Dean Moorehouse
The head of a community committee on finding a suitable site for an Ooltewah sewage treatment plant said the group has identified a location that meets many of their criteria.
Dean Moorehouse told the Commission the 156-acre site has 75 cleared acres, not many neighbors and is "next to the lake" requiring just a mile of sewage pipe line.
County Mayor Jim Coppinger, who earlier had the committee idea, said he was encouraged by its report. However, he cautioned that any site other than the original Mahan Gap location "is going to cost more money."
Also at the meeting, the commission tabled a resolution that would have provided up to $25 million more for a different plant side. The county earlier set aside $45 million for the plant. Officials of the Hamilton County Water and Wastewater Treatment Authority (WWTA) earlier said another site other than Mahan Gap would require much more pumping and forced mains and cost from $16 million to $20 million more.
Voting against tabling were Tim Boyd, Greg Martin and David Sharpe. In favor were Commissioners Sabrena Smedley, Chester Bankston, Katherlyn Geter, Chip Baker and Randy Fairbanks. Warren Mackey was absent.
WWTA officials were in Atlanta on Wednesday meeting with EPA officials about an expected $240 million Consent Decree requiring major upgrades to the WWTA system to avert sewage overflows.
Mr. Moorehouse said the identified site has 646 residents within two miles, whereas Mahan Gap has 8,760.
He said at Mahan Gap the WWTA would have to spend millions to buy out neighbors in order to build a road to the site that is out of the flood plain.
Mr. Moorehouse said he and Brent Smith of their North Hamilton County Citizens United for Responsible Growth group serve on the panel along with County Commissioner Chester Bankston, a builder, two engineers, an attorney and a marketing specialist.
He said the group has met and is working on a final report. "We are still looking" at possible sites, he said. He said the group has been in contact with WWTA Interim Director Mike Patrick.
Mr. Moorehouse said the group has ruled out a number of sites being considered earlier, saying they do not meet the group's criteria.
Commissioner Martin questioned whether the county had ever relied so much on an un-elected group for such a major decision. Commissioner Bankston said the panel is advisory only.
Commissioners Fairbanks and Smedley as well as the county mayor said they welcomed the community input.