Friday, May 3, 2002
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Friday, May 3, 2002 |
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Bonds issued for WASA to raise $15.3 million for buildout expansion plans By JOHN
MUNFORD Peachtree City's Water and Sewer Authority is on its way to having $15.3 million in hand to tackle a massive expansion project. Revenue bonds to raise the funds were sold at the market Tuesday, and demand for them was high, said Todd Barnes of A.G. Edwards, which handled the sale for WASA. The company was also able to secure an interest rate that was the lowest available since November, Barnes told the authority at its meeting Tuesday night. The closing on the sale will occur May 24 after the matter has been approved by a Superior Court Judge. The bonds will be paid off in 20 years. In February, WASA voted to raise its residential and commercial rates to pay off the debt. The residential increase, an average of 25 percent, took affect March 1. The commercial and multifamily rate increased partially March 1, with another hike planned to take effect by October to allow companies time to budget for the costs. The bond funds will allow WASA to increase its treatment capacity from 3.9 million gallons a day to 6 million gallons a day. Plans call for doubling the capacity of the Rockaway treatment plant to 4 million gallons a day and retire the aging and costly Flat Creek treatment plant, which was originally designed as a temporary facility. Another way capacity will be increased is through a system to treat sewage to a higher standard so it can be piped to the Planterra Ridge Golf Club for irrigation purposes. Although the Flat Creek plant will be shut down, the authority will pipe treated sewage to the area so it can keep discharging the allowed 900,000 gallons a day into Flat Creek. Also in the mix is a new administration building/maintenance facility on Ga. Highway 74 South near the Rockaway plant. At a meeting last summer, WASA officials itemized the city's projected sewer needs for buildout as follows: 100,000 gallons for future commercial developments; 500,000 gallons for future residential developments; 300,000 gallons for the service of homes around lakes which are currently on septic systems; 400,000 gallons requested by existing industries; 400,000 gallons for future industrial growth; and 200,000 gallons representing the commitment made to the former Peachtree City Development Corporation (now Pathway Communities) as part of the sewer system's sale to WASA. Those calculations include a 5 percent reserve in case the estimates are off a little.
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