Fulton County commissioners today postponed action on a decision on whether to spend $15 million to buy a private sewage treatment plant that an independent expert says the county doesn't need.
County Manager Dick Anderson planned to ask the commission to approve his proposal for providing sewage treatment to north Fulton County over the next two decades – a plan that does not include buying the Cauley Creek wastewater treatment plant in Johns Creek.
But commissioners voted to table the item for two weeks to give the parties involved a chance to comment.
For years Fulton contracted with the plant to convert sewage into non-drinkable irrigation water. But it ended the contract in 2012, and Cauley Creek closed at the end of that year.
But in recent months its owner, Ron Green, has tried to convince Fulton officials that reopening his plant makes sense. Former County Commission Chairman Mike Kenn, former state House Speaker Mark Burkhalter and prominent attorney Steve Labovitz have helped make his case. Some north Fulton County politicians also have urged the county to buy the plant.
But the final report of an independent consultant shows reopening Cauley Creek would cost Fulton County $54.3 million more in the long run - including operating costs - than the chief alternative for expanded sewage capacity.
Anderson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution there has been “a huge amount” of political pressure for the county to buy the plant. By hiring the independent consultant, he wanted to ensure there was an “analytical, fact-driven process to ensure ratepayers’ interests were protected.”
Green did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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