For the final part in AccessWDUN's series of stories on the City of Gainesville's 2021 mayoral race, candidates Devin Pandy and Sam Couvillon were asked to give their takes on infrastructure in the city.
Couvillon said infrastructure can be a tricky topic due to the expensive nature of these improvements. However, he said he does have several specific things in mind when it comes to improving infrastructure in the city.
"With these recent rains that we had, probably two, maybe three weeks ago ... the volume of rain, it just overran our stormwater capabilities," Couvillon said. "That's not something that people love to talk about, they don't love to spend money on stormwater. But when we have those kinds of rains ... it really shines a light that we need to do something there."
As Couvillon mentioned in part two of AccessWDUN's series of mayoral race stories, the city does have a plan for a widening of Green Street. This proposed project would include a rework of the stormwater system on the road, which Couvillon said currently struggles during periods of high volumes of rain. However, he would also like to look into similar stormwater improvements for the rest of the city if elected as mayor.
Another infrastructure focus for Couvillon is the construction of additional sidewalks throughout the city.
"I would like to see a dedicated funding source where we have a plan to increase the amount of sidewalks we put throughout the community," Couvillon said. "It's just not a safe thing for people to be walking up and down state highways."
While Couvillon would like to see improvements to other roads in the city, he said a lot of these improvements would be the responsibility of the Georgia Department of Transportation. He said he would focus on maintaining a strong relationship with GDOT if elected as mayor to facilitate these improvements.
Couvillon said if money was not an issue, he would love to have a loop built around Gainesville.
"I think that would go a long way, but I'm not sure how realistic it is," Couvillon said. "We're not just talking about building roads, we're talking about building bridges."
Pandy said he believes the city needs to look at how transportation infrastructure can be improved in the coming years to prepare for city growth.
As mentioned in part two, Pandy would like to look at several “bold ideas,” that he believes could improve transportation in the city in the long term. Some of the ideas Pandy suggested for transportation improvements include a ride-share area in the city and a possible MARTA line.
Another major infrastructure focus for Pandy is Lake Lanier, which provides clean drinking water to the City of Gainesville.
“Lake Lanier is part of what brought me here. I’m a transplant. I moved here a little while after retiring from the army,” Pandy said. “It was the lake that brought me here and it was Gainesville that brought me to Gainesville.”
Pandy said he has spoken with several organizations that focus on keeping Lake Lanier and other area waterways clean and usable, and as mayor, he would push for further education on this topic among the public.
Broadband internet is not necessarily a problem for the majority of Gainesville’s citizens, but Pandy said he would like to make sure those in more remote regions of the city have access to reliable internet.
“We do need to make sure that folks on the outskirts, folks on these city islands where, you know, places have been annexed into the city, we do need to ensure that they have all of the pleasures that the rest of the city has,” Pandy said.
Pandy said he believes many of his ideas for infrastructure improvements can be completed through partnerships.
“Some of these things we cannot, and some of them we should not do on our own,” Pandy said. “Let’s partner with the county to ensure that the lake is being taken care of.”
