By early next year, the Tyrone Town Council will need to make a decision on moving ahead with a project to create a new railroad crossing. If the council can’t agree on a contract, the Georgia Department of Transportation will “fold up the project and move on,” GDOT engineer Mike Bolden told the council at its Thursday night meeting.
For months now, the town council and GDOT have been going back and forth on an agreement that would close two railroad crossings in Tyrone and create a new crossing at East Crestwood Road, aligned across Senoia Road with West Crestwood Road. The project was first proposed by the town after a double fatality at the Valleywood Road railroad crossing in November 2001.
Tyrone would be responsible for relocating utilities and purchasing needed rights-of-way, with GDOT, using federal funds, being responsible for everything else. Bolden estimated that Tyrone would have to pay about $66,000 to purchase rights-of-way and said that, while the utility companies will pay for relocation of its lines if they are on rights-of-way, some of the lines will not be on the rights-of-way. He estimated the cost to Tyrone could be as much as $75,000.
Tyrone wants the project agreement to cap the town’s expenses at $225,000, which GDOT is unwilling to do. Bolden said federal money cannot be used to purchase rights-of-way, so if the expenses go over the cap, the project would have to abandoned, even though GDOT would have spent a great deal of money by that point. He said GDOT would not continue with the project without the assurance that it will be finished.
The council received copies of GDOT’s revised project agreement and told Bolden, and the cadre of GDOT engineers he brought with him, that they would study it and have an answer soon.
In other business, the council voted to rename two portions of Swanson Road on the west side of town at the behest of the county fire department to reduce the possibility of confusion by first responders.
The portion of Swanson Road from the intersection with Palmetto Road to the stop sight next to the Publix shopping center will be renamed Spencer Lane in honor of Police Chief Roger Spencer, who died in 2003. The portion of Swanson Road from Palmetto Road to a dead end will be named Palmetto Court. These name changes will take effect Jan. 31.
The council also voted to adopt a library policy after removing a clause that would have banned tutors from using the facility. Library director Julie Digby said the paragraph was meant to keep for-profit tutoring companies from using the library to conduct their businesses, but the council was concerned that it would prevent one-on-one tutoring sessions.
Digby said dropping this clause was fine with her. She said the main passages she was concerned with were about limiting use of the storywise room for library-sponsored activities and not leaving children under the age of 12 alone at the library.
Robert Koerrmer of the Castle Lake Homeowners Association asked the council if the town would partner with them to apply for a federal grant to address Castle Lake sediment pollution, which he said is becoming a major problem. The project would reduce pollutant loads, improve water quality and improve aquatic habitat. Their proposal would also include an educational component. Koerrmer said there would be no cost to the town, but state law prohibits non-governmental organizations from receiving these types of grants directly. He said the association would need help from the town engineer and the town environmental officer to prepare the grant application. The council asked for time to review a similar application from the city of Gainesville in order to determine how much time would be required from town personnel.
Beginning Jan. 1, restaurants in Tyrone will be able to serve alcoholic beverages on Sundays after 12:30 p.m. Voters approved Sunday sales in the Nov. 3 election, and the council adopted an ordinance regulating them at Thursday’s meeting.
The council delayed hiring a new town manager, even though two final candidates were in attendance. The hiring was removed from the council’s consent agenda and moved to an executive session at the end of the meeting.
Newly-elected councilmember Ken Matthews was also asked to participate in the discussion. But when the council returned from the session, they said no decision had been reached. Current Town Manger Chris Venice is retiring at the end of the year.
This was the last regular council meeting of 2009. Town Clerk Pamela Megill said there are no agenda items for the regularly scheduled Dec. 17 meeting, so it is cancelled.
Councilwoman Grace Caldwell, defeated in the Nov. 3 election by Matthews, was absent from Thursday’s meeting.
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