Wednesday, May 29, 2002
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Wednesday, May 29, 2002 |
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County: How to dredge PTC lake up to contractor By JOHN MUNFORD
It will be another little while before Peachtree City residents will have more answers about the Fayette County Water System's plans to dredge Lake Peachtree. City officials have agreed to allow the use of Drake Field for staging equipment in the project, which will remove an estimated 22,000 cubic yards of sediment from certain areas on the bottom of the lake. But water officials have decided to hold a wide-open bidding process. Instead of pre-selecting a method and seeking contractors to perform the job that way, the system will seek bids from contractors, who will specify in the bid which method of removal will occur. "That way we'll have the best price and the best plans for the county," said Jim Mallett, the consulting engineer for the Fayette County Water System. "... We'll look at all the prices and methods." The city's input was the original holdup, but now the water system has to wait for a permit from the Georgia Department of Transportation. That's because the city wants the contractors to access Drake Field by paving a road off Ga. Highway 54 at a cut-through for the property. The city contends the cut-through will keep heavy trucks from mingling with residents who have business at nearby City Hall and the library. But for the county, it means an estimated 30 additional days in time that will be needed to secure the DOT's approval for the project. "We're working on the drawings for this right now," Mallett told the county's water committee at its meeting last week. Several committee members have said they hope to avoid a dredging procedure that calls for reducing the level of Lake Peachtree. Some residents are urging the county to use a barging process that would allow trucks to take away the silt before it dries out. The dredging is required by a contract with the water system and the city since the water system uses Lake Peachtree as a reservoir.
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