Commission OKs $657,638.57 paving contract, delays Emerson Park work pending drainage study

Ware County commissioners approved a contract with Scruggs Company for Phase 2 local‑fund road paving, voting to spend $657,638.57 from local maintenance (LME) funds, and agreed to delay paving on Emerson Park Road until a drainage study is completed.

Commissioner 5 moved “that we approve contract with Scruggs for the road paving” and the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote. County staff confirmed the project will be funded from LME allocations and said “there's no match for that 1” from the county's 1¢ fund. The contract amount was recorded in the meeting as $657,638.57.

Earlier in the meeting a commissioner proposed holding off on the Emerson Park Road paving “until we get the study done, about the streets — drainage,” and to reallocate the money temporarily to other county roads; that motion was seconded and approved.

In manager’s comments, staff said a DOT safety striping grant of roughly $400,000 will be advertised for bids and is expected to go to bid in February; some LME funding will also be used to repair roads tied to the striping work. Staff listed candidate roads for near‑term repair, including East Waring (Dorothy to Riverside) and sections of Deerwood and Pine Forest Road tied to the county’s 2025 CDBG contribution.

What happens next: staff will prepare the Scruggs contract paperwork and proceed with procurement steps; commissioners agreed to identify additional roads for LME funding and to return with a prioritized list at a future meeting.