Digital Newspaper for Tifton, Ga., and the Greater Tiftarea

A PROPOSED TRUCK STOP between U.S. Highway 41 and Chula Brookfield Road would encompass three tracts.

The smallest square tract on Highway 41 (the wider road arcing left on the map) is under consideration for rezoning from agricultural to general business. The two larger tracts are already general business.

Opponents of the truck stop say it is too close to Tiftarea Academy, seen at bottom right on the map.

COUNTY REZONING FOR TRUCK STOP FAILS ON TIED VOTE

PLANNING & ZONING RECOMMENDATION

NOW GOES TO TIFT COUNTY COMMISSION

By BONNIE SAYLES

Tifton Grapevine

With scores of Chula residents in attendance, the Greater Tift County Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) on Thursday recommended against a zoning change requested by planners of a proposed Travel America truck stop in Chula.

The application to change the zoning classification of 0.9 acres along U.S. Highway 41 from agricultural to general business failed on a tied vote of 2-2. The application now goes before the Tift County Board of Commissioners at its meeting at 6 p.m. July 8. County commissioners could either accept or overrule the Planning Commission's recommendation.

Many Chula residents and parents of Tiftarea Academy students attended Thursday's meeting in opposition of the rezoning in hopes of halting plans for a truck stop proposed near the private school.

However, Chris Davis, director of Tift County Community Development Services, noted that denying the rezoning would not stop developers from building on the larger portion of their adjacent property already zoned general business.

Jerime Buffington, attorney for the property owner, said that if the 0.9 acres are rezoned, it would be combined with two adjacent parcels – one 14.4 acres and one 3 acres – and stretch from Highway 41 to Chula Brookfield Road.

Buffington, representing the landowner Baljinda Singh, spoke in favor of the rezoning while four area residents spoke against it. 

After the public comments, P&Z member Melissa Brock moved to deny the rezoning, which was seconded by Donnie Crumley. Voting against the denial were Harold Harris of Ty Ty and P&Z Chairman Ricky Justice.

Justice reiterated that the zoning board must only consider the tract of land and how it relates to 11 standards of zoning requirements and not the actual use of the property.

Brock said she was making the motion because while the 0.9-acre stretch of land is adjacent to the property already zoned general business, it is also adjacent to property zoned residential.  

“GDOT (Ga. Department of Transportation) has asked for a traffic-impact statement,” said Buffington, the property owner's attorney. “We have proposed truck access off of Chula-Brookfield Road as well as 41. All the cars and RVs would access off of Chula-Brookfield Road.” 

Mark Freeman, a Chula resident, told the panel that they had not received a Development of Regional Impact (DRI) study prior to discussing the rezoning request. “With large-scale development, there are possible effects to neighboring communities, schools, GDOT, Army Corps Engineers, to name a few,” Freeman said.

“When a truck stop is proposed containing more than 10 truck parking spaces, the DRI process must be initiated. Based on the proposed site plan, this development exceeds the threshold by over 1,400%, with more than 140 truck parking spots,” he said.

Reed Hall, a Sycamore resident whose children attend Tiftarea Academy, spoke of possible impact of a truck stop adjacent to the school. He said the traffic density of the area would be adversely affected, and the truck stop would adversely affect the nearby residential quality of life.

“It is 1,900 feet away from where 633 students and 75 faculty and staff are at Tiftarea Academy,” Reed said. He said there are frequent occurrences of sex trafficking and drug dealing occurring at truck stops.

Finally, he concluded: “If in 10 years when a six-year-old little girl is killed by a tractor-trailer, I want you to be able to say that you did everything in your power to save that little girl.”

FEMALE SHOT AT TIFTON APARTMENTS, POLICE SAY

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

A female was shot early Monday at Wildwood Apartments on Sussex Drive, according to Tifton Police.

At 1:14 a.m. Monday, Tifton Police said they responded to a call about a gunshot victim in front of Building A at the Wildwood Apartments. Police found a black female with a gunshot wound to her left calf. First aid was provided until EMS arrived and transported the victim to Tift Regional Medical Center.

Tifton Police did not identify the victim, or give her age or city of residence. Police did not say if the victim knew her assailant or if it was an apparent random or drive-by shooting. The seriousness of the gunshot wound is not known.

According to an incident report, police recovered 9mm and 40-caliber shell casings after the shooting.

Police interviewed several people at the scene, and "the individuals present claimed they heard gunshots while sitting on the electrical box in front of the apartment and started running," police said.

"No further details were given at the time of the incident. This incident is still under investigation," Tifton Police said Thursday.

WJHG-TV photo

Authorities say a Tifton woman with her cat in her car drove off a Florida boat ramp early Thursday and drowned when the vehicle landed in the Carrabelle River.

TIFTON WOMAN DRIVES OFF FLA. BOAT RAMP, DIES

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

A Tifton woman and her cat died early Thursday after her vehicle ran off a boat ramp in Carrabelle, Fla., and plunged into the river, according to the Franklin County, Fla., Sheriff’s Office.

