THOMASVILLE — The scene could easily depict South Georgia plantation country in a travel brochure.

The Thomas County location is a real plantation. Flowers bloom atop lily pads on a large pond. The morning sun’s rays make their way through openings among giant magnolia and pine trees.

The trees’ shade delivered considerable relief from the heat and humidity of a mid-July morning on Springhill Road 2 1/2 miles from the Florida border.

The only thing marring the picturesque setting is a deep, gaping hole that splits the road in two. A bridge should provide a crossing at the site.

Residents who pay property taxes on thousands and thousands of nearby acres must travel many extra miles daily to reach destinations. Additional gasoline expenses are costing individual families $100 to $150 monthly.

Fed-up residents approached Thomas County commissioners Tuesday about the situation, but they went away more frustrated than ever.

Chase Lee, assistant manager of Long Pine Plantation, asked commissioners to explain why he pays taxes, but does not have access to his property. His property value has increased, according to tax notices, by $150,000 since 2005.

Two bridges have washed way at the site — the first during a tropical storm in August and the second in a flood a little more than 100 days ago.

“We’re operating on a schedule dictated to us by state and federal government,” Mike Stephenson, county manager, told Lee.

Components of a concrete bridge built for the site rest on the ground at Thomas County Public Works on County Farm Road.

Funding for a new bridge will come from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Stephenson said that if the county works on the bridge, all funding would be lost.

“We’re going to have to wait for the them to finish their review,” the county manager told the bridge delegation.

Lee asked about installation of a second temporary bridge. “We put in the best temporary structure we could, and it did not last through that rain,” Stephenson said.

Sallie Sullivan owns, manages and pays taxes on 4,000-acre Borderline Plantation.

“But the county doesn’t seem to care. I don’t see why you have your hand out to the federal government,” Sullivan told commissioners.

Sullivan questioned what commissioners do with local tax revenue.

Residents of the area also are concerned about emergency vehicles’ access to their homes.

Lee said four Florida men captured 10 days ago ran though Long Pine Plantation and near his home after abandoning their vehicle on the plantation.

Lawmen’s route of pursuit of the burglary suspects was hampered by the bridge being out.

“My wife was at home, my kids were at home. They could have gotten in our house,” Lee said.

At the bridge site Thursday morning, Lee’s father, Mike Lee, Long Pine manager, pointed out the positioning of barricades. He wants the barricades moved back from the bridge site to prevent motorists from driving onto Long Pine and over a road on top of a pond dam.

Lee, who said the road was built for use by mule and horses during hunting season, is concerned that a vehicle might fall into the pond.

“Bottom line, they’re trespassing,” Lee explained.

Springhill Road also is used by Tallahassee, Fla., residents to get to Thomasville jobs.

“It costs a fortune in gasoline and time,” Sullivan said Thursday morning about extra miles traveled.

Tonya McCorkle pointed out that school buses are driving twice as far to transport her children and others in the area.

“I used to drive this road all the time. Now, I have to Monster-truck up the dirt road,” McCorkle said.

The bridge project would cost $160,000 if carried out by county government and $265,000 if contracted, said Tony Wooten, public works director.

Thomas County is the only county in the state with Georgia Department of Transportation certification in bridge-building.

Pilings for the Springhill bridge would have to be set in a contract job. The remainder of the project can be done by county crews, including inmate labor.

FEMA did not respond to a Times-Enterprise request for information

Second District U.S. Congressman Sanford Bishop’s Washington, D.C., office did not return a Times-Enterprise telephone call.

The Times-Enterprise e-mailed aide Michael Bryant at Bishop’s downtown Thomasville office Wednesday afternoon in an effort to obtain information about the status of bridge funding.

Bryant responded via e-mail that he had forwarded the newspaper’s quest for information to Washington. The newspaper never received a response from Bishop’s Washington office.

According to Buzz Weiss, public affairs officer the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA), the Thomas County bridge situation is a two-prong project: bridge replacement and hazard mitigation to prevent further damage.

Thomas County submitted necessary paperwork to GEMA on June 23. GEMA forwarded the information to FEMA July 1.

Weiss said FEMA, which is reviewing the material, might require more information.

He said 46 Georgia counties are included in the disaster declaration proclaimed after a spring flood. “There was a lot of widespread damage in Georgia” Weiss explained.

He could not provide a time line for bridge funding.

Meanwhile, the Lees, Sullivan, McCorkle and others whose daily activities are affected repeatedly by the bridge outage want to know why their tax dollars are not being used to replace the structure.

Stephenson said county government can fund the bridge project, but spending federal money is preferable.

“It’s a county road, why wait for other government agencies to pay?” Chase Lee asked.