Peachtree City's

Water and Sewer Authority is on its way to having $15.3 million in hand

to tackle a massive expansion project.

Revenue bonds

to raise the funds were sold at the market Tuesday, and demand for them

was high, said Todd Barnes of A.G. Edwards, which handled the sale for

WASA. The company was also able to secure an interest rate that was the

lowest available since November, Barnes told the authority at its meeting

Tuesday night.

The closing

on the sale will occur May 24 after the matter has been approved by a

Superior Court Judge.

The bonds will

be paid off in 20 years. In February, WASA voted to raise its residential

and commercial rates to pay off the debt. The residential increase, an

average of 25 percent, took affect March 1. The commercial and multifamily

rate increased partially March 1, with another hike planned to take effect

The bond funds

will allow WASA to increase its treatment capacity from 3.9 million gallons

a day to 6 million gallons a day. Plans call for doubling the capacity

of the Rockaway treatment plant to 4 million gallons a day and retire

the aging and costly Flat Creek treatment plant, which was originally

designed as a temporary facility.

Another way

capacity will be increased is through a system to treat sewage to a higher

standard so it can be piped to the Planterra Ridge Golf Club for irrigation

purposes. Although the Flat Creek plant will be shut down, the authority

will pipe treated sewage to the area so it can keep discharging the allowed

900,000 gallons a day into Flat Creek.

Also in the

mix is a new administration building/maintenance facility on Ga. Highway

74 South near the Rockaway plant.

At a meeting

last summer, WASA officials itemized the city's projected sewer needs

for buildout as follows:

100,000 gallons

for future commercial developments;

500,000 gallons

for future residential developments;

300,000 gallons

for the service of homes around lakes which are currently on septic systems;

400,000 gallons

requested by existing industries;

400,000 gallons

for future industrial growth; and

200,000 gallons

representing the commitment made to the former Peachtree City Development

Corporation (now Pathway Communities) as part of the sewer system's sale

to WASA.

Those calculations

include a 5 percent reserve in case the estimates are off a little.

Back

to News Home Page | Back

to the top of the page