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Chairman Dave Wills called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone.

INTRODUCTIONS

All guests were introduced and welcomed.

MINUTES

Minutes of the April 2007 Board meeting were presented for the Board=s review and approval.

Motion: Motion was made by Mary Ayers and duly seconded by Jared Stevens to accept the minutes as presented with changes showing that Roosevelt James was present at the April meeting. Mr. James was inadvertently marked absent. Vote was unanimous.

FINANCIAL REPORT

Don ten Bensel presented the financial report for the period ending May 30, 2007 to those present.

OLD BUSINESS

Planning

Gerald Mixon reported that the staff continues to assist with Comprehensive Plans, Transit Plans, and Tax Parcels.

Community Development

Kay Hagler reported that the staff assisted Sumter County in receiving a $500,000 OneGA grant for Con-Art, Inc. to provide public water service and fire protection.

Kay also reported that Middle Flint is required to have a five year CEDS plan.

Historic Preservation

Sevanne Steiner reported that the Georgia Heritage Program offers matching funds on a statewide competitive basis to local governments and nonprofit organizations for the preservation of Georgia Register and National Register-eligible historic properties. Funding is available to provide matching grants for development and pre-development projects. Applications are due July 13. A handout was included in the board packet listing the criteria.

GIS Activities

Mariyana Kostova gave a brief report on the GIS activities. Work is continuing on tax parcels in Dooly, Marion, and Schley Counties.

Community Development Activities Report

Kay Hagler gave a brief update on the community development and economic development activities. Kay reminded the local entities that is needs the RDC=s assistance to let the staff know as soon as possible due to the time it takes to prepare for the projects.

Airport Development Assistance

Grant Richardson reported that the Taylor County Airport Authority submitted the full application to AirGeorgia Authority for approximately $1.9 million to fund the runway extension and other eligible activities under the AirGeorgia to meet the current Georgia State Aviation System Plan. He also reported that Marion County submitted a pre-application to the AirGeorgia Authority for the amount of $1.7 million to fund similar activities and is expecting to submit a full application soon. Grant stated that since the State of Georgia has airport improvements as one of its top priorities, it would be a good time for the 5 airports in the Middle Flint region to take part in the AirGeorgia Program.

Community Economic Development Strategy Update CEDS) Update CEDS)

Jarrod McCarthy reported that the staff has been working on the new five year - Community Economic Development Strategy document. He said that the new five year CEDS planning document is required to be submitted to the State of Georgia and the Economic Development Administration for approval in order to continue to be eligible for federal grant dollars. Jarrod stated that the Staff mailed questionnaires to all the city and county government, police departments, and other organizations in the Middle Flint area. The questionnaires will help to identify strengths and weaknesses in the region, set or guide the establishing of priorities for economic development, and solicit opinions from a cross section of the community and inform people of the economic development effort. Jarrod stressed just how important it was to return the questionnaires to him by June 30. The update has to be submitted to EDA by August 30.

Workforce Development Activities

Janice West reported that the Summer Youth Program serving approximately 25 participants between the ages of 16 - 21 will begin June 4 and that the staff is working on FY 07 contracts.

Revolving Loan Fund Activities

Sarah Walls reported that at the January 07 meeting she reported that the Area Development Corporation (ADC) Loan Committee approved a loan to Fuze Technologies in Sumter County for a wireless internet company. The company was damaged by the March tornado but is now back in business. They have approximately 15 customers at the present time. Sarah announced that there is still approximately $190,000 in the Revolving Loan Fund for Crisp and Dooly County only.

Don reported that in the Board packet are forms used by Board members to complete their annual performance reviews of the Executive Director and RDC program activities. Both of these documents are necessary to fulfill the RDC=s obligations to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs under the Georgia Planning Act of 1989. Don asked each member to fill out the forms and return them to Middle Flint RDC.

Don ten Bensel reported that as mentioned at last month=s Board meeting the FY 2008 DCA Budget includes additional funds for Georgia=s sixteen (16) RDCs to assist the local governments prepare for 2010 Census. Each RDC will get a set base but will get additional money based on the number of local governments requesting the RDC=s assistance. Don encouraged all local governments that wants our assistance and have not yet requested it please do so as soon as possible. The deadline to register is June 1.

Tom Queen, District Planning and Programming Engineer, Georgia Department of Transportation, Thomaston gave a brief and informative presentation on the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program. Questions were entertained at the end of the presentation.