Toccoa Put $9.1 Million Wastewater Upgrade Before Commissioners, but Award Remains Unresolved

Toccoa’s City Commission put a proposed project award for Phase II upgrades at the Eastanollee Creek wastewater pollution control plant on its March 11, 2024 agenda, a potential step from planning into a construction commitment for a core city utility. But the agenda records only that commissioners were to consider the award; it does not identify a contractor, price, vote or final decision.

The unanswered question matters because an award could define who would perform the work and on what terms at the facility that treats wastewater before discharge. WNEG Radio reported that Phase II was designed to replace or rehabilitate equipment including aeration, clarifier, ultraviolet-treatment, sludge-handling and chemical-feed systems, along with an operator and warehouse building and paving. Those are significant planned improvements, but the proposed award itself is not proof that the work was authorized or completed.

The proposed 2024 award followed years of discussion and financing tied to the Eastanollee plant. A 2018 City Commission work-session agenda listed an evaluation of the plant and recommended upgrades. WNEG Radio later reported that commissioners approved Phase II financing in 2022 through the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority, with an estimated $9.137 million cost, including $900,000 in principal forgiveness. In 2023, WNEG reported, commissioners modified Phase I financing to extend its construction period and allow remaining funds to help forward-fund Phase II items—setting the stage for the later award item.

City officials and GEFA were central to the financing plan described in WNEG Radio’s 2022 reporting. City Manager Billy Morse outlined the loan and the proposed scope, while Vice Mayor David Austin made the motion to approve the GEFA loan documents, seconded by Commissioner Evan Hellenga; WNEG reported the motion passed 4-0, with Commissioner Gail Fry absent. In the 2023 action, WNEG reported that Morse recommended using $383,000 remaining in Phase I funding for Phase II work items, and the commission unanimously approved the modification. Neither report identifies a Phase II award recipient.

The financing approvals reported by WNEG Radio are completed actions in the project’s history, while the March 11 award was a proposal placed on an agenda. WNEG’s 2022 report said Phase II was expected to be completed by April 2024, but that was an expectation at the time, not confirmation of completion. A July 2024 WNEG Radio report also said commissioners would discuss GEFA funding for Phase II, although the item had been added after the agenda’s first publication and no documentation was made available. The record does not establish construction activity, a delay, a revised scope or a signed agreement.

The next public step is a City Commission record or later award document that resolves what happened to the March 11 item. An official item-result record, executed agreement or subsequent commission action could show an approved recipient and terms, or show that the proposal was deferred, changed or declined. Until such a record is identified, Toccoa’s reported financing and planning remain documented, but whether the city actually authorized Phase II work through the proposed project award remains undecided in the public account.