Developer asks county to fund lift station so Publix, Zaxby’s and other businesses can proceed

Scott Stewart asked the Columbia County Board of County Commissioners on Wednesday to use year-end and discretionary public dollars to finish a public lift station and connect water and sewer to his South County commercial site so potential tenants including Publix and Zaxby—s can open. Stewart said he has utilities and roads under the main access now and estimates he can have roads, utilities and a lift station in place so tenants can begin construction by early 2026 if the county provides the final funding piece for the lift station. "If I don't get water sewer down there, I guarantee that they're not going to come," Stewart told the commissioners. The request to commissioners was for a three-year equivalent of projected tax revenue the city pledged as a credit (about $370,000) plus a county contribution that Stewart and his consultant said would total roughly $588,000; Stewart and his team said the full lift-station cost will be higher…