Authorities identified the woman as Judy Cooper, 77, of Tifton, who apparently drowned along with her cat between 4 and 6 a.m. Thursday.

She was found unbuckled inside the vehicle, which ran off the Timber Island Boat Ramp and into the Carabelle River, authorities told WCTV in Tallahassee.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is assisting with the investigation.

TIFT AIRPORT SEES MORE GROWTH AHEAD

By BONNIE SAYLES

Tifton Grapevine

Improvements are continuing at Tifton's Henry Tift Myers Airport, including a new $1.6 million corporate hangar currently under bid for construction.

All the hangars at the airport are currently full, Tift County Airport Authority Chairman Dr. Greg Anderson told the Tifton Rotary Club on Wednesday.

“One of our senior pilots, John McCaskill, manages about a dozen airplanes,” Anderson said. With this new hangar, he’ll be able to bring to Tifton some planes that he houses in Albany and Tampa.

Pilots like to keep their planes in Tifton because the property taxes they pay here is about a 10th of what they pay elsewhere, Anderson said. Tift County benefits from taxes on privately owned hangars and the airplanes they house. 

Anderson cited recent airport improvements, including aerial mapping and GPS approaches on all of the runways. Upgrades include the instrument landing system and weather reporting system so pilots arriving from other states can get real-time weather conditions at the Tifton airport.

Two runway extension projects in the past several years increased the runway first from 4,800 to 5,500 feet. “Then a 1,000 extension got us to 6,500 feet, which is just about as long as Albany’s airport,” Anderson said. “A mile and a quarter, that’s a long way to land an airplane. We can get any class of airplane into our airport.”

He said they just completed a $6 million project to overlay the entire main runway. 

“In the last few years, we spent $11,058,150, and only $917,000 has been local,” Anderson said. “So basically, 8.3 cents on the dollar is local funding. Federal projects are 90% FAA, 5% GDOT, and 5% local. State projects are 75/25 state and local. That’s the importance of keeping our SPLOST funding. 

“It’s important when state and federal dollars come that we have local money to match with.”

He said the airport has zero debt, with $1 million in the bank. This is Anderson’s 35th year on the five-member Airport Authority. 

Capt. Stan Stalnaker, a Tift County commissioner, is head of the Georgia State Patrol's aviation division for the entire state. Stalnaker told the club about prospective plans to build a search and rescue helicopter facility that may soon be brought to Tifton. 

Currently the GSP has hangars in six airports around the state. 

“We’re excited to hopefully bring one of those hangars to Tifton,” Stalnaker said. “If we can get that built, we’ll have a couple of multimillion-dollar aircraft stationed here that will be available to assist in a blink of an eye to help fly missions. It’s a partnership between Tift County, the Airport Authority, and the Georgia State Patrol.”

TIFTON'S JUNETEENTH CELEBRATIONS BEGIN

THIS WEEKEND

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

Tifton has several Juneteenth observances planned in the coming days, including an annual march, festivals at Fulwood Park and at Mott Littman Gym, and Tifton's annual Juneteenth Ball.

For more than a decade, the Dee and Doc Melton Sr. Cultural Visions organization has hosted the annual Juneteenth March and Candlelight Vigil. This year's march and vigil is in memory of Tifton native Micah McCant, who was recently shot and killed when he went to a middle school graduation party in Fort Valley to pick up his stepdaughter.

The march is on the actual Juneteenth day – Wednesday, June 19 – beginning at 10 a.m. at Community Mortuary, 102 West 13½ St. in Tifton, and culminating at the Tift County Courthouse. 

Juneteenth celebrations begin this Saturday. Dee and Doc Melton Sr. Cultural Visions continues its annual event beginning at 10 a.m. with a Field Day Festival at Mott Littman Gym with youth and adult basketball, field activities, live music, and free food and drinks.

Over at Fulwood Park also beginning at 10 a.m., the Jake's Hands organization is again hosting a Juneteenth Festival with several live bands, food trucks, crafts vendors, face painting, sip and stroll availability, and a scholarship presentation.

Then on Saturday, June 22, the 14th Annual Dee & Doc Melton Sr. Cultural Humanitarian/Juneteenth Ball will be at 5:30 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn in Tifton. The dinner includes several award presentations, including a scholarship, and music by The Kollective Band.

Juneteenth is a federal holiday. It is celebrated annually on June 19 to commemorate the formal ending of slavery in the United States.

UGA TIFTON'S CULBREATH RECEIVES TOP PEANUT INDUSTRY RESEARCH AWARD

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

Dr. Albert Kipple Culbreath, professor of plant pathology at the University of Georgia Tifton campus, has been honored as this year's recipient of the prestigious American Peanut Council’s Peanut Research and Education Award.

The award for the industry’s top researcher or educator is presented for outstanding contributions to the peanut industry.

