Roswell may have found a rip in the red tape binding much of the state’s water supply.
While other cities and counties fret over keeping what water they have, the city of 88,000 is opening the valve.
Whether Roswell succeeds in growing its water supply could have ripple effects on surrounding utilities and the rates they charge, Mayor Jere Wood said.
Roswell has become the only city in north Fulton County with its own water system. Right now, the utility serves 14,300 residents, mostly in the city’s southwest corner. Fulton County serves the remainder.
“We’d love to have a number of wells and be able to service all the residents of Roswell,” Wood said. “Water is a limiting resource. If you don’t have water, you can’t grow, so by adding water, we’re helping the region.”
Not everyone is on board with the city’s dreams, though. Some residents fear city leaders are pouring too much into a resource that benefits only a fraction of the city and may put the others at risk for part of the tab.
Construction began this month on a $1.3 million pumping station and treatment plant for two new wells, the only ones in metro Atlanta to receive state approval since permitting resumed 14 months ago. Surveys say the wells can produce as much as 360,000 gallons of water a day at times, although the permit allows for an average of 167,000.
Costs for the project are paid for through federal grants and the city’s water utility fund, which gets its money from customer rates.
Interest in supplementing water systems has grown since the regional drought five years ago. Cherokee County, Woodstock and College Park are but a few of the jurisdictions that have sunk money into well exploration.
College Park recently tapped a well delivering just under 100,000 gallons a day, the legal threshold before requiring a state permit. The city is studying other sites as well, said city engineer Jackson Myers.
In addition to its wells, Roswell recently received state approval to increase withdrawals from Big Creek to 2.8 million gallons per day from 1.2 million gallons. It is the only metro Atlanta utility to receive a state permit to withdraw more surface water from the Chattahoochee River Basin since a federal appellate court overturned a ruling last year that would ban water use from Lake Lanier.
Stuart Moring, Roswell’s Public Works director, said the additions, plus upgrades at the water treatment plant, will increase capacity to produce 1.5 million gallons a day at little extra cost, about 100,000 gallons more than the average daily demand.
“That increases the amount of water we’re producing for essentially the same cost,” Moring said.
It also means the city won’t have to pay Fulton County as much for supplemental water, about $460,000 a year.
These enhancements come as the city launches preliminary engineering work on a new $15.8 million water treatment plant on the site of the existing facility that was built in 1937 and expanded over the years. Plans call for using $1.3 million in Water Department reserves and a $14.5 million loan though the Georgia Environmental Financing Authority to pay for the new plant.
Moring said cost analysis studies show the loan could be financed over 20 years by charging the 5,600 billed customers an extra $1 per month on their base rate. The remainder of the financing, he said, would be made up in reduced maintenance costs at the current plant and a drop in the amount of water purchased from Fulton County.
For its cost analysis, the city used Timothy Grogg of Cybergov Consultants.
“He’s done rate analysis for us before, and I have tremendous faith in his understanding of how these things are done,” Moring said.
The proposal still must receive City Council approval. Residents can learn more about the project at two open houses at noon and 5 p.m. today in Room 220 at City Hall.
Roswell resident Lee Fleck calls the effort and costs expended on the wells almost laughable when compared to the amount of water being added. He also questions whether the city needs a new water plant right now after spending millions to bring the current facility up to date.
Most of all, Fleck said he’s curious about the city’s calculations and fears residents outside the service area may end up footing part of the bill for the new water plant.
“There is no way that the 5,600 customers who get water from that plant are going to be able to carry that $15 million debt,” he said. “I’m using all of [the city’s] figures to include all their cost savings.”
Fleck estimates the water fund will be short about $163,000 each year on its debt payment, and he thinks the city will use tax dollars to bail it out.
“The numbers just do not jibe,” he said.
The East Roswell Forum, a group of residents living east of Ga. 400, has called on the city for details of the funding, as well. The nonpartisan group is looking to get all the facts before the public, a spokeswoman for the group said.
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