Hall County is taking strides toward fulfilling a longtime goal — providing sewer in largely undeveloped North Hall.

The county has submitted plans to the Georgia Environmental Protection Division for the North Oconee Water Reclamation Facility, with a capacity of 1 million gallons per day, off Ga. 365 and Whitehall Road.

The Hall County Board of Commissioners has approved further studies “to provide the environmental and watershed document for the project,” said Ken Rearden, the county’s public works director.

And Thursday night, the commission voted to approve $345,586 on a contract for planning, engineering, design and construction services toward the Ga. 365 sewer system, which would cover an area up to Ga. 52 near Lula.

Funding is coming from the county’s special purpose local option sales tax money.

“We’re just starting with that detailed design. We’ve got three years to get the permanent sewer in place for the poultry lab site — that was part of the condition of them going to that site,” Rearden said.

The Georgia Poultry Laboratory, now in a 50-year-old building in Oakwood, will become the first tenant in the planned 518-acre Gateway Industrial Centre, which was unveiled in August.

County officials have said if they choose to connect the property to a Lula sewer plant where the county owns capacity, they would have to build about 29,000 feet of sewer lines to the property.

There are other options for providing sewer to the property, including partnering with Gainesville’s Public Utilities Department and building a sewage treatment plant.

“What part of this (new contract) will do is help make sure the county gets the best bang for our buck,” Rearden said. “I think we’ll zone in and know which direction we’ll go in within 90 days, maybe before the end of the year.”

County taxpayers’ commitment for infrastructure on the entire Gateway site is estimated between $9 million and $10 million, with money coming largely come from SPLOST revenues specifically targeted for building sewer lines up Ga. 365, officials have said.

Rearden said he believes development possibilities loom large for Ga. 365, which is bounded on either side with large, open tracts of land.

“That corridor is so ripe for industry to come in there, especially the Gateway Industrial Center, because it has the railroad backing up to it,” he said.

“We’re grading the site for the poultry lab now and the contractor says there’s guys pulling up there in coats and ties all the time looking around.”