Oconee County Seeking Easements From Property Owners For Sewer Line Along McNutt Creek

Following Jennings Mill Settlement

Oconee County, having reached a settlement with Jennings Mill Country Club over easements for the McNutt Creek Sewer line from Jimmy Daniell Road to Jennings Mill Road, is now turning its attention to the other property owners across whose land the sewer line will run.

The line will cross 17 properties not owned by Laniertindall LLC, owner of the country club.

Of those 17 properties, 10 have homes built on them.

So far, none of the property owners has spoken up publicly against the project or the county’s need for an easement on the property.

Wayne Haynie, Oconee County Utility Department director, said work on the easements has been ongoing for two years and the department will come back to the Board of Commissioners with requests for compensation once the agreements have been reached.

Details Of Line

The 18-inch sewer line from Jimmy Daniell Road to Jennings Mill Road is part of a proposed gravity-fed line along McNutt Creek from Bogart to a proposed future sewer plant on the Middle Oconee River.

At McNutt Crossing

Parts of the line from Bogart to Epps Bridge Parkway are in place, but the county has done no work on the line downstream from a pump station at Epps Bridge Parkway, except for a small section at Old Macon Highway.

At present, sewage is being pumped to the county’s existing sewer plant on Calls Creek, on the northeast side of Watkinsville.

The county is planning to expand the Calls Creek plant and has proposed to build a sewer line down Calls Creek as part of that expansion.

Residents along Calls Creek have been vocal in their opposition to that line.

Settlement With Golf Course

The Oconee County Board of Commissioners on Sept. 6 approved a $425,000 settlement with Laniertindall to run the sewer line across the golf course, which incorporates McNutt Creek into its design.

The county altered the route of the sewer line to minimize damage to the golf course.

Plans completed for the sewer line for the county by Precision Planning Inc. of Monroe show the line crossing three undeveloped properties on Wall Street just east of Jimmy Daniell Road and then the back side of Creekside subdivision.

From there, the line crosses properties on Overlook Drive and Ramsey Drive before entering the golf course. Five of the properties on those two roads crossed by the sewer line have homes on them.

After leaving the eastern edge of the golf course, the line crosses five additional properties on McNutt Crossing and spurs from it, all of which have homes on them.

The sewer line will cross under the base of the walking bridge over McNutt Creek at the end of McNutt Crossing.

Under Loop

The line will tunnel under SR Loop 10 near the Jennings Mill Maintenance Building at the end of Chambers Court.

Haynie told me in an email message on Sept. 15 that “We do not have all of the easements settled or recorded at this time.”

“Our process is to get all particulars worked out with each owner, sum up any compensation and easement stipulations, then requisition the payments after we receive the signed easements,” Haynie continued.

Haynie did not offer any time line for reaching these agreements.

Haynie provided me the copy of the sewer line design from Precision Planning with that Sept. 15 email.