Forest Hill Road

    2004 updates:  

Macon, Ga

    Bibb County's - "Roads Improvement Program"  

The Telegraph Wednesday, August 11, 2004 13A

http://www.macon.com/mld/telegraph/news/editorial/letters/9365875.htm

Ridiculous plan

The idea/notion/plan that Forest Hill Road needs three lanes all the way to Northside Drive is ridiculous. The residents don't want it, the Citizens Advisory Committee doesn't want it, focus groups have had high negative opinions, and it just isn't needed.

I have been driving that stretch of road for 40 years and have never had a long wait while someone is making a left turn into a driveway or one of the few side streets. The only changes that need to be made have been pointed out numerous times in the past: Left turn lanes at Ridge and Wimbish, and possibly at Old Lundy Road.

Otherwise, it should be repaved as a two lane road. I have the distinct impression that the Bibb County Commission and the Georgia Department of Transportation are just trying to create jobs and spend money at the expense of local citizens.

John F. Kraus     Macon

 Posted on Sun, Apr. 25, 2004

http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/8512675.htm

Shopping center, office park planned in north Bibb

[- Note - CAUTION Note - that a year later this detention pond breaks, sends floodwaters and mud through neighborhood, homeowner has chest pains - heart attack.]

By Linda S. Morris - Telegraph Staff Writer

A proposed shopping center on Northside Drive and an adjacent professional office park on Forest Hill Road are appropriate uses for the area, according to the Macon-Bibb County Planning & Zoning Commission staff.

Rezoning requests for both properties, which total 12.13 acres, will be heard Monday by the commission.

An application has been submitted to rezone 4010 Northside Drive from R-3, Multi-Family Residential District, to C-1, Neighborhood Commercial District, for a retail shopping center.

Commissioners also will consider a proposal to rezone 1540 Forest Hill Road from R-1AA, Single-Family Residential District, to R-3, Multi-Family Residential District, for a professional office park. Commissioners also will consider conditional use permits for the two projects.

Henry Arrington and Cunningham & Co. are the applicants for both properties.

The shopping center will be composed of two buildings totaling 40,000 square feet, according to the staff report. The conceptual site plan shows a 23-unit office building.

The entire site will be accessed from Northside Drive and Forest Hill Road.

The applicants will maintain a 50-foot undisturbed buffer along Marlowe Drive and the south property line that abuts the rear lots of Glen Forest subdivision.

"As a result of the development activity that has been established for this area, it is highly unlikely that the proposed site could be used for anything other than commercial and/or professional offices," according to the staff report. "By analyzing the general make-up of the nearby property, the proposal is not likely to impose any negative impacts upon the nearby property."

The commission meeting will begin at 1:30 p.m. at City Hall.

Date: Wed, 11 Feb 2004 21:54:41 -0500

To: Katy.Allen@fhwa.dot.gov

From: Lindsay 'Doc' Holliday <teeth@mindspring.com>

Subject: Water pollution at Forest Hill Road

Cc: Tommy Olmstead <tolmstead@co.bibb.ga.us>,Vernon.Ryleiii@macon.ga.us, Bill Wikle <bwikle@co.bibb.ga.us>,Anita.Ponder@macon.ga.us, ksheets@co.bibb.ga.us,jack.ellis@macon.ga.us, Sam Hart <hart_sf@mercer.edu>,tfain@macontel.com

To: Federal Highways Administration

Re: Proposed redesign options at Forest Hill Road in Macon, Ga.

RE: STP-3213 (1) and STP-3213 (3)/BRMLB-3213 (5), Bibb county, P.I. Numbers- 350520 and 351130/352235,

Dear Ms Allen,

The Macon Telegraph article below describes an award winning science project by 14 yo Whitley Green who analyzed the pollution in Sabbath Creek at the bottom of Forest Hill Road.

Sabbath Creek is already in non-compliance. It will be made worse if Forest Hill is SuperSized and especially if curb-and-gutter is used to bypass the filtering effect of the existing grassy swales.

Thank you,

- Lindsay D Holliday

Bcs - Caution Macon

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted on Tue, Feb. 10, 2004 page 1B with a large color picture of the science student framed inside a 5 foot high drainage culvert.

http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/local/7915844.htm

Scientific discoveries

Student's project on environment earns her a trip to state competition

By Khalil Abdullah

Telegraph Staff Writer

Standing in camping boots and khakis along the muddy banks of Sabbath Creek, 14-year-old Whitley Green talked about her new science project, sounding more like a seasoned environmentalist than a teenager with a growing passion for shoes and softball.

"My research leads me to believe that the water here is not very good," said Green, a soft-spoken eighth-grader at Tattnall Square Academy. "It's basically a cesspool."

Green, a straight-A student who plays third base for her school's softball team, worked two months on a project that tested the water quality of Sabbath Creek, which winds through much of north Macon. She discovered that the creek has high levels of fecal coliform and sulfate, which kills off plants and animals and could spread disease.

Her work, titled "Sabbath Creek: A Cesspool or Source of Clean Water?", won first place in the junior division of the regional Georgia Science and Engineering Fair last week and earned her a trip in April to Athens, where the state contest will be held. Hers was one of seven projects from Tattnall that placed.

"She's very smart and a perfectionist," said Melinda Hooven, a Tattnall science teacher. "She did the level of work that I expected from my juniors and seniors. She deserved to win."

The soft-spoken Green has performed well in science contests since she was 9. Last year, she took first place in the regional fair for her project that concluded a softball flies further when hit by an aluminum bat, not a wooden one.

Green said this year's science project was inspired by an article that ran in The Telegraph three months ago about how sewage spills and urban runoffs are polluting area creeks.

"I just thought it was really interesting to learn what really was in all of our water around here," she said, as she scooted along the creek. "I wanted to learn more and figure out how much pollution was really in here."

It wasn't long after reading the articles before Green was trudging through the mud and ankle-high waters of Sabbath Creek, which runs near her home and school.

For two months, the 14-year-old Green tested the water along the winding, four-mile stretch of creek, collecting samples and writing down observations.

In one place, murky water poured into the creek from rusty pipes and storm drains. Open bags of fertilizer and sewage rested along leafy banks. By the time she finished, the family's carport was filled with vials - and the smell - of dirty water, bugs and a salamander.

Along the way, her father, Frank, the water quality coordinator for the Georgia Forestry Commission, gave his daughter support, digging tools and a good pair of waders.

After initial visits to the river, Green asked Brian Rood, an environmental science and chemistry professor at Mercer University, to help her make sense of her discoveries.

"It's really nice to have creative kids who care about the environment and want to have their questions answered," said Rood, who also serves as president of the Ocmulgee River Initiative, a nonprofit organization that monitors the river's water quality.

And though the fecal content and sulfate levels of the creek are high, Rood said it was too early to conclude that a deeper probe by the Macon Water Authority or any environmental protection agency was necessary.

But he does think Green and her classmates should adopt the creek as a project, keeping it clean and collecting routine samples for his organization.

"It reminds us that not only do we have to keep an eye on the Ocmulgee itself, but on the tributaries that flow into it as well," said Rood. "The students can help us with that."

That idea sounds great, said Green, who after two months of digging and getting dirty, concluded that urban development and poor monitoring was damaging the creek.

The science project also has made her consider a career in environmental science, maybe teaching the subject or writing about it for newspapers.

"It makes me feel good to know that I can make a difference," she said.

To contact Khalil Abdullah, call 744-4331 or e-mail kabdullah@macontel.com 

- CAUTION Macon -

Forest Hill Road