Transportation, Elected Officials Meet
State Representative Susan Holmes (R-Monticello) recently hosted a meeting of local government officials, state officials and key members of the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT).
The meeting, which was held at the Monticello City Hall, included county commissioners, mayors, city council members, county administrators and city administrators from Butts, Jasper, Jones and Monroe Counties.
State officials present included State Rep. Robert Dickey (R-Musella) and State Sen. Burt Jones (R-Jackson), along with DOT Board Member Jamie Boswell, DOT Board Vice Chairman Jay Shaw, Thomaston District Engineer Thomas Howell and Tennille District Engineer Jimmy Smith.
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Rep. Holmes’ district spans the southern half of Butts County, all of Jasper County and portions of Jones and Monroe County. Two GDOT districts fall within her district and this meeting was designed to bring together the district engineers and board members from those districts with the policymakers in the district to discuss transportation issues.
After a lunch provided by Rep. Holmes, introductions of all in attendance were made followed by presentations from GDOT officials. GDOT Board Vice Chairman Jay Shaw discussed how DOT was adjusting to fiscal changes and policies that have been made over many years, as well as the impact TSPLOST was having on counties that voted in favor of it.
He assured the officials present that GDOT was committed to work with counties on their transportation projects and encouraged regional projects that could garner greater support by GDOT. He also encouraged officials to get to know their district engineers and call on them for help.
GDOT Board Member Jamie Boswell of Athens represents Butts County and Jasper County on the state board and was appointed to the position in April of 2013. He expressed his appreciation to Senator Jones and Representative Holmes for their input on his appointment and affirmed his commitment to work with the board and local governments wherever possible to make GDOT more accessible. DOT board member Jay Shaw from Lakeland represents Jones and Monroe Counties and will most likely become the GDOT board chair in the next election.
Rep. Holmes addressed the local government officials in attendance, stating “I want all of you to get to know these folks from Georgia DOT and for them to get to know you. They’re here to answer your questions and if they don’t know the answer, they’ll get it for you.”
Rep. Holmes also indicated that she would like to have more of these kinds of meetings in the future to bring local and state government officials together to work on common issues and to have open communication.
“We’re all in this together,” she concluded.
Attending from Jasper County were Commission Chair Carl Pennamon, Commissioners Craig Salmon and Gene Trammell, County Manager Karren Degges, Development Authority of Jasper County (DAJC) Director David Dyer, Monticello Mayor Bryan Standifer and City Manager Tim Sweezey.
