Habersham County is still repairing damages left from Tropical Storms Delta and Zeta, namely those damages done to New Liberty Road in Clarkesville. Habersham County did not meet federal guidelines to receive funds from Georgia and federal emergency associations GEMA and FEMA. In order to qualify for these funds, more than 15 million dollars of damage have to occur during the disaster that brought on damages. The Habersham Commission is now looking to the GDOT Emergency Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant (LIMG) fund alongside remaining SPLOST VI funds to make the necessary repairs.
Habersham has applied for the GDOT Emergency Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant (LMIG) and is awaiting further information regarding that grant. As for SPLOST VI, it could cover more than half of the costs of the repairs New Liberty Road needs.
“Tropical storm Delta […] had a tremendous amount of damage [on Habersham County]. The estimated cost for those repairs is approximately 2.4 million dollars,” City Manager Phil Sutton said. “The funds that the county could use to help pay for some of those costs would be the remaining SPLOST VI funds, which were primarily designated at this point for road improvement.”
The usage of remaining SPLOST VI funds, totaling at $1,146,399, was passed unanimously by the Board of Commissioners.
District five commissioner Tim Stamey has looked into less expensive ways to make the necessary repairs to New Liberty Road, but wasn’t able to find another safe option due to the environmental concerns surrounding a nearby trout stream.
“This is yet another example of how vitally important SPLOST is to our community,” Chairman Stacy Hall said in a press release. “We will also be tapping into our reserve fund to help pay for these damages. I’m grateful for this Commission and preceding Commissions for setting money aside in this reserve fund to help pay for unforeseen issues such as this.”
