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County CDC reports $5.8M in small‑business loans, seeks to manage second $300,000 microenterprise grant and updates board on broadband, housing and land bank
Summary
A CDC staff member updated the Board on the agency’s strategic plan, small‑business lending ($5.8 million to 244 businesses), a second $300,000 microenterprise grant the CDC seeks to manage, broadband grant application results, housing task force activity and land bank planning.
A CDC staff member briefed the Columbia County Board of Supervisors on multiple economic development items, including strategic‑plan work, lending activity, a new microenterprise grant, broadband grant rounds and housing‑related programs.
The CDC reported it has made $5.8 million in small‑business loans to 244 businesses over roughly 10 years, currently has about $2.5 million outstanding and approximately $1 million available to lend. The staff member said the CDC has earned interest on loans and reinvested roughly $700,000 over the last seven to ten years into the county loan fund.
On the microenterprise grant, the CDC said the state’s Office of Community Renewal awarded a second $300,000 tranche to the county and that the county must amend its agreement so the CDC can manage the additional funds as a subrecipient. The staff member asked the Board to authorize that amendment to allow the CDC to collect a management fee for the second round; supervisors later moved and approved that amendment.
On broadband, the CDC reported that in the first round of a recent state broadband solicitation only Consolidated applied from Columbia County. Providers declined because the earlier round required bidders to commit to build out all unserved addresses in large quadrants; the state has opened a second round that allows bids on smaller areas. The CDC warned that a small number of lingering unserved addresses may remain hard to reach and noted uncertainty about federal and state funding timing and program rules. The staff member also discussed Connect All/USDA programs and lateral costs for bringing fiber to individual homes.
The CDC briefed supervisors on housing initiatives: a workforce survey being deployed to employees (distinct from employer surveys), a forthcoming quarterly newsletter to share zoning and permitting activity among towns, and a land‑bank pilot project pending a foreclosure sale. The CDC said it expects to use land‑bank funds and partner grants (including a vacant rental improvement program run by Repco) to support a small number of affordable units and will request supervisors’ consent when a town would transfer tax‑foreclosed property into the land bank.
The CDC also summarized county policy and recent practice on payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs) for solar projects under 5 megawatts: if the town planning board and town board approve a pilot, the school district is asked to agree; only then will the county consider authorizing the chairman to sign a PILOT agreement. The staff member said the county’s standard for small solar projects had been increased to $4,500 per megawatt and described past negotiations to preserve town and county shares of payments.
Ending: Supervisors approved amendments and asked staff to continue monitoring broadband rounds, program deadlines and land‑bank transaction timing.
