CORDELE — A pair of big projects in Crisp County was approved and will begin in the coming months following the unanimous decision by The Crisp County Board of Commissioners.

The approval of fiscal year 2017 paving projects, which included a bid of $1,570,705 Reeves Construction Company to patch and resurface and edge widen about three miles of Drayton Road according to Public Works Director Carl Gamble.

In addition, the bid also includes resurfacing and striping neighborhood roads as part of the LMIG and systems safety package.

Because the county is using this for LMIG, Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant, it cuts the cost down to $623,160.68.

One of the stipulation is that road work on Drayton Road must be started before December 31. The other roads will not be complete until April 2018 and Gamble said they would have to apply for other grant packages in 2018.

Crisp County Finance Director Sherrie Leverett said the county did not have enough SPLOST money to do this project so around $500,000 of the cost would come from TSPLOST funds, cutting those funds in half for major capital expenses.

The board unanimously voted to pass the approval following a motion by Councilman Wallace Mathis and a second by James R. Dowdy.

The second big project discussed was the Federal Aviation Administration and Department of Transportation Airport project and whether they should proceed by approving an E-Contract.

The project will be in two phases, with a total bid of $1,480,767 by Peed Brothers. Federal funds from the FAA come in at $174,674.94, while funds from the state of Georgia will $973,835.33. Leverett reported that left Crisp County with a total of  $332,256 to be paid out of the airport SPLOST fund.

As part of the $1.4 million bid, Roberts Company will be the construction professionals with contract engineers.

The board declared that National Surgical Technologist Day would be on Thursday, September 21 after issuing a proclamation for it.

A resolution on 911 charges was confirmed with the cost being $1.50 per month for landline, wireless and DOIP. The cost for prepaid wireless telecommunications came out to $.75 per month and both were passed.

They also approved an update to the per diem meal and incidentals section of the official travel policy. Leverett, when asked, said it would increase the amount by around $15-20. Currently, the policy allowed officials travelling on business for Crisp County $30 per day.

In the next meeting on October 10, they will revisit a request from adjacent property owners on the abandonment of an undeveloped road.