By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
East-end sewage plant getting support
Placeholder Image
The stage was set Thursday for an interesting meeting Monday of the Liberty County Development Authority when the authority met with a corps of CH2M Hill employees and a number of concerned citizens.
The topic was the authority’s $30 million wastewater treatment facility to be built in east Liberty and one of the speakers was Paul Krebs, a local contractor who was foreman of the previous grand jury which asked searching questions of the LCDA.
The February term grand jury, after its initial inquiry, subpoenaed records and two LCDA employees, CEO Ron Tolley and Carmen Cole, director of finance and administration. When the two appeared they also brought along their attorney, Kelly Davis. Davis is the attorney for the county, the LCDA and the Liberty Consolidated Planning commission.
Public employees bringing documents and testimony before a Liberty County grand jury in such situtions have not been accompanied by legal counsel for more than 20 years.
(The presentments of the February grand jury are available at http://libertycountygrandjury2007.blogspot.com/)
Several members of the current grand jury also attended the Thursday LCDA meeting.
Wayne Murphy, LCDA’s liaison with CH2MHill, presented a general overview of the water situation in Georgia and how Liberty County fits into it. He noted that the state water conservation plan calls for a rollback to 2004 levels.
Any increases above that benchmark will require detailed justifications which the state will scrutinize. The proposed state-of-the-art facility for Liberty would be part of such justification.
The highly treated water coming out of the plant can be used for irrigation or returned to the surface waters.
Joe Cannon, a volunteer firefighter, asked if the treated water could be used to fight fires and was pleased to be told yes. “Then I’ll help you any way I can.” he said.
Among the questions asked by Krebs was why the authority had not used the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority, an agency created for that purpose, to arrange low-cost funding. Authority members reiterated their statements that SunTrust, with which they have other transactions, had offered the best deal. Krebs said, “If that’s true, someone has done a hell of a job.”
CH2MHill architect Tom Dodge showed drawings of the plant’s control building which will use the Potemkin village concept.
Though fairly small, the control facility will have long walls with faux windows and doors with no structure behind them. “It will give the appearance of a facility like Target,” Dodge said.
Sign up for our e-newsletters