Photo Credit: Lee Becker

Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis is asking his fellow Board members on Tuesday night to spend up to $115,000 to create a connection between Old Mars Hill Road and the new Mars Hill Road now under reconstruction.

The change will benefit a landowner who asked Davis to alter the road design, according to email messages among county officials.

The possibility of modifying Georgia Department of Transportation plans for the $30 million Mars Hill Road widening project was raised before September of 2014, but tonight’s meeting will be the first public discussion of the project.

Davis chaired a meeting on Aug. 13 about the implications of the widened Mars Hill Road for residential areas along the roadway, but neither he nor county consultant Bill Ross mentioned the proposed changes to Old Mars Hill Road.

Commissioners John Daniell and Mark Saxon also attended that meeting, but neither made any comments.

For more, visit Oconee County Observations.