County hires consultant to help develop industrial park

Published 6:50 am Tuesday, August 31, 2010

The Whitfield County Board of Commissioners voted 4-0 Monday night to hire Silvio Development Co. of Covington to provide project planning and consulting services for the Carbondale Business Park.

“The commissioners want to make sure this park is developed correctly. We decided we needed to get someone with a lot of experience in this area,” said board Chairman Mike Babb, who votes only in the event of a tie. “Jerry Silvio has 30 years of experience across the Southeast developing industrial parks.”

Silvio will review the county’s plans for the park, take care of bringing utilities to it and review traffic management and transportation plans.

“He has already made some suggestions about how the road needs to run to be the most desirable to those who might locate a new facility there,” Babb said.

Silvio will be paid just under $100,000 for the work.

The 184-acre park is just east of I-75 at exit 326. The park targets six industries: advanced manufacturing, automotive, chemicals, data center, plastics and retail. Parcels range from 1,000 square feet to 720,000 square feet.

In January, commissioners bought 160 acres for $5.25 million from Acree Homes and Development and Ownbey Enterprises. Commissioners purchased another 15 acres for $600,000 from Doyle E. Smith in July. Site development will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Local governments could grant companies who locate there tax breaks and other incentives.