Officials revealed last week that Bulloch County will receive $20 million from the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority, or GEFA, and direct it toward two separate projects, water and sewer system improvements at the airport and “expansion of sewer infrastructure on the south end of the county.”

That wording is from a letter to the county’s state legislative delegation – Sen. Billy Hickman, Rep. Jon Burns, who happens to be the state House speaker, Rep. Lehman Franklin and Rep. Butch Parrish – in appreciation for support of the funding. The Bulloch County Board of Commissioners, during the July 7 meeting, endorsed the letter with a 4-1 vote, and Chairman David Bennett signed it.

“We are grateful for the $20 million investment in water and wastewater projects through the State of Georgia’s GEFA program,” the letter began.

The letter’s second paragraph invoked cooperation with a neighboring county in regard to the sewer project in southern Bulloch. This passage also noted the existence of a previous grant, from the federal Environmental Protection Agency, for one aspect of that project.

“This work is closely tied to the new Bryan County Regional Wastewater Plant located adjacent to the Daniel Defense facility,” the Bulloch commissioners’ letter stated. “An agreement exists between Bryan County and Bulloch County for the purchase of 250,000 gallons of capacity. An EPA grant of nearly $4 million, secured last year, has been approved for that purpose.”

Septic services

The proposed first use of that sewer treatment capacity will not be to provide direct connections to neighborhood residents or other subscribers. Instead, according to the fourth paragraph of the letter, commercial haulers of septic sludge from Bulloch County’s many residential septic tanks “will be able to immediately access the new facility.”

A study performed about a year ago previously informed the commissioners of a lack of nearby places for haulers to dispose of the waste, and some septic system operators urged the county to do something about it.

“This would help provide sewer access and a facility to where those septic trucks would dump,” County Manager Chris Eldridge said last week.

I-16 corridor sewers

But after the septic haulers get access, “engineering will begin” on a Bulloch County “connection to Bryan County’s pump station on Highway 80,” the letter states.

Then the letter refers to state and county officials having discussed last winter that “this connection will enable service along the Interstate 16 corridor, particularly at the exits at Highway 119, Ash Branch and Highway 67.”

By providing sewer service at these exits, the county could “hopefully generate some commercial development there,” Eldridge said to the commissioners. “As y’all are aware, a big part of our budget is sales tax now, … FLOST, SPLOST, everything else, so this would help set the county up for that as well.”

Airport project

A briefer segment of the letter referred to the water and sewer plans for the Statesboro-Bulloch County Airport. The letter states that upgrades there “will help position the 900-acre asset for future development and long-term economic growth in our community.”

Back on Feb. 2, Statesboro City Council and the Bulloch commissioners approved a joint resolution asking for state funding to extend Statesboro’s water and sewer systems to the county-operated airport. Two hangars for use by corporate planes have been under construction with Georgia Department of Transportation funding, but until now, airport facilities have relied on septic tanks for wastewater disposal.

Meanwhile, the city supplies water to the airport office, but through a four-inch diameter pipeline, and Statesboro Public Utilities Director Matt Aycock previously stated that the city prefers to place fire hydrants on at least a six-inch water line.

The airport project was actually the first one that Eldridge mentioned during last week’s meeting when he asked commissioners to approve the thank-you letter to state legislators.

“We don’t have wastewater (service) at the airport at all, have to put in septic systems for new corporate hangars,” Eldridge said. “This will be an effort to get wastewater there, both for expansion of hangar space, but also with that 900-acre footprint, there’s opportunities for industrial development on the airport property that would not happen otherwise.”

He added that the existing water connection would not provide adequate flows for fire-suppression systems required for aircraft maintenance in the new hangars.

Both the commissioners’ letter and a release that commissioners’ Communications Director Dal Cannady sent to media organizations after Tuesday’s commission meeting stated that Statesboro city and Bulloch County staff members were to meet Thursday, July 9, to discuss the next steps for planned improvements at the airport.

Cannady later confirmed that the staff members met at the airport, as planned.

Zoning priority

Finally, in reference to the creation of a sewer system for the I-16 corridor, the appreciation letter states that the commissioners “will be formalizing a zoning plan for this corridor in the coming months,” recognizing it “as the region’s natural area for private economic investment.”

Media organizations, as well as the four area legislators, were sent conceptual illustrations of “transect” or “transitional” zoning, which places different zones next to each other in series from most natural and lowest-density to most urban and densely developed. One of the illustrations gives a transitional series of T1 “Natural,” T2 “Rural,” T3 “Suburban,” T4 “General Urban,” T5 “Urban Center” and T6 “Urban Core” zones, with provision for SD “Special District” areas.

“You remember we had the presentation, discussion,” Eldridge said to the board. “My recommendation, we need to get the zoning in place to protect the quality of growth at those intersections on that I-16 corridor. But this is a first step. Nothing happens overnight. You know, you’re talking 20 years as you work through.”

The state legislators believing in the county with this funding commitment “is big,” he said, and noted that no local match is required for the funding.

“It’s an exciting time, a lot of work, but another big investment by the state in this region,” Eldridge said.

He said the board’s approval of the letter would express appreciation for a delegation who “did put in a lot of hard work for Bulloch County in making this go through.”

Not tabled

When Bennett asked if there was any discussion, Commissioner Nick Newkirk said, “I just found out about this like two and a half, three hours ago. I’d like to get some more time on it. I’d like to table this to the next meeting.”

But Commissioner Timmy Rushing made the motion to approve, Commissioner Anthony Simmons seconded, and the vote was 4-1 with Newkirk voting against and Commissioner Ray Mosley absent.