The Augusta Economic Development Authority (AEDA) has a request on the list of Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) 9 projects going before the Augusta-Richmond County Commissioners.
AEDA is requesting $25 million. It will be used for a pump station, gravity, and 24” force mains to extend residential, commercial, and industrial sewer capacity through South Augusta.
The commissioners will review the $426 million worth of projects remaining after County Administrator Tameka Allen culled the original one-billion-dollar wish list that departments and organizations had requested.
It will open South Augusta for residential, retail, and commercial development. But the extension’s primary destination, from Little Spirit Creek Basin to North McCombs Road, is the proposed industrial mega-site planned at the Richmond and Burke County line.
Currently, municipal sewer service ends on Deans Bridge Road, Peach Orchard Road, Windsor Spring Road, and at the Augusta Corporate Park on Mike Padgett Highway.
“That’s what we started with Starbucks. We got the very first piece of sewer there, and now we have sewer throughout,” Cal Wray, president of AEDA, explained for ABD. “We have four other industries that have announced, two of which are under construction. So, we do have a track record. That’s a 1,700-acre site that we have now turned into a thriving industrial area that is employing people with good, high-paying jobs.”
Augusta Corporate Park is full, and the county needs more land for another site. Wray said funding for the sewer extension is the last major hurdle to develop the 1,150-acre site.
“There are other hurdles, but all we have solutions for. This is the one we don’t have a solution for,” he said. “We have a path, but we don’t have funding, and when you tell an industrial company, ‘Hey, you’re going to spend $1, $2, $3, $4 billion and in a few years, we’ll get sewer to you,’ the company wants an answer. So, if the commission leaves this on their SPLOST list, and the voters pass it, we now have a solution that says, here’s your route, here’s how we’re going to serve you, here’s the capacity we’re going to serve you.”
There will be one difference between the corporate park and the McCombs Road mega-site. It will be a mega-site for one user.
“What we want is that large employer,” said Wray. “The numbers we used in the presentation are based on a $1 billion investment and 1,000 jobs, that is the minimum we would put on that site. We want one large user, max two, to truly have a mega-employer. Think of a Hyundai. Think of a Kia. They don’t have to be automotive. We have others besides automotive looking at it, but we’re looking for that key regional employer to truly bring high-paying jobs to the community.”
Not only would Richmond County benefit from the utility extension and opening of the mega-site, but it could also be an asset for Burke County.
“With this sewer request, you now have a regional pump station down there where you could help serve Burke County and some of their own industrial sites,” said Wray. “Obviously, you’re going to need some intergovernmental agreements between Burke and Richmond counties, but you now get the trunk line down there, we can potentially help serve Burke County and some of their projects that are working.”
It is a conversation, Austin Stacy, Executive Director of the Development Authority of Burke County (DABC), said he had had with Wray.
“It’s definitely things that, with an intergovernmental agreement, if a project locates on the Burke County side not far from there, we can definitely come to an agreement on how we can get services extended to them,” he said. “There’s a whole lot of legal work that has to take place there. But we’re already having those discussions.”
Wray said his board is also opening bids for the construction of a rail line that will connect Augusta Corporate Park to the McCombs Road site. It will be a continuation of the Norfolk Southern mainline that already serves the corporate park.
After the Commissioners approve the final list, it must then be voted on by county residents. Elections Executive Director Travis Doss said he needs to have the commission decision by August 18 in order to present it to his board. It needs to be in Atlanta by August 5 to be placed on the November General Election ballot.
