Public Hearing set in January on major infrastructure expansion

FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. – The Board of Commissioners is one step closer to making a major expansion to the county’s commercial sewer infrastructure.

At the County’s direction, attorney Ken Jarrard drafted an ordinance he presented to commissioners at Tuesday’s meeting. The ordinance identifies six nodes that will be served by a $17-19 million infrastructure expansion targeted almost exclusively for commercial development.

The ordinance states that once the infrastructure is run to the nodes, before the connections can be used for anything other than non-residential purposes, 75 percent of the nodes and 75 percent of the acreage must be utilized for commercial purposes.

If approved, the project will be funded by a portion of the $47 million the County will receive from the American Rescue Plan Act.

County Manager Kevin Tanner developed the plan after meetings with County’s Planning, Water and Sewer and Economic Development departments and the Forsyth County Chamber of Commerce and presented it to the Board last month.

Commissioners liked the proposal but wanted safeguards in place that would reserve the capacity for commercial use only. Jarrard’s draft ordinance does that. The Board did not vote on the ordinance, but voted unanimously to move the issue to the first of two required public hearings in January.

The infrastructure expansion would be located in north Forsyth where significant commercial, industrial businesses have expressed an interest but where there is no sewer availability.

“These are places we feel like we can have the highest return on investment,” Tanner said at the time. “We want to spend these dollars where 20 years from now citizens in Forsyth County are going to know where their tax dollars went.”