The Senoia City Council voted unanimously Monday night to move forward on a contract for engineering services on its new sewer plant that will quadruple its treatment capacity.

Above, view of downtown Senoia. Photo/John Thompson.

The city agreed to pay Turnipseed Engineers $35,000 for the study and report phase for the Keg Creek Water Pollution Control plant.

In September,the EPD granted the city a permit for a plant of up to two million gallons a day that would discharge into Keg Creek.

After being turned down twice, Councilman Jeff Fisher said the difference this time was that Senoia can now function as a regional sewer system, instead of just serving city customers.

“That means we could service Haralson, Turin, Sharpsburg,” Fisher said.

The new plant is expected to cost up to $12 million, which the city would finance with a bond, loan or a combination of funding sources.

Currently, the city uses a land application system with a 500,000 gallon per day capacity. Fisher expects the buildout of Senoia would use around a millon gallons per day, which leaves the city free to sell its excess capacity.

The city is currently assessing sites for the treatment plant and expects the planning process to last between six to eight months.