DeKalb County's aging sewer system and constant spills, a problem stretching back years, could become a solution to a more recent county woe: unemployment.
A study being released Thursday shows a planned $1.35 billion upgrade to DeKalb’s sewer and water system could create some new jobs as early as this winter and up to 3,600 positions in the next seven years. Another 1,000 jobs could come indirectly, from services supporting the new workers.
“We are improving the quality of life for all DeKalb citizens and, in doing that, we will be hiring,” DeKalb Chief Executive Burrell Ellis said.
No jobs will be added immediately. The county must first borrow up to $500 million to pay for the first phase of the overhaul.
The county expects to issue those bonds by year’s end. So the first jobs, mostly in design and some repair, won’t begin until next year.
But as that work ramps up, the study by the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government projects DeKalb will create more than 1,900 jobs by 2013. Annually, the work will support 3,000 jobs through 2018.
Those positions would be especially welcome in DeKalb, which has the metro region’s third-highest jobless rate. The county’s unemployment rate was 10.5 percent in September, a full percentage point higher than Cobb, its most similar regional neighbor, according to the state labor department.
DeKalb’s rate is even slightly higher than Georgia’s overall unemployment rate of 10.3 percent.
“It’s been a rough couple of months,” said Kevin Germany, a licensed truck driver who lost his regional hauling job this fall when his boss cut back on routes because of the slow economy.
Germany, who arrived at the state unemployment office in Toco Hills Wednesday right as it opened to check on work, said he would be eager for a spot on the county project.
“I’d be willing to do anything, but it would be nice to find something local that’s stable,” said Germany, who shares a Clarkston home with his wife and daughter.
The county is directing Germany and other job candidates to its Workforce Development office to register their skills. And even those without the necessary training will qualify for classes and help through Georgia Piedmont Technical College and other partners.
That will help the county reach another goal, to have at least 20 percent of the jobs done by DeKalb residents. The county has an existing ordinance that calls for firms to make a good-faith effort to reach that figure.
Ellis plans to hire the National Urban League in a pilot project, to make sure bidding firms in the massive sewer and water project comply. Other local firms will be able to later bid on that monitoring, which could add even more jobs.
The potential for such good news is a turnaround for DeKalb’s aging water and sewer system. The county raised rates 16 percent this year, and programmed 11 percent hikes each year from 2012 to 2014 to raise enough money to make system improvements.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency has mandated $700 million in fixes to the sewer system. The rest of the project price tag will go to improvements to the water system and $600,000 toward cleaning up the South River and other waterways damaged from ongoing sewer spills.
DeKalb reported more than 830 raw sewer spills between 2005 and 2010. It had another 151 spills through September of this year, said county water director Joe Basista.
Cutting back and eventually halting those spills will require a full inspection, cleaning and repair of the system. The county also will spend $300 million of project money to build a new, and larger, sewage treatment plant on Snapfinger Creek.
“There will jobs digging ditches and running a backhoe, handling inspection and office work and later some heavy construction and building trades,” Basista said. “We are ready to go on some of that as soon as the borrowing goes through.”
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