On facebook,

Save Strickland Mill
just posted

a critique of

certain parts of

the VDT’s writeup on the

Remerton City Council’s Strickland Mill vote.
-jsq

Valdosta Daily Times,
September 12, 2012

Mill to come down:
Buildings to be razed, historic tower to remain

by Quinten Plummer

VALDOSTA — The iconic smoke stack will still tower over the


City of Remerton, according to local officials, but

the majority of
the historic Remerton Mill complex will be demolished and converted
into a park

after the City Council gave the mill’s owners the
go-ahead for demolition during Monday evening’s regular session.

This is not a factual statement: the city council’s motion is as
follows: Councilman Bill Wetherington made the following motion
which was unanimously voted in by the council members present that
night (note that councilman Sam Flemming was not in attendance)

“I move to approve the certificate of appropriateness 2012-04 for 1853
W. Gordon to be issued and effective as of October 25th 2012 for a
period of one year from that date with the condition that the cotton
mill smokestack remains intact and shall continue to remain intact
in accordance with title 18 of the code of City of Remerton.”

The mill’s ownership group simply wants relief from its obligations
to the property, and Remerton

Mayor Cornelius Holsendolph said the
restoration of the mill is just too large of a project for a city of
Remerton’s size.

That is the reason why

Save the Mill advocates presented an
alternate plan reducing the redevelopment project of the entire mill
complex to the 1899 original building. the plan would not be limited
to the city of Remerton. Save the Mill advocates proposed finding
the right developer (private or public entity) to take on the 1899
mill, smokestack and the 1930s water tower.

“Our biggest concern was the financial feasibility of us
moving forward with buying the mills and putting in the necessary
work to restore it,” said Holsendolph. “It’d be great if
the Save the Mill committee can find a way to save it.

But as a
small town, we just don’t have the money to take on the
project.”

Unfortunately the decision that the city made on Monday night to
accept the total demolition of the mill complex (save the
smokestack) removes any legal protection that the city had over the
mill. Instead the city took away any guarantee for save the mill
advocates to continue with their efforts to find a way to save it.

The agreement will keep the wrecking balls and salvage truck away
for

45 days, said Holsendolph

who stressed that the smoke stack will
remain intact.

45 days does not provide adequate time to pursue any further offers.

He also said that

the site will be home to a new park, which will
feature a walkway that leads straight to the tower.

A park and walkway were not included in the motion. Mayor
Holsendolph confused the city of Remerton staff’s recommendation
with the actual motion. The motion transcribed above is also
available in its entirety in this live footage found
here.

[ … ]

Joe Tillman, spokesman for the Remerton Mills LLC and part owner,
said the group desired to cut its losses and completely demolish the
mill site when he spoke before city council in June. He claimed that

the buildings are structurally dependent upon each other in a way
that the entire site had to be leveled.

This statement is an opinion only.

Tuesday’s decision was a compromise of sorts,

as it essentially
lifts the bulk of the mill’s financial burden from the ownership
group, which stated that it had worked with more than 20 developers
to work on a feasible plan for restoring the site. The decision also
leaves the City of Remerton with a hallmark from its historic past.

A compromise was not reached. 98% of the mill complex was approved
for total demolition. The decision was made on Monday night not on
Tuesday.