When leaders of Bulloch County’s Public Works Department requested a 120-day extension of what was originally a 120-day emergency spending authorization for post-storm road repairs, the county commissioners Tuesday instead granted a “six-month” or 180-day extension.

The original road repair “rapid response plan” authorization, on Aug. 12, followed Tropical Storm Debby, whose foot or more of rain caused a historic level of damage to many of Bulloch County’s dirt roads and a few of its paved roads. That came with the Board of Commissioners’ reappropriation of up to $5 million to purchase materials and hire contractors. The first 75%, or $3.75 million, was to come from the Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, or T-SPLOST, revenue. The remaining 25%, or as much as needed up to $1.25 million, would come from the county’s general fund reserve.

Unable to interest road repair contractors but hiring some dump trucks to haul crushed rock, the county department had reported making faster than expected progress with its own crews. Then Hurricane Helene roared through Sept. 26-27, its high winds toppling trees into roadways. Helene didn’t bring much rain. But a cloud system that arrived with little advance warning of its severity dumped another six to 12 inches of rain on much of the area Nov. 6-7, again causing severe damage to a long list of roads.

So far, the emergency authorization has allowed the county manager to approve materials purchases without a process requiring the Board of Commissioners to vote on each large purchase, Assistant Public Works Director Robert Seamans noted in remarks to the board.

“At this time, our 120 days is getting close to an end,” Seamans said. “As a matter of fact, the date that it does expire on is December 10. Since the time this has been implemented back in August we’ve seen two additional storms.”

The Nov. 6-7 storm had been “a rain event comparable to Debby” in this area, he noted.

“With that being said, we are requesting to have an extension of another 120 days for the emergency purchasing,” Seamans continued. “We will still be using the same funds that we’re using now, just not all allocated to Debby. This would open the door for Debby, Helene and the rain event.”

Down to 12 closed roads

“Right now we still have 12 roads closed in the county,” he reported Tuesday morning. “There were 40 we’ve been working on. Right now we have 16 unanswered complaints (about road conditions at various locations) that we’re trying to address. The original number we were working from was 48.”

County Manager Tom Couch, in his last regularly scheduled meeting for Bulloch County before his resignation takes effect at the end of next week, supported the request from Seamans and Public Works Director Dink Butler but suggested a longer extension. Couch noted that the county is seeking additional funding assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and mentioned a previously reported slowdown in Hurricane Helene debris removal caused by the loss of trucking subcontractors to Florida.

“As an afterthought, I began to wonder if 120 days is enough because I know working with FEMA and so forth is going to be a longer game … and God forbid if we have any more weather events. …,” Couch said, and asked Seamans, “But since we’re here, do you feel like 120 is sufficient?”

Seamans said the Public Works leaders had simply asked for a doubling of the original authorization days, but that it “might be reasonable to request even 180 days.” The county staff is now working on several requests for proposals for contractors, he noted.

Couch commented that with 12 roads remaining closed, “It’s going to take a while,” and added, It’s been a devastating few months.”

Chairman Roy Thompson said he thought he could help out with the decision making, and asked the six district commissioners if they had any problem with “a six-month extension.”

Commissioner Toby Conner made the motion for that extension, Commissioner Ray Mosley seconded it, and the vote was 6-0. Conner asked Butler and Seamans to provide the board monthly updates on the progress of road repairs, and they agreed to do this.

Brannen Pond Road

In another action Tuesday related to storm-damaged roads, commissioners approved an up to $115,720 addition to the $547,801 contract with McLendon Enterprises for the Brannen Pond Road drainage reconstruction project because of additional damage that occurred with this year’s storms. The change order brings the total cost of the project to about $820,000, noted County Engineer Brad Deal.

The Brannen Pond Road Connector, which provided a short cut between Brooklet-Denmark Road and U.S. Highway 80 around Brooklet, has been closed to through traffic since Hurricane Idalia’s heavy rains at the end of August 2023.

As previously reported, the restoration and upgrade project followed an up to $158,000 water-flow study and engineering design work by Kimley-Horn and Associates of Savannah. The plan has involved the installation of two 10-by-7-foot box culverts to extend about 50 feet, like a tunnel for water to replace previous pipes under the road, and restoration of a section of the roadway, part of the shoulder and a guardrail.

But more recent rain, probably from Tropical Storm Debby, reportedly created an underwater hole near the new work.

“The scour hole, which is located just beyond the end of the concrete apron at the outlet end of the new box culvert, will need to be filled in with rip rap to avoid stability problems for the concrete apron and wing walls,” Deal stated in a memo. “The hole is approximately six feet deep and covers an area of approximately 70 feet by 20 feet.”

That portion of the added work will cost approximately $93,170, but the final cost will be based on the actual amount of “rip rap,” a standard grade of large broken stone, actually needed, he said.

The recent rains have also caused additional scouring damage to the road, and fixing that is projected to cost $27,850. But some of the items in the original contract cost less than projected, subtracting $5,300, Deal reported.

So the final change order cost added $115,720, and the new project cost, including construction, engineering and design, is $821,521. FEMA’s approved reimbursement for the project is $469,264.22, and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency agreed to pay $62,568.56, for a total state and federal reimbursement of $531,832.78 from FEMA and GEMA, reported the county engineering office. This leaves an estimated total of $289,688.22 to be paid by the county from T-SPLOST revenue.

Despite the changes, the project is still on schedule for completion Jan. 3, Deal said.

Signs for wet times

Also Tuesday, as part of the consent agenda, commissioners approved a $48,109 purchase of emergency road signs from Middle Georgia Signs to replace those lost or damaged after the Public Works Department deployed its entire inventory and ran short following Hurricane Debby. The purchase includes 60 “water over road” signs, 55 used and 20 new “road closed” signs, 30 barricades and 53 sign stands.