Road bill bends in direction of donors

When the powerful head of the Georgia House Transportation Committee unveiled his $25 billion tax proposal for road construction last month, he included a list of dozens of projects that would be virtually guaranteed if the measure passes.

The list, in Chairman Vance Smith’s bill, features improvements to large interstates and major roadways statewide, from busy truck routes to congested areas of metro Atlanta.

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The Ritz-Carlton, Reynolds Plantation

Reynolds Plantation, which includes a $90 million Ritz-Carlton Lodge, is recognized as the economic engine in Greene County. Included on a list of projects is a $26 million widening of a two-lane road that runs past the resort, owned by prominent GOP donors.

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Ben Gray / AJC

Rep. Vance Smith (R-Pine Mountain) says he drafted his bill in his office with eight to 10 other people, but he declined to identify them other than to say they were industry and government officials.

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Then there are two smaller projects whose inclusion on the list surprised even their supporters.

One is a $26 million widening of a two-lane country road in Greene County, plucked off the state Transportation Department’s list of long-range projects. It runs past the main road of a luxury resort on Lake Oconee, owned by some of the state’s most prominent Republican donors, the Reynolds family. The widening project stops at Linger Longer Road, named after the family’s company that manages the sprawling Reynolds Plantation.

The other project, which doesn’t have a price tag yet, is a new interchange with I-95 in Bryan County, south of Savannah. The state DOT recently called the project unnecessary — twice. The ramps would benefit a proposed massive mixed-used development by a Florida company that donates liberally to Georgia Republicans and to pro-business political action committees.

How the projects got on the list is a bit of a mystery because the list was drawn up behind closed doors. No one involved will answer how these projects leapfrogged roughly 9,000 others to land in the legislation.

Smith (R-Pine Mountain) would say only that he drafted H.B. 277 in his office with eight to 10 other people he declined to identify, beyond saying they were industry and government officials. He did not disclose the criteria for making the list, but he did say they wanted to include projects statewide so the bill to add a penny to the state sales tax might attract broad support.

It is unusual to include specific projects in this type of legislation, which sets the budget and policies for the Transportation Department; indeed, a similar bill Smith introduced in 2008 had no such list.

The plan sailed through the House but has met resistance in the Senate, which has its own transportation bill that does not specify projects. Senate leaders have expressed concern about the list.

“None of those projects have been vetted, which I think has caused the greatest concern among Senate members,” said Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, who is president of the Senate. “Where did those come from?”

‘An important project’

Many of those who would be expected to know about the widening of Ga. 44 in Greene County said they were surprised Smith included the project. The Reynolds family, the local state House member, county officials and transportation officials charged with prioritizing work across the state all said they had no idea it would be in Smith’s bill.

Smith said the bill’s project list is meant not only to smooth transportation but to encourage economic development.

Few would dispute that Reynolds Plantation is the engine that drives Greene County’s economy. Easily the county’s largest employer, the resort has brought ancillary development along Ga. 44, and Smith pointed to studies that show a projected

tripling of traffic on that stretch of road by 2016.

“That is a great example of an economic development corridor for the smooth flow of people from an interstate to a very, very upscale resort. … It was an important project that needed to be on the list,” Smith said.

The project to create four lanes and a median would require the state to buy property along the existing road, including some owned by the Reynolds family, who have extensive holdings in the county. It is undecided how much they would be paid for their land.

Reynolds Plantation President Rabun Neal and other supporters of the widening argue it is needed for traffic safety. However, a three-year accident study by the Transportation Department showed the road to be much safer than the average for rural roads.

County officials have long sought the widening project, which starts at I-20 and ends at the main road leading to Reynolds Plantation. The Transportation Department issued a report in 2007 supporting the project but saying the agency had no money for the “rural minor” road. Officials said they didn’t plan to ask for construction money until 2014 at the earliest, though they did procure $4.4 million in 2005 for engineering work.

Reynolds Plantation, on the shores of Lake Oconee, features a $90 million Ritz-Carlton Lodge, world-famous golf courses and homes that sell for more than $4 million. It’s the creation of the Reynolds family. Family members are among the most generous and loyal Republican donors in the country, with close ties to the Bush family.

