License plate reading technology, new street light districts and abandoning the right-of-way at John Deere Parkway are on the Columbia County Board of Commissioners’ upcoming agenda after the county’s committee meetings Tuesday morning.
The Public Works and Engineering Services Committee, chaired by District 3 Commissioner Gary Richardson, heard a petition to abandon the John Deere Parkway right-of-way per the request of Deer and Company.
Planning director Scott Sterling told the committee that staff had been working with John Deere, alongside the Columbia County Development Authority, for about six years to help the company optimize their production and shipping relative to its split campus.
John Deere had been held up from abandoning the right-of-way before because it didn’t own the property. Currently, the only portion it hasn’t acquired is some 1,300 feet on the southern end on John Deere Parkway.
MORE: Mayor-elect Johnson names chief of staff
The company has a new plan in place should they acquire it, Sterling noted, along with the fact that Gateway Boulevard now provides a bypass to downtown Grovetown via I-20.
Sean Smith of Cranston Engineering told the committee that John Deere currently plans to install a manned guard shack with a gate at the property’s Wrightsboro Road end.
Smith also said the company is with the fire marshal to maintain fast emergency access near the Horizon Parkway end, possibly an electronic gate with an intercom system and video camera.
“We’re moving all our gates back so that existing businesses on John Deere Parkway still have full access to all their driveways and their parking facilities,” Smith said to the committee.
The residents and developers of several Columbia County subdivisions petitioned the traffic engineering staff to create several street light districts, including in Highland Lakes, River Island, Somerset at Williamsburg, Crawford Creek and Tillery Park.
Georgia Power’s cost proposals for the upfront installations for each neighborhood total more than $48,000.
The Management and Internal Services Committee, chaired by Commissioner Connie Melear, considered a proposed agreement between the county and Virginia-based CelPlan Technologies to install an automated license-plate reader system.
MORE: Johnson names Meagher to liaison post
The project would entail CelPlan connecting and configuring some 79 specialized cameras at approximately 26 locations throughout Columbia county, as well as train Sheriff’s Office personnel in their use, to enhance “the ability of the CCSO to respond to emergencies and solve crimes.
The county’s Information Technology department estimated that initial cost of the project to be over $400,000, to be funded through Title Ad Valorem Tax funds. Staff requested an additional $25,000 “to accommodate any unforeseen environmental, engineering, permitting, or administrative costs.” Annual ongoing costs of maintaining the system would be more than $230,000, to be allocated from the Sheriff’s Office’s budget.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
