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DEKALB COUNTY, GA–DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond is calling for a multi-year water and sewer rate increase to upgrade the county’s aging water and sewer system.
Thurmond went before the Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, June 4, to make an appeal for the $4.4 billion he said would be needed over the next 25 years to upgrade DeKalb’s aging Scott Candler Water Treatment Plant and its sewer system.
Thurmond said that that he will present details of the comprehensive plan to the board in two weeks, including how much residents will have to pay in increased fees for the critical upgrades.
Thurmond’s appeal follows several water main breaks that DeKalb has faced recently and a major water main break in Atlanta on May 31 that has impacted businesses, hotels, hospitals and residents, leaving them with massive water outages. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens called on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which arrived on Tuesday, to assess the city’s aging water/sewer system as work crews continued repairing burst pipes.
Thurmond said DeKalb must make addressing its aging infrastructure a top priority.
“We have a three- to five-year window to make major investments in Scott Candler Water Treatment Plant, or else we risk a catastrophic failure,” Thurmond told the board. “If this plant stops pumping fresh water, there are no other options. It is the only plant that we have. So I ask as the CEO, but I beg you as a private citizen, let’s have the courage of Scott Candler.”
Scott Candler is a former DeKalb County commissioner who is credited with the establishment of DeKalb County’s drinking water system, which was built in 1942. Thurmond said that Candler, a visionary, lost his bid for re-election over building a water treatment plant and ran lines out to rural areas of DeKalb County.
Thurmond said his request to the Board of Commissioners was an extension of investments his administration has made since taking office in 2017. Those investments include $1.25 billion in capital spending on the water and sewer system and improvement mandated under a federal consent decree.