Monday, September 19, 2016

Construction Company Clearing Land For Entrance Roadway For Epps Bridge Centre Expansion In Oconee County

Aerial Images Show

Simpson Trucking and Grading of Gaineville already has completed some of the clearing and grubbing work for Parkway Boulevard Extension, which will serve as a major entranceway for an expanded Epps Bridge Centre.

The company also is putting in temporary erosion control measures, according to Oconee County Public Works Director Emil Beshara, and plans to begin moving direct in the next couple of weeks.

The construction work is largely out of the view of the public because of topography and because access is cut off to the beginning of the roadway extension just northwest of Kohl’s department store off Epps Bridge Parkway.

Oconee 316 Associates LLC of Atlanta, developer of Epps Bridge Centre, is poised to begin its own preliminary site preparation work for the 54-acre expansion of the shopping complex.

Oconee County Code Enforcement is waiting on approval of plans by the county’s Utility Department before it can issue a site development permit for clearing, grubbing, grading, and instillation of site infrastructure, according to B.R. White, director of Code Enforcement.

The Oconee River Soil and Water Conservation District has approved erosion control plans submitted by Oconee 316 associates that include the 54 acres for the shopping center and 20 additional acres owned by the Gordy family that will be used to provide fill for the shopping center project.

Aerial Images

Chris Greer, a professor of instructional technology at Georgia College in Milledgeville, shot still and video images of the roadway construction on Sunday with a drone.

Kohl's Beneath, Epps Bridge Centre Ahead

Greer flew his drone over the path of the roadway from Kohl’s to where it will intersect with the Oconee Connector.

The new road will meet the Connector across from the existing entrance to Epps Bridge Centre just east of the building housing the Sleep Number and Vitamin Shoppe.

The new three-lane road will split the expanded shipping center into two parts, with the larger, 39-acre tract bordered by the new road, the Oconee Connector, and Plaza Parkway.

The smaller, 10.8-acre parcel will be to the east the Parkway Boulevard Extension.

Oconee 316 Associates and developer Frank Bishop will turn over 3.3 acres to Oconee County for construction of the roadway, according to the Soil and Water Conservation District documents.

Funding Of Roadway

The Oconee County Board of Commissioners in January approved a $3.35 million contract with Simpson Trucking and Grading Company for construction of Parkway Boulevard Extension.

To finance the project, the county, through its Industrial Development Authority, sold $4.285 million in bonds.

The extra money is being used to purchase needed easements from land owners other than Bishop and for beautification of the roadway once it is completed and for beautification of the Mars Hill Road once that widening project is finished.

The county is hoping that Bishop will be successful in landing retailers to produce enough revenue in property and sales taxes to cover the expenses.

Costco is mentioned as one possible tenant.

Change Orders

At a called meeting, the Board of Commissioners on Sept. 14 approved two change orders with ABE Consulting for design work on Parkway Boulevard Extension. (Video of that meeting is here.)

Epps Bridge Centre At End Of Parkway Boulevard Extension

The first order was for $4,380 to do a design change to eliminate one of the originally included entrances to the smaller of the Bishop tracts.

The second change order for $6,160 was for surveys for two of the property owners from whom right of way was purchased.

ABE Consulting is owned by Abe Abouhamdan, chairman of the county’s Citizen Advisory Committee on Land Use and Transportation Planning.

Work To Come

Beshara told me in an email message this morning that the initial work completed by Simpson Trucking and Grading included the removal of trees, brush and stumps.

Construction should take about seven months, Beshara said, but weather can have a significant effect on schedule.

“We are hoping for completion by May of next year,” he wrote.

The Oconee River Soil and Water Conservation District approved the Erosion and Sediment Control Plan for Epps Bridge Centre Phases II and III on Aug. 18.

The Oconee River Soil and Water Conservation District is one of eight districts in Region II of the state Soil and Water Conservation Commission.

Video

The video below includes two clips. The first starts at the Oconee Connector and travels toward McNutt Creek, the border between Oconee County and Athens-Clarke County.

The second clip starts at the current stub of Parkway Boulevard to the west of Kohl’s department store and travels to the existing Epps Bridge Centre.

OCO: Aerial Tour Parkway Boulevard Extension from Lee Becker on Vimeo.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

1) I sure hope the Oconee River Soil and Water Conservation District does a better job monitoring this project than it does with monitoring Calls Creek sewage emissions and and overall lack of monitoring of the county's Water & Sewer Dept.

2) It is incredibly unethical and unprofessional for Abe Abouhamdan, chairman of the county’s Citizen Advisory Committee on Land Use and Transportation Planning, to do business directly with the county. Hoping the good ole boy network will lessen in power with a new commission chair and fifth commissioner.



