The City of Baldwin held a public hearing and moved forward with the first reading of a measure that would annex a plot of land into the City of Baldwin for water and sewer coverage of a 10,000 square foot daycare facility.
No one attended the meeting to speak in favor of or against the annexation.
The daycare, which would be owned by the Cumming-based independent daycare group, Aspire Learning, could care for 60-70 children. According to the engineer for the proposed daycare, Juan Del Rio, the facility would provide 15-20 job opportunities to locals.
The daycare would be just down the road from where the city recently approved the plans to build a liquor superstore, separated by Hayes Chevrolet.
Last week, the annexation passed through the county commission. With the annexation being legal, there was nothing the commissioners could do to halt it, despite their concerns about traffic safety. Councilwoman Alice Venter expressed some of those same concerns Monday night, asking Del Rio to consider bringing in an acceleration lane so that northbound traffic can move more safely.
“We definitely have a big need for childcare in this county, there’s not a lot to be had,” City Venter said. “We’re very excited to have this. That being said, this is the very southern end of the county, most of your business is going to be coming in from the north end.”
Del Rio assured the Baldwin Council on Monday that those safety concerns would be taken into account, and that the group would work with the Georgia Department of Transportation to add acceleration and deceleration lanes on 365 for safer traffic entering and exiting the area. The group would also be looking at adding an R-cut to the exit.
The council unanimously approved moving forward with the first reading of the annexation. If the council approves their second reading of the annexation at their April 11 meeting, the daycare will begin the design phase of development.
