Peachtree City

sewer officials have agreed to perform preventive maintenance for a small

sewer system in Tyrone in exchange for $600 a month from the town to cover

expenses.

The city's

Water and Sewerage Authority approved a contract with Tyrone officials

to perform the service at its meeting Tuesday night. The agreement means

WASA will periodically check the two pump stations in Tyrone's system,

which was designed to serve a 292-home subdivision, some commercial parcels

and a possible office complex.

Tyrone officials

initially resisted the sewer project until the developer, John Wieland

Homes, won a court ruling. The system will pipe the flow to Fairburn for

treatment; no treatment plant will be built in Tyrone and the limit each

day is 250,000 gallons.

WASA General

Manager Larry Turner said he didn't think the preventive maintenance checks

would overburden employees, since Tyrone's system is just five minutes

away from the northernmost pump station in Peachtree City. But if it does

get too unwieldy in the future, an escape clause is built into the contract,

Turner noted.

That clause

allows either party to terminate the contract upon 90 days notice.

Turner said

he calculated the $600 a month figure using the hourly pay for the highest-paid

employee who would inspect the Tyrone system, adding 35 percent to that

to cover fringe benefits.

The contract

calls for that price to be revisied Oct. 1 of each year to "reflect

actual labor costs."

Turner said

since the system is new, there should be relatively few problems with

it. But if there are, Tyrone has the option to contract with WASA for

the work or seek another source for the repairs.

If there is

an emergency with the sewer system, WASA will assist Tyrone if asked,

but Tyrone must pay the authority's actual labor and costs, plus fringe

benefits and all out of pocket expenses, the contract states.

WASA Attorney

Mark Oldenburg said the contract was written to specifically deliniate

what services the authority would be responsible for.

WASA member

Mike Harman said he thought the contract should include a fee schedule

for the "extra" work Tyrone might want WASA to perform in the

future. But he was reminded that Tyrone officials had already signed the

contract and the authority has been discussing this issue for several

months.

The contract

was approved 4-1 with Harman voting against it.

Back

to News Home Page | Back

to the top of the page