Public safety study coming for Stanton Springs

By Jim Thompson – The Walton Tribune

It will be sometime next month before the Joint Development Authority of Jasper, Morgan, Newton and Walton Counties sees the report that it commissioned from the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Public Safety Management, which provides emergency services consulting to local governments.

The JDA recently awarded an $85,120 contract to CPSM to develop emergency response plans for Stanton Springs, where the various enterprises on the site present special issues for emergency responders. Stanton Springs is the mixed-use industrial development off Interstate 20 near Social Circle overseen by the authority.

CPSM was hired after the authority formed its own Fire Committee to consider the issue. That internal effort broke down, however, as the committee worked to bring together the various fire departments that likely would respond to an emergency inside Stanton Springs

The JDA has already made two payments to CPSM covering $80% of the contract cost, with 20% remaining to be paid. At the JDA’s Sept. 22 meeting, authority counsel Andrea Gray said the firm is still compiling its report, which should be available for review sometime in October.