After years

of discussions and $300,000 in feasibility studies, the

city of Senoia took the first step Monday to starting a

municipal sewer system.

The city

voted unanimously to proceed with negotiations to

purchase the Southern Mills land application system and

have the city's engineer start writing contracts to lay

sewer lines to the city's lower income residents.

For the

last two months, the city has been mulling the Southern

Mills option, along with the idea of obtaining sewer

service from Peachtree City, as the final choices in

providing sewerage to the city's residents.

While Mayor

Joan Trammell said pursuing the Southern Mills option

does not totally abandon the idea of using Peachtree

City's facilities, she did add that Peachtree City's

Water and Sewerage Authority wants to serve the entire

city or nothing.

Trammell

added she knew this was a major decision to make, but

said sufficient studies and time had been taken on the

issue and the city needed to move forward.

Another

factor in the decision was the city's $500,000 grant from

the Department of Community Affairs to provide sewerage

to the town's lower income residents.

The mayor

said she received a phone call from the department saying

the funds are still available for the city, but that

something has to be done by next June or the city will

lose the funds.

Councilman

Robert Hannah suggested the council take a six-month

option on the purchase of the Southern Mills property,

but Trammell said she believed the negotiations were in

the final stages.

After the

Southern Mills purchase is complete, the city will build

the sewer system in two stages. The first stage will

provide sewerage to the city's lower income residents,

along with the central business area and Martinwood

subdivision, which has a history of failed septic

systems.

The second

phase will run lines to the rest of the city and the new

subdivisions that are sprouting up through town.

The total

cost of both phases is $3.3 million and the estimated

time for sewering the whole city is approximately three

years.

Councilman

Kyle Frank agreed that it's time to move ahead, but said

he is concerned about the economic impact on residents.

"Everybody's

water bill is going to double and that concerns me,"

he said.

The mayor

added that residents won't be asked to sign up for the

sewer service until lines are run in their neighborhoods,

which could be three years down the road.

The city

plans to pay for the system through special purpose local

option sales tax funds, grants and low interest loans.

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