County approves widening of Old Northcutt Road

ELLIJAY, Ga. – Approved for a wedding and events venue in the past, Old Northcutt Road is still seeing more construction in the area and a need for widening to support the traffic on the road.

In a special called meeting, the Gilmer County Board of Commissioners addressed the issue as Planning and Zoning Director Karen Henson said the county approached representatives of Carlota, LLC. to discuss widening the road “because of the project that they are putting in.”

Estimates from Jim Smith, Director of Public Works, indicate that the road widening could cost about $18,000. This only includes a little over 500 feet of road, but the county is looking to have this done by the time colder weather prevents completion of the project.

This “sum certain,” as County Attorney David Clark called it, is the agreed payment and now the approved amount for Chairman Charlie Paris to sign. However, if estimates come back higher than this, the county will have to revisit the project in a later meeting.

Some discussion came as to whether the county would be performing the work or if a contractor would be called in to widen the road. Currently, the county is in the middle of paving, and Smith said that the county could supervise the work of a contractor. Both Post Commissioners Hubert Parker and Karleen Ferguson agreed saying that the county road department is on a schedule and did not want to give priority to this road over others on the list that have waited.

However, neighbors and citizens have been requesting help with Old Northcutt Road for a while and are hoping to receive relief for the issue. Negotiating with the LLC, the county is now looking to have them pay for the project, with the county as a “middle-man” to supervise since it is a public road.

With the contract assuming that both prep work and paving would be handled by the contractor that the LLC chooses, the county will not have to pull any department resources or equipment to the location. Carlota, LLC. is putting in the wedding and events venue on the opposite side of Highway 515 as White Path Distillery, another wedding and events venue established on Old Northcutt Road that extends across 515.

The county is looking closer and zoning requests in the future as Smith expressed his desire to have Public Works voice opinions to both the Planning and Zoning Director and Board about the road conditions and infrastructure on conditional use permits.