Contract awarded for Pine Park Road improvements

The Grady County Commission is moving forward with a three-phase plan to improve Pine Park Road, and on Tuesday the board accepted a bid for the first phase of construction.

The county received three bids and this week the board of commissioners accepted the low bid of $591,667.64 from The Scruggs Company of Hahira.

Within hours of opening the bids on May 25 the county received word from the Georgia Department of Transportation that it was committing $300,000 or 70 percent of the project cost for phase one improvements.

“We are very appreciative of the assistance from the Department of Transportation. Once again, this is happening because the people of Grady County got behind a Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax and DOT officials like to help communities who are trying to help themselves. They are going to help us some more we feel confident,” Grady County administrator J.C. (Buddy) Johnson III, said.

Phase one will cover work from the intersection of Pine Park Road and GA 93 South. The county has been advised by consulting engineer Stacy Watkins to expand the project by 20 percent, which is allowed without rebidding the project, and using the bid prices of the low bid to expand the scope of work.

Grady County Commission Chairman Phillip Drew said that adding 20 percent to the project scope would take the phase one improvement just past Singletary Road.

Phase two will likely be bid out later this year and will cover improvements from U.S. 84 just short of the bridge on Pine Park Road, which will eventually be replaced by the state at state expense.

“We are not going to pave right up to the bridge and then it be torn up when they replace the bridge and have to be done over,” Chairman Drew said.

However, county officials said Tuesday there may be some temporary repairs that county crews can do to improve the roadway at the bridge which is in such bad shape, according to Johnson and Drew.

Other bids received for phase one were $899,300.00 from Capital Asphalt Inc. of Tallahassee and $642,769.60 from Oxford Construction Company of Albany.

In other business Tuesday, the board:

Approved entering into a lease agreement with the Grady County Board of Education for Grady Superior Court to utilize school system facilities for upcoming court proceedings.

Accepted the bid of $35,938.17 from Georgia Fire & Rescue Supply for turnout gear. It was not the lowest bid received, but EMA Director and County Fire Chief Richard Phillips said it was the only bid that met all specs and included shipping charges in the bid.

Appointed Commissioner LaFaye Copeland to take the place of Chairman Drew on the board of the Southwest Georgia Regional Commission for the remainder of 2021. Chairman Drew said his duties as chairman prohibited him from having time to serve on the Regional Commission board.

Conducted a first reading of the county code of ordinances that has been recodified and brought in compliance with state law.

Conducted a public hearing on proposed revisions to the county’s land use ordinance involving variances. The board heard from Peter Wright and Betty Godwin who outlined potential legal issues with the proposed changes. The board is expected to vote on the proposed changes at its June 15 meeting.

Approved issuance of a Request for Proposals for the biological and mitigation monitoring service required as part of the Tired Creek Lake project. The current vendor, CCR Environmental, has said it could not complete the remaining two years of monitoring. Attorney Laura Benz drafted the RFP that commissioners approved Tuesday.