Lake Authority continues to interview consultants for future lake development

Members of the Grady County Lake Authority continue to interview prospective consultants to assist in planning for future development of surplus county property at Tired Creek Lake.
The authority met at The Foundry on Wednesday, Oct. 19 with representatives of Pond, a company established in 1965 that offers civil, transportation, traffic engineering services, landscape architectural services and planning for clients across the southeast.
Also in attendance were Grady County Commissioner Ray Prince and county administrator Carlos Tobar.
Pond officials who met with local leaders included Bob Williams, Allan Iosue and Vance Smith.
Smith explained to the group that he had met Tobar at a previous meeting and they had discussed the services Pond could provide.
Williams told authority members about the many projects he has been involved with and noted that the company had done work for 80 of Georgia’s 159 counties.
“No project is too large or too small for us,” Williams said.
Williams, who is a principal of the firm, said that over 400 professionals and employees were ready to serve Grady County.
Iosue, Pond’s director of development, said that Pond would assist the authority and county commission in obtaining the “best return” on the investment in the lake.
In addition to working with Georgia cities and counties, the Pond officials shared a list of clients from private industry including Chick-fil-A, New York Life, Federal Express, and Google. Pond has also worked for NASA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Army.
Smith, a former state legislator and Georgia Department of Transportation commissioner, said that he had been involved in the earth moving business for 35 years. “I think this is a project we could help you with and we would love to work for you,” Smith said.
The authority previously met with Steve and Stacy Croy of The Croy Group and plans to interview another firm in the coming weeks.
“We want to talk with lots of people and then make the best decision for Grady County,” said Lake Authority Chairman Lee Gainous.
Members of the Lake Authority present at the Oct. 19 meeting in addition to Chairman Gainous were Travis Bryant, Charles Norton, Edgar Smith and Randolph Wind. Others present were Lake Authority executive director Mike Binion and attorney Kevin S. Cauley.