Things may be getting questionable for the future of South Fulton Municipal Regional Water & Sewer Authority. Bonds totaling $42 million were sold in 2003 with the idea of constructing a reservoir and the infrastructure necessary to serve the drinking water needs of Union City, Fairburn and Palmetto. Today the project is still not off the ground and is need of another $13 million. In the meantime, residents of the three cities will watch this summer as the municipalities begin paying on the principal and interest, to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.

Authority Chairman and Fairburn Mayor Betty Hannah said Monday the board was told last week by project manager Tommy Craig that an additional $13 million would be needed to fund project components such as water lines and a treatment plant. The board voted to initiate the process to refinance the bond, Hannah said. A vote by the three cities on whether to go ahead with the pursuing the new funding will occur in May.

Far from being a sure thing, the project designed to bring independent water and sewer capability to Union city, Fairburn and Palmetto has seen little in the way of progress since the 2003 bond sale. And beginning this summer, the cities will be faced with the cost of footing the cost of paying on the principal and interest. Until now the escrow account paid the way, but with the escrow depleted, the cities will begin to take up the slack. The amount of monthly payments is determined by each city’s water usage. For Fairburn alone, that amounts to more than $75,000 per month with no end in sight.

The thing is, said Hannah, some of the expenditures that have already been made, such as purchasing property, were not supposed to have occurred until permits were secured from Georgia Environmental Protection Division and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“We were only supposed to spend money for permits and administrative costs,” Hannah said, noting that the authority today still has not received the required permits. “We don’t know when the project will be permitted.”

Hannah and city administrator Jim Williams had no way to predict when the project might get underway, when the reservoir would be built.

“If (the May vote) is not passed by the cities we may have to fold our tents,” Williams said. “We will work with everyone, but Fairburn is not going to let itself get in the position where we don’t have a good supply of water.”

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