The Fayette County Commission in a called meeting Wednesday voted 3-0 on the $37.7 million 2009 Bond Series that will pay for the construction of the long-awaited Lake McIntosh and will pay off several GEFA (Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority) loans and refinance the county’s 1998 water bond.

Construction is expected to begin this fall on the reservoir that will yield 10.4 millions gallons per day (MGD) for drinking water that will be processed at the county-owned Crosstown Water Treatment Plant on TDK Boulevard in Peachtree City.

Commissioners Wednesday in their adoption of the 20-year bond resolution allocated $16.5 million needed for the Lake McIntosh project, $14.7 million for the re-financing of the 1998 water bond and $6.5 million to pay off several water system-related GEFA loans. Merchant Capital representative Jamie Wilson said the interest rate on the 2009 Bond Series will be 3.72 percent, adding that the gross aggregate savings on the bond adoption from the re-finance and loan payoffs will be approximately $2.46 million.

Wilson said the target closing date for the bonds is Aug. 27. In his comments to commissioners, Wilson said institutional investors were eager to purchase the Fayette bonds. The county is conservative and you do not see Fayette selling bonds very often, Wilson said, adding that another draw for investors is the county’s AA rating.

As reported earlier this week, the county has already spent about $6.5 million to acquire mitigation property and accomplish other tasks for Lake McIntosh. The 650-acre lake, which will straddle the Fayette-Coweta county line via the damming of Line Creek, is the final reservoir planned for Fayette and will cover the county’s growth into the 2030-2040 time range. The bulk of the lake will actually be within Coweta County. Line Creek forms the boundary between the two counties.

County Administrator Jack Krakeel said Fayette has already completed the pre-qualification of firms who will bid for the construction project. The county is waiting on the results of a review of the dam construction plans by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, which could be completed within 30-45 days, he said.

Construction on the project is expected to take between 18-24 months, but it could take as long as 30 months from the groundbreaking for the lake pool to fill, depending on the weather, Krakeel noted.

Voting on the bond issue were commissioners Herb Frady, Lee Hearn and Eric Maxwell. Commissioners Jack Smith and Robert Horgan were not present.

The Fayette County Water System currently has a total production capacity of 20.375 MGD. This capacity includes the 13.5 MGD at the Crosstown Water Plant, and an additional .825 MGD from four wells at various locations. With the completion of the South Fayette Water Plant in the summer of 2001, the system now has an additional 6.0 MGD capacity.