Leaders give lawmakers list of county needs
Columbia County leaders delivered a laundry list of wants and needs to state lawmakers at a meeting Wednesday of the legislative delegation.
State Sen. Jim Whitehead has been asked to help keep medians off Washington Road.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
Road projects topped the list with Columbia County Commission members Ron Cross, Diane Ford and Tommy Mercer asking state Sen. Jim Whitehead, R-Evans, and state Rep. Ben Harbin, R-Martinez, to use their pull to keep medians off Washington Road.
A Columbia County campus of Augusta Technical College also was discussed. Gov. Sonny Perdue was scheduled to fly to Augusta on Thursday to announce that $4.6 million will be allocated for the campus, to be at the Horizon South Industrial Park in Grovetown.
"We need to get more recognition for Columbia County, because we may be promoting ourself," Mercer said. "A tech school will help with that."
On the issue of roads, the state Department of Transportation plans to eventually widen Washington Road as far out as Pollards Corner, Cross said. The DOT also intends to build concrete medians on much of the highway.
"The data says medians save lives, but they are a hassle," Mercer said.
Since the DOT last widened Washington Road and put in a turn lane, accidents have increased slightly, Cross said.
"I'd like to leave it as it is as far out as Fieldstone Road, and maybe as far out as Gibbs Road," he said.
The commission also asked the lawmakers to continue pushing for an extension of William Few Parkway to help relieve traffic congestion in the neighborhoods around Greenbrier High School.
"Washington Road is the No. 1 priority, but very close behind it though is the extension of William Few Parkway, and it has not received enough attention in my opinion," Cross said.
Commissioners also said that if they can't form a partnership with Richmond and Burke counties for a regional recruitment organization, they might form their own.
Commissioners also asked for help covering the cost for indigent defense.
Commissioners said they might also ask state lawmakers to include a nonbinding referendum question on an election next year to ask voters whether they want an arena in Columbia County.
"I think Columbia County needs to determine their position on it very definitively before Richmond County votes on this for the next (1-cent sales tax ballot)," Cross said. "We don't want to compete on it. This needs to be a regional effort."
GROVETOWN WANTS:
to do away with the Georgia income tax in favor of a state sales tax
tougher criteria on when accused criminals can seek council through the indigent defesne fund
to widen Lewiston Road to four lanes from Wrightsboro Road to Columbia Road
to widen Wrightsboro Road from Bobby Jones Expressway to Lewiston Road
to move ahead with construction of an Augusta Technical college campus in Columbia County
for state lawmakers to intervene on behalf of the city with the state Department of Transportation and the state Environmental Protection Division
HARLEM WANTS:
assistance in obtaining facade grants for the city's downtown
a $25,000 grant to make the Laurel and Hardy Museum self-sufficient
a $25,000 grant to build a new roof for the Harlem Cultural-Education Center
assistancein purchasing a new generator for the Harlem Public Works Department to meet EPD requirements
assistance in purchasing firefighting gear for the Harlem Public Safety Department
fore state lawmakers to intervene on behalf of the city with the state Department of Transportation and the state Environmental Protection Division