Greenspace board sees new plans

Columbia County took another step toward creating a Greenspace Advisory Board recently.

New Community and Leisure Services Director Barry Smith unveiled his plan for the advisory board to members of the current Greenspace Committee at a meeting May 22.

Under the plan, which was approved by the county commission May 20, the committee will disband June 30 and the advisory board takes its place soon thereafter.

Smith's vision is to create a seven-member board composed of a Realtor or developer, an urban planner, an environmentalist, an attorney, an accountant or banker or land appraiser, and two at-large committee members. He intends to select members representative of all areas of the county.

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"The reason it was reorganized was simply to give the new board a more specific direction and assign the prospective board members with particular tasks they will be solely responsible for," Smith said.

The current Greenspace Committee exists as a subcommittee of Columbia County Clean and Beautiful. All of the presiding Greenspace Committee members have applied to serve on the advisory board.

During its two-year tenure, the Greenspace Committee acquired, through purchases and donations, about 9,500 acres of land, more than the majority of other Georgia counties, Smith said.

The new advisory board's goal will be to accumulate an additional 27,373 acres of protected land in Columbia County.

"The previous committee was good, but I think an advisory board, bringing to the table a diversity of experience from the private sector, will enhance land acquisition and expedite that," Smith said.

He and his staff hope to make their final recommendations for commission approval by the beginning of August and hold the first meeting of the advisory board Aug. 15.

Applications to the Greenspace Advisory Board will be accepted through July. The forms are available at the Columbia County Community Leisure Services Office at Savannah Rapids Pavilion. For more information, call 868-3484.