Jonathan Jackson
The Union-Recorder
MILLEDGEVILLE —
The cutting of nearly 200 trees in three Milledgeville Housing Authority developments has been temporarily suspended pending a review of a site improvement project.
The Milledgeville Housing Authority board of commissioners met Monday night in a regular meeting and were delivered a report from Mike Johnson whose architectural firm, SRJ Engineering, won the bid to perform site improvement work at Graham, Habersham and Wray Homes. In the report, Johnson outlined the procedures the firm and the board had agreed upon and upheld the decision to perform the work.
“We all stand behind the decisions that were made on this project,” Johnson said.
The report to the board was in response to an outcry from a group of Milledgeville residents who oppose the removal of large trees that could provide shade in the homes maintained by the housing authority. The housing authority provides air conditioning in only a small portion of the homes.
The outcry of the people opposing the plan led to an impromptu meeting at the site of tree removals in Wray homes, then a meeting to express concern to the Milledgeville Housing Authority and the project engineer.
Citing his company’s long-standing relationship with other housing authorities throughout the state and the qualifications of the engineers and consultants brought in for the large project, Johnson recommended to the board that the work proceed.
Board members Col. Fred Van Horn and Lyn Chandler asked for a brief reprieve while the project was assessed and the board voted unanimously to allow for five days to review the project pending an agreement reached by the contractor, engineering firm and board attorney as well as arranging a new assessment of the sites with the firm’s consultant.
The concerned citizens thanked the board, through spokesperson Diane Lucette, for their dedication to the housing authority. Four members of the group will be selected to accompany the engineering firm’s assessment team as they identify trees that could be spared and others that some in the group say should have been marked for removal but haven’t been.
The site improvement project is funded by stimulus money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The funds, totaling nearly $680,000 will provide for tree removal, site grading, sidewalk repair and replacement, tree planting and sod. Milledgeville Housing Authority cited the need for improved safety of the grounds at the ribbon cutting for the project weeks ago.
Harden issued a statement regarding the site improvement plan last week.
“The Milledgeville Housing Authority has been cited by HUD (The Department for Housing and Urban Development) for the condition of our grounds and we have received failing grades for the current conditions,” she said. “We have also been cited by the city of Milledgeville Code Enforcement for serious erosion at one of our sites. As an eligible activity, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant funds provide us the opportunity to correct the site problems. These funds and the Site Improvement Project come together and provide us with the opportunity to remove dangerous conditions that have been cited as safety issues for our residents by the HUD Real Estate Assessment Center annually. The Real Estate Assessment Center has given us a negative evaluation of our sites due to erosion and safety associated with roots from older trees. We have an obligation to our residents to provide safe communities where they can live and enjoy.”
Affected parties will consult to establish a date and time for the assessment of the project. In the mean time, the authority will select four members from the concerned group to give input into the selection process for trees that should be removed or may be saved.
The housing authority will next select four people from the group concerned with the plan.
