The Baldwin County Board of Commissioners is scheduled May 7 to select the first roads to be resurfaced with funds approved in last year’s sales tax referendum.
Voters by a wide margin approved the Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (T-SPLOST) in November, and collection of the extra penny began April 1. The first check will be received in May and represents the county’s 65 percent share of the extra penny tax. Milledgeville receives the other 35 percent.
County Manager Carlos Tobar said that due to the advertising deadline for bid notices already set, the commissioners need to approve a list of roads by May 7. He also indicated that a work session has been set for 5 p.m. that day to discuss and decide which roads will be resurfaced this year.
The commissioners have already approved a list of roads and streets that will be bid out at the same time as the T-SPLOST projects. The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) provides funding to local governments through the Local Maintenance Improvement Grant (LMIG) program, and this year’s money totals about $1.5 million.
Stewart Avenue (off Sinclair Marina Road), Admiralty Way, Pineaway Drive, Roberts Road, Chase Court, and Mosely Avenue are on the LMIG list.
Tobar said County Engineer Brian Wood compiled the T-SPLOST list with the assistance of Commission Chairman Johnny Westmoreland and Vice-Chairman Kendrick Butts. There are 14 roads and streets totaling approximately 10.5 miles on the list.
“Chairman Westmoreland and I rode around with Brian Wood and looked at roads, and he gave us scores based on the criteria we had. And, we had input from the other commissioners,” said Butts.
Butts said voters were asked to support the one-cent tax, and they need to see the results.
“We were out in the community, pushing this, trying to get this done. We need to do some roads in every district, to show the people we are doing it.”
The roads and streets on the proposed list are: Log Cabin Road, Forrest Hill Road, North/South Main St., Hardwick St., Ellis St., Wright St., Park Ave., Thomas St., Stephanie Lane, Knight Circle, Emmanuel Harris Road, Grace Court, and W. Lakeview Lane, with Highview as a possible addition.
“The expenditures are budgeted at $4.3 million, and we only projected $4 million in revenue,” Tobar said. “If the bids come in over $4 million, Highview will not get done this year.”
Tobar explained the $4 million comes from two sources.
“For this year, we allocated $2.5 million from T-SPLOST for paving. Then another $1.5 from LMIG, so $4 million for paving this year.”
Butts has seven streets in District 1` on the list, Emily Davis in District 2 has one, Henry Craig in District 4 has two plus a portion of Log Cabin Road, which he shares with Westmoreland, who has two others to be resurfaced this year. There are no roads or streets in Sammy Hall’s district scheduled to be resurfaced with T-SPLOST money, though Roberts Road on the LMIG list is his.
The list of roads is subject to possible change, as at least one commissioner is not happy with the proposed slate. Craig said discussion needs to be had.
“In my opinion, there are roads in District 4 that have been overlooked,” Craig asserted. “I am negotiating the current proposed list. My negotiations,” he added, “will be about money, length, condition, number of houses, and more.”
Hall, despite having only the one LMIG road to be resurfaced, as of Tuesday afternoon was planning to vote for the proposal.
“I’m not as comfortable as I would like to be,” he said. “However, I find the list acceptable. I’m of the opinion that we need to make sure the public sees that we are doing what we said we would do. Perhaps another road or two that are high traffic or connector roads would have been better.”
Hall said less than a full year’s receipt of taxes and other uses of the extra penny made the choices harder.
“We aren’t going to have a full year of collections, and we have purchased some needed equipment, which reduced the money we have to spend,” he said.
Butts believes the successful referendum is a positive step for Baldwin County.
“From listening to the commissioners in other counties who have the T-SPLOST, it can make a significant change in your community by having T-SPLOST… if we do what’s right.”