Peachtree

City's Water and Sewage Authority got technical at its

called meeting Wednesday night.

The

authority was asked to determine whether sewer service

was "available" to a subdivision since a

manhole was only 150 feet away. The subdivision, Kedron

Estates, was originally designed to have homes hooked up

to septic tanks until the health department questioned

whether it should be served by the sewer system.

Eventually,

WASA decided the sewer service was available on a 4-1

vote, despite pleas from developer Jimmy Halligan that it

would be too costly to provide sewer access to the

subdivision.

Kedron

Estates consists of 28 homes on one-acre lots that were

originally projected to be on septic tanks. But the

Fayette County Health Department has asked WASA whether

the sewer service is available within the 500-foot limit

set by state law.

WASA

General Manager Larry Turner said making sewer service

available to Kedron Estates would be costly since two

lift stations would be needed. Attorney Doug Dillard,

representing Halligan, argued that the authority could

determine the sewer service is not available based on

financial concerns.

Dillard

said some roads in the subdivisions have already been

paved and would have to be dug up to lay sewer pipe. He

also said state environmental regulators have said it is

up to WASA to determine how it interprets the word

"available" in the state law.

"The

distance is not the issue," Dillard said. "It's

the topography that's the problem."

Halligan

said the Fayette County Board of Health had originally

approved the subdivision for septic tank use but later it

questioned whether the property should be served by sewer

instead. Halligan said he had done his homework on the

development, but the health board caught him off guard

and could delay his property.

Doug

Warner, WASA's attorney, said it was up to the authority

to decide if it wanted to make the sewer service

available to the Kedron Estates subdivision.

WASA member

John Gronner said he felt Halligan should be taking the

issue up with the Fayette County Board of Health.

Authority member Mike Harman said he was worried where

the board could draw the line between "economically

available" and "not economically

available."

After the

authority voted to send a letter to the health board

indicating the sewer service was available, Dillard said

Halligan "will try and get it out of somebody,"

referring to the extra costs of putting in sewer service.

Turner said

the authority could not spend public money on private

projects, but it could help Halligan in other ways.