Its September groundbreaking at the Stanton Springs industrial and mixed-use development off Interstate 20 in the edge of Social Circle was certainly the largest demonstration that electric vehicle company Rivian is moving forward on its construction of a manufacturing facility at the site.
But there are continuing, albeit smaller, indications of the company’s progress toward building its R2 mid-size SUV—and at some point, its entry-level R3—at a Stanton Springs facility, with the first vehicles slated to roll out sometime in 2028.
One of those smaller indications of progress came at the Nov. 25 meeting of the Joint Development Authority of Jasper, Morgan, Newton and Walton Counties (JDA), which oversees Stanton Springs.
At the meeting, authority members unanimously approved an agreement between Rivian and AT&T providing for the telecommunications giant to relocate some of its existing communications lines to accommodate Rivian’s construction plans.
For the JDA, the approval was simply a formality, since it is not a party to the agreement between Rivian and AT&T. The JDA leases the land at Stanton Springs from the state of Georgia.
There are other indications of work at the Rivian site beyond the electrical power substation construction visible during the groundbreaking.
According to information presented to the JDA on Nov. 25, silt fencing – which controls soil erosion and keeps sediment-laden storm runoff from migrating onto other property and/or into adjacent bodies of water during construction projects – is being installed at the Rivian site.
Beyond the work at Stanton Springs, Rivian is also making its presence felt in the surrounding community, JDA members also learned.
On Nov. 22, Rivian sponsored a 5K run in Social Circle, with 100% of registration fees benefiting Camp Twin Lakes. With facilities in nearby Rutledge, and in neighboring Barrow County, Camp Twin Lakes provides summer camps and weekend retreats for children living with serious illnesses, disabilities or other challenges.
Promotional material for the 5K noted that Rivian “is dedicated to making a difference in the communities where we live and work … .”
Resolution amended
In other Nov. 25 business, the JDA agreed unanimously to amend a resolution it had passed at last month’s meeting regarding the provision of emergency services to Stanton Springs.
The resolution was needed because emergency cellphone calls related to Stanton Springs can, depending on where the caller is located, be routed through a cell tower that might not necessarily send the call to the emergency dispatching center for the first responders best suited to handle it.
In an effort to eliminate that confusion, the JDA in October adopted a protocol indicating which area first responders should respond to calls from specific industrial locations in Stanton Springs. Stantn Springs, which currently hosts Meta data centers, Takeda pharmaceutical manufacturing company facilities, and in the future, Rivian’s manufacturing plant.
While that approach will work for firefighting responses to Stanton Springs, the JDA learned after its October decision that it is the state, not local governments, that decides boundaries for emergency medical responses.
With their unanimous Nov. 25 vote, the JDA amended its resolution to reflect that decisions on emergency medical response territories lie with the state.
The protocol, as newly amended, will remain in place at least until the Center for Public Safety Management (CPSM), a Washington, D.C.-based firm whose work includes analyzing the operations of public safety agencies, completes an assessment and makes recommendations on emergency response needs at Stanton Springs. That process is expected to take several months.
The JDA retained CPSM at its October meeting, at a cost not to exceed $100,000, after abandoning internal efforts with its member counties and their emergency service agencies to develop a plan for providing emergency services at Stanton Springs.
