A mid-March “work session” by the Eatonton-Putnam Water and Sewer Authority board made no formal decisions, yet still outlined a broad path of balancing acts that they, and future boards, will grapple with over the next 10, 20, and maybe even 40 years.
Board members and ESG engineering advisors said little about their usual month-to-month topics in the annual $4-million, operations-and-maintenance budget that keeps the present system going. Instead, they focused on longer-term rehabilitations and improvements aimed not only at reliable service but also efficiency and increased capacity.
The centerpiece came, in outline form, with a capital improvement plan spread out over the next 20-30 years. At current costs, the plan carries a $27-million price tag – or roughly $1 million a year.
ESG’s projected costs include $6.5 million for sewer rehabilitation, $3.1 million for treatment plant infrastructure, and another $4.8 million for major and minor improvements in lift stations that push sewage over hills. All of EPWSA’s sewer operations serve Eatonton customers.
Water system infrastructure and improvements affect both city and unincorporated areas. Projected costs run $9.6 million for system improvements (which includes removal of any remaining 100-year-old, cast-iron pipes in older sections of Eatonton) and $2.7 million for water infrastructure.
Next on the agenda, naturally enough, was how to pay the bills – or, at least, the pros and cons of the four major financing options. One, government obligation bonds: 30-40 years, currently 4.13 percent interest, but with an upfront 3 to 5 percent origination fee.
Two, GEFA (Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority), subsidized partly by the federal Environmental Protection Agency: 20-30 years, 2.92 percent interest, draw as needed, 1-percent origination fee, $30 million cap.
Three, U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development program (which financed the Sinclair Water Authority treatment plant): up to 40 years, 3.0 percent interest, some red tape.
Four, CDBG (federal Community Development Block Grant, administered by the state): competitive, and requires partnership with city or county government.
Some of the water system improvements (additional valves, interconnected “loop” lines for water pressure and fire protection) are already on the way under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant, where the feds, directly or indirectly, pay two-thirds of the $6.2 million costs. The annual O&M operations also chip in here and there; for instance, when replacing a six-inch main with a larger-capacity eight-inch line.
The questions facing present and future EPWSA boards include often-touchy issues of priorities – as in, what comes first – and system expansion – as in, who pays what.
“We have to expand,” said Bill Sharp, who serves as county commission chairman and also this year’s EPWSA chairman. “It’s brewing and bubbling up now. I get calls almost daily. There could be 700 new apartments here soon.”
The U.S. 441 corridor north to the Morgan County line includes not only the 4-H Center, but an egg production plant thirsting for more water.
However, it is the prospects of 7,000 employees at a Rivian electric truck facility between Social Circle and Covington that has stirred much of the expansion talk here, especially for the northern and western parts of the county.
“To expand, you need customers. You need to figure return-on-investment” (usually 10 years), said board member Judd Doster. “You have to rehab first so that you can expand . . . We can’t expand for a big industry that will dump 250,000 gallons a day into our wastewater system. We have to calculate impacts across the whole system.”
A concurrent problem comes in ensuring that current customers pay for what they have now and do not effectively subsidize new growth, said ESG principal engineer Trey Gavin. That translates into alternatives for the expected growth to pay for itself. Possibilities range from tax allocation districts and impact fees to pre-treatment plants and aeration fields.
Perhaps inevitably a part of the discussion was the 2027 expiration of the agreement that defined service areas between EPWSA and the private Piedmont Water Co. in the lucrative Lake Oconee/Harmony Crossing corner of the county.
Options range from the continuation of the current agreement, a new agreement, interconnecting the two systems, or building new lines.