WASA looks at rules for new service

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

The Peachtree City Water and Sewerage Authority has amended its policy on providing sewer service to new subdivisions.

The change gives the authority the power to determine whether sewer service is available within 500 feet, or if the service is not available because of a lack of sewer capacity or itÕs too expensive to make the improvements in the area.

When the policy was originally passed at a special meeting in July, it stated that sewer service would be considered available to a property if it is within 500 linear feet of a manhole. But WASA staff wanted the policy to allow some leeway to make technical judgements, said general manager Larry Turner.

Turner said sometimes there might not be enough capacity available to handle a particular subdivision. He added that providing sewer service to some subdivisions can place a financial burden on the authority.

The proposed change was to give WASA staff the power to rule on whether sewerage is ÒavailableÓ to a subdivision. But the authority decided that it wants to have input when sewer service might be denied to certain projects. So the policy amendment specifically states that the authority is responsible for determining whether the service is available.

In the past, WASA staff has declined sewer service to only one or two projects, Turner told the authority. But if a large project applied in the area of Ga. highways 54 and 74, staff would want to turn it down until the pump station serving that area could be reconstructed.

ÒWe do have some isolated problems,Ó Turner said.
The policy amendment was approved unanimously by the three authority members present at the meeting: Mike Harman, Ted Taylor and John Williams.

In other business, Turner presented the authority with a presentation on the plans for the 2000-2001 budget, which begins Sept. 1. Turner said the presentation was for information only, and the numbers will be updated by the time the budget is considered at the next meeting.

The recommended budget includes an increase of 1.29 percent over the current budget. That includes employee raises of more than 3.5 percent, and benefits hikes, Turner said. ÒThatÕs pretty good,Ó Taylor remarked.

The budget proposal has $2.45 million set aside for capital improvements, including new projects such as replacement of the trunk sewer serving the Wynnmeade area. Turner said that sewer line could be made larger if the city decides to annex the West Village property nearby.

Also included in the capital improvement plan are several carry-over projects, such as the improvements to the Hwy. 54 area, where the authority still has to spend almost $589,000 of an estimated $1.87 million project.

Turner said revenues in fiscal year 2000 will come up $188,000 short of what was projected in the 2000 budget, largely due to the fact that a new apartment complex expected to pay $250,000 in tap fees hasnÕt been built yet.

He pointed out, though, that those tap fees could be paid at any time and might be paid before the fiscal year ends Aug. 31.

WASA also has increased its use of overtime funds to provide 24-hour staffing, cover vacation time taken by employees and cover employees on sick leave.

The new budget will be tighter than this yearÕs and should be watched more closely, Turner said.