Country Crossings Developer Ronnie Gilley has announced that the Country Crossings groundbreaking will be September 12th.

Wednesday, Gilley said that the original 90 days may have been an overly ambitious time frame for the groundbreaking of Country Crossings.

However, after meeting with a number of agencies involved with the construction of the project, September 12th will be a momentous day for southeast Alabama’s economy.

"The land contract is scheduled to close on September the 12th. We will have simultaneous groundbreaking that same day. You can rest assured that it will close on September the 12th if not before," said Gilley.

And, although there may have been a few unexpected challenges, Tuesday’s meeting with contractors has Gilley confident things are going smoothly.

"We had to do a wetlands delineations study, [which] delayed the overall land plan because obviously, there is a big creek that runs through the bottom of the property. The wetland delineation did affect our original land plan," Gilley explained.

Houston County Commission Chairman Mark Culver said, "They showed the final land plan yesterday and that’s an important step to get to. That’s one of the things they’ve been waiting on."

In addition to providing clarity for builders, Tuesday’s meeting hopefully cleared up a few other matters.

"In regard to the rumor mill, hopefully this will dispel all the rumors that are circulating throughout our community,” Gilley added. “Our hopes would be that everyone recognizes that this is a very positive economic stimulus package for our region of the state that is so desperately needed."

Country Crossings will also bring in thousands of jobs to the Wiregrass.

"We're taking online applications now, but realistically, unless it’s construction related, I would say it would be more in the neighborhood of six to eight months before we start hiring," Gilley continued. "If someone’s wonderin' about the pay rate there, we expect an overall average of $12 dollars an hour or higher, but there will be some very lucrative executive jobs as well."

And, an important thing to note is that Gilley plans to wait a few months after phase one breaks ground, before opening the retail stores to see how the economy welcomes the venue.

Gilley has also informed News 4 that some professional athletes have invested in Country Crossings, and that new opportunities are presenting themselves; however, he will not make any announcements until they are concrete.