Mallett and Associates Inc. studied the feasibility of providing sewer service in unincorporated Fayette County 10 years ago, but the County Commission never found the money or the political will to act on the study.

Case closed?

"I'm not so sure," said Tyrone Town Councilman Ronnie Cannon.

Although the study was completed in 1989, Cannon said he is watching carefully for any sign that it might one day be dusted off to help developers put high-density projects in Tyrone.

Other local politicians and observers have privately wondered whether the study, which was reevaluated in 1994/95, might resurface again.

Property owners in the Ga. Highway 74 corridor who have been unsuccessful at getting Tyrone approval for high-density projects have hinted they may ask state legislators to de-annex their land to the county in hopes of getting more favorable treatment, Cannon said.

The county's plans to put a 2 million-gallon water tank on Ga. Highway 92 about halfway between Hwy. 74 and Ga. Highway 85 looks suspiciously like ideal positioning to serve an 800-home subdivision the town recently turned down, Cannon said.

"They said it was a possible opportunity for de-annexation if they didn't get what they wanted," he said.

Cannon said his suspicions are made stronger by the fact that county officials pulled the Mallet study off the shelf in 1994 for another look.

Cannon's fears are unfounded, said county manager Billy Beckett. "We've studied sewer so many times in Fayette County I can't count them," said Beckett. "But the financial aspects of the study, along with some of the density issues, have been such that it just never got off the ground."

The county did indeed look at the 74 corridor and Hwy. 85 north as areas where sewerage might make sense, Beckett said, "but for economic development only, not residential development."

Officials have studied the idea of having business and industry along 85 served by sewer from Clayton or Fulton County, and having 74 served from Fulton, as well as various options for constructing local sewer plants, he said.

"Somebody has been jumping to some very large conclusions," he added.

The idea of the 1989 study, said Beckett, was to use sewer to guide commercial and industrial development along the major thoroughfares. But since the study was finished, Tyrone has annexed most of the area involved.

And in recent years, county commissioners and residents have been adamantly opposed to bringing sewerage in from outside the county, he added.

"We tried to explore the implications of choosing how we would allocate the very limited supply we were talking about," said Beckett. "We looked at all of those things, and none of them were really economically feasible or philosophically compatible."

The county decided to leave the sewage business to the cities, he added.

Mallett's 1989 study identified six potential sites for land application plants to serve the two commercial/industrial corridors. The area to be served, along Hwy. 85, included roughly 1,645 acres, while the Hwy. 74 area included 1,390 acres.

"Based upon the 'rule of thumb' of two inches/acre/week [of treated sewage sprayed on a site] or 125 acres of land per 1 million gallons a day of treatment capacity, the county would require an area of approximately 312.5 acres at each study area for the ultimate treatment capacity of 2.5 mgd at each area," says the study.

Land application was recommended because the state Environmental Protection Division is unlikely to approve any discharge into area streams.

Potential sites recommended in the study include:

An area at Hwy. 54 and Tyrone Road, also bounded by Kirby Road and Sandy Creek Road. The site has 1,200 acres, 900 of them usable for land application of wastewater.

An area bounded by Goza Road on the north, Old Greenville Road on the west, Snead and Woolsey-Brooks roads on the south, and Antioch Road on the east. The site has 1,165 acres, 874 usable.

An 820-acre area west of Hwy. 74 between Peachtree City and the Coweta County line. The site, not bordered by any roads, would have 615 usable acres.

A 470-acre site (352 usable acres) at the northwest corner of Old Senoia and Harp roads. The site is just east of Redwine Road and bordered on the north by Perry Creek.

An area west of Hwy. 85 and south of Harp Road. McBride Road runs through the 320-acre site (240 acres usable).

An area south of Hwy. 85, bordered on east and west by Line Creek and Padgett Road. Of 960 acres, 720 are usable.

Estimated cost for systems serving the two areas was $22 million, including financing costs, for an estimated 5 million gallons a day at build-out.

In 1994, the board asked Mallett to focus revisions to the study on the Hwy. 74 corridor and identify sites for smaller land application systems for that limited area. Mallett identified five sites suitable for a smaller system

The five newer sites are:

300 acres (225 usable) between Trickum Creek and Palmetto Fayetteville roads, and bordered on north and east by a tributary to Trickum Creek.

320 acres (240 usable) bounded on the north by Milam Road, west by Whitewater Creek, east by Lees Lake and Thompson Road, and south by Coastline Road.

319 acres (240 usable) bounded by Lees Mill Road on the north and on the remaining sides by Whitewater Creek and tributaries.

281 acres (210 usable) bounded on the north by Hwy. 92, south by Rivers Road and east by Cedar Lane.

163 acres (120 usable) bounded on the north by Wagon Wheel Trail, west by Davis Road, south and east by Hwy. 92 and Westbridge Road.