At a called meeting, the Board of Commissioners on Sept. 14 approved two change orders with ABE Consulting for design work on Parkway Boulevard Extension.
The first order was for $4,380 to do a design change to eliminate one of the originally included entrances to the smaller of the Bishop tracts.
The second change order for $6,160 was for surveys for two of the property owners from whom right of way was purchased.
ABE Consulting is owned by Abe Abouhamdan, chairman of the county’s Citizen Advisory Committee on Land Use and Transportation Planning.

Xardox said...

Hopped right to it, didn't they?
Abe and Frank, you know - Melvin's friends? - sure must be happy with the road out of sight of those who paying for their little pots of gold.

Zippity said...

As the evaluation of the sales tax data shows, the expected sales tax revenue won't pay for this. We will pay for it and I guess this is what we want - more stores, more pavement, more global climate change, fewer trees, because we leave the same folks in office.

Anonymous said...

1) The Oconee River Soil and Water Conservation District has no responsibility or authority to monitor Waste Water treatment or to monitor the County Utility Department. That falls to the EPD.

2) Pretty hard to say that sales tax revenue won't pay for a road that not only hasn't been completed, but nothing has been built on it to generate any sales tax. But then again, I guess evaluations are in the eye of the evaluator.

Anonymous said...

Zippity ... The road costs ~$3.8 million. The anticipated receipts in that development will be about $100 million per year, meaning sales tax collection alone will be $3 million ($1 million for LOST, SPLOST, and ELOST each.) So with the SPLOST collection alone, that road will be pay for itself in less than 5 years.

And since you referred to the previous blog post on Sales Tax... those charts showed Oconee County's sales tax collection continues to rise and at least keep pace with inflation. Were it not for the new retail development, our county would have seen a decline in both actual sales tax revenue and inflation-adjusted revenue.

I for one am glad development is coming to our county and that our property values are rising. It gives me comfort knowing I will be able to sell my house for more than I paid for it 10 years ago... many folks in other parts of the state are not so fortunate, and they would do anything to have our "problems."

Anonymous said...

Just curious.....if it was important to identify Mr. Abe as the Chairman of the Land Use and Transportation Advisory Committee, wouldn't it be just as important to also identify him as a 30+ year resident of Oconee County, a local business owner, and the apparent low-bidder on the project ? Unless of course, there is an insinuation of collusion on how he was awarded the project ??

Lee Becker said...

Dear Anonymous,

I had written earlier about the awarding of the contract to ABE consulting.

The link is here to the most recent story:

http://www.oconeecountyobservations.org/2014/09/oconee-county-commissioners-decide-to.html

Abe was the low bidder.

I don't know how long Abe has lived in Oconee County, but I have frequently indicated that his office is at 2410 Hog Mountain Road, west of Butler's Crossing. I said that in the story to which I just gave the link.

He is the chair of the citizen committee, appointed by the Board of Commissioners and elected chair by the members. I frequently write about him in that context.

I do not think the mention suggests collusion. I have written about members of other citizen committees who have gotten county contracts, I have made that mention as well.

Thanks for raising the question.

Lee




Anonymous said...

Absolute hogwash from Anon 10:22

-$100 million projected revenue is simply pie in the sky...after Melvin's lie about Caterpillar and our own county's Economic Development Director passing off a fraud report on the proposed auto dealerships, taxpayers should be incredibly skeptical about any projected tax revenue.

-The majority of commenters on OCO are not anti-business, but they are against unfettered dumb growth, and no one believes anything the Melvin Davis administration has to say. His legacy is tarnished. This administration has made million dollar mistakes (Caterpillar), given favors to FOM's (Friends of Melvin), kowtowed to out of county Frank Bishop and Jamie Boswell, etc., etc., etc.

-Question for you Anon 10:22, if there's so much sales tax revenue coming into Oconee, why hasn't the millage rate been lowered.

Mic drop.

Anonymous said...

The operative words "anticipated receipts". Somehow those don't seem to materialize and lower our taxes. What happens when the businesses don't materialize or don't do as anticipated? Our money has already been spent.

rightway1974 said...

The anonymous posters want you to believe as they do about growth paying for itself. I bet you can not find a development in Oconee County that is a net profit to the tax payers. By the way, being here 30 years isnt a drop in the bucket compared to others who live here and are not in the business of turning Oconee into Gwinnett.

outsiderlookingin said...

Lee, Abe Abouhamdan's name is apparently a stick of dynamite and you frequently light that fuse, you would have to be blind not to see it, I also think he should resign from his position. Anonymous, is there a problem at the waste water plant, I would like to know if there is because the environment is very important to me. rightway1974, so the years you live here give you more say so, right?

rightway1974 said...

It must, since you seem to think that Abe living here 30 years gives him more say so.