Photo Credit: Lee Becker

Oconee County Administrator Jeff Benko.

Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis and county Administrative Officer Jeff Benko met with their counterparts in Athens-Clarke County in late June to discuss possible collaboration in wastewater treatment.

Benko described the session as “a short meeting with no meaningful results.”

Benko said no materials were exchanged and no notes were taken, and he said he didn’t even send notes to the commissioners about the discussions.

Benko said Oconee County initiated the meeting, which took place in Mayor Nancy Denson’s office in Athens.

Denson was accompanied in the meeting by Unified Government Manager Blaine Williams, according to Benko.

Oconee County is in the process of considering ways to expand its limited sewage treatment capability.

The county told the state Environmental Protection Division last month that it needs to expand its Calls Creek plant to 1.5 million gallons per day of treatment capacity to meet county needs through 2025, or nine years from now.

At present, the county has only a little more than 1 million gallons per day of treatment capacity, but it has sold an additional 0.8 million gallons per day of treatment capacity it does not currently have, and the county projects it will need to expand to 3.4 million gallons per day of capacity by 2035.

By 2050, the county expects it will need nearly 5 million gallons per day of sewage treatment capability, and it is asking the state to reserve that capacity for the county.

For more, visit Oconee County Observations.