MOULTRIE, Ga. — The Moultrie-Colquitt County Development Authority agreed Wednesday to allocate $1.5 million to help the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine’s South Georgia campus grow.

Chairman Jim Matney said it will be some time before the expansion will actually happen. 

He said PCOM is feeling out the level of community support for adding programs at the campus on Tallokas Road. The next step will be similar votes from other local government entities, such as the Moultrie City Council and Colquitt County Board of Commissioners. Once those votes are finished, leaders will know how much money local entities are willing to put in and can see about getting matching state or federal funds, Matney said, and that will enable PCOM to determine whether and how to pursue its plans for growth.

Board members said the medical school is looking at adding up to three master’s level programs, and that expansion would include new buildings at the campus on Tallokas Road.

The board members were tight-lipped about any other details because so much hasn’t been decided yet.

Daniel Dunn, an authority board member, was chairman of the authority when PCOM South Georgia came to Moultrie. In an interview after the meeting, he remembered telling state legislators, “Colquitt County is known for its agriculture. We’ve planted seeds that have grown to feed and clothe the nation — the world, actually. No more important seed has been planted in Colquitt County than the one we planted today.”

Referring to Wednesday’s vote he added, “That seed has now matured and is bearing fruit.”

PCOM South Georgia opened in August 2019, offering the Doctor of Osteopathy degree. A year later, the Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences program began.

In other action Wednesday, the board:

• Agreed to purchase approximately 13 acres adjacent to Citizens Business Park on Quitman Highway, pending a survey that’s expected to finish this week. The land is intended for additional buffer for the industrial park, which currently houses only Sanderson Farms but has lots available for other prospects.

• Discussed the marketing of Spence Field, which is owned by the City of Moultrie, but tabled any decisions. The city is working with Electric Cities of Georgia on marketing of the same property, but officials are waiting on two other things before being able to proceed. The city is negotiating a new lease agreement with the Sunbelt Agricultural Expo, which uses a large part of the former air base for the annual farm show and for farm fields. The Expo is a boon for farmers and brings in millions of dollars in tourism. The city and Moultrie-Colquitt County Airport Authority are awaiting an airport layout plan that will help inform a five-year plan to resurrect Spence Field’s 10,000-foot runway. Once brought back to full usability, the runway will be the longest in Georgia outside Atlanta, and development officials hope it will be a big draw for a distribution center or package delivery company.

• Heard a presentation on a strategic plan that it commissioned from the Association County Commissioners of Georgia late in early 2020. Work on the plan was interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. Mary Beth Brownlee, county consulting services associate for ACCG, said the presentation was based on a draft of the plan, but she expected to have the final version to the authority before the end of the month.