Work is expected to begin soon on the park and boat ramp for the new Lake McIntosh reservoir that is under construction in west Peachtree City.
The Fayette County Commission approved spending $894,980 for the park and boat ramp at its regular meeting Thursday night. The winning bid from Headley Construction was the lowest of four bids received for the project.
Three other companies bid on the project with Johnson Landscapes at $907,872, Massana Construction at $964,705 and Southeastern Site Development at $1.113 million.
Money for the project is coming from the county water system, which is funded by fees charged to water customers.
The park will include boat ramps, two walking trails, a picnic pavilion, a playground, a gazebo and restrooms. In addition to parking for boat trailers, there will also be parking for automobiles and golf carts.
Commissioner Steve Brown asked if the park project should be postponed for now to save money, but the county already has the money on hand in the bonds issued for the construction of Lake McIntosh, according to county staff.
The project came in about $200,000 under the original budget, officials said.
The plan is similar to the recreation amenities at Lake Horton, the county reservoir in south Fayette County.
The contract does not include the installation of landscaping or the paving of the road outside the park, according to county staff.
The 650-acre lake will stretch just south of Ga. Highway 54 West southward toward Falcon Field Airport. It will be located along Line Creek though most of the land is in the jurisdiction of Coweta County. The land was purchased back in the 1970s and is owned by Fayette County.
Once full, the lake will be capable of producing more than 10 million gallons a day of drinking water. But it could take a year or more for rainfall to bring the lake up to full capacity, officials have said.
The county must maintain the existing flows of Line Creek through construction and beyond. The lake will be filled by rainfall, not by the creek itself.
The lake construction project, awarded to Brad Cole Construction, will cost some $8.23 million. Additionally, the county has spent more than $7 million in land purchases, mitigation sites, wetland credits, studies and consultants for Lake McIntosh.
The county commission approved issuance of a $16.5 million bond to pay for the dam, reservoir, a pump station, mitigation site construction and wetland credits.
Lake McIntosh was supposed to be the county’s first reservoir back in the 1970s, but regulatory hurdles and other issues put it on the backburner as Lake Kedron and Lake Horton were built instead.
The county owns the entire property encircling the lake, so there will be no private boat ramps for lake access, officials have said.
Construction on the lake began in January 2010.
