Moultrie City Council approved Tuesday a $150,000 loan to a commercial laundry operation that is renovating near Spence Field for its operations.

Georgia Linen Service said in its application that it plans to initially employ 15 people. It counts among its current customers Colquitt Regional Medical Center.

That number of employees is expected to grow, officials said.

The council unanimously approved the loan, which the company’s application said will go toward purchasing equipment, which will come from funds in the city’s revolving loan fund. The Moultrie-Colquitt County Development Authority reviewed the application and recommended that it be approved.

“A minimum of 51 percent of jobs will go to low- and moderate-income individuals,” Dale Williams, human resources director for the city of Moultrie, said during a telephone interview on Wednesday. “Jobs will include machine operators, truck drivers and managers.”

Company official James Lowe told council members that the company anticipates having 20 to 30 employees working in about a year.

Williams said Wednesday that the city has 14 active loans in the revolving loan program and that those loans have lead to the creation or retention of 296 jobs. Of those, 72 percent have gone to low- and moderate-income workers.

After accounting for the latest $150,000 loan approved, the fund will have $504,530 in reserves, and a total balance of $888,874 including loans outstanding.

The city started the loan program in the late 1970s, with seed money coming from an economic development grant from the state, Williams said. The first loan was made to Bridgeport Brass.

“As companies pay money back, we’re able to keep the money and re-loan it,” he said.

In other business Tuesday, the council:

• Approved a business license for a youth center and game room at 501 Seventh Ave. N.W. James Cain Jr. applied for the license.

He said the facility will have two pool tables but “will not be a pool room.”

• Approved rezoning 1.7 acres of land at 740 Veterans Parkway N. from AG-1 agricultural to C-3 commercial use. The applicant for the action was Greg Yarbrough.

• Approved a request to rezone 0.4 acres at 305 Rowland Drive from R-1B single-family residential to C-1 neighborhood business district status at the request of Vijay Bairi.

• Approved a low bid of $54,644 from Court Surfaces Inc. for resurfacing at Lynda Baxter Moseley Tennis Court.

• Accepted a bid of $20,723 for a one-half ton extended cab pickup truck for the city’s Engineering Department from Hutson Motors.