Downtown road construction coming next month

By press time, City Hall was still sorting out preconstruction details, such as an exact start date, expected completion timeline and how traffic will flow during construction.

Officials are aiming to keep one lane open throughout the project and said that all businesses located along that corridor will remain open amid construction, though City Hall parking will be closed. Additionally, Blairsville-based Colditz Trucking will be doing much of the work at night to minimize traffic impacts.

Blairsville has known for some time that the stormwater drainage infrastructure connecting Merchants Walk to the exit pipe behind City Hall has needed work, but project planning received a higher priority about a year ago when it was discovered that the pipe was at capacity and degrading beneath the road and city parking lot.

Specifically, the stormwater grate inlets at the Merchants Walk exit need to be replaced, as do the stormwater pipes that run from the front of Merchants Walk under Blue Ridge Street and the city parking lot to the retaining wall behind City Hall, Blairsville Mayor Buddy Moore said.

All the stormwater between the square, Vincent’s Coppertop Restaurant & Pub, and the “Allison” property exits at the wall behind City Hall, and Moore said a catch basin will be built at the storm pipe exit, aka outfall, to prevent washout below. The outfall will also be replaced.

Since the city will be fixing drainage issues that require work on Blue Ridge Street anyway, officials have paired that work with other projects that need to be done, including resurfacing the roadway, rehabilitating the sidewalks on both sides of the resurfacing area, and slightly extending the southern sidewalk in the direction of Earnest Street.

The Blue Ridge Street Improvement Project was discussed at the Blairsville City Council regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, July 14, resulting in the addition of plans to upgrade the crosswalk between City Hall and Merchants Walk as part of the project.

Regarding the crosswalk, the city expressed interest in introducing traffic-calming measures there, ultimately deciding to repaint the area and install a speed table with a crosswalk on top to improve pedestrian safety. The new crosswalk will be in the same location as the existing one.

“It’s really dangerous trying to walk across, and with so much traffic, it’s really hard to pull out of City Hall,” Moore said. “I’ve been thinking about (it) especially since I’ve been working here.”

Blairsville Police Chief Michael “Bear” Baxter suggested repainting the crosswalk and surrounding pavement to better alert drivers to the pedestrian crossing.

“You can’t even tell it’s a designated crosswalk other than that little light,” Baxter said. “It needs to be painted, and it needs to be bright.”

City Attorney Marvin Harkins further suggested elevating the crosswalk itself as a speed table, which Baxter said would be “less invasive” than using traditional speed bumps.

“When you go over them, you’ll feel it, but they’re not so bad it’ll throw you up in the dash,” added Councilman Tony Dyer.

Although the council took no formal action that evening, Moore said he plans to ask city staff about making those changes ahead of the project. The city is delaying construction until after the Green Bean Festival later this month to avoid disrupting downtown events, Moore said.

In terms of overall project costs, Moore said city officials have redesigned part of the drainage system to avoid a utility pole, reducing the price tag by an estimated $200,000 to $300,000 and bringing the total cost below its original $1 million budget.

Approximately $700,000 of that will be funded through SPLOST revenues, Moore said, with the remaining cost to be paid from the city’s General Fund.

Union County Government is expected to officially award the project contract to Colditz at the Aug. 20 commission meeting, though the work could begin before then; per the usual roadwork arrangement, the county will help the city complete the project with county SPLOST funds, and the city will use its own SPLOST collections to reimburse the county.

Residents are asked to please have patience during construction.

Also during the July 14 meeting, the council approved hiring Michael Lirette as a police academy cadet beginning in August.

Chief Baxter said this is the first time the city has approved a contract of its kind, under which Lirette will attend the academy for approximately $12,000 to $15,000 in department funds and commit to three years of employment with the department. The agreement allows the city to recover the training costs if Lirette leaves before fulfilling the commitment.

In other business, Justin Burruss of Rushton CPA presented Blairsville’s Fiscal Year 2025 audit, reporting that the city received another unmodified or “clean” opinion.

“That’s the highest level of assurance that us, as auditors, can give you,” Burruss said concerning the city’s fiscal health.

He reported that the city’s finances remained stable throughout the year, with approximately $32.9 million in net position and more than $5 million in unrestricted General Fund reserves.

Burruss also said that Blairsville has approximately 24 months of operating reserves, which he noted is “well above” the commonly recommended three to six months.

The council also approved several airport hangar lease renewals and assignments and authorized the Marshalls department store to receive its occupational tax certificate and sign permit for the new Blairsville location.

Blairsville City Council and Mayor Moore meet the second Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. inside City Hall, 62 Blue Ridge Street. The public is encouraged to attend.