Fannin County residents can expect to see several road improvements following votes by the Board of Commissioners combined with funding from the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST).
New recreation facilities were also on the agenda when commissioners met in regular session Tuesday, December 14.
Commissioners Chairman Jamie Hensley and Post commissioners Johnny Scearce and Glenn Patterson voted unanimously for paving Cutcane Road, to purchase equipment that will make road widening easier, and heard plans for striping.
Public Works Director Zach Ratcliff presented the Cutcane Road plan. The county has been awarded $706,375.11 in Local Maintenance Improvement Grant (LMIG) money by the state. Receiving the money requires a 30 percent match, $211,911.56 from the county.
The monies would be used to pave approximately 8.3 miles of Cutcane Road, including about two-tenths of a mile on Friendship Road.
Ratcliff said he prefers to use LMIG funds on one project to get the most road mileage approved for the money.
In addition, Ratcliff said he is working through a separate safety grant that he hopes will allow the road to be striped. This funding would normally have to come out of the LMIG money.
Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the county match for the LMIG funds, with the county portion to come from Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax monies.
Ratcliff then asked for permission to purchase a road widener, a machine that would allow the county to widen roads by widening shoulders up to 24 inches.
Currently, when county crews widen shoulders, the material is dumped on the edge of the road then scraped onto the shoulder. The machine applies material directly onto the shoulder, making the process cleaner and more uniform while using less material.
The first use for the machine is for Cutcane Road, which Ratcliff wants to widen before the LMIG paving begins.
Commissioners agreed to the $50,033 purchase, which will also be made with SPLOST funds. Ratcliff said this was the lowest price possible for the machine, since it will be purchased under a state contract.
Ratcliff said the machine should arrive within a couple of weeks.
Commissioners also gave their support to the construction of new outdoor tennis, pickleball and basketball courts at the county recreation center off Tom Boyd Road. They will be built with Tourism Product Development money, generated by the hotel/motel tax.