The city of Dawsonville has been awarded $300,000 in federal funding to upgrade its sewer system.Dawsonville City Council learned earlier this month that the Appalachian Regional Commission had approved the grant, which is intended to meet current and future wastewater needs of the city’s largest employer.Mayor James Grogan said Tuesday that the upgrades are vital to handle the increased sewage volume produced by Gold Creek Foods, a poultry packaging plant on Ga. 9.“We’ve not been able to meet their sewer capacity needs with their volume and strength of wastewater,” he said. “They have 900 employees now and plans for expansion. We want to be able to help them by meeting that need.”The grant money would allow the city to build an additional pond with aeration equipment at its wastewater treatment plant.The pond would operate in a series between the existing aeration pond and the land application system holding pond.