Georgia Transmission closing in on plans
After residents of the Boardtown community expressed concerns about a planned electrical system upgrade, Georgia Transmission Corporation is still looking at alternate routes for the project that initially involved installing miles of 46-kV subtransmission power line and poles along Boardtown Road.
Following three well-attended public meetings in 2020, the company released a joint statement with Georgia House Speaker David Ralston and Sen. Steve Gooch announcing they would do “an extensive review and analysis of the two routes the community expressed interest in us examining.” Those two routes are Highway 515 and the CSX Railroad corridor running through the
Whitepath and Cherry Log areas.
Not much has changed since that announcement was made, and the two alternate routes still being looked at to determine if either is practical and feasible, confirmed Terry Cole, Georgia Transmission spokesperson.
“We’re definitely giving these other two (routes) a strong look,” she added.
The company is close to wrapping up its engineering and environmental analysis for the two proposed alternate routes and should soon have information to share with the public, Cole noted.
“The process of determining a practical and feasible route is extensive and can typically take up to two years. However, with the pressing electrical need in the Gilmer County area for this project, we’ve committed resources to accomplish this on a compressed schedule,” she added.
The project is being done to connect an existing substation in Ellijay to a new substation that would be built in the Whitepath area. That would improve electrical service in the area, where outages are common, Cole noted.
“Amicalola EMC and its members are experiencing intermittent power outages in the Boardtown Road area. Two of the factors creating this situation are the distance and terrain that the two circuits that serve the area must travel across, which adversely impact restoration times,” she explained.
Since the project was first announced last August, local property owners have formed public and private “Save Boardtown Road” Facebook groups. Numerous signs voicing opposition to the project route have also been placed along roadsides.
Kevin Kell and his wife, Jane, own property on Boardtown and also maintain those Facebook groups, one of which has gained more than 600 members. They’ve been keeping up with the project and staying in touch with Georgia Transmission, hoping another route will be picked.
“We honestly think that Boardtown Road is one of the most beautiful roads in north Georgia. To install those power lines every hundred yards would really destroy the beauty. There are alternatives to bring reliable power to the area north of Ellijay short of ruining a beautiful road,” Jane said. “The property values would (also) take a real hit because who’s going to want to buy a house that has a giant power pole in the front yard or driveway.”
One of the main issues is the size of the larger metal poles that would be put in, Kevin noted.
“One of them would be on 5 acres of my property that would have to be condemned that I spent five years paying for. One of our friends up the way would have one in her front yard,” he said.
Tourism potential in the area could also be affected, Kevin said.
“The future of Ellijay is tourism, and this is the scenic drive from Ellijay, which is trying to get its legs now, and Blue Ridge, which is pretty well established as a tourist center,” he added. If either of the alternate routes are chosen, the entire public hearing and notification process will begin again, as will coordination with state and local agencies which could include, depending on the outcome, either the Georgia Department of Transportation or CSX Railroad.
“If it moves to either CSX or 515, we’ll go back and do the same,” Cole said. “If it moves, there will be a whole other set of Gilmer County citizens who will be impacted, so we want to make sure to give them an opportunity to have their opinions expressed, as well.”
Cole said both 515 and the CSX rail line had already been looked at prior to Boardtown being chosen as the initial project route.
“For lots of reasons, (including) engineering and environmental constraints with state agencies, those two were not deemed to be practical and feasible. That pushed us over to Boardtown Road, which (is) a road route. Doing a road route as opposed to a cross-country route means you have less clearing on rights of way, and there’s already an impact to the community from a road,” she added. “(The community) asked us to go back and look at it again, so that’s where we are.”
Cole said she’s received numerous phone calls and emails, both for and against the proposed route.
“We realize the Boardtown area is anxious for a resolution. We’re trying to weigh the need versus the concern the community has,” she noted.