Ellijay-Gilmer County Water and Sewerage Authority board members approved an end-of-year budget amendment for the wastewater treatment plant when meeting Monday, June 26.
The $76,600 amendment covers various repair, maintenance and chemical costs that exceeded what was originally budgeted for the 2022-23 fiscal year, which ended June 30.
Included: $36,600 to fulfill emergency repair costs of a RAS (Return Activated Sludge) line in January that were budgeted at $107,499, but ran $144,900; $8,500 added to cover emergency repairs of ruptured lines, rental of a trench box and replacement of PVC leachate pipe in December and April; an additional $31,500 for general supplies, materials and chemicals purchased over the year.
“Chemicals keep going up. We’re getting notifications pretty regularly,” said Gary McVey, water authority director.
McVey said the budget amendment will be paid for by interest revenue, which is currently more than $300,000 over budget.
In other news ...
﹣ McVey told board members Mike Gibbs, Hubert Parker, Tony Whitaker and Billy Rowe that a construction crew is ready to start an extensive water line replacement project that will include working with heavy equipment along South Main Street. The work is expected to start the second week of July.
“It’s the last bit of Transite line we’ve got in our system,” McVey said.
Installing the new water line will probably require digging beneath the roadway for much of the project, which will stretch from South Main to River Street, McVey noted.
“(They will) probably be in the road most of the way There’s very little real estate left to work with through there, and what little was left, Georgia Power got,” he added.
The new water line will be installed amongst older pipes, some of which are the oldest lines in the system. That could present some challenges and setbacks, McVey said.
“In the old part of town, which is the beginning of the water system, there is a lot of unforeseen things that could be found during excavation,” he added. “This project may move a little slower than some of our other projects. There’s no telling what we’ll find, and there may be some changes.”
﹣ Board members also post- approved a $12,967 expense for a new water authority computer server and an additional $15,805 for updated lab equipment at the water treatment plant. Board members previously approved $26,500 for the lab equipment purchase, for which a total of $50,000 had originally been budgeted.