SIPS Team USA, a local manufacturer of energy-efficient insulation paneling, could soon benefit from a booster loan from Decatur County commissioners.

At their Tuesday meeting, county commissioners authorized, by unanimous vote, the provision of up to $147,000 to SIPS Team USA, for upgrading of its building and manufacturing capacity at the Decatur County Industrial Park.

The money will come from the county’s revolving loan fund, which is designed to aid newer businesses through growth periods, County Administrator Tom Patton said.

Anderson Manufacturing was the first company to take advantage of the revolving loan when it took over a building formerly used by Vada Manufacturing off Georgia Highway 97 North. Anderson has been repaying its loan, building the loan pool back up, County Finance Director Carl Rowland.

County Commissioner Earl Perry noted a little more than $300,000 will still be in the pool after SIPS receives its loan. Perry invited any businesses that have started up in recent years, operate in Decatur County and might be interested in the loans to contact Rowland or Patton.

According to Rowland, approximately $75,000 of the money to be loaned to SIPS would be allocated for upgrades to the building, $42,000 would be allocated for payment of one year’s rent on the building and $30,000 would go toward construction and installation of a new set of vacuum presses used in the company’s manufacturing.

The loan can be made at a 3 percent interest rate and the first year’s payments could be deferred. SIPS would have to repay the loan in five years.

Citizen airs nuisance practices

During the meeting’s public participation session, citizen Larry Carroll addressed commissioners briefly on the subject of the county’s nuisance ordinance, which is still being developed.

He asked commissioners to consider several practices he believes are going on in Decatur County that he believes to be nuisances: auto repair being done in front of a residence, mobile homes being restored on residential property and the keeping of horses and other farm animals on land that is not large enough to accommodate them, in his belief.

The Decatur County Planning Board recently forwarded a revised draft of the proposed nuisance ordinance, which addresses litter, junk, odors and other nuisances, to county commissioners for their consideration.

County Planning Official Paul Soudi, who authored the ordinance, said he expects commissioners may choose to hold public hearings on the issue in February.