The Flowery Branch City Council voted unanimously Thursday night in favor of a contract to begin emergency construction on sewer lines between Gainesville and Flowery Branch.
The contract has been awarded to Legacy Water Group, LLC who will begin obtaining materials for the construction of the new pipeline as early as Feb. 3. Along with the contract, the city council also declared emergency status on the matter, which will allow them to expedite the process.
Flowery Branch has been near capacity in its existing wastewater treatment plant. The city council voted in Dec. 2022 to reject facility expansion plans due to inflated bids. Designs have been in the works since 2017 but came in roughly $30 million over budget. As new designs begin on the wastewater treatment plant, the pipeline agreement with Gainesville will help remedy the issue. Officials report the existing facility is able to handle up to 910,000 gallons per day, and due to being near capacity, the city has received violation notices and fines from EPD.
The current agreement between Gainesville and Flowery Branch will last five years and allow Gainesville to assist in treating up to 400,000 gallons of wastewater per day.
Senior Vice President of ESG Engineering Trey Gavin reported the anticipated cost of lines and connections will come in at just over $2 million. Funding for that amount will be provided from system development charges. The connection line is currently expected to impact areas down McEver Road and Falcon Parkway.
“The wastewater plant is overloaded right now, and we have already shut off new sewer permits,” Gavin said. “This is an interim measure to be able to allow us to allow growth, potentially, after the pipeline is built, be able to open back up.”
Gavin said typically the competitive bidding process requires a minimum 28-day period where contractors and the public are able to review the plans and specifications. However, those rules are changed when an emergency designation is passed.
“The declaration of emergency is basically to forego the state public bid law,” Gavin said. “This usually draws out the competitive bid process over around 90 days. We need to condense that down. And so the council passed an emergency declaration for us to be able to transfer raw wastewater from Flowery Branch and Oakwood up to Gainesville.”
With Flowery Branch reaching maximum capacity in its treatment plant, the council deemed it necessary to get construction up and running as soon as possible.
Officials did not comment on when the connection project might be completed.
