Audio clip
Mike Evans
DALTON, Ga. — Fresh from a political scuffle that nearly cost him his job, Georgia Department of Transportation board Chairman Mike Evans stopped here Monday to deliver word of a $300,000 transportation enhancement grant.
He also visited Trenton and Ringgold, delivering a $250,000 grant for streetscape projects to each.
Whitfield County’s “Transportation Enhancement” grant will fund sidewalks and trails in historic Tunnel Hill.
Mr. Evans was targeted by House Speaker Glenn Richardson for replacement because Mr. Evans had supported Gina Abraham for DOT commissioner, instead of the speaker’s nominee.
But Mr. Evans survived with help from Northwest Georgia legislators. Some of them were stripped of committee chairmanships and choice Capitol office space because they bucked the speaker.
Mr. Evans joked Monday about DOT’s funding woes, urging officials to wait before cashing the oversized novelty check. But he acknowledged that DOT has promised to support roads projects in Whitfield County.
In June, he told Whitfield County officials that DOT would match up to 75 percent of locally raised funds, and he urged residents to pass a special purpose local option sales tax. They did three months later.
On Monday, Mr. Evans said he’s still committed to matching SPLOST dollars but he couldn’t say how much the state would match.
County Commission Chairman Brian Anderson said he’s confident the state will match some SPLOST money. But, he said, SPLOST projects dependent on DOT funding will be put “on the back burner.”
The $300,000 grant, meanwhile, will stimulate the local economy, officials said. Creating green space in historic Tunnel Hill will boost Civil War tourism and “spotlight historic resources,” said Butch Sanders, Dalton’s administrator.
In Ringgold, City Manager Dan Wright said its new grant provides a start for a $500,000 downtown face-lift.
Peter Cervelli, manager of Trenton’s Better Hometown program, said the funds will help with an improvement project still in its infancy.
“What we have is just not even a paper concept,” he said. “What we’d like to do is improve the look of downtown, starting around the courthouse.”
Staff writers Ronnie Moore and Chloé Morrison contributed to this report.
WHAT IT MEANS
Transportation enhancement projects are funded by the federal government and administered by the state to improve historical, natural and scenic areas.
Source: Georgia DOT Web site
