Stephens County’s Planned Sewer Extension Hinges on Unverified OneGeorgia Award

Stephens County was reported in October 2022 to be moving toward a sewer-line extension at Hayestone Brady Business Park, after WNEG Radio said the county received $200,000 in OneGeorgia Equity funding and later reported that commissioners authorized Chairman James Addison to sign related documents. The work was described as connecting the park’s three largest developable sites, totaling 114 acres, to the nearest wastewater manhole. WNEG’s reporting did not establish that construction began or that the extension was completed.

The proposed line matters because wastewater service was presented as the missing infrastructure needed to market the three sites for industrial development. WNEG reported that water, natural gas, power and broadband were already in place, and that development officials viewed sewer access as the final critical utility connection. The project therefore concerned more than a routine utility upgrade: it was tied to whether a sizable block of business-park land could be offered to prospective employers.

In a report published Oct. 4, 2022, WNEG said Stephens County would use a $200,000 OneGeorgia Equity award from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs for the extension. The station reported that increased prospect activity around the park had sharpened the need to serve the sites, which lie along Georgia Highway 17 about six miles from Interstate 85. Later that month, WNEG reported that county officials took up paperwork connected with the same award, a step portrayed as moving the proposed extension forward rather than evidence that the line had been built.

Stephens County Development Authority leaders framed the extension as an economic-development necessity. Chief executive Brittany Ivey told WNEG that connecting the acreage to wastewater was needed to pursue new development, while authority board chairman Brian Akin said the added sewer service would help make the sites marketable. WNEG also attributed support for the OneGeorgia program to then-Department of Community Affairs Commissioner Christopher Nunn, who described the program as a tool for rural economic development. The station reported that the county commissioners would provide matching funds, though it did not state their amount.

The $200,000 award, the county match and the reported authorization to sign documents remain reported claims from WNEG Radio, not outcomes confirmed by an official record in this material. Likewise, the station’s account of a motion by Vice Chair Dennis Bell and a second by Commissioner Michelle Ivester cannot by itself confirm a commission vote or authorization. WNEG described the meeting action as occurring on a Tuesday but did not give the meeting’s exact date. There is no confirmed public record here of a contract, construction start, payment, inspection or completed sewer extension.

The next meaningful public step would be official documentation showing whether the OneGeorgia assistance was awarded and accepted, whether the county executed the related documents and match, and whether construction was procured or completed. Until those records emerge, residents cannot determine whether the 114 acres received sewer service, whether the reported funding translated into work on the ground, or whether the sites became more readily marketable as officials anticipated.