37,320 for Emily Street. Officials would acquire and demolish two west Macon structures.

$149,908 for West Bond Street. The money would be used to tear down 11 structures near Napier Avenue.

$708,224 for the Village Green neighborhood. The project would demolish 40 structures, rehab one and clear a lot.

$28,000 to acquire eight structures on Vista Circle in north Macon, Pine Forest Road in west Macon and the Fort Hill neighborhood for a rehabilitation project.

$206,868 for a Mattie Hubbard Jones Park enhancement project. The money would be used to demolish and clear lots near the park on Second Avenue.

$314,084 for the Unionville Street connection project, which would reconnect several streets in the Unionville neighborhood.

$264,640 for the Kings Park playground and Hart Community Center project. This project would clear structures and lots to make way for a park in the Kings Park neighborhood.

$144,248 for a Lynmore Avenue project. The money would be used to demolish 10 structures for a community playground in south Macon.

$222,870 for phase one of a Lynmore Estates neighborhood project, which would tear down 14 structures and clear three lots for houses to be built by Habitat for Humanity.

This story was originally published February 2, 2016 at 8:29 PM with the headline "Macon-Bibb commissioners OK blight projects in 'historic moment' ."