September 21, 2006
Contact:  Blake House, VP of Member Services 678 455-1510
Survey of Gwinnett County Sites Debuts at Sawnee EMC Annual Meeting, Saturday October 7, 2006
 

(Cumming, GA) – To avoid displacing historical landmarks, Georgia Transmission Corporation (GTC) is making use of a historic resource survey program as rapid growth continues to require construction of new electric transmission lines and substations for member cooperatives, including Sawnee Electric Membership Corporation. Sawnee members will be the first to view survey findings that include 329 historic properties in unincorporated Gwinnett County at their annual meeting in Cumming on Saturday, October 7, 2006.

GTC is a major sponsor of the Findit! Historic Resource Survey Partnership that also includes the Georgia State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), the University of Georgia (UGA) and other organizations. UGA graduate students in the Historic Preservation Program identify and document the resources through a countywide survey. The data then become part of the SHPO’s inventory of identified historic and cultural properties.

Eligible properties include historic districts, sites, buildings, structures or objects that meet state or National Register of Historic Places standards. The unincorporated Gwinnett County survey includes landmarks such as a cemetery on Island Ford Road and the New Prospect United Methodist Church. Similar FindIt! Surveys are being conducted in other high-growth counties throughout the state.

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“We’re honored to be able to share the survey results with our members at our annual meeting. Identifying and preserving historical landmarks secures the county’s heritage for generations to come and serves as part of the rich history that makes us who we are today,” says Mike Goodroe, Sawnee EMC President and CEO.

“Participating in these surveys benefits GTC, because we’re ahead of the game when we prepare to build transmission lines and substations,” says Christy Johnson, environmental and regulatory compliance coordinator, GTC. “By having this information readily available in a database, we are able to incorporate it earlier in our planning process and meet customer needs more efficiently and effectively while preserving the historical aspect of the community.”

About Sawnee EMC:

Sawnee Electric Membership Corporation is an electric distribution cooperative headquartered in Cumming, Georgia.  Sawnee serves electricity to over 140,000 accounts in seven counties of greater north Georgia.  Sawnee assets exceed $370 million with annual energy sales of 2.56 billion kWh and revenue of $222 million.  They have over 300 dedicated employees making up a team of professionals that meets the needs of the members/owners through a complex network of over 8,300 miles of distribution lines.  Sawnee EMC is the 9^th largest EMC in the United States.

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