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Politics & Government

Paulding Reservoir To Cost $2.8 Million

The proposed Richland Creek Reservoir was discussed during the Paulding County Board of Commissioners' work session Tuesday morning.

The Richland Creek Reservoir is expected to cost Paulding County just shy of $3 million and, with no federal money likely available for the project, county officials are looking at a public-private partnership for funding.

At Tuesday’s work session, County Administrator Mike Jones gave the Board of Commissioners an update on the status of the project, which has been in the works since 1999. Now that the county has gotten past the permitting process, it’s now time to talk about actually building the reservoir, Jones said.

The water will be pumped from the Etowah River through a 48-50-inch pipeline, which is a "very large" line. Every foot of it will cost about $500. A preliminary design firm request for quote, or RFQ, will be sent out, which should cost around $900,000. The RFQ contains five components, including pipeline design, intake structure, water treatment plant conceptual design and stream bank mitigation. That $900,000 cost is 10 percent of the stream bank mitigation cost, Jones said.  Had the county not put the permit request in last year, it would have been looking at $15 million for stream bank mitigation.

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"Every time the project gets delayed, the mitigation cost goes up, and it goes up substantially," Jones said.

The next step is the survey and pipeline easement acquisition, and the final step is the final design. Altogether, the county is looking at around $2.8 million in costs and, should it get a loan from GEFA, it would cost about $326,000 a year for 10 years to pay that money back.

BOC Chairman David Austin chose to carry this project forward when he took office in 2009.

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“I think it’s very important for Paulding County’s future,” Austin said.

Without the reservoir, the county could run out of water by 2025, Jones said.

At its business meeting, the BOC:

  • Voted to apply for a grant from the state and federal Departments of Transportation for public transportation assistance for the county’s bus system;
  • Voted to table for two weeks an off premises consumption of malt beverage and wine license for a convenience store at 9388 Villa Rica Highway in Villa Rica;
  • Approved land acquisition discussed in an earlier executive session;
  • Voted to authorize county officials to take all steps necessary to acquire to parcels for public  purposes as discussed in executive session. Details will be disclosed as part of delayed minutes upon the completion of the acquisitions;
  • And voted to accept roads in several subdivisions for perpetual maintenance. Those subdivsions are listed in the attached agenda.
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