1. SPRING HILL — The
January opening of the
new Magna Seating plant
could face cancellation if
it cannot receive a condi-
tional certificate of occu-
pancy from the city.
The project originally
was approved by the
Spring Hill Planning Com-
mission in July, although
miscommunication
regarding the comple-
tion timeline of key road
improvements has caused
delays in Magna acquiring
the required certificate.
The request was to
amend the July minutes
in order for Magna to fall
under the requirements
before opening in January.
Project Manager R.J.
Agee told the council
Magna would like to
begin business around
Jan. 5, with its first Gen-
eral Motors shipment
scheduled for Jan. 12. He
said according to Codes
Director Chris Brooks’
interpretation of the July
14 Planning Commission
minutes, Brooks cannot
grant Magna a certificate
of occupancy until the
required improvements
to Town Center Parkway,
Beechcroft Road and US
Highway 31 are complete.
Agee said his interpreta-
tion was only for a design.
“That is his interpreta-
tion of the commission’s
stance on the issue,” Agee
said. “The reason I am
here tonight is, I have
been operating under
the assumption, perhaps
erroneously, that the con-
ditions for the approval of
that meeting were tied to
the design of the roadway,
not the completion of the
roadway.”
Currently, Magna is
under contract with Volk-
ert Engineering to begin
those improvements,
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WEEKDAY - 50 CENTSWEEKDAY - 75 CENTS
Spring Hill Magna plant may not open by deadline
By JAY POWELL
jpowell@c-dh.net
Supplier yet to
meet occupancy
requirements
See MAGNA, Page 3A
“... I’m not sure what
the solution is, but I’m
motivated to find it.”
— R.J. AGEE, project manager
Arts Council considering project for surplus properties
Music producer Rick Clark, pictured center, discusses the
benefits of the Arts Council converting city surplus prop-
erties into low-cost artist housing. (Photo by Jay Powell)
While the city of Columbia
decides what it plans to do with its
surplus real estate properties, the
Columbia Arts Council is consider-
ing turning some into affordable
housing for artists.
Local music producer Rick Clark,
whose wife, Mary Ball, serves on
the council, attended last week’s
meeting and gave a presentation. He
proposed the idea based on similar
situation in Paducah, Ky.
“They have what they call their
‘artist relocation program’ which
basically is blighted properties in
areas that were not tax-generating
properties,” Clark said. “They came
up with a creative way to attract
creatives, to reinvigorate these
areas and ultimately make them
tax-producing. Places that were
attracting an inordinate amount of
police and fire and all kinds of city
expenditures were suddenly becom-
ing more vibrant.”
The idea will be to offer low-cost
housing to painters, musicians, ani-
mators, sculptors and anyone else
who makes a living selling and prac-
ticing art, Clark said.
Council discussed how in order
to offer housing at a lower cost, it
would have to come with stipula-
tions such as: the artist has to work
and/or live on the property, cannot
flip the property for profit and the
By JAY POWELL
jpowell@c-dh.net
Plan could rejuvenate
abandoned buildings
I
n the 10 years since Facebook was created, the
social networking site has become a thread in
the fabric of 21st century culture. Everyone has
a Facebook page: teens, college students, parents,
grandparents. And police departments.
In a 2014 study, research group LexisNexis found that
social media use among law enforcement agencies is on
the rise and is predicted to continue rising. The survey
reported that 25 percent of police departments in the
United States use social media sites on a daily basis, up
from 16 percent in 2012.
“The reliance on the technology is expected to
expand, with 78 percent of current users planning to use
it even more in the coming year,” the study stated.
Columbia Police Department Assistant Chief Michelle
Jones said CPD has had an active Facebook account
since 2013.
“We were actually the first department of the city of
Columbia who started using Facebook,” said Jones, who
manages the Facebook account. “I finally got the okay
after a year of pushing the idea. The holdup was really
By KARA COLEMAN
kcoleman@c-dh.net
GOING
SOCIALPolice, fire departments learn
to protect and serve in the digital age
See ART, Page 3A
See SOCIAL, Page 3A
Who needs reindeer?
Extreme Santa waves to the crowd from his four-wheeler during the Extreme Hobby Shop Santa event Saturday in
Spring Hill. (Photo by Demario Liggons)