by Jim Ashley
posted March 21, 2008
The Hamilton County Waste Water Treatment Authority wants to spend $2 million-$3 million for sewer lines in Meigs County, but Soddy-Daisy Mayor Bob Privett wants to stop the effort.
That’s what he told the Soddy-Daisy Board of Commissioners on Thursday evening at the city’s municipal building.
Speaking during the second meeting of the board’s two regularly scheduled monthly meetings, the mayor said he learned of the WWTA’s plans during its public board meeting on Wednesday.
He said all of the WWTA money will initially benefit Rarity Communities and will be “guaranteed by very wealthy individuals, except $2 million or $3 million that will be spent for putting sewer lines, speculating.”
When the project was first announced, Mayor Privett said, “I questioned why they were going to Meigs County to spend the money when Soddy-Daisy has probably 10 percent or less sewers. If we’ve got all this money we need to spend, let’s spend it in Hamilton County. … I’m going to try and get what I can for our city.”
The mayor said he was “assured at that time that all the money would be secured by the developer. There’s going to be a thousand homes there, and they’re going to pay back a substantial amount of money for the initial cost.”
But on Wednesday, he continued, “it came out” that the WWTA plans to put two sewer lines in at an “initial cost” of $2 million-$3 million.
Mayor Privett said he asked the WWTA if those funds would be “guaranteed also by the developer” and that he was told, “No.”
Where will that revenue come from? he asked. “Planned growth” was the reply, he said, noting that such was “speculation.”
The mayor said he then asked the WWTA if it had “done this in the past, … spent one penny speculating on a sewer line anywhere?”
And again the answer was no, he said, adding that he voted no on WWTA’s proposal because “we have growth” in Soddy-Daisy and need sewers, too.
State Rep. Jim Cobb attended the commission meeting on Thursday and gave an update on a proposed 16-mile toll bridge connecting Soddy-Daisy and Harrison.
He said he had talked with Hamilton County Engineer Todd Leamon and was told that Congressman Zach Wamp was going to talk with TVA and NRC officials about determining the best and safest route for the bridge to cross the Tennessee River.
Rep. Cobb noted that public input is also being sought for the project.
He also noted that a traffic light on Highwater Road in Soddy-Daisy “is coming” and that it is currently in the “design stage.” The total cost, he said, would be about $120,000 and would be in operation in less than a year.
In other business, the commission voted unanimously to purchase asphalt for the city from Highways Inc. at $39 per ton. According to City Manager Janice Cagle, Highways Inc. was the only company to place a bid for the contract.
Highways Inc. and Card Paving submitted bids, $15 and $17 per ton respectively, for in-place (recycled) paving.
Although Card Paving was the high bidder, the commission voted unanimously to give Card Paving the contract after hearing an opinion on the matter from Commissioner Gene-o Shipley and Privett.
They pointed out that Card Paving was locally owned, had heavily invested in the Soddy-Daisy community over the years and had proven to be very reliable, prompt and helpful.
Ms. Cagle noted at the end of the meeting that the commission will have a new web site accessible to the community on April 1 at soddydaisytn.gov.
) Photo by Jim Ashley Rep. Jim Cobb updates the Soddy-Daisy Board of Commissioners about a proposed bridge connecting the city to Harrison |
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