ATLANTA – The Georgia Department of Transportation (DOT) has awarded a nearly $6.6 million contract in an ambitious plan to replace the cables on the Talmadge Bridge in Savannah and potentially raise it to accommodate larger cargo ships.
The contract went to Kiewit Infrastructure South Co. of Peachtree City, which will work with project designer Parsons Transportation Group to provide recommendations throughout the pre-construction phase of the work.
It’s the DOT’s first Construction Management/General Contractor (CM/GC) contract, a nontraditional model that accelerates the delivery of much-needed transportation improvements by getting the contractor involved as the project is being designed.
“Our first CM/GC procurement was successful, with three finalist teams and a competitive process leading to an extremely strong team selected for this first-of-its-kind project,” said Andrew Hoenig, the DOT’s construction program manager for projects built through public-private partnerships.
The State Transportation Board approved using the CM/GC procurement method last year, then brought on Parsons Transportation Group in August.
Preconstruction services will begin during the first quarter of this year, with construction of the $150 million to $175 million project set to start early in 2025.
In addition to structural improvements to the cable-stayed bridge across the Savannah River, the contractor will explore shortening the cables to provide additional vertical clearance for ships moving into and out of the Port of Savannah’s terminals directly upstream.
While some bridge projects across the nation have involved replacing cables, combining the cable work with raising the bridge would be a first, Hoenig told board members in November. The project is expected to take two-and-a-half to three years to complete.
ATLANTA – A federal judge has ruled in favor of a Texas-based conservative group in a lawsuit over its effort to lodge more than 364,000 challenges to Georgia voters’ eligibility.
U.S. District Judge Steve Jones, the same jurist who upheld state’s new congressional and legislative district maps last week, declared Tuesday that True the Vote’s actions did not constitute illegal voter intimidation as alleged by Fair Fight Action, the voting rights group founded by Democrat Stacey Abrams.
True the Vote filed challenges in December 2020 ahead of two runoff elections that vaulted Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock into the U.S. Senate, claiming the affected voters appeared to be ineligible to vote because of changes in residency. Local elections offices rejected most of the challenges.
Jones found that the groups’ actions did not rise to the level of violating the Voting Rights Act.
“This decision is monumental,” said Jake Evans, lead attorney for True the Vote in the case. “It vindicates True the Vote in totality and establishes that eligibility challenges under Section 230 (of the federal law) are a proper method to ensure voter rolls are accurate.”
But other portions of Jones’ ruling criticized the organization’s process for challenging voters.
“As the federal court weighed the evidence presented about True the Vote’s tactics in the 2021 runoff elections, it did not hold back its criticisms of the Texas group’s methods,” said Cianti Stewart-Reid, Fair Fight’s executive director. “To the contrary, the 145-page opinion expressly states the court ‘in no way is condoning (True the Vote’s) actions in facilitating a mass number of seemingly frivolous challenges.’ “
A sweeping overhaul of state election law the General Assembly passed in 2021 after the Senate runoffs and after the lawsuit was filed allows individuals to file an unlimited number of voter eligibility challenges.
ATLANTA – A Morgan County judge has dismissed a lawsuit aimed at stopping the construction of a $5 billion electric vehicle manufacturing plant near Interstate 20 east of Atlanta.
When Rivian first announced its plans in 2021, the plant was the largest economic development project in Georgia history. But it was superseded in 2022 when Hyundai Motor Group broke ground on a $5.5 billion EV plant west of Savannah.
The lawsuit, filed by a group of nearby property owners, charged the state with acquiring the property and then leasing it to Rivian to avoid local zoning laws. Morgan County Superior Court Judge Stephen Bradley ruled Tuesday that local zoning regulations do not apply to state-owned property.
The Georgia Department of Economic Development and the Joint Development Authority of Jasper, Morgan, Newton, and Walton Counties (JDA) closed on the bonds financing the project in November and executed a rental agreement giving Rivian long-term rights to the site.
