City of Washington

1
City of Washington

• Petroleum Brownfield Assessment Program

2
Our Community

• Washington First in the Name of
  George Washington
• Wilkes First County Named in Georgias
  Original Constitution
• Hence Were Old with Lots of Spilled Stuff

3
Background

• GEDA Natural Resources Environment Committee
• Watched the Development of Georgias Brownfield
  Law
• Watched the Transformation from Gotcha to
  Lets Go

4
GEDA and Brownfields

• Manufacturing Activity Produces Spills
• Brownfields Reduce Rural Community Options
• Brownfields Have Existing Infrastructure

5
Main Street Program

• Downtowns are Concentrated Economic Activity
  with Spills
• There are many Historic Manufacturing Sites
  Downtown
• Redevelopment Saves on Infrastructure Costs

6
Tourism

• Washington-Wilkes has Historic Architecture,
  Sites, and Events
• Curb Appeal is Essential
• Historic Properties have a Greater Brownfield
  Potential

7
EPA Assessment Funding
8
Washington Gateway Program

• 5,000 per year for Five-Years
• Robert Aiken designed Gateway
• Integrating Gateways to Downtown via Green spaces

9
Quality of Life

• Brownfields and Concrete Jungles
• Environmental Hazards
• Restrictions in Use of Historic Structures
• Historic Preservation Issues

10
Downtown Development

• The Fitzpatrick Hotel
• Farmers State Bank
• NAPA Building

11
Manufacturing

• International Paper Site
• Callaway Farms Manufacturing, LLC
• Project Risher
• Concord Building

12
Our Choice

• Proactive
• versus
• Reactive

13
Project Lessons

• Raw Sites
• How Many Sites do we Have?
• Our History as a Main Drag
• Aggregating Possibilities

14
Project Lessons

• Education
• Federal versus State Partnerships
• Availability of Resources
• Community Education
• Real versus Perceived Contamination

15
Project Lessons

• Shift Happens
• NAPA Building Roof Collapse
• Junk Car Lots
• Coordination of Programs

16
Overall Economic Development Strategy

• Redevelopment Area
• 1,100,000 per Year for Four Years
• Job Tax Credit Program of 4,000 per Job
• Georgia Brownfield Program
• Historic Preservation Tax Credits

17
Downtown Development

• Loft Apartment Development
• West Robert Toombs Avenue
• Historic Manufacturing District

18
Manufacturing Development

• International Paper Site
• Greenfield Brownfield Properties
• Pace of Development Issues

19
Tourism

• Continual Product Development
• New Demographic Identification 1956 is a
  Historic Structure
• Heritage Tourism
• Cultural Tourism
• Eco-Tourism

20
Conclusions

• Know the Trends
• Know the Resources
• Know your Needs
• Have a Strategy
• Be Flexible
• Keep the Reward in Site Cleanup!!!!