Gov. Nathan Deal is prepared to spend in order to prepare for the next winter weather crisis.
For decades Georgia has enjoyed the economies of sunny weather, forgoing expensive winter weather supplies such as intensive road condition forecasting and big snow plow fleets. But after three winter events within four years shut down all of metro Atlanta for days, the tide is shifting.
A panel convened by Deal in the wake of the January storm to recommend planning fixes is only starting to think up recommendations. But ideas that cost money have already arisen, and some will likely have his support, he told reporters.
The first one is a system of road sensors that can measure temperature and conditions on the roadway. Road conditions are different from the air, and are heavily dependent on temperatures over the previous days.
“The public wants better information,” Deal said. “They want better preparation. And we’re going to try to do everything we can to make that possible.”
The Governor’s Severe Winter Weather Warning and Preparedness Task Force — composed of 33 top officials from Georgia government, business and meteorology — met for the first time Tuesday. The group’s chair, Bart Gobeil, Deal’s chief operating officer, asked them to come to the next meeting with ideas for recommendations. At that meeting, March 4, the group will break into smaller discussion groups: meteorologists; education; legislative, local government and business; utilities; transportation; and state agency heads. The recommendations will then be circulated among the group, forwarded to the governor’s office, and compiled by the governor’s staff into a report.
Some ideas are already coming out, such as new technology and more road clearing equipment, and they would cost money. The question is, how much Georgia is ready to spend.
State Department of Transportation Commissioner Keith Golden told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in an interview that more snow plows and road treatment equipment would help, but asked how many Atlanta residents have chosen to purchase a snow blower for their home. It’s the same dilemma for Georgia taxpayers concerned about conditions but aware the catastrophic storms don’t happen every year, he said. “If people expect the roads to be clear within 24 hours it’s going to take more of an investment,” he said.
Deal said he had not determined how much was worth spending, but he acknowledged the cost of worthwhile fixes could easily be in the millions of dollars.
“We haven’t calculated what we think will be the anticipated cost of new equipment, new processes and procedures,” Deal said. “But I do believe the General Assembly will be supportive. They’ve heard from the public.”
Some officials in the meeting questioned the price tag of the road sensors. According to Transportation Commissioner Keith Golden, each sensor station costs $25,000 to start with, then money to operate. It would be up to the state to decide how many to install, but the state controls 18,000 miles of roads in all 159 counties.
If the state chose to install a sensor system in metro Atlanta, Golden said, “I think you want to cover all our major interstates in multiple locations. Do you need 30, do you need 60? I don’t know that number.”
DOT has given Deal a list of possible investments, including new equipment and salt barns, Golden said.
Sen. Steve Gooch, R-Dahlonega, who chairs the transportation committee’s appropriations subcommittee, said “you don’t want to overreach” in spending for rare winter storms, but “the sensors sound like a great idea.”
A spokesman for House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, said that “the speaker is open to giving consideration to any of the forthcoming recommendations by the Governor’s task force on winter weather.”
The group may not have much time to meet but presentations by heavyweight local organizations offered useful expertise. Officials from Georgia Power and Delta detailed pillars of their success in dealing with storms, including communication (thrice-daily mandatory conference calls), strict unified command structures, and planning to feed, house and move their own employees.
Documents obtained by the AJC showed more organizations wanted to take part, such as the Red Cross. Gobeil and Deal said they had to walk a line between including enough people and including so many the group became ineffective.
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