Water Authority Discusses Pipes With Asbestos Material, Undersized Line Upgrade

By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor

The Dade County Water and Sewer Authority quickly worked through a number of old and new business items at its monthly meeting on August 27, including pump replacement and repair costs and an undersized line on Sand Mountain that needs to be upgraded.

Elizabeth Zeller (general manager) noted that the second series of UCMR5 testing (as mentioned several months earlier) found no detection of chemical contaminants.

She reported that per an update from Senator Raphael Warnock’s office, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to advance “FY25’s Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies” appropriations bill to the U.S. Senate. At this point, the water authority hopes to receive $1,570,000 allocated to replacing pipes made with asbestos. Now, the authority must wait to see if the bill is passed.

The water company has identified specific pipes made from asbestos cement that need to be replaced. Zeller explained to the Sentinel that many older water systems used asbestos-containing pipes before the mineral was found to be harmful. As long as asbestos is contained in the cement, it is not dangerous. Therefore, it is not an urgent matter to get these pipes replaced, but funds from the bill would help the authority tackle the project.

Zeller reported that the New Home tank has been checked and washed by American Tank Maintenance and she hopes to have updates on the other tanks at future meetings.

The authority then voted to sign a resolution with the Georgia Department of Transportation about the Slygo Road bridge replacement over I-24. To cover the cost of moving a waterline due to the bridge project, the final proposal from GDOT is for the water authority to pay 70 percent (estimated to be $77,695.10) and GDOT to pay 30 percent. GDOT will hire a contractor to complete the work, and the authority will reimburse GDOT.

The authority plans to use Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) for this project, and Zeller said she has a meeting set with Don Townsend (county CFO and clerk) to discuss SPLOST.

Reviewing the resolution, authority member Tony Payne commented, “We don’t have much choice, do we?” Eddie Cantrell (chairman) confirmed that there is no choice.

The authority also voted to purchase TruBackflow Software for a total of $7,498 (including a one-time setup fee and the first year’s annual fee). Zeller explained, “Anybody with a one-inch tap or higher has to have a backflow device placed on the line. It has to be a yearly testable device…We ask that the customer put that on so there’s no cross contamination. For example, all of our chicken houses in the county, they all have backflow devices.”

The software will simplify the process of tracking these devices and annual reports on the devices. Payne asked how many backflow devices are in Dade, and Zeller said there were 115 with more in the process of being installed.

Under new business, Zeller noted that the authority’s CDs (certificate of deposit accounts) are not meeting the return level they would like them to. David L. Kaplan is an advisor that specializes in municipalities, and Zeller said, “[He can help] move our CDs so we can gain money for the water authority.” The authority will return to the topic at the next meeting.

The authority voted to pay three invoices from National Water Service for pump repair/replacement/spares, with the understanding that SPLOST will be used. (Again, Zeller will discuss SPLOST with Townsend before the county’s next monthly meeting.) Zeller noted that National Water Service always checks pumps to see if they can be rebuilt before recommending a more costly replacement.

Replacing the Lookout Mountain pump cost $39,175, a new spare high service pump cost $18,785, and a new spare raw water pump cost $7,586.

Next, Zeller reported on an undersized line on Highway 301 at Michaels Road that needs to be upgraded to a six-inch line, with no vote taken at this time. The estimate for materials (not including installation) is $94,000.

Cantrell asked how many undersized lines are in the county. Zeller knew of about three or four but would have to check with Bobby Cloud (distribution manager) and Frank Hawkins (plant manager) for the total number.

Authority member Timothy Fowler noted that three gas stations and a wedding venue are located between Michaels Road and the state line, but with the current line, the fire hydrants are inoperable. He added that the owner of Blackberry Ridge is building more rentals next to the venue.

Payne and Cantrell asked if it’s worth upgrading to an eight-inch line and bidding out the entire project at one time (due to Cloud’s already full to-do list). Zeller will look into these questions and also find out how many houses are on this line.

Zeller briefly reported on a proposal from 120 Water to assist with the Lead and Copper Rule Revision inventory process for $28,740. Zeller did not recommend this proposal, noting that the office has already been handling the inventory and doesn’t feel the need to hire a third party.

Cantrell then recommended that the board give Zeller and Ashley Castleberry (media director/public relations) inquirer status at Citizens Bank and Trust, keeping all five board members as signees. He explained that, when an issue recently arose with an account, it came to his attention that Castleberry and Zeller are currently not able to request information about the checking accounts.

Payne asked, “Y’all don’t have the authority at the bank to make a phone call and see what’s going on? That’s not good.” All agreed that Zeller and Castleberry need the ability to get information, but only the board needs authority to sign checks.