James Jan-Feb 2024 web - Flipbook - Page 51
where they moved from. So, that’s a
plus for us, too.”
Instead of doing their own thing
separately, the mayor and members
of Eatonton City Council and the Putnam County Board of Commissioners
have developed a good relationship.
“For quite some time, we didn’t work
so well together,” Reid admitted.
“But that’s all changed now under
new leadership. I have always tried
to convey the sentiment that all the
people of this city and this county
are Putnam countians. We should
all be given equal treatment. And
by the same token, I talk to people
around the lakes and elsewhere who
tell me there’s only one city here and
we are all Eatonton just as much as
we are Putnam County.”
I think the first time the mayor
and Commission chairman worked
together was when (Sharp) helped
the chamber with a leadership
class,” the mayor said. “And I was
teaching municipal government with
that same class. That’s when we
actually started building a working
relationship.”
Reid notes that the city and
county share the same tax revenue.
“And like I say, we serve a lot of
the same people,” he said. “A lot of
businesses are situated here in the
core of downtown, and so the people
come to Eatonton to do a lot of the
shopping.” Walmart and two other
large grocery stores are all located
within the city limits.
During our interview, the mayor
said he had wanted a new hotel to
come to Eatonton for many years
and now finally one is on the horizon. “The Putnam Development
Authority was able to make that a
reality,” Reid said. “And the city is
going to greatly benefit from it but,
at the same time, it’s also going to
be good for the county.”
The mayor said he understands
the new hotel will open in March
2025 and he is glad that soon he
would be able to bring in groups of
people to visit Eatonton and Putnam County. “Now we will have a
PUTNAM COUNTY COMMISSION CHAIRMAN BILL SHARP CUTS THE RIBBON
AT THE DEDICATION OF A NEW $6.5 MILLION FIRE, EMERGENCY, MEDICAL
AND CORONER SERVICES FACILITY IN EATONTON.
venue where they can stay when
they visit,” Reid said. “We used to
have to send groups of people to
other areas such as Milledgeville,
Macon, Madison and Greensboro
because we didn’t have a hotel large
enough to accommodate them.”
Quality of Life
Maggie Milner, president and
chief executive officer of the Eatonton-Putnam Chamber of Commerce
and who oversees the Visitors and
Tourism Bureau, has served in that
dual capacity for the past three
years. That has allowed her to see,
and work for, many positive things
coming about in both Eatonton and
the county.
“The focus has shifted more
holistically,” Milner said. “It’s about
quality of life; the person and the
family they are potentially bringing
here. So when we look at businesses
that could be recruited, industries
that could be recruited and for those
choosing to move here, it’s about
what can be offered to their employees and their families. That’s the
holistic perspective.”
Milner prefers to call it economic
development at-large.
One of the city’s biggest developments in years is the old downtown
hotel adjacent the Putnam County
Courthouse that decades ago was a
place for visitors to rest overnight or
longer. The hotel, originally known as
the Eatonton Hotel, is undergoing a
new, modern birth and is expected to
reopen under its former name in 2025.
“It’s going to be great because on
one side of the courthouse, we will
have the hotel and on the other side
of the courthouse we will have The
Pex Theatre,” Milner says. “It will be
an actual theatre where movies will
be shown.”
She also adds that “it’s great to
have the Chamber of Commerce located directly in the heart of downtown
Eatonton.” The new chamber office,
solely owned by the chamber, sits on
the courthouse square among many
other businesses.
“I find it very appropriate,” Milner
said. “It’s much more walkable. It
puts us out-front and gives us visibility for residents and visitors, and
it gives us opportunity to be more
engaged in what’s going on in the
community, overall.”
The Putnam Development Authority, whose executive director is Matt
Poyner, also has an office on the courthouse square. He works to attract new
industry and jobs to Putnam County.
As for downtown Eatonton itself,
which is home to the well-known Uncle Remus Museum and the stories
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