With the Help of Congressman Sanford Bishop, Grady County Finally got the Tired Creek Lake Permit

After decade after decade, Grady County finally got the Tired Creek Lake Permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

It was a “big deal.”

These are the words Grady County Board of Commissioners Chairman Al Ball used to describe receipt of a “404 Permit” from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for Tired Creek Lake.
Ball said the recreational lake has been a county dream for approximately 80 years.

County Attorney Kevin Cauley kicked off the ceremony by thanking numerous individuals involved in securing the county’s permit and giving a little history of the project, from the 1930s to the 1990s.

Joan Drew, wife of former commissioner Jack Drew, attended the ceremony. She said her husband was one that introduced the idea of getting the deed back from the state in the 1990s.


Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, who was introduced by consultant Tommy Craig, who has supported the project for several years, was on hand for the event and handed him the permit to present to the commissioners.



He talked about his support efforts, including an April meeting at Tired Creek with local officials, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Corps, Georgia Environmental Protection Division, and others to discuss the permit.

The congressman looks forward to seeing the development progress and the lake be successful.

“There is an old proverb that says, ‘Do not cast your nets in rivers where there are no fish,’” he told the crowd. “And I know there were times when it seemed that no permit would be issued, and that seeking the permit was like casting our nets in a river without fish.

“Today, we have proved this wrong — we caught a big fish! And as a result, we’ll soon see a 900-acre residential lake full of fish!”