Dooly County approves road projects, equipment purchases and Public Works leadership changes
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Summary
The commission authorized GDOT paving projects, accepted bids and contracts for the Richwood Road project, approved purchase and lease financing for a motor grader and backhoe, and appointed Tommy Watson as Public Works Director and Jimmy Towns as Assistant Public Works Director.
Throughout 2009 the Dooly County Board of Commissioners focused repeatedly on transportation and public-works capacity: authorizing GDOT resurfacing contracts, approving county road abandonments, and funding new heavy equipment.
GDOT-funded paving projects were discussed and authorized: Noble Gin Road, Old National Highway, Chaney Road and Old Dixie Highway received GDOT commitments and Mr. Tommy Watson received authorization to proceed with the county’s work share. The board also authorized a county contract for the Richwood Road project (1.463 miles) and set a bid-opening date; Reeves Construction was later selected as the apparent low bidder and the contract was approved pending EDA sign-off.
On equipment, the board reviewed bids and approved purchase of a new John Deere 772G all-wheel-drive motor grader from Flint Equipment Co. with a buy-back option, and later executed a 48-month lease-purchase agreement with BancorpSouth to fund the grader. The board also approved purchase of a John Deere 410J backhoe/loader with a guaranteed buy-back after 60 months.
Personnel: the board appointed Tommy Watson as Public Works Director (April 2) and later appointed Jimmy Towns as Assistant Public Works Director (Nov. 5) after conducting interviews of several applicants.
Roads: the board approved abandonment of County Road 202 contingent on an easement agreement and later abandoned Airport Road contingent upon Crisp County taking the same action. The board also submitted resurfacing priority lists to GDOT for stimulus and STIP funds, and authorized state contracts for Jalappa and Lilly roads when they became available.
Why it matters: these decisions affect maintenance schedules, county operational capacity and capital spending; financing choices tie up multi-year commitments and influence future budgets.
Next steps: procurement, contract execution with GDOT and equipment financiers, and operational roll-out of the Public Works leadership structure were all identified as immediate follow-up tasks.