County shows off new offices, projects

Last week, Kevin Lear showed off his latest recycling project to the public.

Lear, the director of the county's Construction and Maintenance Division, held an open house Wednesday for his department's new offices at the county's historic courthouse in Appling.

The renovated offices that also house the traffic engineering and preconstruction departments used to be the home for the county's clerk of court, which moved out of the Appling building when the new Columbia County Justice Center and Courthouse Annex opened in Evans last year.

Before the move, Lear worked out of a conference room in the roads and bridges department while communicating with other construction officials across town.

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"We were scattered, and we were also crowded," he said about the former arrangements.

The renovations, which included new carpeting, a fresh paint job and bringing the offices up to code, cost about $60,000.

"We were planning a (new) building for $300,000," Lear said.

Besides showing off his new digs, Lear and other officials took the opportunity Wednesday to highlight the developments and improvements funded recently by the 1-cent sales tax.

A buffet of projects lined the courthouse's entrance, showcasing new buildings, parks and roadwork undertaken in different parts of the county.

Drawings for the new $8.5 million library and performing arts complex being built on Ronald Reagan Drive were displayed with plans for the Reed Creek park on Furys Ferry Road.

The $325,000 wetlands park will be funded half by penny tax money and half by a grant from the Department of Natural Resources, and is expected to be built next year.

Other projects on display included work at the Augusta Canal headgates, construction of Building C at the Columbia County Government Complex, the renovation of Harlem's library and the county's morgue building and animal control facility.

"It's been very busy," Mark Chostner, the county's manager of facilities planning and construction, said about the program. "In the year and a half I've been here, a lot has been completed."