The South Fulton Municipal

Regional Water and Sewage Authority once again took another step back

- albeit a minor one - from its goal in the first meeting of 2003.

The group formed in April 2000

and has slowly made progress toward their goal of providing ample water

for the tri-city area of Union City, Palmetto and Fairburn.

While the peripheral, and necessary,

functions such as permitting, identifying land, and determining needs

have continued, the city representatives have continually jockeyed back

and forth over legal and practical matters.

Two main hurdles have troubled

the authority. Palmetto Mayor Clark Boddie said that Fairburn "really

didn't want to give up its infrastructure to be a wholesale customer"

while Union City and Palmetto were in favor of being "everything"

from marketing to services.

The second hurdle surfaced

when the newly structured intergovernmental agreement was put before the

group for final approval on Tuesday.

The authority will need to

purchase an older existing wastewater treatment plant from Palmetto to

move forward. Environmental limits would require that it be shut down.

Fairburn felt the language

in the Intergovernmental Agreement could be interpreted that the wastewater

treatment plant would be purchased regardless of the cost.

Engineering firm Keck &

Wood will be doing the evaluation, but the language in the agreement said

that Palmetto would value the system.

In addition, questions arose

as to whether members of the authority would need to garner approval from

their respective city councils prior to agreeing to the obligation of

funds associated with the purchase.

After much discussion and interpretations

from the city's legal counsel, it was determined that the signing of the

agreement would be postponed until the next session to allow for an evaluation

of the property to be made.

In other areas, the process

moved on a steady track. The 404 permitting application was completed

for submission to the EPA. 404 refers to section 404 of the Clean Water

Act which established a program to regulate the discharge of dredged and

fill material into waters of the United States, including wetlands.

Applicants must show they have

taken steps to "avoid wetland impacts where practicable, minimize

potential impacts to wetlands, provided compensation for any remaining,

unavoidable impacts through activities to restore or create wetlands."

Fairburn city administrator

Jim Williams was appointed to serve on the Authority.

Union City Ralph Moore was

re-elected as the chair for the authority. Moore thanked the council for

their vote of confidence and talked briefly about the accomplishments

of the authority, noting they were "on our way to making history."

Palmetto Mayor Clark Boddie

was elected as Vice Chair and newly appointed member Jim Williams was

elected as Secretary/Treasurer.

Williams, voicing concerns

about potential increases in interest rates, suggested that the bond process

be started rather than waiting for the inter-governmental agreement to

be completed.

After discussion the authority

voted unanimously to reinstitute the bond process which had been previously

halted. The process could take anywhere from 90 to 120 days to complete.

A draw of $75,000 was approved

to cover costs associated with permitting, engineering and other related

needs.

At the end of the meeting members

reviewed a video that will be available to the public which will give

an overview and explanation of the authority.