The Macon-Bibb County Commission allocated $25 million in 2025 SPLOST bond funds Tuesday evening, with the bulk of the money paying for $20 million in road resurfacing.
Public safety needs took more than $3.5 million with $2.7 million buying new tornado sirens, nearly $123,000 for weather radios and $675K for architectural services for the renovation of the Bibb County Jail.
Commissioners also agreed to $1.2 million for project management services for the new arena.
From the remaining funds from the 2018 SPLOST, the county agreed to set aside $625K as matching funds for a $2.5 million grant application to expand the Ocmulgee Heritage Trail.
Macon-Bibb County is appealing to the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program to fund a new Conservation Park where visitors can see the wetland ecosystem and understand its impact on water quality in the Ocmulgee River watershed, according to the ordinance passed Tuesday night.
In 2019, the Georgia Department of Transportation deeded over to the Macon-Bibb County Urban Development Authority 210 acres near Amerson River Park and the county recently purchased additional private lands to connect the properties and potentially stretch the trail beyond its current 12.5 miles.
The future vision for the northern end of the greenway builds additional trails past River North and Georgia Power’s former Plant Arkwright to skirt the Shoppes at River Crossing along Beaver Dam Creek.
Paving and violence prevention
Tuesday’s meeting included appropriating an additional $4.1 million in paving contracts going to Professional Paving Services and Atlanta Paving & Concrete Construction. Both companies successfully bid on earlier paving contracts approved over the last two months.
Commissioner Paul Bronson, a Bike Walk Macon board member, asked if Complete Streets consideration was being given to including safety enhancements for all modes of transportation during these projects such as sidewalks.
Mayor Lester Miller reminded Bronson that commissioners revised the 2021 Complete Streets policy in August. Complete Streets never mandated safety enhancements for routine maintenance projects, but the revision also gave county officials greater leeway for exemptions.
“If we have a new change to a road that’s not just general maintenance, then of course it will be going through Complete Streets and that process, so it will go through that board for recommendations and advisory,” Miller said. “The reason we asked for those changes to be made is to make sure we expedite the process for general maintenance.”
The county distributed another $100,000 in Macon Violence Prevention funds: Root Analytics gets $75,000 to assist those experiencing homelessness including inmates being released from jail without housing, and $25,000 for Next Level Community Development Center’s afterschool programs.
Here are highlights from the meeting captured in social media posts.
— Civic Journalism Senior Fellow Liz Fabian covers Macon-Bibb County government entities and can be reached at [email protected] or 478-301-2976.
