Saturday, July 21, 2007

Written 7/21/07

Letter Sent to Davis Requesting Barber Creek Meeting

The Board of Directors of Friends of Barber Creek has sent a letter to Melvin Davis, chairman of the Oconee County Board of Commissioners, requesting a public meeting to present three requests regarding the proposed expansion of Rocky Branch sewage treatment, which will discharge treated sewage water into Barber Creek.

Those requests are that the Board of Commissioners:

1 Agree to hold discharge water from the Rocky Branch sewage plant in storage facilities when Barber Creek is flooding or threatening to flood, rather than discharge into the Creek;

2. Treat effluent from the Rocky Branch sewage plant not to discharge quality but to the highest level possible with the technology available and, at a minimum, to the level of treatment at the Hill Plant in Gwinnett County for water being discharged into Lake Lanier; and

3. Set up a system of independent monitoring of the Rocky Branch sewage treatment plant, its effluent, and Barber Creek.

Oconee County announced in a public notice in The Oconee Enterprise on July 12 that it has begun the bidding process for engineering support and design work for an expanded Rocky Branch sewage treatment plant. Proposals are due on July 31, and, according to Oconee County Clerk Gina Davis, the bids will be opened and the names of submitting firms will be read at 2 p.m. on July 31 in an open meeting in either the Grand Jury Room or Room 103 at the Courthouse.

I have requested that the County send me a copy of the materials provided to bidders. Ms. Davis has indicated that she is "working with Gary Dodd to get the materials" that I requested. Dodd is the Utility Department director.

Chairman Davis has indicted repeatedly since October of 2004, when the County began the permitting process to start discharging treated sewage water into Barber Creek, that no decision has been made to actually build the plant.

The County has never adopted a waste water master plan or indicated what plans it has for future expansion of the Rocky Branch plant or its second plant at Calls Creek, outside Watkinsville. The most recent draft master plan recommended that these two plants be phased out over time in favor of a plant on the Oconee River.

Here’s the full text of the letter I sent to Mr. Davis on behalf of the Friends of Barber Creek Board:

July 17, 2007

Mr. Melvin Davis, Chairman
Oconee County Board of Commissioners
Oconee County Courthouse
23 N. Main Street
Watkinsville, GA 30677

Dear Mr. Davis:

With this letter, I am formally requesting that you schedule a public meeting at which those of us concerned about the health of Barber Creek are given a chance to discuss with the Board of Commissioners announced plans to expand the Rocky Branch sewage treatment plant and to begin discharging treated sewage water into Barber Creek.

I am making this request on behalf of the Board of Directors of Friends of Barber Creek, a citizen group created to preserve and enhance the attractiveness of Barber Creek and surrounding land in Oconee County and to protect and improve the ecological condition of the Creek.

The Board of Directors wishes to have the opportunity in a public meeting to ask the members of the Board of Commissioners, should they vote to expand the Rocky Branch sewage treatment plant and begin discharging waste water into Barber Creek, that they also:

1 Agree to hold discharge water from the Rocky Branch sewage plant in storage facilities when Barber Creek is flooding or threatening to flood, rather than discharge into the Creek;

2. Treat effluent from the Rocky Branch sewage plant to the highest level possible with the technology available and, at a minimum, to the level of treatment at the Hill Plant in Gwinnett County for water being discharged into Lake Lanier; and

3. Set up a system of independent monitoring of the Rocky Branch sewage treatment plant, its effluent, and Barber Creek.

I thank you in advance for your consideration of this request and look forward to hearing from you regarding the County’s plans for an open discussion of the proposed expansion of the Rocky Branch sewage treatment plant.

Sincerely,



Lee B. Becker
President

cc: Post 1 Commissioner, Jim Luke
Post 2 Commissioner, Don Norris
Post 3 Commissioner, Margaret Hale
Post 4 Commissioner, Chuck Horton

Mailing Address for Friends of Barber Creek:

1050 Scott Terrace
Athens, GA 30606 (Oconee County)
Tel. 706 548-1525