Ahead of TSPLOST Joint Meeting Council Votes on Distribution and Project
Business, Community September 7, 2022
DAHLONEGA, Ga.- Before the Joint Meeting with Lumpkin County on Monday, Sept. 12 the City Council has approved the TSPLOST distribution and the Joint project that both the city and county will undertake.
The council also approved change orders and a supplemental agreement with GDOT for the Morrison Moore Pedestrian Bridge project. They accepted a bid for the asphalt patching and leveling project at the meeting as well.
On Aug. 1 the Dahlonega City Council and the Lumpkin County Commissioners held the first meeting to begin discussions on the TSPLOST before it is voted onto the ballot on Nov. To read what happened at that meeting visit https://lumpkin.fetchyournews.com/2022/08/02/county-and-city-begin-tsplost-discussions/.
Before a vote can be taken the distribution, and a joint project needs to be agreed on. There will also need to be an intergovernmental agreement. The distribution that the council approved is an 81/19 divide.
81% will go to the county and 19% will go to the City. This was decided on by using 75% of the population and 25% of road miles.
The project the council voted on was Auraria Road and Hwy 52/9 west intersection and Torrington Road. Once both governments have agreed to the project they will work with the DOT on what can be done to improve this intersection.
The meeting with the county will take place at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 12 in the County Commissioners’ executive board room. The commissioners and council will be holding special call meetings afterward to vote to add the TSPLOST to the budget and enter into an IGA.
City Engineer Mark Buchanan brought the council two change orders and a supplemental agreement with GDOT for the Morrison Moore Pedestrian bridge. The change orders are for a bridge foundation investigation and sidewalk modification near the bridge. The supplemental agreement is to allow GDOT to cover 80% of the cost of the change orders.
The change order for the bridge is $49,577.49. This was not originally budgeted because there was an investigation done when the bridge was built and Buchanan thought they could use that again and GDOT said no.
The change order for the sidewalk modification will be $32,704.24 with a projected $127,000.00 that will be saved during construction. The change here is from the originally planned urban style to a more rural style concrete trail near the bridge.
Heard in the clip above is Councilmember Ross Shirley commenting on the investment. Buchanan can also be heard explaining why the changes came about. To view the specific change order request go to https://mccmeetings.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/dahlonega-pubu/MEET-Packet-39991ca72e2e4d00b62932c8a9711a47.pdf, they begin on page 52.
The council approved Raines Grading, Hauling, & Paving for the annual asphalt patching and leveling projects. The cost for this contract is $261 per ton from Oct. 1, 2022, till Sept. 30, 2023. Raines was the only bidder for this project.
“$261 seem high but we are talking about you know you roll out all your equipment to fix a hole the size of this podium and then you pack your stuff up and move to the other side of town and do it again, it’s incredibly labor intensive,” explained Buchanan.
Mayor JoAnne Taylor while signing the proclamation.
Lastly, the Mayor and the City Council proclaimed the month of Oct. to be National Long-Term Care Resident’s Month. The entire proclamation can be viewed using the link above and going to page 19. This is to honor the residents of nursing homes.
City Votes to Move Into Mediation With County over Local Option Sales Tax
Community, Featured Stories August 2, 2022
DAHLONEGA, Ga.- The City Council voted to move into mediation with the county over the split on the Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) during their Aug. 1 meeting.
Sheriff Stacy Jarrard brought an idea for a crosswalk safety program to the council for their consideration. City Engineer Mark Buchanan also gave an update on the Morrison Moore Pedestrian Bridge and Sidewalk project.
Mayor JoAnne Taylor brought the council the update on how negotiations were going with the county over the LOST at the Jul. 18 work session. To review that please visit https://lumpkin.fetchyournews.com/2022/07/19/city-discuss-housing-study/.
After consideration, the council voted to move into mediation due to how much the city has grown in the past ten years and how much growth is expected especially once the new hospital opens. The county’s proposal that was sent to the city for their approval was to remain at the current 75% to the county and 25% to the city.
The LOST was put in place to help ease the burden of property taxes on citizens and the city has started new services such as the police department in the last ten years. The demographics have also significantly changed in the last ten years including the growth of the University.
Heard in the clip above is Councilmember Ron Larson explaining why the councilmembers are taking this next step. The City Attorney Doug Parks has already found available mediation and it will be up to the county to accept or decline the mediation and suggest another. The city and county have until Dec. 31 to reach an agreement on the LOST for the next ten years.
After his family’s recent vacation to St. Augustine Flordia Jarrard was inspired by a program he witnessed there. The idea that he brought before the city council is to have bright color flags available at both ends of the crosswalks for pedestrians to use when crossing.
The idea is to make pedestrians more visible to oncoming traffic to try and deter any potential accidents. To watch the presentation the sheriff made to the council visit https://youtu.be/Dck2rIRz4Lc.
The council expressed interest in the idea and told staff to begin looking into pricing options. They could take action on this at a later date after the staff’s research is done.
Mark Buchanan while presenting the project.
In 2018 Buchanan applied for the transportation alternatives program (TAP) grant for the Morrison Moore Pedestrian Bridge and sidewalk project. The plan is to have the sidewalk start at Wal-Mart and end at the boat ramp on the reservoir.
Currently, they are in the preliminary engineering phase of the project which is an estimated $415,000,000. This phase includes the initial design and environmental permits. The hope is to begin actual construction in 2025.
The total estimated budget that has not been adjusted for the current inflation is $4,285,000.00. There is an 80/20 match between the city and GDOT for the project and the county has verbally offered to help with the parts of the reservoir that are jointly owned.
Description of the Construction for the project.
When the bridge is complete it will look similar to the bridges on Wimpy Mill and the Dam. This is an ongoing project and there will be further public meetings. However, if there are any comments, concerns, or questions, there are comment cards available at city hall, and the information on how to contact Buchanan can be found at https://dahlonega.gov/department/public-works/.