County Commission Will Consider Whether to Expand Sewer Line After Review of Other Infrastructure Needs

Editor's note:  The original version of this article had errors about details of the St. Mary's/Zoom Bait project that have been corrected.

Oconee County Commissioners may have to consider making repairs to one of the county's main sewer lines and upgrade a wastewater treatment plant before proceeding with a separate project necessary for opening up land near the Oconee County Connector and Highway 316 to new development.

At an Tuesday, Oconee County Utility Department Director Chris Thomas and Jimmy Parker, a consultant to the county, presented a 10-year plan for future repairs and construction for water and sewer infrastructure. 

Copies of the master plan will be posted later today at www.oconeecounty.com.

Thomas told officials the top priority for the county included renovating a sewer main that runs along Government Station Road before the county considers adding any more new sewer lines. A recommendation for spending $1.5 million to upgrade a wastewater treatment station at Calls Creek came in second on the list.

“In my opinion, (the sewer main renovation) is definitely the highest priority for the county,” Thomas said.

Thomas estimated the cost to upgrade the sewer, called the Lampkin Branch Sewer, at $562,000.

The Lampkin Branch Sewer, which was built roughly 30 years ago, is cracked in some places, and needs to be upgraded to handle more water and provide the capacity other users in the system will demand in the future, Thomas said.

Meanwhile, commissioners have already spent $35,000 planning for the $773,000 sewer line that would run along McNutt Creek to behind the Kohl's Department store off Epps Bridge Parkway.

The project would be partially funded by a grant from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, and would need to be completed by October in order to use the $186,711.

In March, the Board took no action on the project, but left the possibility for future discussion open.

At Tuesday's meeting, some commissioners asked county engineers whether they'd have the money and time to schedule all three projects.  They'll discuss whether to go forward with the St.Mary's/ Zoom Bait line at next week's Aug. 2. voting meeting.

"I want to be specific, let's put this to bed one way or the other," Commissioner Margaret Hale said.

 In other business, commissioners discussed:

• Two nominations for volunteers: Phyllis Palmer, a volunteer tour guide at Eagle Tavern, and David Weeks, Board Chair for Oconee County Schools, to join the Oconee County Cultural Affairs and Tourism Committee.

• Two nominations for volunteers: Jeff Christie, Vice President for Oconee County Little League, and Deedee Gaines, a local yoga instructor, to join the Recreational Affairs Committee.