Love A Lot to About Sweetwater
Sweetwater Reporter Editor
February is here. An interesting month, February. In ancient Rome, it was once the last month of the year. January and February were added to the calendar to sync it with the lunar year. The month was then moved to the second month to realign with the seasons. February is the only month to have a length of fewer than 30 days. Though it’s usually 28 days, February is 29 days long in leap years such as 2020 and 2024. January and February were the last two months to be added to the Roman calendar (c. 713 BC); originally, winter was considered a month-less period.
Numa wanted to avoid having even numbers in his calendar, as Roman superstition at the time held that even numbers were unlucky. To avoid the superstition, he chose February, a month that would be host to Roman rituals honoring the dead, as the unlucky month to consist of 28 days.
While January takes its name from Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and endings , February comes from the word februum (purification) and februa, the rites or instruments used for purification. Then they changed that and it became the second month.
The goddess of February, you may have guessed, is Aphrodite, the goddess of love. This and the fact that the feast of St. Valentine is celebrated on February 14, the day of his martyrdom. These two merged into the secular Valentine’s Day, the day of love.
And there is much to love about Sweetwater.
It has been a busy and successful 2022 for the Sweetwater Enterprise Economic Development, otherwise known as SEED. If the past is prologue, it appears that 2023 will be another banner year. SEED’S success is our success.
A quick overview:
During the fourth Quarter of 2022, the MDD Board of Directors approved incentive agreements with Red Door Capital, Fctx-sweetwater, LLC, and also approved an Interlocal Agreement with the City of Sweetwater. Red Door Capital is renovating a four-unit apartment building at the corner of Ragland and Josephine. Fctx-sweetwater is considering purchasing and renovating the Nolan County Plaza and the interlocal agreement will help the City look at ways to improve Avenger Field Airport.
The Creekside subdivision is continuing to make progress. The curbs are about 80% complete and are coming along quickly. Water lines are complete along with sewer lines. The road base has also been started with asphalt to come next. Ready-to-build lots are just around the corner and will be available for sale in the very near future.
Phase Two of the Southwood Terrace Addition is continuing and holding to the milestones. The water lines have been started and road construction will begin when those are completed. Work was delayed due to supply issues, but lots should be ready to sell in the second Quarter of 2023. Home sales were sound this last quarter, fromoctober 1-December 19, there were 26 new listings of houses in Sweetwater up for sale, a total number of properties sold in the quarter was 22. The median price for a house was $141,082 with a total of houses sold coming out to 3,103,810. The average days on the market was 124 days.
The number of Nolan County residents working went up in the last quarter, as well. For example, in the second quarter of 2022, the total number of workers was 6,706. By the third Quarter of 2022, that number had increased to 7,007 with the unemployment rate being 3.3 percent, which is considerably good, being that the national unemployment rate at the moment is at around 3.5 percent.
“2022 brought many new and exciting opportunities. Miesha and I, as well as our Board of Directors are working hard for our community. In the year to come, we have projects that will boost our economy, improve the quality of life for our citizens and also increase our competitive advantage. Sweetwater really is the “Sweetest place to live, work and play.””
Ethan Whittenburg, Marketing & Business Development Manager for SEED said.
During the fourth Quarter of 2022, four of SEED’S facade grant recipients finished their facelifts.
There were various projects. Some of the projects included window replacement, landscaping, painting and siding. This program is continuing to improve the look and salability of our community.
“As our economic development office reflects on 2022, we have started/completed many successful projects in business expansions, housing, quality of life, and beautification as a community. Creekside Subdivision, the largest housing development in over 65 years, broke ground, Georgia-pacific, a $300 million expansion that will provide over 100 jobs, broke ground, eight facade improvement grants were approved and completed, and two other business expansion incentives amounting to over
$1 million were approved. There were also a record-breaking number of retail establishments that opened for business or broke ground during 2022. The outlook for 2023 is strong, and our office has many projects in the works that will come to light over the next year. We are thankful for the support that we receive from our community, the local leadership, and our board of directors.” Miesha
Adames, Executive
Director for SEED said of the progress.