Miller talks road improvements, new buildings and third terms at annual State of the Community event 

Hundreds convened at the Macon Auditorium Tuesday morning to listen to remarks by business leaders and Mayor Lester Miller, who spoke of upcoming county projects and the historical significance of the work completed during his time in office.

Business owners, county officials and board members were among those in attendance at the Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce’s annual State of the Community event, which highlighted past initiatives and recognized the work of various county organizations.

Miller told attendees he will ask the commission next month to issue a partially SPLOST funded $25 million bond to fund road pavement over the next four years.

He also said the county has already begun planning for a new arena  — which the county hopes the state will help fund and would likely replace the Macon Coliseum — and will release plans for a new convention center at 108 First Street within the next two months.

The county also plans to develop housing around Brookdale Resource Center for veterans and people with disabilities, the mayor said. He noted progress on Pleasant Hill’s affordable housing development and East Bank development.

County Manager Keith Moffett said the county has intentionally tried to create “diverse” projects in every part of the county.

“We’re looking for public and private investment to make those things happen,” Moffett told The Melody. “Trying to bring as many developers to the table, and with that, that makes a better project.”

Prior to Miller’s speech, organizers put on a video, a parody of “The Office” where Miller played pickleball, went to yoga class and fished by the park with county employees while not-so-subtly touting improvements across Macon.

Among those completed projects included the new amphitheater, the Rhythm and Rally pickleball center at the Macon Mall and Cliffview Park.

“This is a time when we have the right people in the right places to make historic change, to make historic growth and put us on a self-sustaining path towards being the strongest city and state in the southeast,” Miller said.

The mayor again hinted at a potential third term, which he said is ultimately “up to the delegation.”

“I have a lot of projects, and I want them done while I’m here, and certainly my preference would be to have another term to get everything done,” he said.

Macon Chamber of Commerce President Jessica Walden said the chamber is still looking for “big boom” moments, like the hotel implosion, that will showcase Macon’s “thriving economy.”

The initiative to turn the Ocmulgee Mounds into a national park, which has yet to pass in Congress, would especially be a “gamechanger” for businesses in Macon, she said.

“Locally, it’s going to affect us tremendously,” Walden said. “We’re gonna go from seeing 150 to 160 thousand people a year to upwards of a million.”