Mercer Reynolds III, CEO of the plantation, was once a business partner with former President George W. Bush and served as ambassador to Switzerland in Bush’s administration. Last year, he served as Republican presidential nominee John McCain’s national finance co-chairman.

Jamie Reynolds, Mercer’s cousin, served as McCain’s Georgia finance chairman. State campaign contribution reports show Linger Longer, one of the family’s companies, gave $20,000 to the Georgia GOP in the last election cycle. Reynolds family members donated thousands in 2006 to Gov. Sonny Perdue and to Cagle. The family and its companies have not given directly to Smith.

Jamie Reynolds referred questions for this article to Neal, the Reynolds Plantation president. A Reynolds Plantation spokeswoman did not return calls seeking an interview with Mercer Reynolds.

Neal said he has no idea how the road project was included in the bill.

The project’s inclusion came soon after the state’s Jekyll Island Authority reached a deal with the Reynolds’ Linger Longer Development Co. to redevelop the state-owned barrier island. That deal grants Linger Longer rights to develop the island and provide the state a portion of its profits. The terms of the contract are more generous than those granted to other developers.

“The Reynolds family is well-connected,” said Carey Williams, longtime editor of The Herald-Journal newspaper in Greensboro. He supports the road widening. “If they can pull the Jekyll Island deal, what the hell is a 7-mile road project to them?”

Billy Copelan, 65, whose family has lived along the road for generations, stands to lose farmland to the widening. He said traffic isn’t that bad on the road.

“If they widen it, it’ll get worse,” Copelan said. “But there’s nothing you can do about it. They are going to get it done one way or another.”

Greene County spokesman Chris Edwards said county officials are happy the project was included in Smith’s bill. “This is the first we’d heard of it,” he said, when contacted by the AJC.

Transportation Department spokesman David Spear said his agency was not involved in Smith’s decision and doesn’t know how the project got in the bill.

In a follow-up e-mail, Spear wrote that staffers often “consult with the governor and legislative leadership on policies and projects — certainly so with the Transportation Committee chairmen and members of their committees. We obviously value their insights and perspectives a great deal.”

A Perdue spokesman said the governor’s office did not shape the list in Smith’s bill.

The Transportation Department broadly divides projects into those that can and should be done soon, and those that can wait. The

Ga. 44 widening always has been on that second list.

Interchange was rejected

About a four-hour drive southeast of that project, Bryan County leaders see H.B. 277 as the answer to their prayers.

I-95 runs for 11 miles between exits in a stretch that bisects Bryan and Liberty counties south of Fort Stewart. Belfast Siding Road runs between U.S. 17 and the interstate, but the road and I-95 pass each other with no on- or off-ramp. A proposed project would link the two with a new interstate interchange.

Jacksonville-based Rayonier Corp., a forestry company, wants to turn thousands of acres of forest land into a major residential and commercial development. It has the backing of local officials, state lawmakers and members of Congress.

The Transportation Department issued a report last year saying the interchange wasn’t needed. The county asked the state to reconsider, but transportation officials came to the same conclusion and stand by the study.

Smith said the department’s study, though based on expert analysis, is wrong.

Bryan County administrator Phil Jones said the county has been trying to get the interchange since 1994. He said he wasn’t sure how it made it into the bill.

Rayonier did not return calls and e-mails seeking comment. State campaign records show Rayonier gave thousands to various Georgia campaigns last year, including $1,000 to Cagle, though nothing to Smith. The company gave $50,000 to the state’s main lobbying group for forestry companies and $40,000 to a group pushing last year’s unsuccessful “private cities” referendum.

Jimmy Burnsed, chairman of the Bryan County Board of Commissioners, said he was “flabbergasted” when transportation officials ruled the project unnecessary. He asked the agency to reconsider; it came back with a 199-page report rejecting it again.

Since then, county officials and Rayonier have been working to get the project in a bill. Burnsed said he met with Senate Transportation Chairman Jeff Mullis (R-Chickamauga), but never with Smith. He said Rayonier had people lobbying to get the interchange funded.

Josh Fenn, executive director of the Development Authority of Bryan County, said he didn’t know how the project ended up on the H.B. 277 list.

“[But] I appreciate Chairman Smith, who has the wisdom to see what the future is and the potential growth in Bryan County.”

Staff writer Ariel Hart contributed to this article.