THOMSON, Ga. (WJBF) – U.S. Senator for Georgia Jon Ossoff came to Thomson, Georgia on Friday to announce plans for some much needed stormwater infrastructure upgrades.
First Avenue and Main Street have had stormwater flooding issues for years.
“It’s not going to get any better until something’s done,” said Janet Roberts, who lives on First Avenue.
Janet said her yard floods when it rains heavily, and has frequent standing water.
“The realtor didn’t tell me, the city didn’t tell me, the neighbors didn’t tell me, and when I got the first heavy rain, I had four inches of running water over probably seventy-five percent of my property,” she said.
After the McDuffie County administrator started the process, and Roberts and other Thomson residents sent him letters, Senator Ossoff secured bipartisan support for the $965,000 project in the fall of 2022.
“When we talk about infrastructure and water infrastructure, it can sound like it’s all about engineering,” Senator Ossoff said. “But, this is really all about the daily experience of homeowners and businesses right here, and a problem that hadn’t been solved for a long time.”
The plan is to put in an underground detention vault that will capture the water and release it over time, and it was developed by a UGA engineering student.
And Thomson natives like Roberts couldn’t be happier.
“We’re all ecstatic on first avenue that the problem is finally going be addressed,” she said. “My tiny little home is only 849 square feet, but you know, its home, it’s important to me.”
The McDuffie County administrator tells us that the project should be completed in the next 18 to 24 months.