Regional roundtable reaches consensus on road projects

CLARKESVILLE -- Members of the Georgia Mountains Regional Transportation Roundtable agreed Wednesday night on a list of transportation projects for the region that would be funded by a proposed 1-cent Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax.

Voters across the region, and those in other regions of the state, are expected to vote sometime in 2012 on whether to approve the proposed sales tax.

When that vote will occur was a matter of discussion at Wednesday's meeting, with most in attendance saying they prefer the vote coinciding with the General Election in November 2012, rather than in July as initially proposed, to maximize the number of voters.

District 51 State Sen. Steve Gooch warned the group "the thing is getting politicized" and that moving a vote to November could have long-term ramifications for cities and counties seeking local sales taxes in 2012 and beyond.

Gooch said some groups in Atlanta are advocating moving all future SPLOST votes, excluding those for education, to coincide with the General Election rather than on a Special Election date.

"I don't know that there's enough votes to get it through the Senate without it being done that way," Gooch said.

Cumming Mayor H. Ford Gravitt took issue with changing the election from July to November and with state legislators telling local officials when SPLOST votes can be held.

Roundtable Chairman Lamar Paris, sole commissioner of Union County, pointed out "SPLOST is a complicated issue," adding he doesn't believe cities and counties will stand for requiring sales tax votes to be held only on General Election dates.

Paris said future local SPLOSTs often are continuation taxes and jurisdictions have to time them to take effect when the current ones run out.

After hearing Gooch's comments, Gainesville Mayor Ruth Bruner said if local SPLOST referenda would have to coincide with General Election dates the vote should remain in July.

Gooch encouraged city and county leaders to call their legislators Thursday with concerns about shifting future local SPLOSTs to General Election dates. "Friday might be too late," he cautioned.

As the meeting proceeded, roundtable members unanimously approved proceeding with the published constrained draft project list, with a few modifications and substitutions not affecting the net proceeds spent in each county.

Paris pointed out that Union and Towns counties agreed to take less T-SPLOST money for projects there because they feel two more southerly projects are of benefit to their own communities.

"We feel that the Cleveland Bypass will be of real benefit to our county, as will be the [Highway] 129 widening project," Paris said. The Highway 129 widening project includes both White and Hall counties.

Paris noted emergency personnel from mountain counties rely on Highway 129 to reach medical facilities in Gainesville and beyond.

The group's next meeting was set for 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 5, at the Ruby Fulbright Aquatic Center near Clarkesville.

"This process has worked well," Gooch said following the meeting. "To see this many cities and counties come together for regional projects is positive." Rep. Carl Rogers, who left the Capitol at 3 p.m. to arrive in time for the roundtable meeting, said reaching this point in the T-SPLOST process did not occur quickly.

"It's been very interesting," Rogers said." It's a regional tax. We all have to work together. We all can't have everything. For me it's been a five-year process. It hasn't been easy, but we're to the point I'm feeling a little bit better about it."

Gainesville Mayor Ruth Bruner said she was pleased with the outcome of Wednesday's meeting.

"Today's meeting went great," she said. " It's very gratifying to see all of the whole region come together and pass these projects unanimously without any kind of animosity, kind of working together."

The Georgia Mountains Regional Transportation Roundtable consists of city and county officials from Banks, Dawson, Forsyth, Franklin, Habersham, Hall, Hart, Lumpkin, Rabun, Stephens, Towns, Union and White counties.