Hart BOC Refuses to Reimburse Bowersville for Speed Bumps

Hart County will not re-imburse the town of Bowersville for the money they spent to remove speed bumps.

The speed bumps were put in on a side street over the summer where residents had complained of vehicles speeding through and putting their children in danger.

However, the speed bumps were removed by the County in August after the Hart County Commission said they reduced response time for emergency personnel and threatened to pull emergency services from the town if they weren’t removed.

At last week’s County Commission meeting, George Nolan, a resident of Bowersville asked the Board to re-imburse the town the $5,700 they spent to put the speed bumps in.

Nolan claimed the money they spent came under their share of SPLOST funds for road improvements.

Commissioner Ricky Carter disagreed citing a 2017 agreement with the town to re-imburse them for road work.

County Attorney Walter Gordon said there is an intergovernmental agreement with Bowersville to rei-imburse them for road work using their share of SPLOST funds.

But County Commission Chair Joey Dorsey said speed bumps do not constitute road improvements.

Dorsey then asked for County attorney Walter Gordon’s opinion.

Gordon told the Board that because there was a disagreement on payment among Board members the law states the issue could go before the State Supreme Court.

After more heated discussion, the Board voted 3-1 to not re-imburse the town of Bowersville for the speed bumps.

Commissioner Ricky Carter did not vote stating the Commission had no authority to vote in the first place.