BOC approves capital expenditures

The Barrow County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday night approved multiple capital expenditures ranging from sewer infrastructure to a new ambulance.

The board approved a $1.4 million contract with Stack Inc. of Fairburn for the construction of the second and third phases of the sewer improvements at the intersection of highways 53 and 316. The project will provide service to property owned by the Winder-Barrow Industrial Building Authority to enable the IBA to market the land to commercial developers, said wastewater services director Mark Whiddon.The improvements will include a pump station with a capacity of 300,000 gallons per day; 19,750 feet of 10-inch force main; 4,300 linear feet of 12-inch gravity sewer, and 20-inch steel casing under Hwy. 316.

The cost will absorb almost half of the $3 million in low-interest loans recently approved by the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority. The debt is to be repaid by revenue from future customers, and the Barrow County Water & Sewerage Authority has agreed to cover any shortfall until there is enough revenue off the project.

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#1 Anonymous on 06/14/10 at 08:24 AM [Reply]

This taxpayer is disappointed by the information in ths article. The WSA has agreed to cover the debt payments and loan money for new sewer projects at a time when there is a steady flow of red ink from the sewer fund. The WSA should be covering the current losses on sewer before they spend or loan yet more money. Property tax dollars are being used to cover the heavy losses in the sewer fund. Property owners on septic or connected to a city sewer system are paying heavily for a service they will never get.

None of our Commissioners seem to care about overtaxing the majority of property owners in the County for sewer they will never get.

The audits are available online and specific details are on page 9 of the audits. In 2008 & 2009 the County lost $1.3 million dollars in the Sewage Treatment Fund, shortfall was covered by property taxes. Surprisingly the Water Transmission Fund gained $82 thousand in 2008 & 2009 after splost paid the Bear Creek debt as intended by the voters.

Chairman Yearwood and all of the Commission members were lied to last year when the WSA staff member told them they were selling water to the cities at a loss. It is time to end this misconception and set the record straight.

I hope the Barrow Journal is up to the task!

#1.1 City Dweller on 06/14/10 at 10:03 AM [Reply]

I agree, time to straighten out the water sales facts once and for all.

The cities know that the data that Myron presented was wrong. He knows it too.

Myron included Bear Creek debt payments as an expense in his analysis but left out the revenue from splost ($90,000 a month) that pays for that debt.

Myron included all of the annual expenses but left out $1,080,000 in anual revenue from splost.

The cities communicated this to the Chairman but he refused to listen. Myron had given him the story he wanted. Data for the commissioners that painted an inaccurate picture.

The $$ balance in the water transmission fund increased from $40,000 to over $600,000 during the first 4 years that the County sold water to the cities. That alone should prove there was a significant cost benefit from the sale of extra water.

C'mon people it is not a stretch to think that the Chariman doesn't know the accurate facts on water revenue & expense.

Commissioners: Please ask Myron to provide an update on water rates this year, since the drought is over, and perhaps this time he will tell you the truth.

#2 just wondering on 06/15/10 at 07:49 AM [Reply]

Why does the "Water and Sewer Authority" only provide retail water service to customers?

Barrow County has the sewer department and provides the sewer service. At least it seems to be set up this way. The County borrowed money or issued bonds to build a sewer plant and doesn't have enough revenue to pay the debt. The County seems to always loose money on sewer.

The County lets the "Water and Sewer Authority" sell water for a profit. The WSA has over $4 million in water profits sitting in the bank. They agreed to use this money to cover the new loan the County just got from GEFA. I assume the County will have to pay this money back to the Authority at some point.

Looks like the County got the short end of the stick here. The County got the sewer utility that looses money and the WSA got the water utility that makes large profits.

Seems like the taxpayers would benefit if both water and sewer were provided by the same entity. Either give both to the WSA or give both to the County.

Using the profits from Water to offset losses on Sewer seems to make sense. Then tax dollars won't be used subsidizing the cost of sewer.

Most governments across the state keep these 2 services together, it is very odd that Barrow has split them up.

Perhaps the Commissioners will look into this before they go deeper into debt on new sewer projects.

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BOC approves capital expenditures

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BOC approves capital expenditures

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