In a special called meeting at the Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce June 19, the Tifton City Council and the Tift County Board of Commissioners passed a joint resolution for a Sept. 18 referendum on whether or not to have Tax Allocation Districts, known as TADS, in Tift County. At the meeting, city and county officials gave four examples of how and where TADS could be of use in Tift County: Areas around the airport, Horizon Mills, U.S. Hwy. 82 West behind Stafford Tractor and off U.S. Hwy. 41 North, across from the Conference Center.

One of those examples closely fits the definition for a TAD: The old carpet mill site known as Horizon Mills.

TADS are used for areas in a city or county that are blighted, have environmental issues and are economically depressed, thus needing redevelopment.

For several years the City of Tifton has struggled to find a solution for the eyesore that stands in the middle of town.

The 140,000-square-foot mill sits on eight acres of land at South Ridge Avenue and Third Street.

“It’s a textbook brownfields project,” said former City Manager Charles Howell about the Horizon Mills site in a Gazette article last year. A brownfields site is one that has been contaminated. The old mill is believed to be contaminated with asbestos pipes and dyes and inks that may have soaked into the groundwater.

Horizon Carpet, and before that J.P. Stevens, once owned the factory and office building. Taylor Made was one of the most recent tenants.

Late last year, the Tifton City Council unanimously approved a resolution to commission an environmental assessment of the old mill. The assessment, funded through a $150,000 Environmental Protection Division grant, would determine whether of not the site is suitable for possible future development under EPD guidelines.

According to the grant application, the former Horizon Mills site was first developed in 1888 by Imperial Tobacco Company as a packaging and distribution warehouse for tobacco to be shipped to England. From approximately 1950 to 1992 the site operated as a textile manufacturing facility. The facility has been mostly vacant since 1992, except for some portion being used for warehouse space.

At a public hearing on the old mill, Tifton resident Steve Rigdon said the site is an “absolute blight” to the area. At that same hearing, Vice Mayor Joe Lewis said the site needed to be enhanced and developed.

“It is a very strategic location in the appearance and quality of our community,” Lewis said. “It is an eyesore and very distracting for people who visit our community.”

Earl Denham, president of the Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce, told The Gazette last week that the Horizon Mill site “was a blighted area that was not being utilized.” In order for the site to be redeveloped, the old building may have to be demolished, Denham said.

Should the voters pass the TAD referendum, and should the Horizon Mill site be designated a Tax Allocation District, the private developer would not have to pay for the demolition and new infrastructure. The city and county would take out a bond to pay for those costs. Then, the business which occupied the redeveloped site — now worth more in property taxes — would pay the higher taxes, which would be used to pay off the debt. Once the debt was paid, the property tax revenue would go into the general fund.

To be continued