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Senoia-PTC sewer deal in the air

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

With Mayor Steve Brown and Councilwoman Judi-ann Rutherford in attendance Monday night, Peachtree City’s Water and Sewerage Authority heard details of the proposed $3 million deal to treat up to 500,000 gallons a day of sewage for the city of Senoia.

Brown and Rutherford’s presence indicated more than a passing interest in the deal, which they noted would encourage a large amount of growth in their neighbor to the southeast.

But WASA member Steve Bradley said that even without WASA’s help, Senoia could expand its plant or build a new one, but neither option would financially benefit Peachtree City while still causing the same trouble Rutherford cited, namely more traffic on Rockaway Road and ultimately, the Ga. Highway 74 corridor leading to I-85.

The WASA board didn’t take any action on the proposed deal, which will formally be presented to the Peachtree City Council at Thursday night’s council meeting by WASA General Manager Larry Turner. Turner noted that in his letter to council, he is requesting their input, but he still thinks the deal will not need council approval.

“Clearly, that could change,” Turner said Tuesday morning.

Mayor Brown asked WASA to honor its contract with the city, which requires the city council to sign off before the sewer system can be “extended” outside of the city limits.

The proposed contract between Senoia and WASA requires Senoia to build, own and maintain all the infrastructure on the Coweta side that would be required to pump the untreated wastewater to WASA’s treatment system.

Some might argue that technically WASA would not be “extending” its sewer treatment, at least in terms of infrastructure.

“We just think we should be a partner at the table to this,” Brown said. Rutherford said the issue was about more than sewer service, as the resulting residential growth in Senoia necessitates an evaluation of the other infrastructure necessary to handle those people.

“Every car that shoots out Rockaway Road affects us,” Rutherford said, noting that Senoia has approved more residential development for the area that will add even more traffic to Rockaway Road, which is often clogged with commuters during morning and evening drive time. That extra traffic “affects the south side of Peachtree City and my commute into Atlanta,” Rutherford added.

WASA member Mike Harmon noted that Senoia was looking at other options to provide sewer than using WASA for treatment, including the expansion of its current treatment plant or the construction of a new plant, which means Senoia could use that capacity to ramp up development without WASA’s assistance.

“That growth is going to come eventually,” said WASA member Steve Bradley.

WASA Chairman John Gronner said that the Senoia deal would not only help Senoia environmentally by eliminating the need for some septic tanks, it would help the authority avoid potential cost increases to Peachtree City customers “much longer than we anticipated.”

The authority’s financial picture got a little murky earlier this year when it’s largest customer, Photocircuits, announced it was closing down one of its plants in Peachtree City, which accounted for roughly $400,000 a year in revenue.

The Senoia deal would more than make up for that missing revenue. Assuming the city reaches full capacity and the maximum 500,000 gallons of Senoia’s wastewater is treated, that would give WASA a projected revenue of $638,750 under the terms of the contract.

The Senoia sewer contract is still being reviewed by WASA attorney Mark Oldenburg and Senoia officials and “is by no means final,” Turner told WASA Monday night.

Brown and Rutherford also said they were surprised that they didn’t learn about the deal from WASA, but instead in the newspaper.

Turner said the reason council wasn’t briefed before on the issue was because there weren’t enough details to provide, and he was afraid releasing information bit by bit “might lead to a lot of speculation.”

He blamed the poor timing of Senoia’s announcement of its pursuit of the deal, which Turner said was strictly performed on a staff level.

“Nobody was trying to sneak anything past,” Turner said.

“It wasn’t our intention to be covert about the whole thing,” added Gronner.

The WASA board was first briefed of the deal’s details Monday night, which included a $3 million connection fee paid over five years with an initial lump sum payment of $500,000, all to have WASA treat up to 500,000 gallons a day of Senoia’s wastewater for 50 years.

WASA did not vote on the contract, as Turner indicated it was a work in progress. It calls for Senoia to be charged $3.50 for each 1,000 gallons of sewage treated.

Although Peachtree City sewer customers pay $4.38 per $1,000 gallons, the extra cost accounts for WASA having to maintain its sewer pipes and pump-stations. In the Senoia deal it would not need to maintain any such infrastructure; that will be Senoia’s responsibility, Turner said.

It is not expected that Senoia will even start pumping sewage to WASA for a year and a half, and it would take an estimated 10 years for Senoia to reach the full 500,000 gallons a day of capacity, Turner said.

Brown asked if WASA would ever feel it necessary to get the City Council’s permission to provide sewer service for property outside the city limits, alleging that under WASA’s theory of not needing council approval, the sewer system could be extended multiple times in the future.

Harmon countered: “That’s not our intention, and you know that.” Harmon suggested if the City Council was interested in the way Senoia grows, it should meet with the Senoia City Council instead of using WASA to control Senoia’s growth.

Turner noted that newly-adjusted projections for Peachtree City’s future sewer needs, which have changed since last week due to the addition of city officials’ projected build-out population of about 47,000 people, would still leave 44,000 gallons a day of leftover capacity after the rest of Peachtree City is “built out”.

That is nearly twice the original projection for “leftover” sewage capacity than when WASA’s plans to expand to treating 6 million gallons a day were formulated in 1999 and 2000, Turner noted.

But Brown cautioned that the city’s sewer needs could change depending on how redevelopment of existing parcels takes place. The mayor was asked if he foresaw any more large water-using industries coming to Peachtree City. Brown’s answer was, “I don’t know,” but he noted that the city is losing manufacturing jobs due to product obsolescence and the worsening traffic on Ga. Highway 74, the route needed for trucks to reach I-85.

Brown also added that he knew of more “projects coming down the pipe” but he declined to reveal what they were, apparently to the consternation of Rutherford, who replied: “I’m only on the council; I’m not in the council.”

WASA is permitted by the state to treat and discharge up to 6 million gallons a day of wastewater. Using that as the maximum figure, there is still room in WASA’s projections to provide sewer service for all Peachtree City homes currently on septic tanks, Turner said.

“Because eventually those tanks will fail,” noted Gronner.