Lake level is up four feet as of Tuesday

Recent rains have helped in the filling of the 960-acre Tired Creek Lake.
Grady County Lake Authority executive director Mike Binion reported this week that the lake level has risen four feet since the gates on the dam were closed late last month.
Binion reported Tuesday that the current level was at 198 feet above sea level. Full pool, when the lake is completely filled, is 220.1 feet above sea level.
“When we get to 200 feet, Schnabel Engineering will have to come back and inspect the dam. Then we will be able to fill two feet a week and then hold for one week until full pool is reached,” Binion said.
The fill schedule is in accordance with the Georgia Safe Dams of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
On Tuesday night, Grady County commissioners ratified verbal approval for the purchase of 100 40-foot poles from Langdale Forest Products of Valdosta. The poles will serve as pilings for boat ramps and the marina at the Tired Creek Lake.
Langdale offered the county special pricing after Binion met with officials of Grady EMC to discuss purchasing the poles through the EMC.
Grady EMC officials are also contemplating assisting the county in setting the poles in the lake bed. Binion told county commissioners Tuesday night that no decision by the EMC on assistance in the installation of the poles had been reached.
The 100 poles were delivered to the lake site Tuesday, according to Binion. Funding to finance the purchase will come from the county’s cash reserves.
The county commission also approved the expenditure of $3,600 for the rental of a packer from Flint Equipment to be used to compact dirt and rock for the State Park Road boat ramp site. The county will pay for the monthly rental fee with money from the county’s cash reserves.
Commissioners also ratified verbal approval to purchase concrete pipe from Forterra at a cost of $41,243. The pipe is needed for the road building project at Cedar Springs and Gainous Road. The pipe will be paid for with proceeds from the Georgia Transportation Infrastructure Bank (GTIB) grant the county was awarded for Tired Creek Lake road building.
Grady County commissioners discussed with Binion and Lake Authority Chairman Lee Gainous options for the spraying of overgrowth in the lake bed prior to the lake filling completely.
Binion reported he had received a bid of $60,000 to spray 750 acres of the lake bed by helicopter. Previously, the lake authority had recommended and the county commission accepted a bid of $6,500 to spray a 100 foot swath around the lake shoreline, but the county has been unsuccessful in getting the vendor to do the spraying.
Binion reported that he and Chairman Gainous met with the new bidder at the lake last week. “He told us that within 60 days you could light a match to hit and burn what the chemical had killed,” Binion said.
Commissioner Ray Prince asked Binion if he had solicited bids from crop dusters. After discussion of the matter, Binion was instructed to work in conjunction with Prince to obtain a bid from a crop duster.
According to Prince, spraying from an airplane can be just as effective and precise as with a helicopter. The county commissioner uses crop dusters in his personal farming operation and he said the application is very accurate and effective.
Once bids are received, Chairman Charles Norton instructed Grady County administrator Carlos Tobar to poll the board and obtain verbal approval to accept a proposal so that the spraying could be done as soon as possible. The expenditure will be ratified at the board’s next meeting in August.