“The state, JDA, and – more importantly – taxpaying Georgians have again prevailed in overcoming the latest attempt by a few individuals who are committed to opposing this generational project that will benefit countless Georgians,” the state and local agencies wrote in a prepared statement. “It is a new year, and this ruling is a defining new chapter as we look toward a bright future of success with Rivian.”
Construction is due to begin soon on the project, which is expected to create 7,500 jobs.
The plant’s opponents have cited the impacts of increased traffic, litter, water contamination, and damage to local wetlands.
ATLANTA – Two Georgia House Democrats drawn into districts with fellow Democrats during the General Assembly’s recent redistricting special session will not seek reelection this year, Georgia Public Broadcasting reported Tuesday.
The new House map the legislature’s Republican majorities approved last month put Rep. Gregg Kennard, D-Lawrenceville, in the same Gwinnett County district with House Minority Whip Sam Park, D-Lawrenceville. Rep. Doug Stoner, D-Smyrna, was drawn into a Cobb County district with Rep. Teri Anulewicz, D-Smyrna.
On Tuesday, Kennard and Stoner announced they will leave the legislature at the end of this year.
Kennard said he wasn’t willing to force voters to choose between him and Park.
“He’s really an incredible presence down at the House,” Kennard said. “He’s really important to the chamber and Georgia.”
Stoner released a statement thanking his constituents for supporting him during his tenure under the Gold Dome.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to have worked alongside so many dedicated individuals who are committed to making our community a better place for all,” he said.
The new House map also pairs two other sets of incumbents: Democrats Becky Evans and Saira Draper in DeKalb County and Republicans Beth Camp and David Knight in a district that includes all of Pike County and parts of Spalding and Lamar counties.
The redistricting special session followed a ruling by U.S. District Judge Steve Jones in October declaring the legislative and congressional maps the General Assembly adopted in 2021 violated the Voting Rights Act. Jones upheld the redrawn maps that came out of the special session last week.
Kennard is serving his third two-year term in the House. Stoner is in his second stint in the lower chamber. He was elected in 2022 after previously serving one term in the House and four terms in the state Senate.
ATLANTA – Two Georgia Senate Republican leaders pre-filed legislation Tuesday to bypass a court ruling late last year that blocked implementation of a new oversight board for local prosecutors lawmakers created last year.
The bill would allow the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission to set its own rules and regulations.
Senate Bill 92, which the General Assembly’s Republican majorities passed mostly along party lines, tasked the Georgia Supreme Court with reviewing the new commission’s standards of conduct. But the justices ruled in November that the high court lacks the authority to conduct such a review, effectively blocking the bill from taking effect.
The legislature created the oversight commission to investigate complaints lodged against local prosecutors and potentially discipline or remove the target of a complaint on a variety of grounds including mental or physical incapacity, willful misconduct or failure to perform the duties of the office, conviction of a crime of moral turpitude, or conduct that brings the office into disrepute.
Republicans pushed the measure as a way to sanction prosecutors in Georgia cities led by Democrats who they said were reluctant to prosecute certain crimes, notably during the summer of civil unrest that followed the murder of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis by a white police officer in 2020.
“Most of the state’s prosecutors follow the law, adhere to their duties, and their communities remain safe and prosperous,” said Senate Majority Whip Randy Robertson, R-Cataula, the new bill’s chief sponsor. “On the other hand, you have a few rogue prosecutors that refuse to prosecute violent criminals, lead defunct and understaffed offices, and impose blanket policies for non-prosecution of crimes.”
“I respect the Supreme Court’s narrow opinion of this specific issue and appreciate the limits of their authority,” added Senate President Pro Tempore John Kennedy, R-Macon. “By prefiling this bill, (we) reaffirm our intent to hold rogue prosecutors accountable.”
Legislative Democrats likely will use the new bill to reopen the debate over the underlying legislation. The commission’s opponents argued last year that such an unelected panel could usurp the will of local voters in elections of district attorneys.
