The Jan. 21 meeting of the Peachtree City Council is expected to include a presentation by the city Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) on a proposal to extend limited sewer service to Tyrone. The council will also consider an amendment to the ordinance pertaining to public hearings.
A topic at the last council meeting, the agenda includes further discussion on the proposal to have WASA extend limited sewer to Tyrone. WASA representatives are expected to give a presentation on the proposal.
City Manager Jon Rorie in the proposal at the Jan. 7 Peachtree City Council meeting asked council members to consider authorizing WASA to extend sewer to Tyrone with a maximum capacity of 350,000 gallons per day.
Rorie said WASA has a 6 million gallon per day capacity and is currently using 3.1 million gallons per day.
Rorie noted a number of issues both pro and con which might be associated with providing 350,000 gallons of sewer to Tyrone.
Among the pros are that it would establish a long-term agreement, increase sewer plant efficiency, stabilize the rate structure, provide a means to throttle the growth of the northern gateway to Peachtree City, transfer traffic to downtown Tyrone, aid in planning between the two municipalities in terms of quality of life issues and replace the $450,000 loss of sewer revenues when Photo Circuits closed.
Among the cons are the establishment of a long-term agreement, the addition of density, the criteria that the Peachtree City Land Use Plan does not apply outside city limits, diminished zoning control, the allocation of sewer to commercial and residential areas is a Tyrone decision, reduced Peachtree City capacity and future demand in Peachtree City.
Tyrone, with a population of 7,000, has 250,000 gallons capacity from Fairburn/Fulton County. That contract expires in 2019. The areas in Tyrone currently on sewer include the Southampton Village Shopping Center, Southampton subdivision, a second John Wieland subdivision on Hwy. 74 North, the new Fayette County fire station at Hwy. 74 and Jenkins Road along with Sandy Creek High, Flat Rock Middle and Burch Elementary, all on Jenkins Road.
Peachtree City today has a population of approximately 34,000. Projections, including the establishment of the West Village area along MacDuff Parkway, will bring the city population to approximately 43,000 at build-out, Rorie said while noting the low expectation of any major annexations in future.
The addition of Wilksmoor Village on the city’s west side will add another 1 million gallons per day to the current 3.1 million. That total of 4.1 million gallons per day, and the addition of 350,000 gallons per day to Tyrone, would result in a total of 4.45 million gallons per day of sewer usage, leaving a remaining capacity surplus of 1.5 million gallons per day.
The council will also consider an amendment to the public hearing procedure.
Peachtree City’s Ordinance governing the conduct of public hearings before the City Council and the Planning Commission currently calls for the staff presentation with either those supporting or those opposing the request under consideration. This places staff in a position of advocating for or against a request before the hearing body, City Clerk Betsy Tyler said in a Jan. 15 letter.
“The proposed amendment would remove the staff presentation of the request from the pro and con discussion,” Tyler said. “A staff assessment of compliance with the city’s ordinances would then be provided in lieu of a staff recommendation, leaving the applicant to serve as the advocate for the request and the members of the hearing body as the arbiters of the matter.
Tyler said the amendment also includes staff among those authorized to ask questions during the public hearing itself, and acknowledges that the hearers (including members of the City Council or the Planning Commission) may ask questions at any point in the process.
The meeting will also include staff topics pertaining to an update on stormwater projects and Facilities Bond projects and the FY 2016 first quarter budget report.
Below, the Peachtree City Council at its Jan. 7 meeting. Photo/Ben Nelms.