An Alabama native, Culbreath has been with UGA since 1989 and is a leader in the ecology, epidemiology, and control of thrips-vectored tomato spotted wilt virus and of early and late leaf spot diseases of peanuts. He has authored more than 200 journal articles and book chapters and is a co-developer of several disease-resistant peanut cultivars.

In 2018, he received the Georgia Peanut Research and Education Award.

SRTC NAMES VP FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

Southern Regional Technical College (SRTC) President Jim Glass has appointed Mason Miller as vice president for academic affairs of Southern Regional Technical College.

"Mason has proven himself as an outstanding educator, administrator, and visionary," Glass said. "I look forward to him leading our mission of providing a well-educated workforce for Southwest Georgia."

Miller has served as the dean for industrial technology and the program chair of SRTC's automotive technology program. In his role as dean, Miller supervised all programs within the School of Industrial Technology, whose enrollment grew by 18% from academic year 2023 to 2024.

Miller has a bachelor of science in workforce education and a master of science in career and technical education. He previously was the automotive technology program chairman at Thomas County Central High School.

Miller serves on the Transportation Education Foundation of Georgia Board of Directors, Electude International Education Advisory Board, and is co-chair of the Automotive IFCC for the Technical College System of Georgia.

Joining middle school FFA students are Craig Matthews, former Turner County Schools superintendent; Brook Hand, FFA teacher; John West, Turner County Middle School principal; and Willie Edwards, assistant principal.

TURNER MIDDLE SCHOOL GETS GRANT FOR AG EDUCATION

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

Turner County Middle School recently received a $5,000 award for its agriculture education classes from AgGeorgia Farm Credit.

The award was one of 12 totaling $55,000 that AgGeorgia recently presented to local non-profit organizations as part of the cooperative’s Community Mission Fund.

The grant program was established in 2023 to support endeavors that further the future of agriculture and enhance life in rural Georgia.  Forty-eight grant applications were received; awards of up to $5,000 were distributed.

Turner County Middle School used the funds to purchase incubators, heat lamps, a protected chicken coop, and supplies for more raised garden beds, including soil, seeds, and plugs.

“Our students get many opportunities in our agriculture classes to learn how food gets from the farm to the table. In the past year, we have incubated eggs to produce chickens and have grown produce in raised beds for the students. Our goal is to expand the small projects to benefit more of our students,” said Brook Hand, the school's agriculture education teacher.  

AgGeorgia Farm Credit will accept applications for the 2024 Community Mission Fund until June 30. For information and to apply, visit the Community Mission Fund page here.

LETTERS WELCOME: The Tifton Grapevine accepts Letters to the Editor on topics of interest to our readership. Letters are subject to editing for length, libel, and inappropriate language.

All letters must include the author's name, along with address and phone number for verification purposes.

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Statewide influenza data released from the 

Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) as of week ending June 1:

Since Seasonal Tracking Beginning Oct. 23, 2023:

TOTAL INFLUENZA OUTBREAKS: 199 ............................................... LATEST WEEK: 0

TOTAL METRO AREA HOSPITALIZATIONS: 4,377 ..............................LATEST WEEK: 4

TOTAL INFLUENZA-ASSOCIATED DEATHS: 58 ................................. LATEST WEEK: 0

In Georgia, influenza is not a reportable condition, with the exception of influenza-associated deaths and outbreaks.

YOUR GUIDE

TO ACTIVITIES

THIS WEEKEND

IN THE GREATER TIFTAREA

Today, Friday, June 14, is America’s Flag Day marking the Second Continental Congress’s adoption of the first U.S. national flag on June 14, 1777. The first flag featured the same 13 red and white stripes we have today. However, the number and arrangement of stars have changed as the number of states has increased through the years. The current flag has remained the same since Alaska and Hawaii became U.S. states in 1959. 

FRIDAY, JUNE 14

• Father-Daughter Dance, 6:30 p.m., Berrien County VFW & VFW Aux Post 5978, 801 Tifton Highway, Nashville

SATURDAY, JUNE 15

• Wiregrass Farmers Market, 9 a.m.-Noon, Ga. Museum of Agriculture, Tifton
• Juneteenth Field Day, live entertainment, free food, youth/adult basketball & field activities, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Mott Littman Gym, Tifton
• Juneteenth Festival, live entertainment, food trucks, vendors, sip & stroll, 10 a.m.-10 p.m., Fulwood Park, Tifton
• Pre-Father's Day Gospel Concert, 5 p.m. Tift Theatre for the Performing Arts, Downtown Tifton

YOUR YARD SALE

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YARD SALE, CONTACT US at 

IHeardIt@tiftongrapevine.com 

or 478-227-7126

Fees are $1 per word, paid in advance

"Marni" is a sweet girl who hopes you are ready to welcome her into your home. Come visit Marni and other pets available for adoption at the Tift County Animal Shelter on Highway 125 South, open between 1-6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. For additional information, call 229-382-PETS (7387).