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Cusseta–Chattahoochee wins $600,000 SEID grant for trail; engineer selection next
Summary
County officials confirmed a $600,000 SEID award to build the initial segment of a trail from Fort Benning and said they will select an engineer next to begin planning; commissioners were told the county must accept the award by Dec. 4 and that routing and design work will follow.
The Board of Commissioners for the Unified Government of Cusseta–Chattahoochee County announced that the county received a $600,000 State Economic and Infrastructure Development (SEID) grant to fund the beginning of a trail coming from Fort Benning.
County Manager Thomas Weaver told commissioners the county learned the award had been granted the morning of the Dec. 2 meeting and said staff must confirm interest before the grant deadline. "We applied for the SEID grant, we got notification this morning that we were granted that award; this is a 600,000 grant for the beginning of the trail coming from Ft. Benning," Weaver said during the regular meeting. He added that the SEID process tends to be slow but described the award as "a huge deal."
Weaver said the next step is selecting an engineering firm to design the project and administer grant requirements. At the Dec. 22 work session he presented three firms and preliminary scores — EMC Engineering, Ingram & Associates and Moon Meeks & Associates — and recommended EMC. Commissioners were told staff will run a formal scoring process and present a firm for approval at a future meeting.
County staff also noted a planned segment from West Railroad to the Recreation Center will not proceed as previously expected; Weaver said staff will instead pursue a sidewalk from the library to the recreation center that could be included in the grant-funded work. No formal engineering contract was approved at the sessions; commissioners instructed staff to return with the procurement documents and a recommended firm for a vote.
The award and next steps mean design work, environmental reviews and right-of-way considerations remain ahead. Weaver cautioned the grant timeline is incremental and that project delivery will depend on the selected engineer and any required permitting.
